Practical Research 1 PDF

Practical Research 1 Quarter 2 - UNDERSTANDING DATA AND WAYS TO SYSTEMATICALLY COLLECT DATA After reading this module, you will be able to do the following: 1 Choose a relevant qualitative research design, CS_RS11-IVa- c-1 2 Describe a sample and know the process of sampling, CS_RS11-IVa-c-2...

Practical Research 1 Quarter 2 - UNDERSTANDING DATA AND WAYS TO SYSTEMATICALLY COLLECT DATA After reading this module, you will be able to do the following: 1 Choose a relevant qualitative research design, CS_RS11-IVa- c-1 2 Describe a sample and know the process of sampling, CS_RS11-IVa-c-2 3 Plan on how to collect data, CS_RS11-IVa-c-3 4 Apply the steps in writing a research methodology, CS_RS11- IVa-c-4  LESSON 2: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN What is a research design? Like building a house, a research design is your guide to finish your research. This may include answering the 5W’s: What? Why? Who? Where? When? Dawson (2002) explains the importance of these questions on how you will get the answers for your research questions. What is your research all about? What do you want to find out? What problems do you want to solve? It is important to have answers to these questions at the very beginning of your research. Answers to these questions will guide you on how you will approach your research topic. Why do you want to do your research? This question should be answered with the significance of the study. It may be that you want to do your research because it is a requirement. However, there are other reasons as to why you chose that specific topic. Whatever the reason may be, it is important to have a clear vision on why you want to continue your research. Who will take part in your research? Who will participate in your study? You should have a clear indication on the specific type of people that will take part in your study (age, gender, economic status, etc.). Where will you gather all the information needed for your research? This part of your research should take into consideration your capabilities as a researcher. If you think that your data and participants in research will be too far away, then it’s much better to change your topic. You will learn more about this in the following discussions. When are you going to start gathering information for your research? When will you do the interviews? When will you interpret and analyze your data? This should be answered immediately knowing that you only have a short time to complete your work. How do we relate the 5W’s to research design?  Knowing how to answer those questions on your own topic saves you a lot of time in thinking about your research as a whole.  You need to have a clear indication what your research is all about, why you want to do it, who will be your respondents, where are you going to get the information and when will you get it.  CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE RESEARCH DESIGN There are 4 approaches to research design: Ethnography Case Study Phenomenology Historical Approach Ethnography From the word ethno=people and graphy= writing. Ethnography translates to writing about people. This type of approach to qualitative research aims to study a particular group of people in their natural settings. This particular study wants to describe and interpret the behavior of different kinds of people, cultures or population. This can pertain to a specific type of culture, community, school, or workplace. Source: http://www.ala.org/lita/contextual-inquiry-using-ethnographic-research-impact- your-library-ux For example, you may want to study a particular type of indigenous people, or you may want to study about the behavior of students in a classroom. This type of approach is the most appropriate for your research. Case Study  If you want to learn deeper and more specific details of a certain situation, group of people, or an individual, you may want to use case studies.  The difference between a case study with other approaches to qualitative research is that it gives a more in-depth analysis to a topic with a use of more data-gathering procedures at the same time.  The problem with case studies is that it’s more difficult to use especially if it is your first time making a research paper. Phenomenology This type of approach to qualitative research wants to study the phenomenon or experiences of people. The purpose of this approach is to give an idea on how individuals or a group of people react or experience a certain phenomenon. A phenomenon can be a rare occurrence or an experience of an individual that is not common. An example of this can be applied when we want to study the experiences of teenagers with bullying or physical abuse. Historical Approach To give you a proper explanation of this type of approach, think of the 1986 EDSA Revolution; think about World War II or the past presidential elections. The historical approach is a systematic collection and evaluation of information which have occurred in the past. This can be in a form of documents, stories, artifacts, videos, etc. What you want to do is to examine the validity of these documents, or if you want to add more information about the past 7 events that haven’t yet emerged. You might want to ask questions like “What is the purpose of the document?” “Are there other forms of documents or information that I can add?” LESSON 2: SAMPLING GUIDE QUESTIONS:  As a student doing research, what is the importance of having a research design?  How will you use your chosen approach in research design for your own research? In gathering data for your research using different data-gathering instruments, you would want to choose only a few people to interview or be part of your study. That is the concept of sampling. Population - the complete group of people, animals, or objects that have the same characteristics that the research needs Sample - a group of individuals that represent the population. The process of choosing a sample is called sampling.  STEPS IN SAMPLING 1. Identify the population of interest If you want to focus your study on the reasons why teenagers are dropping out from schools, then what will be your population of interest? When choosing your population of interest, you should think WHO will be directly affected by this study and WHO will be the potential respondents.  