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RCH 5302, Foundation for Research 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Develop a research strategy and design using appropriate components. 1.1 Explain how research will answer questions and solve problems.

3. Examine qualitative and quantitative research methods.

3.1 Discuss why a research plan will use either qualitative or quantitative research methods.

4. Explore the dynamics of data sampling and distributions. 4.1 Explain how data sampling and distributions will be used in a research plan.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 2, p. 32 Appendix A, pp. 449-450 Article: “Declaring and Diagnosing Research Designs” Unit IV PowerPoint Presentation

3.1 Unit Lesson Unit IV PowerPoint Presentation

4.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 5, pp. 153–158 Chapter 8, pp. 233–242 Chapter 11, pp. 340–341 Appendix A, pp. 449-450 Unit IV PowerPoint Presentation

Required Unit Resources Chapter 2: Generating and Shaping Ideas: Tradition and Innovation, p. 32 Chapter 5: Measurement: Qualities of Measures, pp. 153–158 Chapter 8: Qualitative Research, pp. 233–242 Chapter 11: Recruiting Participants, pp. 340–341 Appendix A: Decision Tree for Statistical Analysis, pp. 449-450 In order to access the following resource, click the link below. Read pp. 838–856 in the article below. Blair, G., Cooper, J., Coppock, A., & Humphreys, M. (2019). Declaring and diagnosing research designs.

American Political Science Review, 113(3), 838–859. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop- cambridge-core/content/view/3CB0C0BB0810AEF8FF65446B3E2E4926/S0003055419000194a.pdf/ declaring_and_diagnosing_research_designs.pdf

UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE

Research Plan and Introduction to Data Sampling

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Refining the Research Plan for Approval and Action Upon determining the problem; developing the research question; drafting a tentative plan, including the selection of a method and design; and reviewing the literature, a researcher is close to actively conducting the research; however, one significant challenge remains: gaining approval. Reasonably, a research proposal will gain approval if the plan is feasible, sound, and complete with sufficient details; fits as a follow-on step as shown in pertinent literature; and fits the needs of the organization (if you are completing requirements for a degree conferral, that is one of the organization’s needs). A few researchers look forward to briefing their proposals to leaders; others may dread it. For all researchers, such a presentation of their intended work publicly is a key event that demonstrates the researchers’ competence and effectiveness and contributes to their individual reputations as professionals. Being excessively shy or boisterous is not forbidden in research, though neither characteristic will help encourage reviewers to approve a proposal. First-time disapproval with recommendations for changes will not doom a research study, though with the inevitable additional work involved to try again, it is much preferred to prepare a thorough and polished proposal that will get approved the first time.

Finalizing the Research Plan The material in Units I–III and here in Unit IV illustrate the progression of building a research study from its beginning, when a problem or question emerges, to the major milestone of having the plan complete enough to brief it for approval. A good plan will include all of the commonly used research components or an explanation of why an exception to an omitted component is an optimal choice. The remaining components of the research design and data collection and analysis plan are developed, and the previously drafted components from the research problem/question to the literature review are checked and refined. These components are then all combined to form the research proposal. Research proposals are written, developed as slides, or both. Certainly, the researcher follows required organizational formats or, for the best chance of approval, formats of previously approved studies as a measure of conforming. As can be seen in previous reading assignments, a highly detailed written research proposal may be organized as shown below.

• Introduction (problem, purpose, the significance of the study, research question[s], the definition of terms)

• Review of Literature

• Research Method and Design As a final and full report on the completed research, the results below would be added.

• Presentation and Analysis of Data (and findings)

• Conclusions and Recommendations (limitations of the study, possible sources of bias, suggestions for further research)

The researchers may not be writing a full report but, rather, a more abbreviated yet still significant report of perhaps a few to 20 or more pages. As you have seen in previous reading assignments, the researchers may combine the introduction of the research with the review of literature in one section. A research proposal slide presentation may be organized as shown below.

• Slide 1: Problem statement

• Slide 2: Purpose statement

• Slide 3: Significance of the study

• Slide 4: Research question(s)

• Slide 5: Definition of terms

• Slide 6: Selected literature

• Slide 7: Methodology

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• Slide 8: How the research will be conducted

• Slide 9: How data analysis will be conducted Later, once the research is complete, the following information would be amended and/or added to the full report.

• Slide 8: How the research was conducted

• Slide 9: How analysis was conducted Construct additional slides for the areas below.

• Findings and implications

• Recommendations

• Suggestions for further research

• References We continue our exploration of research by focusing on the research process. The research process is taking action (research actions) and gaining information—usually by following frequently practiced and commonly accepted steps. The process and its steps are components assembled with procedures and other features added. The process is the organization of actions and the acquisition of information in order to verify the problem and question, review recorded ideas and findings, plan the research, gather and analyze the data, develop one’s own ideas about the research and findings, and report the findings and conclusions of the research. Repeated below are the steps of the research process in the order that they are usually conducted.

