BES 31411 Research Methods PDF

BES 31411 TERM RESEARCH METHODS 01...

BES 31411 TERM RESEARCH METHODS 01 Lesson 5: Questioning Tools and Techniques for Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches Tools Used Gathering Your Data Depending on your method, specifically your approach and Now that you have variables in mind, the biggest question design, the way you gather your data will differ significantly. you have to answer is: How will you measure your Generally: variables? ○ Quantitative – Numbers, surveys, experiments. When searching for tools to use, revisit the literature. ○ Qualitative – Interviews, focus groups, transcriptions, ○ Think: Are there questionnaires or surveys already case studies. measuring this variable? ○ There should be an already existing tool to be used for Quantitative Approach measuring. ○ When using an existing tool, we may reach out to the Considerations for gathering quantitative data: original proponents. They often provide details as well on ○ Number of Variables how to score the tool. ○ Population and Sample Simply obtaining the questionnaire is not enough; it is ○ Tools Used essential to understand the scoring system as well to ○ Mode of Analysis accurately interpret the data. Aim for a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.75 or higher to ensure the Number of Variables tool’s reliability and validity. It is unreasonable to have too many variables in one study Terms such as instruments, surveys, questionnaires, and and make them realistic. tools can be used interchangeably in the context of ○ It is always important to ensure that our variables, as research, as they essentially mean the same thing. much as possible, are narrowed down. ○ Throughout the research paper, though, it is important to We should be able to identify what our IV and DV is. maintain consistency with whichever term is chosen to avoid confusion and maintain clarity. Independent Variables Mode of Analysis Also called Exogenous Variables. The variable being controlled, manipulated, varied Once you have your variables, samples, and tools, you have depending on the method and design employed for the to think of how you will analyze your results. study. ○ Are you comparing? ○ Contrasting? 1. Experimental Studies ○ Predicting? Manipulated ○ Between groups? Intervention, program, therapy, or activity introduced ○ Multiple groups? personally by the researchers. It is essential to determine your Mode of Analysis BEFORE Has both Exogenous and Endogenous Variables. gathering your data. Doing so prevents issues later on, such Example: Subjecting participants to different learning as realizing that the collected data may not align with the modalities. intended analysis approach after all (which could lead to repeating the data collection or redesigning the study from 2. Non-Experimental Studies scratch). Varied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) – Can be used for No intervention, program, therapy, or activity is quantitative studies, especially useful in test development. introduced personally by the researchers. Inferred from previous experience or attribute variables Common Statistical Analyses for Undergraduate Theses (e.g., gender). Has Endogenous Variables but does not necessarily have Pearson’s r – Parametric, linear correlation Exogenous Variables (only in Comparative Studies). Spearman’s ρ – Non-parametric correlation Regression Analysis – Prediction Dependent Variables Mediation – Relationship between variables ○ The shape is a pyramid. Also called Endogenous Variables. Moderation – Strength or direction of a relationship The variable being measured or outcome variable. ANOVA – Comparing means of multiple groups for statistical significance. Population Sample Qualitative Approach You must be able to determine your population and sample. ○ Population – General group of people. Considerations for gathering qualitative data: ○ Sample – Specific group of people (within that larger ○ Phenomenon or Context Being Studied group) with shared characteristics. ○ Population and Sample Be as specific as possible when describing your sample. ○ Instruments Used Sample is generally larger (n = > 200) in quantitative studies. ○ Mode of Analysis Highly subjective, hence, your interpretation may not always Example of a Good Sample: be understood by everyone. Filipino male adults, aged 18-40, living within Metro Manila, working for at least 6 months. — 1 | PLMB & SABM—  Phenomenon or Context Being Studied You may need to implement member checking or validation protocol. There are different contexts of qualitative research: ○ Phenomenology Cool and Warm Analysis ○ Case Study ○ Ethnography Analyzing emotional responses. ○ Grounded Theory While not a standard term in qualitative research, it likely What do you want to understand about your topic? refers to examining data for: It is important to formulate research questions in which your ○ Cool Elements – Objective, factual information logical study will be centralized on (e.g., context, literature, etc.). reasoning, or neutral observations. ○ With the onslaught of definitions that you are bound to ○ Warm Elements – Subjective experiences, emotional read and research on, it is crucial to decide on the main expressions, personal values, or beliefs. definition of each variable early on, which will greatly Identifying the essence of the phenomenon. help you in your defense. Cool Analysis – Transcribing, listing, organizing. Warm Analysis – Bracketing, categorizing, thematizing. Population and Sample Cycle Coding Especially for qualitative studies, you need to be very specific with who you will