Instrumentation Research Techniques PDF

INSTRUMENTATION Dr. Merve Şahin Kürşad  What are data? The term data refers to the kinds of information researchers obtain on the subjects of their research. Demographic information, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and so on, is one kind of data; Scores from a commercially a...

INSTRUMENTATION Dr. Merve Şahin Kürşad  What are data? The term data refers to the kinds of information researchers obtain on the subjects of their research. Demographic information, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and so on, is one kind of data; Scores from a commercially available or researcher- prepared test are another; Responses to the researcher's questions in an oral interview or written replies to a survey questionnaire are other kinds. Essays written by students, grade point averages obtained from school records, performance logs kept by coaches, anecdotal records maintained by teachers or counselors- all constitute various kinds of data that researchers might want to collect as part of a research investigation.  An important decision for every researcher to make during the planning phase of an investigation, INSTRUMENT therefore, is what kind(s) of data he or she intends to collect. The device (such as a pencil- paper test, a questionnaire, or a rating scale) the researcher uses to collect data is called an instrument. The instruments and procedures used in collecting data is called instrumentation. Instrumentation involves not only the selection or design of the instruments but also the procedures and the conditions under which the instruments will be administered.  Instrumentation Instrumentation involves several questions; 1.Where will the data be collected? This question refers to the location of the data collection. Where will it be? in a classroom? a schoolyard? on the street? 2.When will the data be collected? This question refers to the time of collection. When is it to take place? in the morning? afternoon? evening? over a weekend? 3.How often are the data to be collected? This question refers to the frequency of collection. How many times are the data to be collected? only once? twice? more than twice? 4.Who is to collect the data? This question refers to the administration of the instruments. Who is to do this? the researcher? someone selected and trained by the researcher? INSTRUMENTATION These questions are important because how researchers answer them may affect the data obtained. It is a mistake to think that researchers need only locate or develop a "good" instrument. The most highly regarded of instruments will provide useless data, for instance, if administered incorrectly; by someone disliked by respondents; under noisy, inhospitable conditions; or when subjects are exhausted. All the above questions are important for researchers to answer, therefore, before they begin to collect the data they need.  A researcher's decisions about location, time, frequency, and administration are always affected by the kind(s) of instrument to be used. INSTRUMENTATION And for it to be of any value, every instrument, no matter what kind, must allow researchers to draw accurate conclusions about the capabilities or other characteristics of the people being studied.  Classifying Data Collection Instruments When it comes to Therefore, Fraenkel et administering the al. (2022) grouped the Examples of these instruments to be used instruments in the instruments include the in a study, either the following presentation following: researchers must do it according to whether themselves, or they they are completed by must ask the subjects of researchers or by the study to provide the subjects. information desired.  Classifying Data Collection Instruments Types of Researcher-completed Types of Subject-completed Instruments Instruments 1. Rating scales 1. Questionnaires 2. Interview schedules 2. Self-checklists 3. Observation forms 3. Attitude scales 4.Tally sheets 4.Personality inventories 5. Performance checklists 5. Achievement tests 6.Anecdotal records 6.Aptitude tests 7. Flowcharts 7. Performance tests 8.Time-and-motion logs 8.Projective devices 9.Sociometric devices Types of Researcher- 1. Rating Scales completed A rating is a measured judgment of some sort. Instruments When we rate people, we make a judgment about their behavior or something they have produced. Thus, both behaviors (such as how well a person gives an oral report) and products (such as a written copy of a report) of individuals can be rated. Notice that the terms observations and ratings are not synonymous. A rating is intended to convey the rater's judgment about an individual's behavior or product. An observation is intended merely to indicate whether a particular behavior is present or absent. Sometimes, of course, researchers may do both. The activities of a small group engaging in a discussion, for example, can be both observed and rated.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 1.Rating Scales a.Behaviour Rating Scale: Behaviour rating scales appear in several forms, but those most commonly used ask the observer to circle or mark a point on a continuum to indicate the rating. The simplest of these construct is a numerical rating scale, which provides a series of numbers, each representing a particular rating.  a.Behaviour Rating Scale: The problem with this rating scale is that different observers are quite likely to have different ideas Types of Researcher- about the meaning of the terms that the numbers completed represent (excellent, average, etc.). Instruments In other words, the different rating points on the 1. Rating Scale: scale are not described fully enough. The same individual, therefore, might be rated quite differently by two different observers. One way to address this problem is to give additional meaning to each number by describing it more fully.