RES Assignment 3

Assignment 3 – Mixed Methods

In this assignment, the student will develop appropriate quantitative and qualitative research questions toward the development of a mixed method design. Next, the student will include the quantitative research design noted from either assignment 2 and include a qualitative component designed to address the qualitative research question. The student will provide a visual diagram of the mixed method design and include the appropriate design notations. A discussion of the strengths and limitations of this approach will be offered at the end of this assignment.

Assignment 2: Research Design

The proposed research study will be based on a survey, cross-sectional and correlation research designs. It will also employ both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The research study will take a quantitative approach since it consists of variables that will be measured with numbers and analyzed using various statistical techniques to find out the levels of stress among parents before and after their children have been diagnosed with autism. The research study will also take a qualitative approach. This particular approach will give clear, precise and testable expression to qualitative ideas. 

The study is cross-sectional because it will be carried out across various participants over a short period. It will not be necessary for the researcher to make a follow up of the respondents. The survey is preferred because it will allow the researcher to obtain data from a large number of respondents. The sample that will be used will, therefore, be convenient. The selected research design is likely to serve well in all aspects of the study. One of the advantages of the selected research design is that it enables the researcher to get data from many respondents hence able to obtain generalizable findings. 

However, there are a few limitations of the survey and cross-sectional design. First, the researcher may get very tired after collecting data from many respondents. This is likely to result in fatigue. Fatigue might impact negatively on the findings of the study. It reduces the likelihood of obtaining accurate measures. Secondly, it is time-consuming. Carrying out a survey consumes a lot of time. When a lot of time is consumed, time is wasted. Time wastage is likely to eat up the time that the researcher has to execute other duties like data analysis and presentation of findings. 

Developing a research scenario 

The research scenario is developed based on survey design. Some of the people living in a certain geographical area have children who have been diagnosed with autism. A researcher, therefore, comes up with an idea to investigate to determine the stress levels of parents who have children diagnosed with autism. A researcher is, therefore, investigating a group of people to find out their stress levels before and after their children are diagnosed with autism. The findings of this particular investigation are likely to show that many parents become more stressed when their children have been diagnosed with autism. It is, however, good to note that this high level of stress eventually begins to drop when parents of autistic children accept the predicament that has to befall their children.

The independent variable is the find out their stress levels among parents. The dependent variable is autism among children. The following is the research question: what is the level of stress among parents before and after their children have been diagnosed with autism?

Sampling technique and procedure

The researcher might not be able to collect data from all the parents whose children have been diagnosed with autism. In an attempt to correctly answer the research questions, there is a need for a researcher to select a convenient sample. The researcher might not have enough time and resources to collect the entire population consisting of parents whose children have been diagnosed with autism. The researcher will, therefore, be required to choose a convenient method of sampling to reduce the number of cases. 

The sampling method that is appropriate for the study is probability sampling. A stratified sampling technique is one of the techniques that are categorized under probability sampling. It is often used where there is a great deal of variation within a population. Stratified sampling is adopted to classify parents who have children with autism according to their occupations. In stratified sampling, the population is divided into strata (or subgroups) and a random sample is taken from each subgroup. A subgroup is a natural set of items. The sub-groups will be based on the occupation of parents who have children with autism. The purpose of this particular sampling technique is to ensure that every stratum is adequately represented. One advantage of this particular sampling technique is that it will enable the researcher to obtain a convenient sample size that is representative of the population. 

Threats of the external, construct, and statistical conclusions validity

There is various threats of the external, construct, and statistical conclusions validity. The first threat is the use of multiple data collection instruments. When conducting a survey, a researcher has to collect data from respondents by using instruments such as questionnaires or interviews. Using multiple data collection instruments increases the probability of using instruments that are not reliable. This is likely to result in inaccurate findings. This threat will be addressed by using one reliable data collection instrument. 

The second threat of external, construct, and statistical conclusions validity is repeated tests. A researcher is supposed to carry out tests when analyzing the collected data. Many repeated tests increase the chances of obtaining different findings. This increases the doubt on the real statistical results. The researcher will address this particular threat by minimizing the number of tests to be done.

Sample selection bias is another threat to external, construct, and statistical conclusions validity. Unfairness in selecting samples that represent the population can lead to poor findings. This threat will be addressed by using the selected sampling technique (stratified sampling). This particular sampling technique minimizes bias when selecting the sample. 

References

Etikan, I., & Bala, K. (2017). Sampling and sampling methods. Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal, 5(6), 00149.

Owens, L. K. (2002). Introduction to survey research design. In SRL fall 2002 seminar series (pp. 78-105).

Yu, C. H., & Ohlund, B. (2010). Threats to validity of research design. Retrieved January, 12, 2012.