be sampling, since there are fewer Not a widely recognized term in qualitative research. participants. It might refer to a few different things: Sample is generally smaller (n = 1-15) in qualitative studies. ○ Iterative Coding – Code data in multiple “cycles” or Important for either approach are your Inclusion and passes. Exclusion Criteria: ○ Coding for Cyclical Patterns – Looking for repeating ○ Inclusion Criteria – Specific set of criteria that you are themes, recurring events, or cyclical processes within the looking for. data. ○ Exclusion Criteria – Characteristics that would not allow Usually historical, cultural, or phenomenological. your participants or respondents to join your study. Appropriate terms for each approach: Reflective Analysis ○ Participants → For qualitative approach ○ Respondents → For quantitative approach Critically examining your own thoughts, assumptions, and biases. Instruments Used Themes derived primarily from personal interpretation may lack the grounding in participant data necessary for rigorous Qualitative studies are fundamentally different from qualitative analysis. quantitative studies in the way that data is gathered. Benefits: Qualitative studies may use various means to gather data, ○ Increase awareness for example: ○ Enhance credibility ○ In a phenomenology, you might use interviews or focus ○ Deepen understanding group discussions. ○ In a case study, you may read historical documents or Triangulation other secondary documents (data not directly gathered by the researcher). You may see the following commonly used instruments in Involves using multiple data sources to develop a many qualitative studies, especially in phenomenology: comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon (but not ○ Aide Memoir – Interview guide limited to three sources). Structured Interview – You adhere strictly to a Participant Triangulation – Collecting data from different predetermined set of questions (there is no additional types of people to gain multiple perspectives about the or follow-up questions). phenomenon. Semi-Structured Interview – Allows flexibility as it Source Triangulation – Collecting multiple sources of data enables the interviewer to add or modify questions from participants to gain deeper understanding on the topic. based on the flow of the conversation (e.g., asking the participant to elaborate on some of their answers). Validation Strategies ○ Robotfoto – Demographic profile (de Guzman & Tan, 2007) Unlike statistics which can be easily double-checked for Personal data sheet that participants complete at the accuracy, qualitative data should also be validated through beginning of a study. appropriate means: Contains black and white information, such as age, ○ Correspondence gender, education, occupation, etc. ○ Pragmatic Use Provides essential context about each participant ○ Member Checking without needing to ask these details during the ○ Critical Friend Technique interview. You may, however, use these as basis to formulate your questions in such a way that they are Correspondence specifically catered to each particular participant. Having participants verify the outcomes of the study by Mode of Analysis showing them and letting them verify the findings themselves. The hallmark of qualitative studies is oftentimes highlighted One of the best ways to validate data. by the various ways to extrapolate meaning from the data. Findings – Used in qualitative studies. Examples of qualitative analyses: Results – Used in quantitative studies. ○ Cool and Warm Analysis ○ Cycle Coding Pragmatic Use ○ Reflective Analysis ○ Triangulation Validation through reconnaissance (reviewing the literature). — 2 | PLMB & SABM—  The extent to which a particular study becomes the basis for Critical Friend Technique other’s work. Involves recruiting a different researcher who was never Member Checking involved in the data collection and initial data analysis to complete the triangulation. Correspondence done by the researcher with another ○ Asking someone outside of your research group. co-researcher involved in the data analysis regarding the Another way to think of the “critical friend approach” would truthfulness and trustworthiness of data. be expert validation (Lopjanidze et al., 2020). Most feasible method. Lesson 6: Ethical Principles and Guidelines in Research Understanding Ethics ○ Restrictive (can and cannot do). ○ Something that is set in stone. Norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Ethics A discipline that studies the goodness or badness of human ○ Guidelines for proper behaviors or actions (doing what is activities. right). The science of human duty. ○ Universal, since they can be applied globally. Rules of practice with respect to a single class of human ○ Prescriptive (should and should not do). actions. ○ Something that we value or believe. Why do we need Ethics in Research? APA Code of Ethics We should always think of our participants. The American Psychological Association (APA) published Are we putting our participants at risk? versions of code ethics including those that govern research Is our study procedure harmful? from 1953 to 2016 and is still continuously evolving. Are the information that we will gather worth the potential Conducting ethical studies means protecting participants risk and harm to participants that are involved? from harm and abuse and ensuring that researchers subscribe to acceptable practices. APA Distinguished Tells us what we can and cannot do. Typically, we follow APA in terms of styling (e.g., how we Ethical Principles design our tables, how we cite our sources, etc.) ○ General set of guidelines that serve as inspiration for The ethical standards that the Psychological Association of people as they carry out their work in research and the Philippines (PAP) upholds are in line with that of APA. No practice in the different areas (e.g., industrial, one is relatively greater than the other. educational, clinical, etc.). ○ Overarching ideas of how we should act. APA Ethical Principles Ethical Standards Beneficence and Nonmaleficence ○ Seen as an expectation for people. Fidelity and Responsibility ○ Rules that apply to any kind of endeavors and may be Integrity observed to be specific to certain areas or disciplines. Justice ○ Promote ethical governance (order). Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity ○ There are different ethical standards for every profession. For example, Medicine, Law, Psychology, Dentistry, Business, etc. Beneficence and Nonmaleficence ○ Actual rules that people need to follow. Researchers should strive to protect the rights and welfare Ethical Dilemmas of those with whom they work professionally both with human and animal subjects they handle in the studies. Any circumstance that confuses the researcher because: Entails elimination of biases, affiliations, and prejudices. ○ There are competing or conflicting beliefs in the Beneficence – Must do good. situations at hand. Nonmaleficence – Do no harm. ○ Situations are seen to become beneficial albeit one’s failure to subscribe to ethics. Fidelity and Responsibility ○ Certain events appear unclear and complex. Consent goes both ways; both the researcher and participant Suggests that researchers have a moral responsibility to has all right to cut the research if it is way too risky and help ensure that others working in the field also uphold high harmful already. ethical standards. NOTE: There is a difference between legal and ethical. What ○ Calling out not only yourself but also other people. can be legal can be unethical, and what can be ethical can Fidelity – To keep promises, be loyal, and honor be illegal. commitments; trustworthiness. ○ For example, sharing the results of a counseling session Responsibility – The moral obligation to consider the to the parents of the client may seem to be the right thing well-being and interests of future generations when making to do, but it is not legal. decisions or taking actions in the present. Laws versus Ethics Integrity Laws Researchers should never attempt to deceive or ○ Rules governing proper behaviors/actions (operating misrepresent. within the law). ○ Particular, since every locale has unique laws. — 3 | PLMB & SABM—  In studies, deception can involve fabricating or manipulating summarize and explain our terms and conditions in a way results in some way to achieve desired outcomes. that is easily understood by the participants (because not Researchers should also strive for transparency and honesty everyone reads the entire Informed Consent thoroughly). in their practice. ○ The participants have the right to know everything there 2. Informed Consent for Recording is to know about the research. Only then will their If participants are recorded and there is any chance they participation be considered “fully” voluntary. could be identified, then extra consent needs to be given. Integrity – Earnestness in one’s actions; “walking the talk.” ○ For example, specifying exactly why we will be recording, how we will record, how it will be disclosed Justice or presented, if it will show their faces and why, etc. Additionally, if you wanted to use people’s pictures as This relates to a responsibility to be fair and impartial. stimuli in a study, maybe a study taking the same people States that people have a right to access and benefit from and getting pictures with and without glasses, you would advances that have been made in the field of experimental need a special form of consent for the people in the psychology or research. pictures. Justice – The idea that people should be treated fairly and equally. Deception Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity The act of making someone believe something that is not true, usually in order to gain some advantage for yourself. Entails considering the right to privacy and confidentiality It must be avoided but may be allowed under some among the participants. circumstances (e.g., your research has deception as its ○ For example, names in surveys are always optional for variable). confidentiality purposes. Must not be so extreme so as to invalidate the informed Considers minimizing biases and having awareness of consent. diversity issues concerning populations. Usually done in social experiments (and also in some Respect – Showing consideration to others through words, qualitative researches). actions, and manner. One of the most important. 