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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Generally, the research design is explained in this chapter. Among those topics included in the research design which need to be given some kind of explanations are the following:
Methods of Research
Population, Sample Size, and Sampling Technique
Description of Respondents
Research instrument
Data-Gathering Procedure
Statistical Treatment of Data
Methods of Research
The method of research used whether historical, descriptive or experimental should be explained briefly. The procedural part of the method, its appropriateness to the study, and some of its advantages should be given attention and should be well discussed.
Example: Suppose the descriptive method of research was used in the study of the teaching of science in the high schools of Province A. Briefly the discussion follows:
The descriptive method of research was used in this study. Descriptive method of research is a fact-finding study with adequate and accurate interpretation of the findings. It describes what is. It describes with emphasis what actually exist such as current conditions, practices, situations, or any phenomena. Since the present study or investigation was concerned with the present status of the teaching of science in the high schools of Province A, the descriptive method of research was the most appropriate method to use. (This can be elaborated further)
Population, Sample size and Sampling Technique
The researcher describes how he selected places, products, situations, and respondents. If regions were used, the different regions of the country are included in his first list. The next question is: how did the researcher select the sample regions included in the study? Are the selected regions representative of all the regions that make up the Philippines? If barrios in a particular province were the focus of the study, how did the researcher select the few barrios representative of all the barrios? On the other hand, if ethnic groups were used, how did he arrive at the majority and minority ethnic groups of the particular national survey? The researcher should describe how he went about selecting the sampled places and sampled products and respondents in this part of the methodology.
The Sampling Design
Before the collection of data starts in any research project, the proportion of the population to be used must have been determined already and the computation of the sample must have been finished. So, what the researcher has to do here is to write about the complete procedure he used in determining his sample.
Among the things that he should explain are:
a. The size of the population;
b. The study population;
c. The margin of error and the proportion of the study population used;
d. The type or technique of sampling used whether pure random sampling, cluster sampling or a combination of two or more techniques;
e. The actual computation of the sample; and
f. The sample
The researcher must explain very clearly how he selected his sample. He must be able to show that his sample is representative of the population by showing that he used the appropriate technique of sampling. This is very important because if it appears that his sample is not representative, his findings and conclusions will be faulty and hence, not valid and reliable.
To be able to discuss and explain very well his sampling procedures, the researcher must review sampling procedures in Chapter 12. Everything about sampling has been discussed in that part of the book.
Description of Respondents
The respondents are described as a small group or as a big group. Characteristics may include sex, age level, socio-economic status, marital status, level of intelligence, education, type of community (urban or rural, barrio or town), ethnic group, and other characteristics sought by the researcher to describe his respondents. These characteristics of respondents could be presented in table form.
Research Instrument
Instrument used for gathering data are described under Research Methodology. The various aspects of the instruments are mentioned. Items in each instrument are described too. If validation of the test was made, this is also mentioned. In some studies, several instruments are used. These could be related following the order of administration. It is desirables that writers mention how these instruments were used in the study. Could it be that Instrument 1 is intended to shed light on Hypothesis 1; Instrument 2 on Hypothesis 2; and so forth?
If the instrument is lengthy, this is generally placed in the appendix. Such placement has to be mentioned in the text and labeled as Appendix A,B, or C, as the case maybe.
This part describes the tools used to measure the variables. In most cases, this means detailing the survey used. If a researcher developed a survey on his own or modified one which is in the literature, he needs to include this plus the cover letter in the appendix. If he is using a well- researched questionnaire, reference it clearly. (Salvador et al.)
Data-Gathering Procedure
The method of collecting data and the development of the instrument for gathering data must also be explained.
Example: the method of collecting data used was the normative survey. This is concerned with looking into the commonality of some elements. Since the present research is a status study, the normative survey was the most appropriate method to use in gathering data.
The instrument used to collect data was the questionnaire. This was used because it gathers data faster than any other method. Besides, the respondents were teachers and students and so they are very literate. They could read and answer the questionnaire with ease.
Development of the instrument. After reading and studying samples of questionnaire from related studies, the researcher prepared his own questionnaire. He also consulted some knowledgeable people about how to prepare one. The researcher saw to it that there were enough items to collect data to cover all aspects of the problem and to answer all the specific questions under the statement of the problem. Then he submitted the questionnaire to his adviser for correction after which it was finalized.
