Instructor Guidelines

Kumar: Research Methodology companion website material prepared by Stephanie Fleischer
Instructor Guidelines
By Stephanie Fleischer
Using these guidelines
These guidelines are designed to be used in conjunction with Kumar. R. (2014). Research
Methodology, 4
th
Edition, London: SAGE. They contain chapter aims along with suggested in class
activities to be used in conjunction with each chapter.
About the Author: Stephanie Fleischer is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Applied Social Science at
the University of Brighton which she joined in 2005 as a Researcher. From the start she was involved
in delivering research methods teaching for undergraduates and postgraduate students. Her
research interests are in investigating financial circumstances of students at the University of
Brighton as well as absenteeism and first year student experiences. Having moved into a teaching
position she focuses on designing innovative ways of delivering quantitative research methods.
Table of contents:
Chapter 1: A Way of Thinking
Chapter 2: The Research Process: A Quick Glance
Chapter 3: Reviewing the literature
Chapter 4: Formulating a Research Problem
Chapter 5: Identifying Variables
Chapter 6: Constructing Hypotheses
Chapter 7: The Research Design
Chapter 8: Selecting a Study Design
Chapter 9: Selecting a Data Collection Method
Chapter 10: Collecting Data Using Attitudinal Scales
Chapter 11: Establishing the Validity and Reliability of a Research Instrument
Chapter 12: Selecting a Sample
Chapter 13: Writing a Research Proposal
Chapter 14 Considering Ethical Issues in Data Collection
Chapter 15 Processing Data
Chapter 16: Displaying Data
Chapter 17: Writing a Research Report


Chapter 1: A Way of Thinking
Aims:
To understand the meaning of research
To understand different approaches: quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods
approaches

1. For the first activity, divide students in to small groups and ask each group the following
question:
Why do we do research?
Students may also want to think about:
What is research?
What is data?
How is research used?
Encourage students to feedback a summary of their small group discussions to the
whole group.

2. Not only is research a set of skills but also a way of thinking. Research is a habit of questioning.
What is happening? Why is it happening? What are the effects? On what? For whom? As social
scientists we are curious and want to critically explore the social world around us. Research is
used to gather evidence and also forms an integral part of good professional practice.

In small groups ask students to come up with an example of research for each of the bullet
points below. Students can be inventive and talk about existing research or potential research.

What sort of questions/types of research, come to mind in order :
To understand the field you are studying/working in
To explain and find the answer that you perceive
To critically examine certain aspects
To make changes
To find answers to theoretical questions

3. You might like to give a brief introduction or examples of the different modes of enquiry:
1) Quantitative (or structured) approach
2) Qualitative (or unstructured) approach
3) Mixed methods (combination of quantitative and qualitative) approach
Then divide the class in half and set the following activity
A) To one half of the class:
You want to understand how often students use social networking sites such as Facebook.
Briefly outline a study that would do this.
What research approach would be used?
What are the characteristics of this research approach?

B) To the other half of the class:
You want to understand why students use social networking sites such as Facebook.
Briefly outline a study that would do this.
What research approach would be appropriate?
Why is this research approach suitable?
Depending on the class size students could work in smaller groups in each half of the class. At
least one group from each approach should present their answers to the whole class.

4. The session could finish with a plenum discussion on how a study about social networking sites
could examine this using mixed methods approach. Here both studies on how often students
engage with Facebook can be followed up with reasons for using social networking sites
combining quantitative and qualitative approaches in one study.

Chapter 2: The Research Process: A Quick Glance
Aims:
To understand differences between quantitative and qualitative research
Familiarisation with the eight steps of the research process
This chapter offers an overview of the research process which is broken down in three phases of
deciding what to research, planning how to do the enquiry and then undertaking the research. These
essential main tasks to any research project are divided in eight operational steps which are easy to
follow and help novice researchers to follow a set order on their journey through the research
process. This is not a rigid sequence, more a guideline and these steps will be become more fluent
with experience.
This chapter provides an excellent opportunity to find out what students already know about the
research process. Some students may have conducted research before, others are new to
researching a topic.

1. Ask students how they would go about researching a given topic. It is suggested that you
provide a research topic, for example: student life. As an instructor, you may have a certain
topic in mind that your students can relate to depending on your teaching subject, the
current interest of your student population or even related to an assessment.
Students may have ideas on conducting an interview or doing a survey, etc. But, first things
first: What do you want to find out about?
The topic of student life could generate some interesting research questions such as:
How does it feel to be a student?
Why did students choose to come to university/study at this university/study this
degree?
Does year of study affect how many friends a student has?
Are there gender differences in student spending behaviours on a night out/ drinking
habits/study pattern?

2. Using some specific research question examples that have been formulated by students in
class a discussion about the differences between quantitative and qualitative research (or
strengths and weakness), the discussion around each example can follow the headings in
table 2.1:
Underpinning philosophy
Approach to enquiry
Main purpose of investigation
Measures of variables
Sample size
Focus on enquiry
Dominant research value
Dominant research topic
Analysis of data
Communication of findings

Points discussed can be applied to the example chosen.

