Week 4

Running head: OBSERVATION RESEARCH 1

OBSERVATION RESEARCH 10

I appreciate the resubmission of the assignment.

With respect to part one, you have not demonstrated your knowledge of observation methods as noted in the margin comments. You also need to focus only on what is being asked, not speculate on the research problem, for instance. You need to make sure that you are reading and learning from the required text information. Please understand that this reading is required, not optional. The text was selected by the faculty due to both content and level.

The expectations of the second part of the assignment were met as noted.

You did not meet the requirements of the third part of the assignment which was to “Comment on the appropriateness of observation and/or secondary data for the measurement of the concepts identified in your research questions. Explain your rationale.” There is nothing in your response that deals with your intended research as required.

Let me know if you have any question on this or the next assignment. In it, you are required to explain the sampling method you would use in a number of scenarios. When you do so, you want to make sure that you consider not just the pros/cons of the various methods but the unique characteristics of the particular situation you are dealing with. The second part of the assignment has you download and run a procedure known as G* power analysis that can be used to determine sample size given a number of parameters. Finally, you are to discuss the sample design that you might use in your intended research. You want to include the specification of the population, the sampling frame, method and sample size.

Again, let me know if you have any questions as you undertake this.

Dr. P

Dr. Susan M. Petroshius 75 5/29/2020

  

Analysis of Secondary Data, Observation Research, and Measurement of Variables

Analysis of Secondary Data, Observation Research, and Measurement of Variables

Part 1: Research Design Sketches.

Case 1

A non-profit organization wants to know what Facebook posts are likely to be commented on, liked, or shared by stakeholders.

In this case, a descriptive research design would be appropriate. According to Burkholder, Cox and Crawford (2016), a descriptive research design enables a researcher to explain an existing phenomenon by obtaining descriptive information. The design utilizes both quantitative and qualitative techniques such as observations to tell what is or to describe the problem at hand. Against this background, the research problem that the non-profit organization might focus on is what differences exist among Facebook posts such that stakeholders will comment on them, like them, or share them. Comment by Susan Petroshius: You are not being asked what the research design is but what observation method you would use and to describe the procedure you would use. Comment by Susan Petroshius: All the content in this course deals with quantitative research procedure. Comment by Susan Petroshius: You want to be precise and focus on what is being asked. You are not being asked to speculate on the research problem. Note: you need to be conforming to APA formatting as required. This includes eliminating extra spaces between paragraphs and/or sections. You can see how to setup the paper by going to Academic Writer at the ASC.

Description of data and how it will be obtained

The researcher will collect data using observation method. Observation method is ideal in this case because it is quick and effective (Burkholder et al, 2016). This is because all that the researcher needs to do is observe the reaction of stakeholders to various Facebook posts. In addition, this method will yield nominal data that is easy to analyze. For example, the researcher will observe the number of “likes”, comments, and shares and then proceed to compare their values. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Observation refers to a group of methods, all of which involve observation as opposed to communication. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This needs to be explained. Observe how? What, specifically, needs to be done? You need to detail the procedure you would use as well as the observation method. Comment by Susan Petroshius: It is not clear what values you are referring to.

Data analysis Comment by Susan Petroshius: This is not part of the assignment.

Descriptive methods will be used to analyze the collected data. Means, medians, and modes will help to describe the data. Additionally, frequency charts and bar charts will be used to explain Facebook posts in terms of “likes”, shares, and comments.

Case 2

An executive of a major fast food restaurant wants to know how long a customer has to wait to get their order. The order is placed inside the restaurant, not in the drive-thru.

Descriptive methods will be used to analyze quantitative data. The researcher will use means, mode, and median to explain the data. On the other hand, inferential statistics methods will be used to analyze qualitative data. The statistical software SPSS will help to conduct regression analysis.

Questionnaires, interviews, and observations will be used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This is not correct. Questionnaires and interviews are not observation methods.

Data analysis Comment by Susan Petroshius: Why is this here?

Case 3

A researcher wants to know if the role portrayal of African American women in magazine advertisements has changed over the past 15 years.

Data will be collected through interviews, use of questionnaires, and document analysis. Interviews and questionnaires will yield qualitative data from people working in the magazine/media industry to gain an expert perspective of the problem. On the other hand, document analysis includes reading through magazines that have been produced over the last 15 years. The exercise will yield qualitative data to reinforce the data collected from questionnaires and interviews. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This is not observation. Comment by Susan Petroshius: As previously stated, everything in this courses is about quantitative dated.

Data analysis

Inferential statistical methods as well as content analysis will be used to analyze the data. The researcher will use inferential statistics because it allows for obtaining of insights from a small sample of magazines (Burkholder et al, 2016). Given the large number of magazines in publication for the last 15 years, it is impossible to peruse through each one of them. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Content analysis is not a data analysis method but a method of data collection. It is an observation method. Comment by Susan Petroshius: There is a major difference between conducting a census of all magazine ads vs a small sample.

