Introduction to Research

Issues...

Why are we interested in research?

What is research?
Key concepts and issues
Introduction to validity

Why must we understand

research?

help make informed decisions

need to produce research in career
evaluating research in the media
assist in classes

Why is research a valued source of

knowledge?
Common ways of knowing
personal experience/intuition
experts/traditions/authority
scientific method

What is Science, the Scientific

Method, and Research?
Science
a body of established knowledge
the observation, identification,
investigation, and theoretical
explanation of natural phenomenon

usually the ultimate goal is

theory generation and
verification

What is Science, the Scientific

Method, and Research?
Theory
a set of inter-related constructs and
propositions that specify relations
among variables to explain and predict
phenomena
should be simple, consistent with
observed relationships, tentative and
verifiable

What is Science, the Scientific

Method, and Research?
Scientific Method
involves the principles and processes
regarded as characteristic of or
necessary for scientific investigation
process or approach to generating valid
and trustworthy knowledge

What is Science, the Scientific

Method, and Research?
Research
the application of the scientific method
a systematic process of collecting and
logically analyzing information (data)

Research Methods (Methodology)

the ways one collects and analyzes data
methods developed for acquiring
trustworthy knowledge via reliable and
valid procedures

Characteristics of Research

objective
precise
verifiable
parsimonious
empirical
logical
probabilistic

Types of Research
Trochims Classifications
descriptive
e.g., percentage of regular exercisers

relational
e.g., link between age and exercise

causal
e.g., effect of behavior change intervention
on exercise participation

Types of Research
Other Common Classifications
basic vs. applied vs. evaluation
experimental vs. non-experimental
analytical vs. descriptive vs.
experimental vs. qualitative

Key Concepts and Issues

time in research
variables
types of relationships
hypotheses
types of data
fallacies
structure or research
deduction and induction
ethics
validity

Time in Research
cross-sectional vs. longitudinal
repeated measures

time series

Variables
variable
any observation that can take on
different values

attribute
a specific value on a variable

Examples
Variable
age

Attribute

Examples
Variable

Attribute

age

18, 19, 20, etc...

Examples
Variable
Gender or sex

Attribute

Examples
Variable

Attribute

Gender or sex

Male, female

Examples
Variable
satisfaction

Attribute

Examples
Variable
satisfaction

Attribute
1 = very satisfied
2 = satisfied
3= somewhat satisfied
4 = not satisfied
5 = not satisfied at all

Types of Variables
independent variable (IV)
what you (or nature) manipulates in
some way

dependent variable (DV)

what you presume to be influenced by
the IV

Examples
IV

DV

health status
attitude
social
support
intervention

exercise
participation

The purpose of the study

was to
test whether the Fair Play for Sport curriculum
is effective in promoting moral development in
youth
examine the relationship between age and
VO2max.
test whether there are gender differences the
value placed on sport participation
determine whether students perceptions of the
amount of positive, negative, and informational
feedback provided by their teachers is predictive
of their self-esteem and level of achievement
IV, DV?

Types of Relationships
correlational vs. causal relationships

variables perform
in a synchronized
manner

one variable causes the

other variable

correlation does not imply

causation!
(its necessary but not sufficient)

Types of Relationships
patterns of relationships
no relationship
positive relationship
negative relationship
curvilinear relationship

fitness

fitness

resting HR

vocabulary

arousal

performance

exercise intensity

HR

Hypotheses
hypothesis
a specific statement of prediction

types of hypotheses
alternative vs. null
one-tailed vs. two-tailed

Hypotheses
alternative hypothesis (HA)
An effect (that you predict)

null hypothesis (HO)

Null effect

Hypotheses
hypothesis

there is a relationship between

age and exercise participation

HA

there is a relationship

HO

there is not a relationship

this is a two-tailed hypothesis

as no direction is predicted

Hypotheses
hypothesis

an incentive program will

increase exercise participation

HA

participation will increase

HO

participation will not

increase or will decrease
this is a one-tailed hypothesis
as a specific direction is
predicted

Types of Data
quantitative vs. qualitative

OVERALL FRAMEWORK

EXP

KEEP IN MIND THAT

Qualitative research
generally deals in
words, images and
the subjective

Quantitative
research generally
deals in numbers,
logic and the
objective

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Agenda
Definition
When to
use?
Types

FOCUS GROUPS
IN DEPTH
INTERVIEW
PROJECTIVE TECH.

