8. Observation Jin-Wan Seo, Professor Dept. of Public Administration, University of Incheon

8. Observation 1  Experiments  Survey Research  Qualitative Field Research  Unobtrusive Research  Evaluation Research Introduction

8. Observation 1  Experiments  an excellent vehicle for the controlled testing of causal processes.  The classical experiment tests the effects of an experimental stimulus (the independent variable) on a dependent variable through the pretesting and posttesting of experimental and control groups. 1. Experiments

8. Observation 1  Experiments: Weakness & Strength  Experiments face problems of internal and external invalidity: experimental findings may not reflect real life.  Primary weakness is ______________: what happens in an experiment may not reflect what happens in the outside world.  Strengths include the isolation of the independent variable, which permits causal inferences: the relative ease of replication; and scientific rigor Experiments

8. Observation 1  A popular social research method, is the administration of ____________ to a sample of respondents selected from some population  especially appropriate for making descriptive studies of large populations; survey data may be used for explanatory purposes as well. 2. Survey Research

8. Observation 1  Open-ended  Dichotomous Question  Multiple Choice (all inclusive and mutually exclusive)  Ranking Question  Self-anchoring Scale  Comparing Scale Survey Research - Questions

8. Observation 1  Guidelines of Items in a questionnaire 1.The items must be clear and precise 2.The items should ask only about one thing. 3.Respondents must be competent to answer the item. 4.Respondents must be willing to answer the item. 5.Questions should be relevant to the respondent. 6.Items should ordinarily be short. 7.Negative terms should be avoided so as not to confuse respondents. 8.The items should be worded to avoid biasing responses. Survey Research - Guidelines

8. Observation 1  The format of a questionnaire can influence the quality of data collected.  The order of items in a questionnaire can influence the responses given.  Clear instructions are important for getting appropraite responses in a questionnaire. Survey Research - Format

8. Observation 1  Basic ways of administering questionnaire 1.Self-administered questionnaires  Economy, speed, lack of interviewer bias, and the possibility of anonymity and privacy to encourage candid responses on sensitive issues 2.Face-to-face interview  Fewer incomplete questionnaire and fewer misunderstood questions, generally higher return rates, and greater flexibility in terms of sampling and special observations 3.Telephone surveys  The savings in cost and time, safer than in-person interviewers, and they may have a smaller effect on the interview itself. 4.Online Surveys  Economy, the amount of data that can be collected, and the chance to sample a large population. Survey Research

8. Observation 1  Qualitative Field Research  Field research involves the direct observation of social phenomena in their natural settings – qualitative rather than quantitative.  Field research is especially appropriate to topics and processes that are not easily quantifiable, that are best studied in natural settings, or that change over time.  Among the special considerations involved in field research are the various possible roles of the observer and the researcher’s relations with subjects.  As a researcher, you must decide whether to observe as an outsider or as a participant, whether or not to identify yourself as a researcher, and how to negotiate your relationship with subjects. 3. Qualitative Field Research

8. Observation 1  Qualitative Field Research  Field researcher often conduct in-depth interviews that are much less structured than those conducted in survey research. Qualitative interviewing is more of a guided conversation than a search for specific information.  Whenever possible, field observations should be recorded as they are made; otherwise, they should be recorded as soon as afterward as possible.  Advantages are the depth of ______________ it can provide, its flexibility, and usually its inexpensiveness.  Compared with surveys and experiments, field research measurements generally have more validity but less reliability. Also, field research is generally not appropriate for arriving at statistical descriptions of large populations.  Conducting field research responsibly involves confronting several ethical issues that arise from the researcher’s direct contact with subjects. Qualitative Field Research

8. Observation 1  Unobtrusive Research  ways of studying social behavior without affecting it in the process.  Unobtrusive Measures  content analysis  the analysis of existing statistics  historical/comparative analysis 4. Unobtrusive Research

8. Observation 1 1. Content analysis  Content analysis is a social research method appropriate for studying human communications through social artifacts. Researcher can use it to study not only communication processes but other aspects of social behavior as well.  Common units of analysis in content analysis include elements of communications – word, paragraphs, books, and so forth.  content analysis involves coding – transforming raw data into categories based on some conceptual scheme. Coding may attend to both manifest and latent content. The determination of latent content requires judgments on the par to the researcher.  Both quantitative and qualitative techniques are appropriate for interpreting content analysis data.  Its advantages include economy, safety, and the ability to study processes occurring over a long time. Its disadvantages are that it is limited to recorded communications and can raise issues of reliability and validity. Unobtrusive Research

8. Observation 1 2. The analysis of existing statistics  A variety of government and non-government agencies provide aggregate statistical data for studying aspects of social life.  Problems of validity in the analysis of existing statistics can often be handled through logical reasoning and replication.  Existing statistics often have problems of reliability, so they must be used with caution. 3. Historical/comparative analysis  Social scientists use historical/comparative methods to discover patterns in the histories of different cultures.  Although often regarded as a qualitative method, historical/comparative research can make use of qualitative techniques. Unobtrusive Research

8. Observation 1  Evaluation research is a form of applied research that studies the effects of social interventions.  A careful formulation of the problem, including relevant measurements and criteria of success or failure, is essential in evaluation research. In particular, evaluators must carefully specify outcomes, measure experimental contexts, specify the intervention being studied and the population targeted by the intervention, and decide whether to use existing measures or devise new ones.  Evaluation researchers typically use experimental or quasi-experimental designs. (As-Is vs. To-Be Model)  Evaluators can also use qualitative methods of data collection. Both quantitative and qualitative research, sometimes in the same study. 5. Evaluation Research