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Dawson C. Practical Research Methods.. A User-Friendly Guide to Mastering Research Techniques and Projects (How To Books,2002)(ISBN 1857038290)(169s).pdf |
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Size 0.8Mb Date Jun 10, 2004 |
EXERCISE 1 Have a look at the three projects below and see if you can spot any potential problems. What questions would you ask to make the researchers focus in on their proposed project? Do you have any suggestions for the improvement of these statements? Statement 1: This research aims to find out what people think about television....
The main problem with this statement is the g rammar. The topic itself is more focused as the researcher has mentioned, spec ifically, the areas he wishes to consider – nu rses ’ attitudes, carers ’ experiences and avai lable support. His topic is immediately more manageable because he is only considering nurses or carers who come into contact with sufferers of Alzheimer ’s disease. However, he needs to think about whether he is going to consider hospitals, residential homes, or both, and in what ar eas. Also, is he going to contact people who look after their relatives at home?...
So, how do you dec ide which is the best methodology for your research? Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to dec ide first of all whether you should consider qualitative or quantitative research. Have another look at the five ‘ Ws ’ discussed in Chapter 1. If you have not already done so, go through each question in relation to your own research. Once you have done this, clues wi ll start to emerge about what is the best form of inquiry for you....
SUMMARY
The research methodology is the phi losophy or gener al princ iple which guides the research. Research...
DISADVANTAGES Some people may be uncomfortable in a g roup setting and nervous about speaking in front of others. Not everyone may cont ribut e....
to use websites run by organisations you know and t rust. the About Us section on the web page for more information about the creator and organisation.
Use Check...
In the secondary research file, each page of not es can be headed by detai ls of the publication in the same format that wi ll be used in the bibliog r aphy – author and initials; date of publication; title of publication; place of publica-...
samples purposive samples. In probability samples, all people within the research population have a spec ifiable chance of being selected. These types of sample are used if the researcher wishes to explain, predict or gener alise to the whole research populat ion. On the other hand, pu rposive samples ar e used if...
TABLE 3: SAMPLING TECHNIQUES PROBABILITY SAMPLES
The researcher is interested in finding out about national detention rates. He wants to make sure that every school in the count ry has an equal chance of being chosen because he hopes to be able to make generalisations from his findings. He dec ides to use a simple random sample. Using this method the researcher needs to obtain the name of every school in the count ry. Numbers are assig ned to each name and a random sample generated by computer. He then sends a questionnaire to each of the selected schools. The researcher would have to make sure that he obtained the name of every school in the count ry for this method to work properly. The researcher wants to find out about national detention rates, but is interested also in finding out about school policy concerning detention. He dec ides that to do this he needs to visit each selected school. To cut down on t ravel costs, he dec ides to use a cluster sample. Using this method, geog raphical ‘clusters ’ are chosen and a r andom sample of schools from each cluster is generated using random number tables found at the back of some statistics books. Using this method the researcher only needs to t ravel to schools within the selected geog r aphical reg ions. The researcher would have to make sure that he chose his clusters very carefully, espec ially as policy concerning detention might vary between reg ions....
PURPOSIVE SAMPLES
The researcher has heard of a local school which has very few detentions, despite that school having a detention policy. He dec ides to find out why and visits the school to speak to the head teacher. Many interesting points arise from the interview and the researcher dec ides to use a theoretical sampling technique. Using this method the emerg ing theory helps the researcher to choose the sample. For example, he might dec ide to visit a school that has a high detention rate and a school that has no detention policy, all of which will help to explain differing detention rates and attitudes towards them. Within this sampling procedure, he might choose to sample extreme cases which help to explain something, or he might choose heterogeneous samples where there is a deliberate strategy to select people who are alike in some relevant detail. Again the researcher has to be aware of sampling bias. The researcher is a t eacher himself and dec ides to int erview colleagues, as he has limited time and resources available to him. This is a convenience sample. Also, at a conference he unexpectedly gets to interview other teachers. This might be termed haphazard or acc idental sampling. The ability to generalise from this type of sample is not the goal, and, as with other sampling procedures, the researcher has to be aware of bias which could enter the process. However, the insider status of the teacher may help him to obtain information or access which might not be available to other researchers....
FURTHER RE ADING
Bryman, A. and Cr amer, D. (1990) Q uant itat ive Data Analysis for Soc ial Sc ientists, London: Routledge. Clegg, F. (1989) Simple Statistics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. De Vaus, D. (1991) Surveys in Soc ial Research, 3rd edition, London: UCL Press. Henry, G. (1990) Practical Sampling, Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Huff, D. (1994) How to Lie With Statistics, NY: Norton. Field, A. (2000) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS for Windows: Advanced Techniques for Beg inners, London: Sage. Owen, F. and Jones, R. (1994) Statistics, 4th edition, London: Pitman....
THE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
For most types of interview you need to const ruct an int erview schedule. For st ructured int erviews you wi ll need to const ruct a list of questions which is asked in the same order and format to each partic ipant (see Chapter 9). For...
about your appear ance and the expectations of the person you’re about to interview. If the interviewee is a smartly turned out business person who expects to be int erviewed by a professional looking r esearcher, make sure you t ry to fulfil those expectations with your appearance and behaviour.
Think...
8 How to Conduct Focus Groups
As we saw in Chapter 3, a focus g roup is where a number of people are asked to come together in order to discuss a certain issue for the purpose of research. They are popular within the fields of market research, political research and educational research. The focus g roup is fac i litat ed by a moder ator who asks questions, probes for mor e detai l, makes sure the discussion does not dig ress and t ries to ensure that everyone has an input and that no one person dominat es the discussion. If you are interested in running focus g roups for your research you wi ll need to acquire a basic understanding of how people interact in a g roup setting and learn how to deal with awkward situations (see Table 8). However, the best way to become a successful moderator is through experience and practice. If possible, t ry to sit in on a focus g roup run by an experienced moder ator. Once you have done this, hold your own pilot focus g roup, either with friends or actual research partic ipants. You might find it useful to video tape this focus g roup so that you can assess your body language, see how you deal with awkward situations, analyse how you ask questions, and so on. Don’t be disappointed if your first few g roups do not go according to plan. Even the most experienced moderators have bad days....
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