3. Next, in small groups students use flip chart paper to create a diagram of the research
process which can then be presented and discussed in class. Here the research phases can
be used as a prompt to ask:
What will be researched?
How will it be researched?
How will the information that is required be collected?
Produce a diagram. What steps are needed and in which order?
The discussion may also include some theoretical knowledge such as formulating a hypothesis or
doing a literature review, a range of methods, models, techniques and procedures may be
mentioned. Students should concentrate in the first instance on ordering the steps that are
required to carry out the research. Other elements and research tools can then be added to the
steps.
Alternatively this can be done as a class activity where the instructor collates answers and puts
them in order of the research process in figure 2.2
4. After the discussion of the differences between qualitative and quantitative research and
the research process, provide hand outs for students to refer to of table 2.1 and figure 2.2.
The research process diagram can be used at the beginning of each subsequent session to
remind students of the order and the steps in the research process.

Chapter 3: Reviewing the literature
Aims:
to appreciate the reasons for doing a literature review
to locate the relevant literature
to develop a theoretical framework

1. For this activity pyramids can be used, students start on their own, then work in pairs and then
in groups of four. First, ask students individually to come up with a list of responses on:
What is a literature review?
Why do we do a literature review?
What counts as literature?
In pairs student can compare their responses and then discuss, in groups of four they can discuss
even further.
This may be also be a good time to reiterate the importance of referencing the work of others as
an academic convention. This also acknowledges that research builds on work from many
authors.

2. In the next activity ask students to list examples of types of literature they can think of.
The list should include books, government policy, statistics, abstracts, journal articles,
newspapers, internet sources, etc.

If you have time take the students to your library, or ask them to access the library
catalogue through computers in the classroom, and divide them in small groups. It is
advisable to set a time limit (e.g. 20 minutes) for groups to locate examples of literature
on a specific topic. You could give them the handout below where students record the
catalogue number/ library shelf of any resource they find. This will also help them
practice referencing and familiarise students with your librarys holdings.

Gather the students together and ask them to quickly report back on what they found or
did not find. Literature searching takes time and you need a strategy. Maybe your library
offers guidance or support to help with literature searching as part of or outside of a
course.

Handout for literature search in library
Examples of
literature
Full reference
(Author(s), year of publication,
title, etc.)
Catalogue number/
shelf space/ url
Where in the
library did
you find it?

Book

Journal
article

Newspaper
article

Dissertation


3. Alternatively, you could provide students with a literature review, for example on a piece of
research that you have published. The literature review can be cut up into different paragraphs
and the task is for the students to develop a framework for putting it back together. This
requires a little preparation to randomly number and photocopy each paragraph of the
literature review beforehand. Students in class can work in groups to sort the paragraphs to
relevant sections of the literature review. At the end you can have a class discussion with the
whole group and can give guidance in stitching the literature review back together and provide
reasons for the correct order.

Chapter 4: Formulating a Research Problem
Aims:
To appreciate the sources of research problems and the considerations to take into
account when formulating a research problem
To understand the process of formulating a research problem
Formulating a research problem is the first and most important step of the research process.
Research is driven by curiosity and there are many ways to select a research topic from something
important to the researcher, something that was read in a journal article, newspaper or seen on TV
or something that has been observed in a workplace or other situation. Sometimes students find it
difficult to come up with a research problem and the following activity can help to instigate ideas for
a research problem.

1. In small groups students can use the subject area of their degree and discuss the four Ps (People,
Problems, Programmes and Phenomena, use definitions below) in order to come up with
anything that could be interesting for a research study. Students should combine at least two Ps,
People and one other P. Encourage students to be creative but specific at the same time.

The main questions are:
What could be researched? Identifying a specific problem, programme or phenomenon.
Who will be researched? Who is the study population (people)?

Aspects of a research problem:
People (as in the study population) consisting of specific individuals, groups,
organisations, communities
The other three Ps are more likely to be subject areas:
Problems: issues or problems facing a group of people, description of situations,
associations, needs, attitudes, population profiles, processes, etc.
Programme: contents, services provided, structure, outcomes, consumer
satisfaction, effectiveness of an intervention, cost benefit, etc.
Phenomenon: cause and effect, relationships, the study of the phenomenon itself,
etc.

2. A follow up activity could be to discuss considerations of the research problem identified in the
above exercise using the following questions:
What motivates you to do the research on the chosen topic/problem?
How much time do you have to complete the research? What resources are available?
What concept and measurements have to be defined before the study commences?
What will you do if you get stuck during the research?
How relevant is the research to your study area/ discipline?
Is there secondary data available? How can you access it?
What ethical issues need to be considered?

3. Another activity in the classroom could be working through the 7 steps in formulating a research
problem, from dissecting a subject of your choice, or using the textbook provided examples from
domestic violence, teaching in university and alcoholism.
a) Dissecting a topic can be done as a free association exercise where students come up with
ideas around a specific topic. All answers can be collected as a list on the board.
b) Ask students to sort this list into sub-areas and allocate one area to each group of students if
you wish students to work in small groups.
c) Formulating research question from the selected topic can be done by asking students what
they want to find out about the topic. Start the research question with one of the following
question words: What, why, how, who, where, when, how often, whether.
d) Formulating research objectives will provide a focus to the study; or more specifically what
do we want to understand about the topic/problem? The objectives should be formulated as
statements and use language such as: to understand, to explore, to investigate, to find out,

etc. Students should come up with 2-4 objectives. Groups could present their proposed
research question and objectives on a small poster which can then be displayed to the whole
class.
e) Ask students to peer review the research question and objectives of other groups and to
give some feedback on the poster. Any comments should be helpful and provide an
explanation of what is good about it and clear suggestions on how it could be improved.
Tutors can also offer advice to each proposed question and objectives.
f) Groups can then apply changes to their research question and objectives using the pointers
given on the poster.