Pros&Cons

Research used in range of

activities from exploratory
designs to means of completing
explanations
Qualitative research assumes
that people have meaningful
actions or experiences
that can be interpreted

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
POPULARITY COMES FROM:
*ECONOMICAL
*FLEXIBLE
*OPENS A DOOR TO WHY, HOW
*RICHNESS OF DATA
*BEST TO START WITH...

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Identification of a given question; opportunity
or information requirements
Interest in obtaining insights for
motivational /social (group) or emotional and
attitudinal (individual) factors
In IR: primary data of events or personalities
supporting explanations and argument
(Cf. In marketing: for new product launch, new service
development or repositioning current product

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
FOCUS GROUPS
Agenda
Definition
When to
use?
Types

FOCUS GROUPS
IN DEPTH
INTERVIEW
PROJECTIVE TECH.

Pros&Cons

Characteristics:
6-12 people
Lead by a trained moderator
in-depth discussion on 1 particular
topic or concept
Relaxed, informal atmosphere
1-3 hour duration
Goal:
Learn and understand what
people say and why?

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
FOCUS GROUPS

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
FOCUS GROUPS
ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Synergy

Representativeness

Spontaneity

Misjudgement

Speed

Security
Flexibility
Inexpensive

Lack of analysis
Moderator
Subjectivity

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Qualitative Research:
Examples
Case studies on effect of vocational training
in Papua
Ethnographic studies on indigenous
populations in Oaxaca, Mexico

Qualitative Research Types:

Case studies
Developmental research
Historical research
Ethnograph studies
Case Studies:
Purpose: to do an in depth study
In brief: Background, current status and/or
environmental factors that interact for each

 Characteristics of Case Studies:

It gives very detailed information about individuals /

group / community
It may give a detailed explanation of a complete life
cycle or part of it
Number of cases studied may be small but the
number of variables studied are usually more indepth (e.g. if compared to a survey)

Developmental Research:

Conducted to research on the development of

individuals / group / institution / community

TWO TYPES: Cross-sectional and

Longitudinal
Historical Research:

Used to gain information on an event, development

and/or previous educational experience
Process may involve studying previous situation,
checking on current situation, and to predict if the
same situation will occur again
Conclusion on previous event is done based on

Procedure for Historical Research:

Define the problem
Specify source of evidence
Collect evidence / reference materials
Primary source / original (observation or witnesses of
events or authentic objects e.g. artifacts, speech text,
records etc.)
Secondary source (materials or information collected from
primary sources e.g. paintings, films, news reports,
documents
Critique of evidences

External critique: confirming if collected sources are genuine and reliable (authenticity of
paintings, signatures, chemical analysis etc.)
Internal critique: conducted after authenticity of source of information is confirmed
involves evaluation of collected evidences is it important? Required?

Able to explain the researched phenomenon?

Prepare the report
Ethnographic Research:
In-depth study of natural behaviours in a culture or social
group
Purpose to understand relationships between behaviour
and culture

Example: In education to understand schooling process (e.g., immigrant children)

Involves widespread observations (participant & nonparticipant)

 The distinction between qualitative

and quantitative research is not
precise. Most qualitative work has
some form of quantitative analysis
involved, and visa-versa.

Goals of Social Research that are

primarily answered using
qualitative strategies
Giving voice
Interpreting cultural and historical phenomena
Due to the fact that there are often many aspects
involved in historical research, and because many of the
materials are not specifically quantitative in nature

Advancing new theories

Inductive logic; it goes from a specific case to a general
case
qualitative cases are often more in-depth, and give a
fuller picture of phenomena than quantitative cases

Qualitative Field Research

Produces
observations
reduced to numbers

not

easily

Includes a range of data collection

methods including field notes, one-toone and focus group interviews, as well
as some forms of content analysis and
historical analysis
Well suited for studying social process;
How does this come about?

Categories
Naturalistic Observation
(Ethnography)
Ethnomethodology
Surveys
Case Study
Focus Groups
Field Experiments
Participatory Action Research

Challenge of Low-Constraint
Research
Usually involves careful observation of
participants in their natural surroundings
Can be very difficult to observe behavior in
natural surroundings
Often we are not sure what behaviors are
important until after we have observed for a
while
Without the controls of the laboratory,
participants are free to do what they want to
do, and not what we are hoping to observe

Qualitative Research Paradigms

Naturalists Studies or Ethnography
Ethnomethodology
Grounded Theory

Ethnography
A
research
method
whereby
the
researcher emerges her/himself in a
setting of interest for the purpose of
gathering detailed data about the group
(culture, symbols, processes, membership
boundaries, etc.)
Studying social life in its natural setting