STEPS IN SAMPLING 1. Identify the population of interest In this case, your population of interest should be teachers and out-of-school youths. However, it still too broad to say that teachers and youths will be your population because there are lots of schools in our province alone. Therefore, we need to proceed to the next step. 2. Specify a sampling frame It’s very difficult to say that your population will be teachers and out-of-school youths. Teachers from what school? Out-of-school youth from what place? If we simply say those are your population, then it will be difficult for us to identify who will be your respondents. Therefore, we need to specify WHO we want to include in our study. You may want to choose your sampling frame to a place where you are residing so that it will be easier to gather respondents. For example: I am currently residing at Valencia City, Bukidnon. I would want my sampling frame to be taken from a population in Valencia City, Bukidnon. More specifically, I would like to take samples at Valencia National High School because it is near where I am. Thus, my samples will be taken from teachers working at Valencia National High School and out-of-school youth at Valencia City. 3. Specify a sampling method There are many types of sampling methods for qualitative research. Here are some of the most common and easiest sampling methods to be used. You can either choose one method to use or have a mix of two or more methods: Snowball sampling- this is done by asking relevant people if they know someone who will be willing to participate in your research. You can put criteria or other qualifications for your respondents. You can use social media for “crowd-sourcing” or ask someone in your community who is willing and qualified to participate in your research. Opportunistic Sampling- this is a type of sampling that takes samples or respondents that are readily available. For example, you may choose respondents in your community where you can just pick anyone within a close range. Convenience Sampling- using this kind of sampling technique involves selecting people that are the most convenient for you as a researcher. You may use someone you already know as a respondent because it will save you time and effort in looking for someone who will participate in your study. These sampling methods are SOME of the methods that you can use for your research. There are many methods to choose from, but it is important to keep your methods simple to avoid any confusion and complications. Snowball sampling Opportunistic Sampling Convenience Sampling 4. Determine your sample size A book on high school research by Clemente R. F., Julaton A. B. E., and Orleans, A. V. discusses how to determine your sample sizes. There can be two approaches to determining your sample size: a. You determine your sample size depending on whether your data will reach its saturation point. What is the saturation point of data? When you conduct face-to-face interviews with your respondents, you may notice that there will be patterns and similar answers to your questions as you increase the number of people that you are interviewing. If you realize that there are no new answers and the pattern seems to be the same on, let’s say, the 10th interview, then it can be assumed that it will be your sample size because you have reached the saturation point of your data. b. Another way to choose sample size depends on the type of approach that you are going to use for your research. It was cited by Creswell (2013) that 1-10 subjects are recommended for phenomenology. Dukes (1984) stated that there should be 20-30 individuals for grounded theory and Charmaz (2006) indicated that there should be 4-5 respondents for case studies and a single culture-sharing group for ethnography. Therefore, your sample size is the number of individuals that you are going to use for your study, and it is up to you to determine which approach you are going to use in choosing your sample size. 5. Implement the plan That’s it! If you follow the steps correctly, with a little help and guidance, you can now implement your sampling techniques and select respondents who can be a part of your research. It is important to take note of all the details because you need to write it down in your research paper.  LESSON 3: THE DATA AND DATA COLLECTION What is data? Your data is all the information that you will gather throughout your research. How do we collect our qualitative data? One way to collect qualitative data is to gather your data from different sources of information. Some of these sources can include books, encyclopedias, websites, and first- hand information from people.  There are two classifications of data based on their use and source. PRIMARY DATA refers to first-hand information based on actual experiences or observations. This kind of data is more reliable to use because it is gathered by the actual researchers. Say you want to ask people in the community if they agree to a certain law that is being implemented by the local government. Their answers can be considered as primary data. Examples of primary data includes: data taken personally through interview, personally observing people to get visual data. SECONDARY DATA are data that are gathered from secondary sources, meaning it is not you that have obtained the information but rather, it comes from previous research, audio recordings, or books. One advantage of secondary data is that it is readily available to use, comparing it to primary data where you have to gather the information yourself. Examples of secondary data include information from your barangay census on the population in the area.  DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS These are the tools that you need to use so that you can gather your primary data when you conduct your research. You can even choose one or more instruments to use. The important thing is that you are knowledgeable to use these in such a way that it will not become a hindrance in completing your research. 