Table of contents
Super Summary of previous Research Approach
lessons
Sampling Method Data Collection
Technique
Class objectives
Understand the Pros and Cons of different
sampling methods
Able to apply different sampling methods when
appropriate
Explain the various factors to determine
sample size
Explain major methods of collecting data
and the various techniques, especially
scaling techniques
Ethics is concerned with human behaviour from a perspective of right or wrong
Seven plus One areas of research Misconduct
https://ori.hhs.gov
● Plagiarism
● Data Fabrication and Falsification
● Nonpublication of Data
● Poor data storage and retention
● Misleading Authorship
● Unacceptable publication practices
● Faulty Data-Gathering Procedures
● Conflict of Interest
Interpretation of the 7+1 Sins
● DO NOT COPY! Paraphrase and citation
● DO NOT make up your data, it is what it is.
● DO NOT cook your data, if there is an elephant in the room, introduce it
● Keep your data well, for as long as you might need it
● The Order of the authors is important, do not mess with it
● Pay attention to the ethics of publication, if you will publish your work
● Data-Gathering has lots of restriction, always go REC to check and
apply for approval
● Declare if you have any conflict of interest, it matters!
Protecting Research Participants
■ Nuremberg Code (1947) – first set of guidelines
■ Helsinki Declaration (1964) – medical research
■ Belmont Report (1979) – fundamental document for current federal
regulations in US
■ Common Rule (1991) – 45 C.F.R. 46
■ Federal rules that govern research involving human participants in the
US
■ Institutional Review Boards (IRB) vs Research Ethical Committee (REC)
https://research.hkbu.edu.hk/research-management/policies-and-guidelines/research-ethics
Statement of Problem
Purpose of Study
Definition of Terms (operational definitions)
Delimitations
Limitations
Assumptions
Hypothesis/Hypotheses
Significance of Study
Statement of Problem
Please tell me what is the problem and why is it a problem
Purpose of Study
Then how your study is helping to solve the problem?
Definition of Terms (operational definitions)
Give me the definition of the terms in this study
Delimitations
Tell me the scope (how big or small) you are going to do
Limitations
What is/are the weakness(es) of your study?
Assumptions
What kind of assumption you made in your study?
Hypothesis/Hypotheses
Significance of Study
What impact will you make in this study?
Worksheet
Some of you were doing well
Clear logic
Understand the key concepts
Nice try in keywords and search
terms
Keywords
● Keywords are keywords
● Expand the major keywords into sub-keywords
○ Example:
■ Aerobic training
● Running, Jogging, Swimming etc.
■ Physical Fitness
● Cardiorespiratory fitness, Muscular fitness etc.
■ Vertical Jump
● Jump height, Jumping speed, Jumping force etc.
Search Terms
● It is developed by keywords
● Make sure you want to put them in
one search
● Please understand how Boolean
operator works
Selecting Research Approach
● All research involves elements of observation, description, and
analysis of what happened under certain circumstances
● The methodology selected will depend on:
○ The nature of the research problem
○ The setting in which the research is to be conducted
○ The disciplinary perspective of the researcher
○ Background of the researcher
The six research approach
● Descriptive — describe what is ; gain an understanding of current
conditions and the relationship between existing variables that are not
manipulated.
● Experimental —describe what will be; seek causal relationships between
controlled or manipulated variables and outcomes.
● Qualitative —describe what is; to explore existing phenomena in a natural
environment that generally yields nonquantitative information.
The six research approach (cont)
● Historical —describes what was; to understand the past and the
present.
● Action —describes what will be; through an intervention to solve a
local problem.
● Epidemiological —describes what is; a large-scale investigation to
determine how many people have a condition, whether the number
of people changes, and the effects from this condition on society.