Chapter 5: Identifying Variables
Aims:
To understand the difference between variables and concepts
To understand the different types of variables and measurement scales

In quantitative research, researchers often want to investigate a concept or test a hypothesis. There
is a need to operationalise these in measurable terms so that answers from respondents are
standardised. To explore communalities in a study population, measurements and variables play an
important role. In contrast, in qualitative research studies perceptions, beliefs, and feelings play an
important role; here uniformity is not needed.
Concepts, such as happiness or poverty, are subjective and are difficult to measure because they can
have different meanings to different people. Variables on the other hand are measurable to a
degree of precision. It would be easy to come up with a list of male and female students in the class.
To do the same for a concept, indicators need to be established that can be measured with
variables. A list of variables may be needed to determine a concept. Clear decisions need to be made
on working definitions for a concept. To practise this:
1. Ask students to convert the concept of happiness into indicators and variables. An example can
be given from the textbook on the concept of rich/poor which has indicators of income and
value of assets with variables of total household income per year in $ and total value of houses,
cars and other items also in $. This then leads to a working definition: rich for this particular
study is if a total income is higher than $200,000 per year and total assets exceed $2,000,000.
How can happiness be measured? This can be done as a whole group exercise collating the
answers on the board if the class does not work well independently. If they do, this activity can
be set to small groups which then present their results to the whole class.
What are the indicators can you think of?
What variables are needed to measure each indicator?
How will each variable be measured?
Which measurement is used to formulate a working definition for the concept?


2. In a follow up activity the students in the class can identify the types of variables they came up
with in the exercise above. Here it may be useful to ask students to come up with a brief
definition of each variable type and the units of measurement. This will test students
understanding which then can be applied using the created variables and put this into context by
giving an example.
Independent variable the cause supposed to be responsible for bringing about change(s)
in a phenomenon or situation.
Dependent variable the outcome or change(s) brought about by introduction of an
independent variable.
Extraneous variable several other factors operating in a real-life situation may affect
changes in the dependent variable. These factors, not measured in the study, may increase
or decrease the magnitude or strength of the relationship between independent and
dependent variables.
Intervening variable sometimes called the confounding variable (Grinnell 1988: 203), it
links the independent and dependent variables. In certain situations the relationship
between an independent and a dependent variable cannot be established without the
intervention of another variable. The cause, or independent, variable will have the assumed
effect only in the presence of an intervening variable.

Categorical variables are measured on nominal or ordinal measurement scales, whereas for
continuous variables the measurements are made on either an interval or a ratio scale. There
are three types of categorical variables:
constant variable has only one category or value, for example taxi, tree and water;
dichotomous variable has only two categories, as in male/female, yes/no, good/bad,
head/ tail, up/down and rich/poor;
polytomous variable can be divided into more than two categories, for example religion.

Types of measurement scales:
nominal or classificatory scale each subgroup has a characteristic/property which is
common to all classified within that subgroup.
ordinal or ranking scale characteristic of nominal scale and subgroups have a
relationship with one another. They are arranged in relation to their respective
magnitude either in ascending or descending order.
interval scale all characteristics of the ordinal scale and it has a unit of measurement
with an arbitrary starting point and termination point.
ratio scale all the characteristics of an interval scale but it has a starting point fixed at
zero.

3. Alternatively, an existing questionnaire can be provided and each question can be identified in
terms of type of variable and units of measurement scale. Its best to ask students to do this in
pairs and then discuss the correct answers with the whole class.


Chapter 6: Constructing Hypotheses
Aims:
To understand the use of hypotheses
To learn how to formulate different types of hypotheses

Formulating a hypothesis in quantitative research requires some practice and knowledge of the topic
area. The reason for stating a hypothesis is that it can be tested and after the analysis it can be
rejected or accepted, the result is either true or false. Usually a research question is all-
encompassing and to provide more focus to it, it can be broken down into smaller components or
hypotheses. Each hypothesis can be tested and expresses a relationship between variables.
Give students some research objectives, such as the following or choose your own examples:
to investigate whether women are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body image than
men
to examine the relationship between age and voting participation in general elections
to investigate whether gender affects how worried someone is of being a victim of crime

1. Because hypotheses are specific and measurable it may be useful to identify the type of
variables in each example. Ask students to name the independent and dependent variable:
Which variable is the independent variable?
Which variable is the dependent variable?
How could each variable be measured?

2. Now ask students in small groups to make a prediction of the outcome of each research
objective. They need to formulate hypotheses. These need to be simple, specific, clear and
verifiable. Ask them to formulate a statement for each of the following:
Null hypotheses
Hypotheses of difference
Hypothesis of point-prevalence
Hypothesis of association

3. As a follow up activity, ask students to justify their hypotheses.
Were they able to predict an outcome for all types of hypotheses?
If yes, where did the information come from and how could the hypothesis be backed
up?
If no, why not? What information is needed to make a better prediction?