Part 2

(a) Does there appear to be a relationship between adult internet usage and age between 2000 and 2018?

According to the data, adult internet usage varies greatly based on age. In 2000, 70% of adults aged between 18 and 29 years old used the internet. At the same time, 61% of adults aged between 30 and 49 years old were internet users, 46% for adults aged 50 to 64 years, and just 14% for adults over 65 years of age. Between 2000 and 2018, the number of adults in all age groups using the internet increased. However, the number of adults aged 65 years and above registered the sharpest increase by 52% to 66%. In the period, 41% more adults aged from 50 to 64 years joined the online community as compared to 36% for adults from 30 to 49 years, and 28% for adults from 18 to 29 years. Comment by Susan Petroshius: You have a figure. You want to use it as opposed to cluttering the text with number after number. Note that all tables/figures need to have a number and be referred to in the text by it.

Does there appear to be a relationship between adult internet usage and age? Yes. Younger adults (those aged from 18 to 29 years) are the largest users throughout the period. However, older adults (those aged 65 years and above) make up the smallest population of adult internet users between 2000 and 2018.

Data Source: Statista & Pew Research Center

(b) Has the incidence of data breaches in the health/medical sector increased in the last five years?

Yes. The healthcare sector has experienced hundreds of data breaches in the last five years. In that period, close to 2 million health records have been stolen, lost, exposed inappropriately, or disclosed without permission (HIPAA Journal, 2020, March 22). Over the five years, the data breaches have increased yearly but spiked in 2019. During that year, there were 510 data breaches involving 500 or more records (as shown in the figure below).

Comment by Susan Petroshius: You need to eliminate the additional spaces.

Data Source: HIPAA Journal

Part 3 Comment by Susan Petroshius: You are not answering the question which was about your intended research.

In the research design sketches, all research designs were observational in nature. As such, observation and secondary data are the most appropriate data collection methods. This is because observation research does not involve manipulation of variables; rather researchers simply work with variables in the natural state (Urquhart, 2015). However, the data collected might not offer necessary objectivity especially if the participants knew they were under observation. At this point, secondary data comes in as a means of obtaining more data to address the lack of objectivity. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This is not necessarily true. As discussed in the text, there is contrive observation. Observation may also be used in an experiment to measure the independent variable.

References

Alhelalat, J. A., Ma’moun, A. H., & Twaissi, N. M. (2017). The impact of personal and functional aspects of restaurant employee service behaviour on customer satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 66, 46-53.

Burkholder, G. J., Cox, K., & Crawford, L. (2016). The Scholar-Practitioner’s Guide to Research Design.

HIPAA Journal. (2020, March 22). Healthcare data breach statistics. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.hipaajournal.com/healthcare-data-breach-statistics/

Josiam, B. M., Malave, R., Foster, C., & Baldwin, W. (2017). Assessing quality of food, service and customer experience at a restaurant: the case of a student-run restaurant in the USA. In Hospitality Marketing and Consumer Behavior (pp. 129-156). Apple Academic Press.

Mishra, D. (2015). Portrayal of women in media. Journal of Higher Education and Research Society: A Refereed International, ISSN, 2349-0209.

Narayana, A., & Ahamad, T. (2016). Role of media in accelerating women empowerment. International Journal of Advanced Education and Research, ISSN, 2455-5746.

Pew Research Center. (2019, December 31). Americans internet access: Percent of adults 2000-2015. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/06/26/americans-internet-access-2000-2015/

Statista. (2018, March). U.S. internet penetration by age group 2000-2018. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/184389/adult-internet-users-in-the-us-by-age-since-2000/

Urquhart, C. (2015). Observation research techniques. Journal of EAHIL, 11(3), 29-31.

Xenos, M. A., Macafee, T., & Pole, A. (2017). Understanding variations in user response to social media campaigns: A study of Facebook posts in the 2010 US elections. new media & society, 19(6), 826-842.

Internet Usage by Age in United States (2000 - 2018)

18-29 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 0.7 0.72 0.76 0.78 0.77 0.83 0.86 0.89 0.89 0.92 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.97 0.96 0.99 0.98 30-49 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 0.61 0.65 0.7 0.72 0.75 0.79 0.82 0.85 0.84 0.84 0.85 0.87 0.91 0.92 0.92 0.93 0.96 0.97 50-64 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 0.46 0.5 0.54 0.56000000000000005 0.61 0.66 0.7 0.71 0.72 0.75 0.74 0.77 0.79 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.87 0.87 65 or older 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 0.14000000000000001 0.14000000000000001 0.18 0.22 0.24 0.28000000000000003 0.32 0.35 0.38 0.4 0.43 0.46 0.54 0.56000000000000005 0.56999999999999995 0.57999999999999996 0.64 0.66

Healthcare Data Breaches of 500 or MoreRecords

Breaches 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 270 329 357 371 510