For validation purposes, the questionnaire was given to ten high school science teachers for them to fill up. These teachers did not participate in the study. After they have filled up the copies they were interviewed by the researcher to find out their assessment of the questionnaire. They were asked if all the items were clear and unequivocal to them; if the number of items were adequate enough to collect data about all aspects of teaching of science; if the questions were interesting and not boring; if all the items were objective and not biased except for a few unavoidable essay questions; if all the items were relevant to the research problem; and if the questionnaire were not too long. All of them said the items were clear and unequivocal except a few, relevant, interesting and objective questions, and the length was alright. The few questioned items were revised for more clarity and definiteness.
The copies of the questionnaire were then distributed personally by the researcher to the respondents. After a few days, all the copies distributed were retrieved also personally by the researcher. (The discussion may be extended).
WAYS OF COLLECTING DATA
1. Mechanical devices include almost all tools (such as microscopes, telescopes, thermometers, rulers and monitors) used in physical sciences.
2. Clerical tools are used when the researcher studies people and gather data on the feeling, emotions, attitudes and judgment of the subject.
2.1 Questionnaire method
2.2 Interview method
2.3 Empirical observation method
2.4 Registration method
2.5 Testing method
2.6 Experiment method
2.7 Library method
Questionnaire Method. This is a list of planned, written questions, related to a particular topic with space provided for indicating response to each question intended for submission to a number of people for a reply. It is commonly used in normative studies and in the measurements of attitudes and opinions.
Guidelines in the Formulation of Questions in a Questionnaire
1. Make all directions clear and unequivocal.
2. Use correct grammar.
3. Make all questions unequivocal.
4. Avoid asking biased questions.
5. Objectify the responses.
6. Relate all questions to the topic under study.
7. Create categories or classes for approximate answers.
8. Group the questions in local sequence.
9. Create sufficient number of response categories.
10. Word carefully or avoid questions that deal with confidential and embarrassing information.
11. Explain and illustrate different questions.
12. State all questions affirmatively.
13. Place all space for replies at the left side.
Interview Method. This is a purposeful face-to-face relationship between person, one called the interviewer who asks questions to gather information and to the other called the interviewee or the respondent who supplies the information asked for.
This is feasible when a person interact is available. The research interview is a research method that involves situations or conditions the respondent is in, although it entails difficulty in tallying as the answers are varied. In other words, the answer is entirely left at the discretion on the respondent.
In general, respondents do not like to answer open-ended questionnaires for aside from giving multiple responses, they feel that they are taking an examination. Aside from this, an open-ended questionnaire gives multiple responses, which makes statistical analysis difficult. (Salvador et al.)
Statistical Treatment of Data
The last part of this chapter usually describes the statistical treatment of data. The kind of statistical treatment depends upon the nature of the problem, especially the specific problems and the nature of the data gathered. The explicit hypotheses particularly determine the kind of statistics to be used.
The role of statistics in research. With the advent of the computer age, statistics is now playing a vital role in research. This is true especially in science and technological research. What functions do statistics perform in research? Some are the following:
1. Statistical methods help the researcher in making his research design, particularly in experimental research. Statistical methods are always involved in planning a research project because in some way statistics directs the researcher how to gather his data.
2. Statistical techniques help the researcher in determining the validity and reliability of his research instruments. Data gathered with instruments that are not valid and reliable are almost useless and so the researcher must have to be sure that his instruments are valid and reliable. Statistics helps him in doing this.
3. Statistical manipulations organize raw data systematically to make the latter appropriate for study. Unorganized data cannot be studied. No inferences or deductions can be made from unorganized data. Statistics organized systematically by ordered arrangement, ranking, score distribution, class frequency distribution or cumulative frequencies. These make the data appropriate for study.
4. Statistics are used to test the hypotheses. Statistics help the researcher to determine whether these hypotheses are to be accepted or to be rejected.
5. Statistical treatments give meaning and interpretation to data. For Instance, if the standard deviation of the class frequency of a group is small, we know that the group is more or less homogeneous but if it is large, the group is more or less heterogeneous.
6. Statistical procedures are indispensable in determining the levels of significance of vital statistical measures. These statistical measures are the bases for making inferences, interpretations, conclusions or generalizations.
Some guidelines in the selection and application of statistical procedures. The researcher must have at least a rudimentary knowledge of statistics so that he will be able to select and apply the appropriate statistical methods for his data. Some suggestions for the selection and application of statistical techniques follows:
1. First of all, the data should be organized using any or all of the following depending upon what is desired to be known or what is to be computed: talligram (tabulation table), ordered arrangement of scores, score distribution, class (grouped) frequency distribution, or scattergram.
2. When certain proportions of the population based on certain variables such as age, height, income, etc. are desired to be known, frequency counts with their frequency percents may be used. For further analysis, cumulative frequencies (up and down) with their respective cumulative frequency percents (up and down) may also be utilized.