Feedback from each student group can be shared with the whole class in a plenary discussion.


4. Alternatively, provide a relevant research article and choose one where hypotheses are clearly
stated. Then structure the session around guided reading. Ask students to read the article. They
can then identify the types of hypotheses stated, look for clues on how the hypotheses are
supported in the literature review and how they will be investigated in the methods section.

Chapter 7: The Research Design
Aims:
To appreciate the function of the research design
To understand the function and use of different variables in a research design

The research design defines the type of study that will be conducted and is an important part of the
research planning process. The research design itself is a plan detailing how the study is to be
completed. In order to do that a clear research problem has to be stated explaining what will be
studied. Then, the research design details how this will be studied. In this session, the focus should
be on understanding the function of the research design in the research process, before the actual
study designs are discussed. If preferred this could also be combined when teaching specific study
designs, which are discussed in Chapter 8.
1. The discussion could start with the following question: Why is it important to have a research
design before the research is conducted?
Here an open discussion would support the understanding of the function of a research design
and could lead to identifying what information should be included in the research design.

2. Using a research question example from your research or practice (e.g. Are women more fearful
of being a victim of crime than men?), students can work in small groups and the task is to
identify aspects and information that is needed in order to describe the research design. This
exercise can be done by designing the study and then planning more specific details. Students
should come up with a list of detailed information on:
Sampling
Data collection
Analysis
Ethical considerations

3. To understand the function of different variables in a research design it may be a good idea to
recap the definitions of the following variables first (this could be done in a class discussion):
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Extraneous variable
Chance or random variable
With a good understanding of the terminology students can now come up with an example from
their study area (or you could provide one from your practice if you prefer, or use figure 7.1
which explains the factors affecting the relationship between a counselling service and the

extent of marital problems) in which the three sets of variables affect the dependent variable
when studying a cause-effect-relationship and apply the maxmincon principle of variance.
Generally we want to find out what happens to the dependent variable if the independent
variable changes. Sometimes there is a third variable involved, the extraneous variable, which
causes a change in the dependent variable. Also discuss any chance or random errors and the
use of control groups. Here are some points to steer the discussion:
Maximise the variance of the independent variable (How many levels will the
independent variable have?)
Minimize the error variance (What reliable measures are used? How can procedures be
standardised? How large is the sample? What sampling methods will be used? Is it a
random sample?)
Control extraneous variables (Can the extraneous variable be eliminated? Will random
assignment to control groups be used? How can the extraneous variable be built into the
research design?)

Chapter 8: Selecting a Study Design
Aims:
To appreciate when to use different study designs
To understand strengths and weaknesses of study designs

There are many different study designs and it is unlikely that all can be covered in one session.
Therefore it may be useful to concentrate on the most common ones or those that are important for
your study area.
1. A suggested activity is to ask students to select a research journal article of their choice and
interest. Students need to read this before the session so that they have a good understanding
of its content. Questions to consider in class:
What is the research question of the article?
What design was used to collect data to answer the research question?
Allow some time for individual students to feedback on their articles.
2. In this activity students can practice designing a study. Use your own study area and provide
students with a research idea to be investigated. You could give students the freedom to devise
a study on a topic they are interested in, but they may take a long time to decide on a or area
topic (this could be overcome by setting a strict time limit e.g. five minutes)and therefore it may
be best to provide one from the start. Divide the class into four groups and ask each group to
design a different study:
1. Experiment
2. Survey
3. Focus group
4. Participant observation

The number of groups and study designs can be altered depending how much time is available
to design the studies. Be sure to leave sufficient time to feedback from each group.
Each group of students should report back on the following:
Study population
Number of contacts with the study population
Reference period of the study
Procedure of data collection
Ethical issues
Advantages of the study design
Disadvantages of the study design

3. In order to start a discussion about different research designs this activity requires some
preparation. You may like to use examples from your own research. This also works well with
research being conducted by tutors teaching on your course, or research that has been done in
the department, as this may start a dialogue between students and staff on their research
interests.

Select some research studies using different research designs and present the research question
as well as the summarised results/findings to students. In groups, get students to suggest how
the studies were done. After reporting back, tell or show the students how the studies were
actually designed. Award points to those that identified the correct design! To make this even
more interesting students could also guess which tutor was involved in the research. Reveal the
names of the researchers for each study at the end.

Chapter 9: Selecting a Data Collection Method
Aims:
To appreciate different data collection methods
To practice data collection methods

Students can read up on different data collection methods and their strengths and weaknesses. The
research design will determine to some degree what data collection method is suitable. In order to
choose an appropriate method to gather data, it may be a good idea to explain the most common
data collection methods. Here are some suggestions of engaging with observations, questionnaires
and interviews. Each part could be introduced with a general discussion about the particular
methods.
1. Observation

It is easy to set up an observation; this could be of a film clip in class (the advantage is that it could
be watched several times) or students could be sent off in small groups to conduct an observation in
the field on campus. Before the observation starts, discuss with students what they want to observe:
Acts
Activities
Meanings
Participation
Relationships
Settings

Also establish how the observation will be recorded, (e.g. counting versus descriptions). Encourage
students to take detailed field notes during the observation. Here a sheet with general information
on setting, date, etc., as well as different columns for comprehensive notes may help to organise the
observation (e.g. time reference for film clip, speech or dialogue, events, gestures, personal
comments, category, etc). It would be advisable to keep a time limit on the actual observation.
After the observation ask students to comment on the following:
What did they want to find out?
What did they observe?
What did they write down?
How can the field notes be improved? What information can be added?