Ethnography
Primary data gathering tools:
interviews

field notes and depth

Membership Roles:
Complete Membership (Complete Participant) assume
functional roles and are not necessarily known as
researcher; most closely aligned emotionally with
others in group; aligned ideologically with group; closest
to going native
Active Membership assume functional roles but
maintain escapes for maintaining perspective on setting
(debrief with colleagues)
Peripheral Membership does not assume functional
roles but known to group members

Ethnography
Distance from ideology of group
(perhaps) allows you to better
frame and explain ideas
Known
and
observers

Unknown

Ethics
Data collection considerations

Ethnomethodology
Relies on techniques for breaking taken
for granted rules to better understand the
invisible set of norms and values that
surround and guide our daily interactions
Babbies public trash example
Research subjects themselves are not so
much the focal point of investigation as
are the practices and processes that
enable and constrain their daily lives

Focus Groups
Establishing the Group
Small group
Coordination Issues
Paying your subjects
Finding a place
Need at least two research team
members; facilitation and note-taking
Purpose: RICH DATA not generalizability

Focus Groups
Advantages
Real-life data in a social setting
Flexibility
Speedy results
Low in cost
Group Format generates discussion

Focus Group
Disadvantages
Groupthink
Less control than one-to-one interview
Data more difficult to analyze
Moderators need to be skilled
Differences
between
groups
can
troublesome
Difficult to coordinate
Reliability issues
Recording process
Probing and Follow-Up Questions
INTERVIEWER TRAINING IS CRITICAL

be

Participation Action Research

(PAR)
Explicitly and implicitly, PAR has a goal of meeting
community needs and/or giving back to the
communities of research
With PAR, the communities of research are included
as experts in deciding the focal point of research
(problem
conceptualization);
and
investigation
strategy (research design) to help the community.
Research is conceived as a tool of community
empowerment.
You as researcher are guide.
This is a substantial departure from traditional models
where research expert objectifies subjects of research,

Qualitative Interviewing
Good technique for researchers less
interested in variables and more
interested
in
how
individuals
subjectively see the world and make
sense of their lives

Who are you going to talk

to?
Theoretical Sampling
Barney
1967;
Theory

Glaser and Anselm Strauss;

The Discovery of Grounded

The data collection, coding and analysis

processes occur ongoing providing us
direction for who needs to be talked to
next and perhaps new types of questions
that need to be asked

When do you quit interviewing?

Theoretical Saturation
You quit interviewing when you have reached
theoretical saturation
exhausted the variation in data patterns emerging;
no new themes are being offered by added
interviews
Example: Midwifery Research; Rationale for choosing
homebirth
Natural life event, Control and Empowerment,
Safety, Care availability, Quality of Care
You are presenting the set of of ideas, patterns,
practices which were communicated in interviews (#
that talked about each does not matter). However,
if only 1 person out of 30 mentions something, it

Doing the Interview

Introduction and Building Rapport

explain purpose again

verbal confidentiality assurance (and go over form)
no right or wrong answers
o.k. to ask questions and clarify
ask permission to record

Your Questions
If flexible format list of things to be sure to talk about
To get rich data: PROBE AND FOLLOW

You and the Interview: attending, listening,

thinking, taking notes, taping
note taking clarify something; to keep you focused
silence and patience balanced with keeping the interview
going
redirect long-winded tangents back to your line of focus

After the Interview: Writing up

the Interview and
Summary and notes of main points
Verbatim transcripts (dont let them pile
up)
Ideas tentative pieces of analysis
Methodological difficulties
Personal emotional experience
Responding
to
emotional issues?

interviewee

requests;

Ethical Issues
Use of unobtrusive measures (including archival
records) raises ethical issues
Participants are not given the right to consent
Some of the archival records contain sensitive
data
Researchers need to show the necessity for
unobtrusive measures and safeguards to protect
the rights of the participants
Must have IRB approval

Evaluating the Data

The data from low-constraint research is a rich
set of information
Data usually needs to be coded to provide
simplification and organization
The analyses will depend on the questions
and the level of data produced after coding
Must be cautious in interpreting data from lowconstraint research

Limitations
Poor representativeness
Poor replicability
Limitations of the observer
Going Beyond the Data

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
Characteristics:
Agenda
Definition
When to
use?
Types

FOCUS GROUPS
IN DEPTH
INTERVIEW
PROJECTIVE TECH.