For example, a specific question is “How the high school science teachers of province A may be described in terms of sex?” The males were counted and the females were also counted and their respective percent equivalents were computed.
3. When the typical, normal, or average is desired to be known, the measures of central tendency such as the median, the mean or the mode may be computed and used.
4. When the variables being studied are abstract or continuous such that they cannot be counted individually such as adequacy, efficiency, excellence, extent, seriousness (of problems), and the like, the weighted mean may be computed and used if the average is desired to known. The variable is divided into categories of descending degree of quality and then each degree of quality is given a weight. For instance, the question is “How adequate are the facilities of the school?” Adequacy may be divided into five degrees of quality such as “very adequate” with a weight of 5, “adequate” with a weight of 4, “Fairly adequate” with a weight of 3, “inadequate” with a weight of 2, and “very inadequate” with a weight of 1. Then the weighted mean is computed.
5. When the variability of the population is desired to be known, the measures of variability such as the range, quartile deviation, average deviation or the standard deviation may be computed and used. When the measure of the variability or dispersion is small, the group is more or less homogenous but when the measure of variability is large, the group is more or less heterogeneous.
6. When the relative placements of scores or positions are desired to be known, ranking, quartile or percentile rank may be computed and used. These measures indicate the relative positions o scores in an ordered arrangement of the scores.
7. When the significance of the trend of reaction or opinion of persons as a group toward a certain issue, situation, value or thing is desired to be known but in which there is a neutral position, the chi-square of equal probability, single group, is computed and interpreted.
8. When the significance of the difference between the reactions, or opinions of two distinct groups in which there is a neutral position is desired to be known, the chi-square of equal probability, two-group, is computed and used.
For instance, a group of 50 persons, 25 males and 25 females, were asked to give their reactions may be “Strongly agree”, “Agree”, “Undecided or No opinion”, “Disagree”, or “Strongly disagree”. If the persons are considered as a group, the chi-square of equal probability, single group is computed as in No. 7. However, if the significance of the difference between the reactions of the males and those of the females is to be studied, the chi-square of equal probability, two- group, is applied as in No. 8.
9. To determine how one variable varies with one another, the coefficient of correlation is computed, as for instance, how the scores of a group of students in English test. This is also used to determine the validity of a test by correlating it with a test of known validity. When the coefficient of correlation between two tests is known and a prediction is to be made as to what score a student gets in a second test after knowing his score in the first, the so-called regression equation is to be utilized.
10. If the significance of the difference between the perceptions of two- groups about a certain situation is to be studied, the computation of the difference between means is to be made. Example: Is there a significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers and those of the students about the facilities of the school? To answer this question, the significance of the difference of two means is to used. The statistical measure computed is called t.
The t is also used to determine the usefulness of a variable to which one group called the experimental group is exposed and a second group called control group is not exposed. For instance, the question is: Does guidance improve instructions?” Create two matched groups and expose one group to guidance while the control group is not exposed to guidance. At the end of the experimental period, give the same test to the two groups. Then compute the t which will show if guidance is an effective aid to instruction.
11. To determine the relative effectiveness of the different ways of doing things to which different randomized groups are respectively exposed to and only a post test is given to the different groups, analysis of variance is appropriate to use. For instance, a teacher wants to find out the relative effectiveness of the following methods of communication: pure lecture, lecture-demonstration, recitation- discussion, and seminar type of instruction in science. Four groups of students are formed randomly and each assigned to one method. The four groups study the same lessons and after a certain period given the same test. By analysis of variance, the relative effectiveness of the four methods will be revealed.
If the four groups are given pre-test and a post-test, the analysis of co-variance is utilized.
12. To determine the effects of some variables upon a single variable to which they are related, partial and multiple correlations are suggested to be used. For example, the question is: Which is most related to the passing of a licensing engineering examination: college achievement grades, or percentile ranks in aptitude tests, general mental ability test, vocational and professional interest inventory, or National College
Entrance Examination? The process of partial and multiple correlations will reveal the pure and sole effect of each of the independent variables upon the dependent variable, the passing of the licensing examination.
13. To determine the association between two independent variables, the chi-square of independence or chi-square of multiplication may be used. The question answered by this statistical process is: Is there an association between education and leadership? Or, the level of education and the ability to acquire wealth?
Or, between sociability and economic status?
Indeed, there are lots of research situations in which different statistical procedures may or can be used and if the researcher is not so sure that he is in the right path, he better consult good statistical books, or acquire the services of a good statistician plus the services of a computer especially if the statistical procedures are complex ones.
Written by:
Prof. Erwin M. Globio
Thesis/Dissertation Adviser/Consultant
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