2. Questionnaire
The aim is for students in small groups to design a short questionnaire to collect quantitative data on
a topic. Guidelines should be provided on the length of the questionnaire (e.g. 6-8 questions,
including two questions on demographics). Students can choose a topic that interests them.
Alternatively you could write 8-10 topics on cards and distribute them randomly to groups, so that
each group designs a questionnaire on a different unknown topic. Allow students 15-20 minutes to
design a questionnaire. Ask students to set out questions exactly as they would be on a final
questionnaire.
In the next 20 minutes ask students to peer -assess a questionnaire from a different group
commenting on both strengths and weaknesses of the following:
Wording of the question
Ordering of the questions
Question types used
Overall layout of the questionnaire
Ensure each group receives feedback on their questionnaire and positive and negative comments on
each point.

3. Interview

Arrange students in groups of three. In each group one person is the interviewer, one the
interviewee and one student observes the interview. Ask each student to interview another student
on a topic (e.g. hobbies or friendship). The interview could last between 5-8 minutes. After the
interview each student should provide feedback and the observer can feedback on how s/he thinks
the interview went. Next the interviewer should comment on the interview and then the
interviewee. Now change roles in each group so that each student experiences the role of
interviewer, interviewee and observer. A plenary discussion can conclude the session by drawing
together lessons learnt from the experience. Issues that may be discussed are wording of the
questions, which questions worked well and which didnt, how to deal with pauses, body language,
etc.
Chapter 10: Collecting Data Using Attitudinal Scales
Aims:
To appreciate attitudinal scales in social research
To practice constructing an attitudinal scale
Researchers are often interested in peoples opinions for or against certain issues. An attitude
towards an issue is a like or dislike and is expressed in a positive or negative way. Attitudinal scales
help to evaluate these aspects. Attitudinal scales allow the researcher to measure the intensity of
the attitude and most people are familiar with Likert scales.
1. This activity involves constructing a Likert scale and students can work in small groups and test
their scales with peer assessment in the classroom (step 2). It is advisable to prepare different
statements for exploration ensuring that students develop different measurements (e.g. level of
agreement, success, satisfaction, importance, knowledge). Give students the following steps
from Fig 10.4 as a handout so that they can construct a Likert scale:
Step 1: Assemble or construct statements that are reflective of the attitudes towards the main issue
in question. Statements should be worded to reflect both positive and negative attitudes towards
the issue; that is, they should be for as well as against the issue. (If your scale is one directional, you
need only positive statements.) Make sure that all the statements have a logical link with the main
issue. You also need to decide whether you want respondents to answer in categories or on a
numerical scale.
Step 2: Administer the statements to a small group of people to test them for clarity.
Step 3: Analyse the responses by assigning a weighting a numerical value to them. Numerical
values are assigned differently to positive and negative statements. For a positive statement the
response indicating the most favourable attitude is to be given the highest score. For example, on a
five-category or five-point scale, 5 is assigned to the response that indicates the most favourable
attitude and 1 to the response which indicates the least favourable attitude. By contrast, a person
who agrees strongly with a negative statement indicates that s/he does not have a favourable
attitude; hence, the scoring is reversed, i.e. 1 is assigned to the response where a respondent
strongly agrees with a negative statement and 5 to the response where s/ he strongly disagree with
it.

Step 4: Calculate each respondents attitudinal score by adding numerical values assigned in Step 3
to the responses s/he gave to each statement.
Step 5: Compare all respondents scores for each item to identify non-discriminative items. A non-
discriminative item is where respondents with high attitudinal score have responded in a similar
manner as the respondents with low attitudinal scale, that is, both groups have responded to the
statement in the same manner. Non-discriminative statements do not help you to distinguish
respondents with respect to attitude as almost everyone responds to them in the same way.
Step 6: Eliminate non-discriminative items.
Step 7: Construct a questionnaire/interview schedule comprising the selected statements/items.
After groups have constructed their attitudinal scales each group or a selection can present their
statement and scale as it would appear on a questionnaire.
2. After students have constructed a Likert scale ask them to comment on the following points:
Problems of constructing a Likert scale
Advantages of Likert scales
Disadvantage of Likert scales
Differences of other types of attitudinal scales

Follow the answers up in a plenary discussion.

Chapter 11: Establishing the Validity and Reliability of a Research Instrument
Aims:
To appreciate the concepts of validity and reliability
To practice procedures to limit the effect on reliability in quantitative research
When designing a data collecting instrument there are certain factors affecting the data that the
researcher wants to use and the concepts of validity and reliability need to be established so that
the data is of high quality, accurate and valid. What do students understand by the concepts of
validity and reliability?
1. Ask students what problems are associated if they were to ask 100 peers to measure their body
weight and height. Students want to use the data for a class project to find out the body mass
index (BMI) of students. The formula is

How valid is the instrument?
How reliable is the instrument?