Pros&Cons

A well trained
interviewer+interviewee
Interviewee is exposed to set of
probing questions
Usually face to face
Interviewer encourages the
interviewee to talk more

Goal:
To collect as much as memory,
attitudinal and
behavioral data from the subject

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
Applications:
-Interviews with professionals
-Interviews with witnesses
-When detailed probing is needed
-Discussion of sensitive, confidential issues
-When strong, social norms exist
-Interviews with competitors

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Concentrated

Expensive

issue maximum probing

Free exchange of
information
Easier to arrange
Best for intimate,
sensitive issues
Flexibility

Time

consuming
Exhausting for
Interviewer
Interviewer errors
Respondent bias or
reliability

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE
Definition:*
Agenda
Definition
When to
use?
Types

FOCUS GROUPS
IN DEPTH
INTERVIEW
PROJECTIVE TECH.

Pros&Cons

These are unstructured prompts or

stimulus that encourage the
respondent to project their
underlying motivations, beliefs,
attitudes, or feelings onto an
ambiguous situation
They are all indirect techniques
that attempt to disguise the
purpose of the research

*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualitative_marketing_research

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
Projective Techniques

Word Association

Sentence Completion Tests

Cartoon Tests

Role Playing

Third-Person Techniques

Picture Interpretation /Story Telling

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
Types:
1. Word Association
Customers are required to show
response to the concept they are
told within 2-3 sec.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

*Source: http://www.nielsenbuzzmetrics.com/images/uploaded/NikeBAM.gif

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECH.
2. Sentence Completion
Customers are required to
complete sentences or stories in
their own words

People who are concerned about ecology

When I think of a city
I drink a Coca-Cola, usually when .
Starbucks reminds me of

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECH.
3. Cartoon Tests

QUALITATIVE MARKETING PROJECTIVE TECH.

Hth
Hntfyf
hngfhn

WALMART

Lets see if we
can pick up
some house
wares at
Walmart

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECH.
4. Role Playing
Respondents are asked to assume
the behavior of someone else
Useful for emphatic approaches for
conflict resolution
Sales Supervisors are asked to become Sales
Represantatives, and vice versa.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECH.
5. Third Person
Way of learning respondents
feelings or opinions by asking
them to answer for a third party :
your neighbour
most people
typical person

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECH.
6.Picture Interpretation
A technique whereby respondents are
shown a picture and are asked to
tell a story describing it

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECTIVE TECH.
ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Elicit

Participation

responses that
subjects would be
unwilling to give
Underlying
Motivations, Beliefs,
Attitudes

of the

respondents
Skills are required to
analyse the responses
Expensive

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Criteria
1. Degree of Structure
2. Probing of individual
respondents
3. Moderator bias
4. Interpretation bias
5. Uncovering
subconscious
information
6. Discovering
innovative
information
7. Obtaining sensitive
information
8. Involve unusual
behavior or
questioning
9. Overall usefulness

Focus
Groups
Relatively high
Low
Relatively
medium
Relatively low
Low

Depth
Interviews
Relatively
medium
High
Relatively high

Projective
Techniques
Relatively low
Medium
Low to high
Relatively high
High

Relatively
medium Medium
to high
Low

High
High
Low

Medium
Yes

No
Medium
Highly useful
To a limited

Somewhat
useful

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
SURVEY
SURVEY METHOD:
STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE
GIVEN TO A SAMPLE OF A POPULATION
DESIGNED TO GAIN SPECIFIC INFORMATION

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH SURVEY

Survey
Methods

Telephone

Personal

In-Home

Traditional
Telephone

Mail

Random Personal
By
appointment
Interviewing

ComputerAssisted
Telephone
Interviewing

Mail
Interview

Electronic

E-mail

Mail
Panel

Internet

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH EXPERIMENTATION

EXPERIMENTATION METHOD:
Scientific investigation in which
an investigator manipulates and controls one or more
independent variables and
observes the dependent variable for variation
concomitant to the manipulation of the independent
variables.*

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Specific

Limited

research

problem
Clear independent and
dependent variable
High level of reliability
Minimum personal
judgement

outcomes due
to structured method
Unability to control the
environment
Expensive(large
number of respondents)

COMPARISON OF
QUALITATIVE-QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
CHARACTERISTICS

Research
Objectives

QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Discovery of new
Validation of
ideas,insights
facts,estimates,
and feelings
relationships

Type Of
Research

Usually
exploratory

Type Of
Questions

Openended,semistructured,
unstructured,
probing

Descriptive and
causal
Mostly structured

COMPARISON OF
QUALITATIVE-QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH contd.

