Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Definitions
Descriptive Research • More simply: descriptive research is all about describing people who
take part in the study
• Observational: defined as a method of viewing and recording the • Observes the situation as it is without changing or modifying the
participants situation
• Correlational: defined as a study of the relation between two or • Involves planning, attention to detail, time consuming, & requires
more characteristics multiple researches (assistants)
• Developmental Research: defined as a study of how a particular • Two types: Quantitative & Qualitative
characteristics changes as people grow older.
• Survey: defined as a brief interview or discussion with an individual
about a specific topic
• Qualitative: record observations in details (using notes, videotapes) • Define the behavior being studied precisely
construct a complex picture of the studied environment • Divide the observation period into measurable segments (to observe
• Quantitative: Only certain aspects of the elements studied are being the behavior occurrences)
recorded (certain human behaviors) rated for accuracy, intensity, • Use a rating scale to evaluate the behavior in specific dimensions
maturity, etc.
• Include multiple people to observe the the behavior occurrences
• Always stay objective
• Train the raters to use specific criteria while observing the the
behavior occurrences
1
19/10/2018
• Examines the extent to which differences in one characteristics or • A study of how a particular characteristics changes as people grow
variable are related to differences in one or more other older.
characteristics or variables • Cross-Sectional Study: People from several different age-groups are
• It exists if one variable increases, the other variable increases or sampled and compared (correlational study)
decreases in (somehow) predictable fashion • Different environment conditions
• Researchers collect two or more characteristics for a particular unit • Can’t compute correlation between characteristics at different ages
of study • Longitude Study: A single group of people is followed over the
• Note: Correlation doesn’t infer a causation relationship between the course of several months or years, and data related to the
characteristics characteristics studied are collected over time.
• Losing participants over time
• Better performance: practice
• Overcome the problems by: Cohort-Sequential Design • Involves acquiring information about one or more groups of people
• Researcher begins with two or more age groups and follow each age- by asking them questions and documenting their answers
group over a period of time • A list of questions is created
• Questions are answered by participants
• Disadvantages: • A summery of responses is created (in percentages)
• Require long time • Statistical analysis is performed
• Finding same age groups with similar characteristics is hard • Inferences are made based on the analysis
2
19/10/2018
• Using Computer Applications to record the answers • More than just asking questions
• Spreadsheet or template in a document • Should be carefully planned and worded
• Simple checklists with participant ID and X for the checked items • Setup the interview questions in advance
• Send the agenda of questions to the interviewee
• Use tablets or mobile scanning devices to record the responses • Ask for permission to record the interview (sound or video)
instead of pencil & paper
• Confirm the date and time at the begging of the interview
• Google docs or Surveymonkey.com are good examples • Send a reminder of the questions 10 days before the interview
• Be prompt, follow the agenda, be prepared with extra copies
• Offer acknowledgment after the interview/obtain confirmation
• Get written permission from interviewees prior to publishing
3
19/10/2018
• Using technology to facilitate Questionnaires: • Maximizing the return rate for a questionnaire:
• Use e-mail to request participation and obtain participants’ responses • Consider the timing
• If you use paper mail delivery rather than email, use a processing program to • Make a good first impression
personalize your correspondence • Motivate potential respondents
• Use a computer database to keep track of who has responded and who has • If mailing the questionnaire, include pre-paid return envelope
not • Offer the results of your study
• Use a scanner to facilitate data tabulation • Be gently persistent
• When participants are in the same location that you are, administer the
questionnaire directly on a computer
• Using custom made websites or commercial “survey-ready” websites • Sampling: The process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations)
• Ready templates with variety of questions types from a population of interest for a study.
• Accepting Terms & Conditions “Virtual Consent” • Sample: A sample is made up of individuals, events, or items selected
from the population
• Sampling is a problem:
• Collect some personal information (Age group, educational level, gender, • Generalization about the entire population?
etc.)
• Stating the problem must carefully qualifying words as:
selected – representative – typical – certain – a random
sample of.
• Example:
• The purpose of this research is to survey …. Of the population.
• The purpose of this research is to survey the representative …. Of a
random sample of the population.
• Population may be any size and cover large These techniques permit the researcher to specify the
geographical distance. probability that each member of the population has being
selected for the sample
4
19/10/2018
• Convenience sampling
• Quota sampling
• Purposive sampling
5
19/10/2018
• 20 % should be sampled
• Beyond a certain point ( about N = 5000)
• Sample size of 400 will be adequate
• If the population is markedly heterogeneous, a large sample will be
necessary than if the population is fairly homogeneous.