These exercises can be conducted in small groups and answers should be fed back to the whole
class.
Here are some aspects that should be identified:
o Participants are ask to weigh themselves and different scales may show different
weights
o Weighed with clothes or without?
o Weight in pounds or kg?
o Time of the day may give different results in body weight
o When have they last measured themselves, they may report a desired weight
o Less problems with height (inches could be converted in m or vice versa)

2. This may be a good time to explain the different types of validity and reliability. Ask students to
come up with a definition before they apply each to the BMI example:
Face and content validity (measuring body mass index requires measurement of height
and weight)
Concurrent and predictive validity (Body fat is assumed higher in a higher BMI and this
may be partially correlated to age or exercise regime)
Construct validity (statistical techniques can establish the validity of BMI using height
and weight)
External consistency (test/retest to verify the reliability of the each measure, weight and
height could be repeatedly tested; parallel form of the same: one could be measure in
inches and pounds the other in cm and kg)
Internal consistency (as scale data is used for both variables this should be high)

3. In a next step, ask students what strategies or procedures could be put in place to limit the
impact on reliability? Give specific example relating to the BMI example on the following points.
Wording of the question
Physical setting
Respondents mood
Researchers mood
Nature of interaction
Regression effect of an instrument

4. In addition you can also discuss the concepts of validity and reliability using a qualitative data
collection instrument from your practice. And ask students to comment on:
Credibility
Transferability
Dependability
Confirmability
If time allows also ask students to compare criteria between qualitative and quantitative research
judging validity and reliability.

Chapter 12: Selecting a Sample
Aims:
To understand different sampling designs
To appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of sampling designs
To design a sampling strategy
Researchers select samples because it is unlikely that the whole population can be researched. In
quantitative research there are strategies to ensure that the sample is representative of the study
population in order to make inferences of the results from the sample to the population, and
random sampling methods are best. In qualitative research we use non-random sampling designs to
ensure that the right data is being collected.
5. This activity requires students to read one or two research articles or research reports which
could be given to them to read before the session. Otherwise select some interesting research
studies from your study area of interest. Here the focus could be on one or two particular
sampling designs you would like to discuss in more detail (e.g. cluster sampling and purposive
sampling)
In small groups, ask students to answer the following question about each study:
What sampling method has been used?
What is the study population?
What is the sample size?
How was the data collected?
For quantitative: Is it possible to make inferences (is it a random sample?)
Students should then feedback their answers to the whole group. This may be a good time
to check the understanding of sampling terminology:
Study population
Sample size
Sampling design
Sampling frame
Random sampling
Non-random sampling

2. Ask students in small groups to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the sampling
method used in this research study:
A researcher wishes to conduct a survey of views about the disabled access facilities
at a Championship football ground. She is interested only in the views of disabled
users of the ground. She decides in advance that she will conduct short interviews
with 100 people, of whom half will be home supporters and half away supporters,
and half will be male and half female. She plans to stand outside the ground
between 2.30pm and 5pm on 4 consecutive match days during the middle of the

football season, and intends to interview people as they enter and leave the ground
until she has carried out 100 interviews with people who meet the gender and
home/away support criteria.
General guidance for students:
Use of key sampling terminology: study population, sample, representative,
random/non-random, etc.
What sampling method was used?
Strengths and weaknesses identified need to be backed up from the example.

3. This is another group activity. Provide students with a research question (e.g. What are
the patterns of usage of new technology amongst different groups of adults in the UK?)
Now ask them to design a sampling strategy to answer the research question.
How would they justify their choice of sampling strategy?
Who goes in the sample?
What is the sample size?
What sampling methods will be applied?
Is it a representative sample?
How will sampling bias be avoided?
Allow time for students to discuss their ideas with the whole group.

Chapter 13: Writing a Research Proposal
Aims:
To understand the function of a research proposal
To appreciate the content within a research proposal
To attempt writing a research proposal
Writing a research proposal is best taught by actually engaging in writing an actual research
proposal. But this may prove difficult to do in a time-limited classroom session. Therefore it may be
better to provide students with an existing proposal. This could be written by students in the
previous year for their dissertation, or a proposal from your own work, or a piece that has been
submitted to your institution from a researcher. Ensure you have permission from the author to use
the research proposal for teaching.
Alternatively you could select one of the examples from chapter 13 on the impact of immigration on
the family roles, attitudes of foster carers towards foster payment, investigating the relationship
between academic achievement and social environment, or what it means to have a child with
ADHD in the family.
1. Start with asking the students to read the document if they are not familiar with it already. Then
have a 5 minute class discussion on the function of a research proposal.

Why is it useful to write a research proposal?
Who benefits?

2. In the second activity, ask students to mark or peer assess the research proposal. Here students
should assess the work to certain criteria and provide reasoning for their decision. What
feedback would students give to the author on:
Introduction of the proposed study
Theoretical framework that underpins the work
Conceptual framework which constitutes the basis of the study
Research objectives or research questions (hypotheses to be tested)
Proposed research instruments to collect the data
Proposed sampling design and sampling size
Data processing procedures
Relevant ethical considerations
Addressing problems and limitations of the study
Proposed time-frame for the project

Marks of 10 points can be awarded for each of the above sections. Students can add up their
score and give an overall mark. Here each student could be asked what mark they would award
before each section is discussed in detail providing reasons for the awarded points.