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 1.Rating Scales a.Behaviour Rating Scale: The graphic rating scale is an attempt to improve on the vagueness of numerical rating scales. It describes each of the characteristics to be rated and places them on a horizontal line on which the observer is to place a check mark. Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 1.Rating Scale: b. Product Rating Scale: Researchers may wish to rate products. Examples of products that are frequently rated in education are book reports, maps and charts, diagrams, drawings, notebooks, essays, and creative endeavors of all sorts. Whereas behavior ratings must be done at a particular time (when the researcher can observe the behavior), a big advantage of product ratings is that they can be done at any time.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 1.Rating Scales b. Product Rating Scale: An example of a scale rating the product “handwriting.” To use this scale, an actual sample of the student’s handwriting is obtained. It is then moved along the scale until the quality of the handwriting in the sample is most similar to the example shown on the scale.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 2. Interview Schedule Interview schedules and questionnaires are basically the same kind of instrument-a set of questions to be answered by the subjects of the study. There are some important differences in how interviews and questionnaires are administered, however. Interviews are conducted orally, either in person or over the phone, and the answers to the questions are recorded by the researcher (or someone he or she has trained).  Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 2. Interview Schedule Its disadvantages, on the other hand, are: poor response rate; unlike a questionnaire, the interviewer can answer questions concerning both the purpose of the interview and any misunderstandings experienced by the interviewee, as the same questions have different meanings for different people; if only closed items are used, the questionnaire will be subject to the some weaknesses.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 2. Interview Schedule The interview is a social, interpersonal encounter, not merely a data-collection exercise. The interview is a flexible tool for data collection, enabling multi-sensory channels to be used: verbal, non-verbal, seen, spoken, heard and, indeed with online interviews, written. The interview can do what surveys cannot, which is to explore issues in depth, to see how and why people frame their ideas in the ways that they do, how and why they make connections between ideas, values, events, opinions, behaviours, etc. NOTE: The interviewer can use probes which are improvised questions that depend on the answer given by the interviewee.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 2. Interview Schedule Interview Schedule (for Teachers) designed to assess the effects of a competency based curriculum in inner- city Schools Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 3. Observation Forms Observation is more than just looking. It is looking (often systematically) and noting systematically people, events, behaviours, settings, artefacts, routines, and so on (Simpson and Tuson, 2003, p. 2; Marshall and Rossman, 2016). It can be systematic and structured or take some less structured form such as participant observation (Denscombe, 2014, p. 205). Paper-and-pencil observation forms (sometimes called observation schedules) are fairly easy to construct. The form requires the observer not only to record certain behaviors, but also to evaluate their frequency. Types of Researcher-completed Instruments The distinctive feature of observation as a research process is that it offers an investigator the 3. Observation opportunity to gather first-hand, Forms ‘live’ data in situ from naturally occurring social situations rather than, for example, reported data (Wellington, 2015, p. 247) and second- hand accounts (Creswell, 2012, p. 213). Observation is strong on face validity; it can provide rich contextual information, enable first- hand data to be collected, reveal mundane routines and activities, and can offer an opportunity for documenting those aspects of lifeworlds that are verbal, non-verbal and physical (Clark et al., 2009).  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 3. Observation Forms Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 3. Observation Forms Initially, observation forms should always be used on a trial basis in situations similar to those to be observed in order to work out any bugs or ambiguities. Disadvantages: They ask the observer ⚬ to record many behaviors than can be done accurately ⚬ to watch too many individuals at the same time As is frequently the case, the simpler the instrument, the better. Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 4. Tally Sheets A tally sheet is a device often used by researchers to record the frequency of student behaviors, activities, or remarks. For example; How many high school students follow instructions during fire drills? How many instances of aggression or helpfulness do elementary students exhibit on the playground? How often do they ask inferential questions? Tally sheets can help researchers record answers to these kinds of questions efficiently.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 4. Tally Sheets Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 4. Tally Sheets A tally sheet is simply a listing of various categories of activities or behaviors on a piece of paper. Every time a subject is observed engaging in one of these activities or behaviors, the researcher places a tally in the appropriate category. The kinds of statements that students make in class, for example, often indicate the degree to which they understand various concepts and ideas. Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 5. Performance Checklists One of the most frequently used of all measuring instruments is the checklist. A performance checklist consists of a list of behaviors that make up a certain type of performance (using a microscope, typing a letter, solving a mathematics problem and so on). It is used to determine whether or not an individual behaves in a certain (usually desired) way when asked to complete a particular task. If a particular behavior is present when an individual is observed, the researcher places a check opposite it on the list.  Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 5. Performance Checklists: Performance checklist noting student actions Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 5. Performance Checklists Note that the items on checklist ask the observer to indicate only if the desired behaviors take place. No subjective judgments are called for on the part of the observer as to how well the individual performs. Items that call for such judgments are best left to rating scales.  6. Anecdotal Records Types of Researcher- Another way of recording the behavior of completed individuals is the anecdotal record. Instruments It is just what its name implies- a record of observed behaviors written down in the form of anecdotes. There is no set format; rather, observers are free to record any behavior they think is important and need not focus on the same behavior for all subjects. To be most useful, however, observers should try to be as specific and as factual as possible and to avoid evaluative, interpretive, or overly generalized remarks. Types of Researcher- completed Instruments 7. Flowcharts A particular type of tally sheet is the participation flowchart. Flowcharts are particularly helpful in analyzing class discussions. Both the number and direction of student remarks can be charted to gain some idea of the quantity and focus of students' verbal participation in class. One of the easiest ways to do this is to prepare a seating chart on which a box is drawn for each student in the class being observed Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 7. Flowcharts A tally is then placed in the box of a particular student each time he or she makes a verbal comment. To indicate the direction of individual student comments, arrows can be drawn from the box of a student making a comment to the box of the student to whom the comment is directed.  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 7. Flowcharts Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 8. Time and Motion Logs There are occasions when researchers want to make a very detailed observation of an individual or a group. This is often the case, for example, when trying to identify the reasons underlying a particular problem or difficulty that an individual or class is having. A time-and-motion study is the observation and detailed recording over a given period of time of the activities of one or more individuals (for example, during a 15-minute laboratory demonstration). Observers try to record everything an individual does as objectively as possible and at brief, regular intervals (such as every 3 minutes, with a !-minute break interspersed between intervals).  Types of Researcher-completed Instruments 8. Time and Motion Logs  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires The interview schedule could be used as a questionnaire. Questionnaires offer benefits of standardized and open responses to a range of topics from a large sample or population. They can be cheap, reliable, valid, quick and easy to complete. The field of questionnaire design is vast. In a questionnaire, the subjects respond to the questions by writing or, more commonly, by marking an answer sheet. They can be mailed or given to large numbers of people Types of Subject- completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires Questionnaires administered personally to groups of individuals have a number of advantages. The person administering the instrument has an opportunity to establish rapport, explain the purpose of the study, and explain the meaning of items that may not be clear. The availability of a number of respondents in one place makes possible an economy of time and expense and provides a high proportion of usable responses It has been referred to as the lazy person’s way of gaining information, although the careful preparation of a good questionnaire takes a great deal of time, ingenuity, and hard work. Types of Subject- completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires Types of Subject- completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires Selection items on questionnaires include multiple choice, true-false, matching, or interpretive-exercise questions. Supply items include short-answer or essay questions. Though there are many types of questionnaire, there is a simple rule of thumb: the larger the size of the sample, the more structured, closed and numerical the questionnaire may have to be, and the smaller the size of the sample, the less structured, more open and word-based the questionnaire can be. Types of Subject- completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires The questionnaire designer must choose the metric – the scale of data – to be adopted, and this will affect the possible statistical analysis. This concerns numerical data and which statistics can be used with which types of numerical data.