Time Of
Execution

QUALITATIVE
Short Time
Frames

QUANTITATIVE
Usually long time
frames

Sample Size
Type Of
Analyses

Small
Subjective,
Interpretitive

Large
Statistical,

Researcher Skills

Psychology,
Sociology,CB,
Social Psychology

Statistics, MR, DSS,

Decision Models

CHARACTERISTICS

Representativeness Limited

Descriptive,causal

Good

SUMMARY
Qualitative methods focus on generating
exploratory initial/progressive insights into
questions and problems
Depth probing of hidden attitudes, feelings or
behaviour
Focus Groups
In depth Interviews
Projective Techniques

SUMMARY
Quantitative Research is interested in using
formalised, standard structured questioning,
whereby response options are pre-determined
Usually to be administered to significantly large
numbers of people.

Descriptive
(Surveys)

Causal
(Experimentation)

OVERALL FRAMEWORK

Source: http://www.informedbusinessdecisions.com/RoadMapt400c.jpg

Research Fallacies
fallacy
an error in reasoning (logic or premise)

types of fallacies described by

Trochim
ecological
exception

Structure of Research
The "hourglass" notion of research
begin with broad questions
narrow down, focus in
operationalize
OBSERVE
analyze data
reach conclusions
generalize back to questions

Deduction and Induction

Deduction

Induction

Ethics in Research
balance between protecting
participants vs. quest for knowledge
IRB provides one mechanism
informed consent/assent
confidentiality and anonymity
justification of procedures
right to services
http://www.rsp.ilstu.edu/policy/IRB/IRB_p
olicy.pdf

Practice Questions
1. Is the study descriptive, relational,
or causal?
2. Is the study cross-sectional or
longitudinal?
3. What is (are) the IV (IVs)?
4. What is (are) the DV (DVs)?
5. What are the alternative and null
hypotheses?

Practice Questions
A. The purpose of the study was to
examine the link between age and
physical fitness levels in terms of
muscular strength and endurance. It
was hypothesized that older and
younger adults would demonstrate
significantly different fitness levels.

Practice Questions
B. The purpose of the study was to
determine whether track athletes
trained to use mental imagery
performed superior to athletes who
did not receive the mental imagery
training. We expected those athletes
receiving the training would perform
significantly better than the
untrained athletes.

Practice Questions
C. The study examined the effects of
an acute bout of resistance training
on participants mood and cognitive
functioning at 1, 6 and 12 hours post
exercise. It was expected that the
positive effects on mood and
cognitive function would decline over
time.

Practice Questions
D. Participants at the 2009 Chicago
Marathon were polled to determine
their satisfaction with the course.
The race officials hoped for positive
reactions on the part of the runners.

Practice Questions
E. A researcher was interested in the
role of caffeine in sports
performance. In cooperation with her
Universitys baseball team, she
randomly assigned players to one of
two conditions: (1) no caffeine or (2)
low dose (100mg). She then used
performance on a batting machine as
a test. She speculated that caffeine
would positively affect performance.

Introduction to Validity
validity
the best available approximation to the
truth of a given proposition, inference,
or conclusion

Introduction to Validity
types of validity
conclusion
internal
construct
external

types of validity are cumulative

Introduction to Validity
for each type of validity there are
typical threats, and ways to reduce
them
this provides our framework for
critiquing the overall validity (=
worth) of studies

Additional Information
Describing Refereed Articles
Sharing Research Findings with
Clients

The Validity Questions Are

Cumulative...

The Validity Questions Are

Cumulative...

In this study

Is there a relationship between

the cause and effect?

The Validity Questions Are

Cumulative...

In this study
Conclusion

Is the relationship causal?

Is there a relationship between

the cause and effect?

The Validity Questions Are

Cumulative...

In theory
Internal
Conclusion

Can we generalize to
the constructs?

Is the relationship causal?

Is there a relationship between

the cause and effect?

The Validity Questions Are

Cumulative...

In theory

Can we generalize
to other persons,
places, times?

we generalize to
Construc Can
the constructs?
t
Internal Is the relationship causal?

Conclusion

Is there a relationship between

the cause and effect?

The Validity Questions are

cumulative...
Validity

External
Construct
Internal
Conclusion

Can we generalize
to other persons,
places, times?

Can we generalize to
the constructs?

Is the relationship causal?

Is there a relationship between

the cause and effect?

Validity Questions are Cumulative

Validity

External
Construct
Internal
Conclusion

Can we generalize
to other persons,
places, times?

Can we generalize to
the constructs?

Is the relationship causal?

Is there a relationship between

the cause and effect?