3. Now that students have an understanding of the purpose and the contents of a research
proposal they could start writing their own proposal with support. The research question could
be provided, or students can use the marking criteria from activity 2 as guidance to structure
their own research proposal on a topic of their choice. There may be a specific process in the
institution that needs to be followed to get approval for a research study or dissertation which
could be followed.
Another idea is to use the writing of a research proposal as formative assessment for the course.
In that case, activity 2 could be carried out to practice the assessment criteria that will be used
for the actual piece of coursework.

Chapter 14 Considering Ethical Issues in Data Collection
Aims:
To understand the concepts of ethics in research
To apply ethical principles in research
Ethics are an important aspect of research. Ethical guidelines have been developed over the years to
ensure that research is conducted in an ethical way and without bias ensuring that all parties
involved are protected from harm. Ethical issues can occur at any stage in the research process.
Being aware of potential ethical principles is good but researchers also need to address any concerns
and find ways to avoid or address ethical issues during the research process.
1. Provide students with a copy of your departments code of ethics. Alternatively provide students
with guidance documentation from a professional body in your discipline such as the Social

Research Association http://the-sra.org.uk/sra_resources/research-ethics/ethics-guidelines/ .
The British Psychological Society, the British Society of Criminology and the Social Policy
Association all provide guidelines on research ethics which can be found on the internet.
Ask students in small groups to identify any areas of research that may come into conflict with
these guidelines.
After this activity, understanding of important terminology could be tested and important points
be summarised on the board including:
Informed consent
Sensitive information
Confidential information
Avoiding harm to participants
Confidentiality
Avoiding bias

2. Next, invite students in small groups to choose different approaches to research or allocate one
of the following to each group:
a. Structured observation
b. Survey(s)
c. Structured interview
d. Semi-structured interview
e. Ethnographic observation
f. Focus group
Then in groups ask the students to
Explain any ethical issues that need to be considered from the ethical principles and
guidelines for the specific research approach
Identify any possible problems for the research process resulting from the ethical
principles and guidelines
Identify any strategies for avoiding problems arising from the application of ethical
principles and how they could be addressed.
Follow this up with a plenary discussion where students can present their group answers.

3. The last activity uses the following case study from Israel and Hays (2006, p66) Research Ethics
for Social Sciences:
Carolyn Hoyle (2000) conducted research on the policing of domestic violence in the United
Kingdom. She sought to interview female victims and acknowledged that she deceived the male
perpetrators so that they would leave her alone with the victims. She did not tell the male
partners that the research was about domestic violence, leaving them to believe that it was
about policing all kinds of disputes instead. She also told the men that they would be asked the
same questions as their partners but they were not.
Discuss the ethical implications of the case study. Is deceiving the male perpetrators by the
researcher in this context justified? What are the ethical issues that need to be considered?

Chapter 15 Processing Data
Aims:
To appreciate coding in quantitative research
To develop themes from text using content analysis
After the data has been collected for a research study it then needs to be processed to get some
meaningful findings. The researcher has to make sense of the data. There are different techniques
used for quantitative and qualitative research. It may not be practical to cover both in one session
and might be preferable to allow time for students to practice the preparation of the data such as
cleaning a data set or transcribing an interview before the actual data analysis.
1. For this coding activity a questionnaire is needed. This could be a questionnaire students have
designed in an earlier session or an existing one that can be given to the class. It would be
beneficial if the questionnaire contained closed questions with a few open responses such as
age in years, amount of money spent on a night out, a list of choices with an other category
that is specified and an open-ended longer answer (e.g. the reason why another question was
answered yes/no). The task for students is to develop a code book with particular emphasis on:
Each question is a variable and the measurement needs to be identified as either
nominal/ordinal/interval
How will a list of choices be coded? Each choice can get a code if only one answer is
allowed or each choice is a variable with a yes/no option if the instruction was to tick all
options that applied to the question
How to deal with open responses?

2. After a code book has been developed, students should complete the questionnaire and code
the data that has been obtained in a data or code sheet where each row represents a
respondent and each column a variable. If a computer programme is used to analyse the data
and students have access to computers in the classroom then the data sheet could be entered
straight onto the computer. The researcher should already have thought about what analysis is
necessary to answer the research question, but this may be a good point to develop a frame of
analysis to think about what results are needed from the data.
If a computer was used, a frequency distribution or cross tabulation could be easily extracted to
count the responses.

3. Moving on to data processing in qualitative research. Qualitative research does not use numbers
it uses narratives or text, typically in the form of a transcript from an in depth interview, a focus
group or field notes from an observation. To make sense of the often large amounts of text a
systematic approach is needed to code or categorise the information. This means that the
researcher reads thought the text to find patterns, ideas, interactions or themes and then
organises them into categories or main themes to present them as findings from the research.
Research objectives help to focus the process on identifying themes from the data. The best way
to demonstrate this is for students to have a go applying the steps of content analysis to a text.
Provide students with a transcript, a blog entry, a policy document or even a song lyric to
practice content analysis.