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires Dichotomous questions Multiple choice questions  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires Rating scales  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 1. Questionnaires The disadvantages are that unclear or seemingly ambiguous questions cannot be clarified and respondent has no chance to expand on or react verbally to a question of particular interest or importance. Types of Subject- completed Instruments 2. Self-Checklist A self-checklist is a list of several characteristics or activities presented to the subjects of a study. The individuals are asked to study the list and then to place a mark opposite the characteristis they possess or the activities in which they have engaged for a particular length of time. Self-checklists are often used when researchers want students to diagnose or to appraise their own performance  Types of Subject- completed Instruments 2. Self- Checklist  Types of Subject- completed Instruments 3. Attitude Scales The basic assumption that underlies all attitude scales is that it is possible to discover attitudes by asking individuals to respond to a series of statements of preference. Thus, if individuals agree with the statement, "A course in philosophy should be required of all candidates for a teaching credential," researchers infer that these students have a positive attitude toward such a course. An attitude scale, therefore, consists of a set of statements to which an individual responds. The pattern of responses is then viewed as evidence of one or more underlying attitudes.  3. Attitude Scales Types of Subject- Attitude scales are often similar to rating scales in form, with words completed and numbers placed on a Instruments continuum. Subjects circle the word or number that best represents how they feel about the topics included in the questions or statements in the scale. A commonly used attitude scale in educational research is the Likert scale, named after the man who designed it.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 3. Attitude Scales: Likert type scale  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 3. Attitude Scales A unique sort of attitude scale that is especially useful for classroom research is the semantic differential. It allows a researcher to measure a subject's attitude toward a particular concept. Subjects are presented with a continuum of several pairs of adjectives (good-bad, cold-hot, priceless- worthless, and so on) and asked to place a checkmark between each pair to indicate their attitudes.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 3. Attitude Scales: Semantic differential scale Adjectives/Adverbs  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 3. Attitude Scales- Pictorial attitude scale A scale that has particular value for determining the attitudes of young children uses simply drawn faces. When the subjects of an attitude study are primary school children or younger, they can be asked to place an X under a face, such as the ones shown in Figure Types of Subject-completed Instruments 4. Personality (or Character) Inventories Personality inventories are designed to measure certain traits of individuals or to assess their feelings about themselves. The individual checks responses to certain questions or statements. These instruments yield scores that are assumed or have been shown to measure certain personality traits or tendencies. Examples of such inventories include; ⚬ The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, ⚬ The IPAT Anxiety Scale, ⚬ The Piers-Harris Children's Self- Concept Scale (How I Feel About Myself), ⚬ The Kuder Preference Record  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 4. Personality (or Character) Inventories: Sample Items from a Personality Inventory Types of Subject-completed Instruments 5. Achievement Tests Achievement, or ability, tests measure an individual's knowledge or skill in a given area or subject. They are mostly used in schools to measure learning or the effectiveness of instruction. Achievement tests can be classified in several ways; 1.General achievement tests are usually batteries of tests that measure such things as vocabulary, reading ability, language usage, math, and social studies. 2.Specific achievement tests, on the other hand, are tests that measure an individual's ability in a specific subject such as English, world history, or biology.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 5. Achievement Tests: Sample Items from an Achıevement Test Types of Subject-completed Instruments 5. Achievement Tests They are particularly helpful in determining individual or group status in academic learning. Achievement test scores are used in placing, advancing, or retaining students at particular grade levels. They are used in diagnosing strengths and weaknesses and as a basis for awarding prizes, scholarships, or degrees. Many of the achievement tests used in schools are nonstandardized, teacher- designed tests. In research, achievement test scores are used frequently in evaluating the influences of courses of study, teachers, teaching methods, and other factors considered to be significant in educational practice. In using tests for evaluative purposes, researchers must remember not to generalize beyond the specific elements measured.  Another well-known type of ability test is the so-called general aptitude, or intelligence, test, which assesses intellectual abilities that are not, in most cases, specifically taught in school. Types of Some measure of general Subject- ability is frequently used as either an independent or a completed dependent variable in research. Instruments In attempting to assess the 6. Aptitude Tests effects of different instructional programs, for example, it is often necessary to control this variable so that groups exposed to the different programs are not markedly different in general ability.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 6. Aptitude Tests Aptitude tests are intended to measure an individual's potential to achieve; in actuality, they measure present skills or abilities. They differ from achievement tests in their purpose and often in content, usually including a wider variety of skills or knowledge. To the extent that they measure past learning, they are similar to achievement tests. To the extent that they measure nondeliberate or unplanned learning, they are different. Aptitude tests attempt to predict an individual’s capacity to acquire improved performance with additional training.  