Simplified, the research process may resemble the example below.

In later units of this course, you will see that the commonly accepted research report or paper format roughly follows these steps. Recall that the research methods in the two major categories of research, quantitative and qualitative, are as shown below (with some variation in certain industries and professions).

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When developing their research strategy and design, researchers estimate the situation of their proposed study, select one of these methods, and add all needed coordination details to refine their planning. Rarely, but sometimes, they may choose two methods (e.g., for a two-part study). In business and academia alike, researchers can expect to brief their plan to an authority figure as a research proposal with the goal of gaining approval, authorization, funding, or all of these.

Data Sampling Arguably the most stimulating phase of research is the actual collection (sampling) of data. Many researchers imagine themselves actively conducting research, and this component of research design is where this happens. Data sampling is planned and presented as a part of the proposal; such an important component needs to be organized with no effort or resources wasted. Additionally, the reputation of the study’s academic rigor and veracity is at stake at the time of data sampling. As with the other components of research, there are some time-tested conventions on data sampling, which will be explored in the second part of Unit IV. The idea of running a model (in a quantitative study) or commencing with interviewing (in a qualitative study) and then collecting the results is a straightforward concept. What follows are a few principles of data management and interviewing and some effective practices (tips) that match them. Using a hypothesis model usually entails mathematics, physics, and/or chemistry. These categories account for most quantitative studies. The researcher is well prepared for these due to their experience in college, but it is useful to recall the concepts of measurement. As depicted in the textbook, academia recognizes four main measurement types (Devlin, 2021). Nominal is counting in categories, such as the numbers of yes or no answers; inherently, these have no order—just totals of each type. Ordinal measurement is sorted into an order of value, and we all agree that zero is nothing, and value proceeds from “not much above zero” to “a lot.” However, these data values are not necessarily evenly spaced from one another. If you need the latter attribute, interval measurement scale is ordinal measurement with equally spaced intervals between data points. Ratio measurement scale is similar to the interval measurement scale but with a zero point, which the interval measurement scale does not have to have. These measurement types each have advantages. Nominal measurement, with its categorical data collecting, is useful for qualitative studies and can offer open-ended interview questions, such as “What do you like about your housing situation?” These collected answers (data) can be analyzed by simple frequency of answer or with a mathematical model, such as a chi-square analysis if the researcher constructed a matrix of

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categories. Interval measurement is well suited for continuous data, and with that, exponential probability distribution models can be used for data analysis. In qualitative studies, there are some practices to keep the data sampling “clean.” Indeed, some of these procedures can be described to demonstrate how your proposed study will avoid most biases. Qualitative studies usually entail the observer collecting data by using the observer’s own sense of sight, hearing, understanding of interview responses, and other abilities. This is how research studies regarding natural animal, plant, and human social behavior are commonly conducted. As noted in pp. 239–240 of the textbook, an observer may be recording sight or sound, be concealed, or have to decide what to record and for how long (Devlin, 2021). Additionally, researchers must take care not to have their data collection skewed by unexpected factors such as the Hawthorne Effect, which is named from the study conducted at the Western Electric Hawthorne plant. In the 1920s, workers observed performances, and efficiency rose before falling again. It was concluded that the workers worked harder in response to being observed and provided with increased attention, and they reduced their productivity when they grew suspicious that the studies were a prelude to employee downsizing. These initiatives from the sample population can distort the data. An excerpt of a data collection plan in a quantitative research proposal may resemble the example below.

An excerpt of a data collection plan in a qualitative research proposal may resemble the example below.

With the research plan finalized and the research proposal approved, the researcher is cleared and ready for the most satisfying stage of the process—actual data sampling. These lessons of the first half of the course were designed to prepare you, the researcher, to conduct the most active part of research. In Unit V and subsequent units, we will explore more on data sampling, data analysis, and reaching conclusions on the findings.

Reference Devlin, A. S. (2021). The research experience: Planning, conducting, and reporting research (2nd ed.).

SAGE. https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781544377933

The following research question and hypothesis were the focus for this research (cite others’ work or descriptions to support why you chose this research design). After the population sample was determined, a survey was used to collect desired data on vehicle preferences of single and partnered purchasers. The independent variable, vi = vehicle purchasers, was manipulated as planned by measuring preferences of participants in the sample regardless of gender pairing, formality, or absence of marriage.

Qualitative research and, specifically, the phenomenological research method proved to be well matched to the research problem (cite others’ work or descriptions to support why you chose this research design). The research question was (insert research question). The population under study was focused on shop or factory foreman of a responsibility range for one major manufacturing process, supervision of four to no more than 10 employees, or both. The method of sampling will be to contact the owner or senior manager of each of the following companies to request access. The interview questions consisted of (insert interview questions). These questions were intended to collect the following data (list): (insert data).