Ask students to read through the text and note down anything that they think is
interesting, important or significant.
Ask students to read through the data again but this time make notes in the margins
about significant remarks or highlight keywords. A code is a definition that is assigned to
the data. There is no limit in creating codes.
Taking this a step further student should identify some main themes in the data.
Reviewing the codes and themes. Are there other layers of codes that focus on the
interpretation of the meaning of the existing codes? How many times does a theme
occur in the data?
What are the overarching themes emerging from the data? Checking the data for the
identified theme.
How can it be shown to others how themes have been defined using the data?
This exercise should be followed up with some students presenting what themes they have found
and relating them to verbatim quotes from the data.

Chapter 16: Displaying Data
Aims:
To appreciate strengths and weaknesses of tables and graphs
To practice creating bivariate tables
Displaying data is something that is often overlooked, but it is important to report on the results that
were found. After the data has been analysed it needs to be communicated to the reader or an
audience and there are different ways this can be done. Quantitative research follows a format for
presenting which can make use of graphs and tables to enhance the text and illustrate the results. A
discussion of these results follows. On the other hand, in qualitative research findings and their
discussion are often presented together and a narrative is used. The focus in this session will be on
tables and graphs displaying numerical data.
2. A first discussion could establish when to use tables and graphs instead of text or to complement
the text. In small groups ask students to think about specific examples when they would use a
table and when a graph.
Here students should also think about the advantages of tables and graphs. In what way
are they better than text?
Would they use tables and graphs alternatively? What distinguishes tables and graphs?

3. The next activity requires a little preparation to locate some tables and/or graphs from a
newspaper or magazine on a current subject or relevant topic. The table and/or graph could be
given out as a hand-out or directly projected from a webpage to the classroom screen.
Encourage students to discuss the structure of the displayed data checking whether all elements
are present in the display. Here is a checklist of what may be useful:
a. Title
b. Stub

c. Column heading
d. Body
e. Supplementary notes or footnotes
f. Univariate/bivariate/ multivariate
g. Types of percentages: Row, column and total
For graphs also
h. Legend
i. Labelling of axes
j. Scale of axes
Students may find aspects of the table/graph that could be improved and this can be explored in a
class discussion.

4. Finally students should try to construct a bivariate table with the knowledge they have on how
to present data. It may be useful to provide students with a topic or variables, but they can
present hypothetical data. If students have access to the internet they could search for real data
on a particular issue. Otherwise students may enjoy a quick data collection exercise in the
classroom. Students can be divided into different groups by age, gender or any other
characteristic and a few questions about whether they are member of a sports club or gym and
the time spend exercising in the last week or on any other topic of interest. This could be
recorded in a data sheet on the board. Here is an example:

Student
name/no
Gender Age Club membership Minutes of exercise in last week
1 male 19 Yes 150
2 male 18 No 60
3 female 19 Yes 200

Now ask students how they would display the data that has been collected using at least two
variables from the datasheet above. Students should present the data appropriately in a table or
graph to the class, and then receive feedback from their peers.
Chapter 17: Writing a Research Report
Aims:
To appreciate how to develop an outline for a research report
To practice referencing
To understand how to write a bibliography
Writing the research report is the last step in the research process. Now it is about writing up and
communicating what the study was about, how it was done and what was found.

1. As students have now completed the whole research process they should have an understanding
of what needs to be communicated in the report. This is a good point to recap the eight step
research process and ask students to use this to outline a research report. This could also be
done using a particular topic or variable. These points should be discussed which can be done
with the whole class:
Introduction to the study and providing a rationale: Why is it important to study the
topic/ variable?
A literature review needs to provide a theoretical and conceptual framework. Are all
variables addressed that will be analysed? What have other studies found?
Research question and hypotheses
Methodology and methods for sampling, data collecting and analysis
Results of the study. How will they be reported?
Interpreting and discussing the findings.
What conclusions can be drawn from the results?
What explanation can be provided for the findings of the study?
What limitations does the study have?
Conclusion and recommendations

Writing is a creative activity and reports can be written thematically but they still need to include
all the elements that have been covered in the research process.
To get students to do a short (five minutes) free writing exercise may be a good idea. Ask
students to write an introduction to a research study.

Alternatively provide students with an example of a research report from your discipline and
discuss each section in class.

2. In academic writing it is important to acknowledge and reference other peoples ideas. There are
different referencing systems in use but they all have in common sufficient information to locate
the original text and they are consistent throughout the piece of academic work. To practice the
referencing system that is used in your discipline or university, use a short extract of a literature
review and remove all in the text references.
Give students a hand-out of the extract and ask them to indicate in the text where to place a
reference (e.g. mark with a *). Students should work on their own, but can then discuss their
choices in pairs before the original text with the correct references is revealed.

3. In a further exercise about full text references in the bibliography, provide students with a list of
references from different sources, such as a text book, a journal article, an online reference,
chapter of a book, etc. Theses references could be taken from the literature review of the same
article that was used in the previous activity.
Ask students to indicate references from different sources and explain the differences in
reporting them in the bibliography.

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Kumar: Research Methodology companion website material prepared by Stephanie Fleischer

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