The same test may be either an aptitude Types of Subject- or an achievement test, depending on the purpose for which it is used. completed A mathematics achievement test, for Instruments example, may also measure aptitude for additional mathematics. Although such tests are used primarily by counselors to 6. Aptitude Tests help individuals identify areas in which they may have potential, they also can be used in research. Aptitude tests have also been designed to predict improved performance with further training in many areas. These inferred measurements have been applied to mechanical and manipulative skills, musical and artistic pursuits, and many professional areas involving many types of predicted ability.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 6. Aptitude Tests They also can be used in research. In this regard, they are particularly useful for purposes of control. For example, to measure the effectiveness of an instructional program designed to increase problem-solving ability in mathematics, a researcher might decide to use an aptitude test to adjust for initial differences in ability. Aptitude tests may be administered to individuals or groups. Each method has both advantages and disadvantages. The big advantage of group tests is that they are more convenient to administer and hence save considerable time.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 6. Aptitude Tests One disadvantage is that they require a great deal of reading, and students who are low in reading ability are thus at a disadvantage. Furthermore, it is difficult for those taking the test to have test instructions clarified or to have any interaction with the examiner (which sometimes can raise scores). Lastly, the range of possible tasks on which the student can be examined is much less with a group-administered test than with an individually administered test.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 6. Aptitude Tests The California Test of Mental Maturity (CTMM) and the Otis-Lennon are examples of group tests. The best-known of the individual aptitude tests is the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, although the Wechsler scales are used more widely. Sample item from an aptitude test  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 6. Aptitude Tests Sample items from an intelligence test Types of Subject-completed Instruments 7. Performance Tests As mentioned, a performance test measures an individual's performance on a particular task. It is not always easy to determine whether a particular instrument should be called a performance test, a performance checklist, or a performance rating scale. A performance test is the most objective of the three. When a considerable amount of judgment is required to determine if the various aspects of a performance were done correctly, the device is likely to be classified as either a checklist or rating scale.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 7. Performance test: Example from the Blum Sewing Machine Test developed more than 70 years ago  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 8. Projective Devices A projective device is any sort of instrument with a vague stimulus that allows individuals to project their interests, preferences, anxieties, prejudices, needs, and so on through their responses to it. A projective instrument enables subjects to project their internal feelings, attitudes, needs, values, or wishes to an external object. Thus, the subjects may unconsciously reveal themselves as they react to the external object. This kind of device has no "right" answers (or any clear-cut answers of any sort), and its format allows an individual to express something of his or her own personality. Types of Subject-completed Instruments 8. Projective Devices There is room for a wide variety of responses. Perhaps the best-known example of a projective device is the Rorschach Ink Blot Test, in which individuals are presented with a series of ambiguously shaped ink blots and asked to describe what the blots look like.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 8. Projective Devices E.g. Roschach Ink Blot Test (See the following link) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lWFIS5IP6o Types of Subject-completed Instruments 9.Sociometric Devices Sociometric devices ask individuals to rate their peers in some way. Two examples include the «sociogram» and the «group play». A sociogram is a visual representation, usually by means of arrows, of the choices people make about other individuals with whom they interact. It is frequently used to assess the climate and structure of interpersonal relationships within a classroom, but it is by no means limited to such an environment. Each student is usually represented by a circle (if female) or a triangle (if male), and arrows are then drawn to indicate different student choices with regard to a particular question. Types of Subject- completed Instruments 9.Sociometric Devices: Sociogram  9.Sociometric Devices Types of Subject- Another version of a sociometric device is the group play. Students are asked to completed cast different members of their group in various roles in a play to illustrate their Instruments interpersonal relationships. The roles are listed on a piece of paper, and then the members of the group are asked to write in the name of the student they think each role best describes. Almost any type of role can be suggested. The casting choices that individuals make often shed considerable light on how some individuals are viewed by others.  Types of Subject-completed Instruments 9.Sociometric Devices: Group Play