1. Deception in Studies Confederate/s – Person/s who is/are usually tapped to APA Guidelines for Human Researches perform a secret task in studies usually related to valid applications of deception in certain studies. ○ Insiders of the study (e.g., Milgram experiment). Informed Consent Deception 2. Conditions that Permit the Use of Deception Coercion It is justified in the value of potential findings provided Anonymity that equally effective procedures that do not allow Risk deception cannot be used. Debriefing If subjects are not deceived about physical risks, discomfort, or unpleasant emotional experiences that In conducting research with human participants, certain might affect their participation in the study. considerations and safety measures must be clearly ○ For it to be allowed to be used, pros must outweigh discussed and stated in the manuscript. the cons. There is an acceptable, ethical limit to what we can do to our If subjects are debriefed as soon as possible. participants. All six of these guidelines can be found and must be Coercion thoroughly discussed in the Methods section of your research paper, especially Informed Consent, Deception, Anonymity, Clients, students, and patients are in a vulnerable position. and Risk. They may feel that volunteering for research is sort of “required.” Informed Consent Coercion can occur both at the initial point of volunteering and at a later point in the study when the participant wishes Participants must know they are involved in research and to withdraw but doesn’t. give their consent or permission. ○ The terms and conditions of one’s research. Anonymity The subjects’ participation must be strictly voluntary. This is mandatory for all studies with human participants. The identities and actions of any participant must not be The informed consent is not only meant to protect the revealed by the researcher. participants, but also you, the researchers. Subjects’ right to privacy should never be violated. The terms that you indicate in this part will always vary There shall be respect for confidentiality about the subjects. depending on the topic and scope of your research. For the Financial Considerations section, you must also Risk include here if you will be giving any type of monetary incentive to the participants (e.g., raffle). Subjects cannot be placed at significant mental or physical risk. 1. Informed Consent to Research Subjects should not be exposed to harmful or dangerous Not only is informed consent required, but full disclosure research procedures. as well. Procedures must be carefully interpreted and reviewed. All facts that may potentially influence the participant’s willingness to participate in the research must be told to them beforehand so that they can give INFORMED consent. In cases where we need to reiterate our Informed Consent by word-of-mouth, we should be able to — 4 | PLMB & SABM—  Debriefing Using your previously submitted assignments as part of your research is also considered plagiarism; self-plagiarism. Participants must be told about the purpose of the study You do not have to cite common facts. and provided with ways to contact the researchers about the The threshold for citing sources is 5 (highly encouraged) to 10 results of the study. years (sparingly); typically depends on research adviser/s. Debriefing is used to remove misconception (to alleviate any ○ For theories, it is okay to cite them regardless of its year. harm or fear) that deception may have created, or any misconceptions that may have arisen. Strategies in Research Writing to Avoid Plagiarism Reporting Results or Findings Direct Quotation ○ Directly citing verbatim what another author has said. Scientists have been found to change data to make the data ○ “Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” more favorable for their hypotheses. (Duckworth et al., 2007) ○ This is known as Data Manipulation in Research Conduct. Researchers put their name only on outputs to which they Paraphrasing have actually contributed. ○ Rephrasing an original idea as your own, while still First authorship in published, scholarly journals usually retaining the concept. always goes to the person who made the largest contribution ○ “Grit means having a deep passion for something and to the work. sticking with it for the long haul, even when things get ○ As undergrads, your names will go alphabetically, tough. It's about having the stamina and resilience to regardless of who did the most work. pursue your goals over a long period.” ○ It is ultimately up to you if you are going to add your research adviser on the list of authorship (e.g., said Summarizing adviser was very hands-on and significantly contributed ○ Condensing information to highlight only the essential or guided the group.) information. If another researcher requests your data, it is a common ○ “Grit is a combination of passion and perseverance for courtesy to share it. Share the final results, NOT the raw long-term goals. It's not just about talent or intelligence; data. it's also about drive and determination.” It is always okay if you do not get your desired results. Types of Research Misconduct Fabrication ○ Creating made-up data points. Falsification ○ Altering or misrepresenting data, such as by omitting data points, manipulating images, or changing research processes. Fishing ○ Conducting analysis until a significant result is achieved. ○ Going to a specific area just to get desired results (e.g., you know someone who is a perfect fit for your research, hence, you coerce them, in some way, to participate in your research). Plagiarism ○ Using or representing the work of others and claiming it as your own work, even if committed unintentionally. ○ The typical threshold before a phrase or sentence gets flagged as plagiarism is 4 to 5 words. Plagiarism Using or representing the work of others and claiming it as your own work, even if committed unintentionally. Dangers of Plagiarism: ○ Stealing someone else’s intellectual property. ○ Considered cheating. ○ Grounds for disciplinary action. ○ May result in blacklisting. It doesn’t matter if the person who works you’re citing is dead or alive. If it’s not your idea, cite your sources! ○ This includes translations and paraphrasing. You cannot change one or two words in a sentence and claim it as your own; that is still plagiarism. Replicating someone else’s results as your own is also considered plagiarism. — 5 | PLMB & SABM—