Sampling
● Technical Sampling Terms
○ Population – The entire group or aggregate of people or elements
○ Sampling Frame – The accessible population or collection of
elements from which the sample is actually drawn
○ Sample – a small subgroup of population of interest thought to be
representative of that population
○ Sampling – The process of selecting a subgroup or sample of the
population
Sample Selection Methods
● Probability Sampling (Unbiased Samples)
○ Sampling techniques that the probability of selecting each participant is
known
○ Utilizes random processes
■ Not guarantee the sample is representative of population
○ Estimates of sampling error are possible
● Non-Probability Sampling (Biased Samples)
○ Samples are not selected at random
○ Difficult to claim sample is representative of population
○ Intact groups, volunteers
Sample Selection Methods
● Probability Sampling (Unbiased Samples)
○ Simple Random Sampling
○ Stratified Random Sampling divide them into groups
○ Cluster Random Sampling
○ Systematic Random Sampling
● Non-Probability Sampling (Biased Samples)
○ Purposive Sampling
○ Convenience Sampling
○ Voluntary Response Sample
Sample Selection Methods
● Probability Sampling (Unbiased Samples)
○ Simple Random Sampling
○ Stratified Random Sampling
○ Cluster Random Sampling
○ Systematic Random Sampling
● Non-Probability Sampling (Biased Samples)
○ Purposive Sampling
○ Convenience Sampling
○ Voluntary Response Sample
Sampling Error
■ The extent to which the sample values deviate from those
that would be obtained from the entire population
■ Because samples are not 100% representative of a
population
■ When random processes are used for selecting samples,
the researcher can estimate sampling error
Sample Size
■ Regardless of size, the crucial factor is whether or not the sample is
representative of the population … thus how the sample is selected
- a well-selected and controlled small sample is better than a poorly selected and poorly
controlled large sample.
■ Points to consider regarding sample size:
■ Population size
■ Nature of the study (Descriptive & correlational VS Experimental)
■ Statistical considerations
■ Variability of population (Sample size and Sampling error)
■ Number of treatment groups
■ Practical factors
Three Basic Data Collection Techniques
The nature of the study will determine the type of data required and
method of collection
■ Observation - the researcher may watch the research participants
perform and record relevant information about them
■ Measurement - the researcher may test the research participants or
apply a device to measure certain qualities
■ Questioning - the researcher may ask the research participants
questions to obtain information
Observation
● Direct Observation
○ Directly observes research participants
○ Participants usually know they are being observed
○ *the presence of the researcher might change the way the
participants act
● Indirect Observation
○ Participants are filmed or videotaped
Measurement
Involving actively testing the participants on the characteristics of
interest.
● Major categories
○ Physical
○ Cognitive
○ Affective
Questioning - Scaling
● The process of assigning numbers to the various levels of a particular concept that wish to
measure
○ An indirect measurement
● Scaling can be used to obtain information of almost any topic, object, or subject.
○ Attitude
○ Opinion
○ Behaviour
○ Performance
○ Perception
Rating Scale
● Individual items are judged on a single dimension and scored on a
linear scale or continuum by selecting a numerical or verbal point on
the scale that corresponds to their impression of the item
Numerical Rating Scale
How important to you is each of the issues listed below:
Extremely Extremely
Unimportant
Important
1 2 3 4 5
The protection of endangered species of animals
____
The improvement of the quality of the air ____
The provision of social services to those in need
____
Verbal Rating Scale
How often do you exercise with your child?
Always often sometimes rarely never
Semantic Differential Scale
■ A scaling method designed for measuring ones
“image” of a selected topic or concept. Subjects
will choose a relative position between pairs of
bipolar adjectives which describe the topic along
a single dimension.
■ Typically, 7 spaces btw bipolar adjectives.
Responses are converted to numeric values and
treated statistically.
Semantic Differential Scale
Place an “x” in the space on each line below to show
your opinion of the class:
Easy ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Difficult
Pleasant ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Unpleasant
Likert Scale
■ A very popular scaling techniques which
measures the respondent’s degree of
agreement or disagreement on an issue,
opinion, or particular belief.
■ The continuum of response typically runs from
SA , A, U, D, to SD.
■ Responses to a Likert scale can be considered
to be interval level scores, thus allowing
scores to be summed and treated statistically.
Likert Scale
Pick a number from the scale to show how much you
agree or disagree with each statement:
1 Strongly agree
2 Agree
3 Undecided
4 Disagree
5 Strongly disagree
College athletes should be paid ____
A woman’s place is in the home ____
Participating in sports is all about winning ____
Rank Order Scale
■ Items are ranked, usually in terms of preference
or importance, relative to each other. This forced
ranking results in ordinal scores, thus limiting the
statistical treatment of the scores.
■ The number of items to be ranked should be less
than 10, to avoid making the task too difficult.
Rank Order Scale
Please rank the brands of beer listed below in their order
of preference, with a 1 being the brand you most prefer, 2
being your second choice, and so forth.
____ Budweiser
____ Coors
____ Miller
____ Corona
Caution
● It is very important to think about the statistical use of scaled responses
○ If the intervals between score points are presumed to be equal, they are
interval data, and can be used for statistical analysis
■ Likert Scale, Semantic Differential Scales, sometimes Rating Scales
are accepted
○ If the scales are not interval data, they cannot be used for statistical
analysis
■ Rank Order Scales cannot be used for statistical analysis, mostly
report frequencies and percentages