1. Interview In qualitative research, doing interviews is the most common type of instrument that is being used. Interviews are done by having a set of questions to your respondents and letting them answer as truthfully as possible. There are mainly three types of interview: 1. Interview Structured Interview- this type of interview has a set of predetermined questions that are ready to use. If you are using a structured interview as your instrument to gather data, take note that you should not ask beyond what is written in your interview questions.  Unstructured Interview- this type of interview is the opposite of a structured interview. You are not required to make a set of pre-made questions, but rather make an OUTLINE or what kind of questions you want to ask your respondents. Dawson (2002) calls this type of interview a life history interview. That is because you want to understand the point of view of your respondents, hence it is not advisable to use pre-made questions. You want them to tell you a story, your respondents are free to talk about what they want to share with a little guide question from you as a researcher.  Semi-structured Interview- this type of interview is a mix of structured and unstructured interviews. It may be one of the most common types of interviews. You have to prepare a set of questions; however, you are also free to ask to follow up questions to your respondents if you want to clarify something or add information that is not available to you. This type of interview is also flexible which is why it is preferred to be used by most researchers. 2. Observations Another data gathering instrument that is being used most in ethnography is observations. This happens when a researcher observes and takes notes of the behavior of people that they want to be a part of their research. There are three types of observations: 3. Questionnaires Questionnaires are also one of the most common types of instruments that is being used by qualitative researchers. This is somewhat similar to interviews based on the format of questions that is being used. There are three types of questionnaires: 3. Questionnaires Closed-ended questionnaires- this type of questionnaire is similar to a structured interview. This is mostly used when you want to conduct surveys on your respondents. This is mostly for statistical purposes and the questions are already prepared for your respondents to answer. These types of questionnaires usually have boxes for the respondents to put a checkmark. Open-ended questionnaires- unlike close-ended questionnaires, this type of questionnaire leaves a blank space for the respondents to give their point of view about a specific question. Combination of both- this type of questionnaire combines both close-ended and open-ended questionnaires. For example, you may want to ask a yes or no question to your respondents and also want them to explain why they have answered yes or no. 4. Focus Group Discussion This type of data-gathering instrument focuses on groups of people being interviewed at the same time. This relies on the respondents to give a discussion amongst themselves on the questions that you, the researcher, give. You will serve as the moderator or facilitator. Put three or more people around a table and give them guide questions for them to discuss among themselves. Your role as the researcher and facilitator is to take note of their discussions.  LESSON 4: GATHERING YOUR DATA There are several steps in the observation process as discussed by Creswell (2007). Select where you want to conduct your observation. This can be a classroom, community or a home where you want to observe the different behavior of the participants for your research. To do this, you need to make a communication letter to the concern authorities so that you will be allowed to have access to a particular place of observation. Note: it is important to ask permission to who is in-charge of a particular place where you will conduct your observation. Some place may not allow you to take pictures or record videos, therefore, it is important to make a formal letter to avoid unnecessary problems.  Find the means to gather your observed data. This can include recording devices like cameras or phones or the more traditional recording devices like taking down notes on what you, as the researcher, have observed first-hand. Take your time to write down the important details. You may be overwhelmed by the number of things that you will be observing. Try to focus on the important details that relate to your research question. Make sure that you have your field notes with you where you will need to write the things that can be useful for your research.  What kind of observation will you be using? Will it be a naturalistic observation? Non-naturalistic? Or participative observation? You need to have a clear indication on what will be your role as an observer. Politely thank the participants.  How do we conduct a proper interview?  Find out what type of interview you will be using. If you think that there is still lacking data from your observation, try to find out if you may need to use other interview methods so that you can gather more information for your research. You may choose to use either a structured, unstructured, or semi-structured interview. Secure a letter of communication to the people that you want to interview. With the same protocol for the observation method, you need to have a formal letter asking for permission to conduct an interview with the participants. Make sure that you have your interview questions. Do not forget to prepare your guide questions before conducting a proper interview. These guide questions should be based on your research questions so that you can get all the information that you will need for your study.  Have the right equipment. Make sure that you have audio recording devices that are fully charged. You cannot take note of every answer of the participants so it’s better to have devices that can record the exact answer of your participant.  Let the participants choose where they want the interview to be conducted.  Politely thank the participants afterward.  How to establish a good relationship and communication with your participants? Treat your participants with respect. Wear a proper and formal outfit during the interview. Maintain eye contact and do not be afraid to engage in a conversation with your participant. Do not ask personal questions that are not related to your research. Do not forget to thank them for their time and participation.