1. Center for International Languages
UUW/EUW 212: UNIVERSITY ENGLISH UVW 312: ENGLISH FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION WEEK 3 (CHAPTER 3)
LECTURER:
Center for International Languages
(Semester /2016)

2. Now, REWIND & FREEZE, again.
Let’s just say…there is this girl/boy that you like in your University English class…
HOW would you approach him/ her?

4. Now, ‘Gathering information’ is very IMPORTANT…isn’t it?
The same goes with your report. We have PRIMARY and SECONDARY sources. If you relate back to the analogy of the boy-meets-girl or girl-meets-boy, the DIFFERENCE between the two sources is very clear.
THINK ABOUT IT ^^
Moving on….

5. Document-based Research
What is a document-based research?
Document research is the process of reading through existing documentation relevant to a certain project or area of interest.
The writer may support the thesis/problem statement using:
his/her own experiences, knowledge, and
information obtained from other sources.

6. Types of Information
The term research refers to the process of collecting information/data from varied sources for use in the report.
The information used can be classified into two major types:
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources

7. PRIMARY SOURCES
Data (information or ideas) generated/produced by a researcher for the first time using research methods appropriate to a particular field of study. A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event. Some types of primary sources include:ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records

8. PRIMARY SOURCES PRIMARY SOURCES include:
Unsolicited inquiries – it is unsolicited if the recipient has done nothing to prompt your inquiry.
Informational interviews
Surveys
Observations or experiments

9. SECONDARY SOURCES
Data (information and ideas) produced by other people using the information gathered from their own primary and/or secondary research. A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them. Some types of seconday sources include:PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias

10. WEB-BASED SECONDARY SOURCES TRADITIONAL SECONDARY SOURCES
General commercial, organizational and academic websites
Online news and magazines
Blogs
Internet forums and discussion groups
E-libraries
Periodical databases
Books and periodicals
Reference works
Bibliographies
Encyclopedias
Dictionaries
Handbooks
Abstracts

11. Research Methodology Primary Research Secondary Research
Research methods for collecting primary information:
Conducting survey
Conducting interview
Conducting observation
Conducting experiment
Secondary research: Research methods for collecting secondary information
Consulting printed reference works in the library
Searching for information on the WWW
Gathering information from databases

12. Now, REWIND & FREEZE, for the 2ND TIME.
Primary Research
Secondary Research
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Original documents:
Experiments
Observations
Survey
Interview
Books
Periodical journals
Certain websites & electronic databases, etc.
SOURCES include in Document-based Research for your EVALUATION REPORT
WHY do we need to put these sources into our REPORT?

13. Center for International Languages
Asking question
QUESTIONNAIRE
LECTURER:
Center for International Languages
(Semester /2015)

14. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Primary Research Secondary Research
Primary methods
Experiment
Observation
Interview
Survey

15. SURVEY
Survey is a method for gathering primary information from a group of people by asking them a set of predetermined questions.
Survey can be conducted:
Using a self-administered questionnaire
In person (Interview)
By telephone
Via the Internet

16. SURVEY: QUESTIONNAIRE
The use of self-administered questionnaire to collect information from people.
A questionnaire is basically a written list of questions.
What should you ask?
What information do you want to know?
What are the important aspects underlying the information?

17. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
Presuming/ Leading questions.
e.g.
Don’t you agree that the bank should open at night for the convenience of clients?
Questions that use phrases like
"Wouldn't you say that….." or "Don't you agree that…….."
These phrases may also lead the respondents to prefer a certain choice given.

18. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
B. Questions which rely on memory. E.g. “How many times did you SMS your friend last week?" Questions which tax the respondent's memory too much are likely to lead to non-response or inaccurate replies.

19. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
C. Questions requiring prior knowledge E.g. “Do you think UniMAP’s engineering clean room is the best in Malaysia?" D. Long wordy questions Questions that have many words. If the questions are too long and detailed, the respondent may get lost and the responses will relate only to the beginning or the end of the question.

20. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
E. Double-barrelled questions
E.g.
"Are your lectures and tutorials enjoyable and easy to understand?" Yes / No
What is the answer, if
One may find the lectures in a subject easy but the tutorials more difficult, or
One may find both easy to understand but do not enjoy them.

21. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
F. Non-mutually exclusive responses.
Multiple choice questions where the choices are not mutually exclusive.
This will make a respondent uncertain about which answer he/she should select.
G. Sensitive questions.
Personal details (e.g. age); Health; Personal habits; Income; Etc.

22. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS
H. Hypothetical questions
A hypothetical question asks respondents to indicate what they think they would do under particular imaginary circumstances.
Example;
If you were given a million dollars, ….
They should not be used often although these can't always be avoided in some attitudinal research. They often give rise to unreliable answers.

23. PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS: P M K L D N S H
PRESUMING questions M
Questions which rely on MEMORY K
Questions that need prior KNOWLEDGE L
LONG wordy questions D
DOUBLE barrelled questions N
NON-mutually exclusive responses S
SENSITIVE questions H
HYPOTHETICAL questions

24. How to deal with ‘sensitive questions?
People are more likely to give honest replies to personal questions if some rapport has been developed with the interviewer. Therefore, it is generally best to keep all questions dealing with demographic information (such as age) at the end of the questionnaire.

25. How many questions would be enough?
Some considerations:
Questionnaire that can be answered quite easily.
Enough to give you the information needed.

26. DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE
Center for International Languages
(Semester /2015)

27. Closed-ended/ Closed Questions Open-ended/ Open Questions
Types of Questions
Closed-ended/ Closed Questions
Open-ended/ Open Questions
Common types:
Dichotomous
Multiple choice
Likert scale
Semantic differential
Rank order
Numeric
Common types:
Unstructured
Word association
Sentence completion

28. Closed-ended Questions
Dichotomous
Description: Question offering two choices
e.g. Did you watch television at all yesterday?
Yes / No
B. Multiple Choice
Description: Question offering three or more choices

29. Closed-ended Questions
C. Likert Scale
Description: Statement with which respondent shows the amount of agreement / disagreement
e.g.
Assessment by course-work is easier than assessment by examination.
Strongly agree
( )
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
( )
Disagree
Strongly disagree

30. Closed-ended Questions
D. Semantic Differential
Description: Scale is inscribed between two bipolar words and respondent selects the point that most represents the direction and intensity of his / her feelings
Example:
The engineering degree I am taking is ....
Interesting:_____:_____:_____:_____:___:Boring
Useful:_____:_____:_____:_____:_____:Useless
Easy :_____:_____:_____:_____:_____:Difficult

31. Closed-ended Questions
E. Rank Order
Description: Respondent is asked to rate or rank each option that applies. This allows the researcher to obtain information on relative preferences, importance etc. Long lists should be avoided (respondents generally find it difficult to rank more than 5 items)
Example:
Please indicate, in rank order, your preferred chocolate brand, putting 1 next to your favourite through to 5 for your least favourite.
____ Beryl ____ Snickers ____ Cadbury
____ Mars Bar ____ Hersey’s

32. Closed-ended Questions
F. Numeric
Description: Respondent specifies a particular value (can include decimal places)
Example:
How far (to the nearest kilometre) did you travel today to reach this supermarket?
________km

33. Open-ended Questions Unstructured
Description: Question that respondents can answer in an unlimited number of ways?
Example:
Why did you choose to study at UniMAP?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

34. Open-ended Questions B. Word Association
Description: Words are presented one at a time and respondents give the first word that comes to mind
Example:
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the following:
Lecture: _______ (e.g. Interesting, boring) 
Computer: _______ (e.g. Exciting, fun)
Exam: _______ (e.g. Nervous, Challenging)
Tutorial: _______ (e.g. Rewarding, helpful)

35. Open-ended Questions
C. Sentence Completion Description: Incomplete sentences are presented, one at a time, and respondents are asked to complete the sentence Example: While visiting KLCC, I felt ……………….

36. Closed-ended Questions
Advantages
Disadvantages
Quick to answer
Easy to code
No difference between articulate and inarticulate respondents
Can draw misleading conclusions because of limited range of options.
Researcher / interviewer cannot deal with qualifications to responses e.g. "Yes, but….." or "It depends" where only Yes/No are given as options

37. Open-ended Questions Greater freedom of expression
Advantages
Disadvantages
Greater freedom of expression
No bias due to limited response range
Respondent can qualify their answers
Time consuming to code information collected
Researcher / interviewer may misinterpret (and therefore misclassify) a result

38. QUESTIONNAIRE: Design Instructions
General instructions:
At the beginning of the questionnaire:
Indicate that who you are and why you are doing the survey. You should also have a letter from your lecturer or supervisor to authenticate this.
(If applicable) indicate how the respondents were selected
Indicate how it is to be answered
How to return the questionnaire (if not being delivered in person)

39. QUESTIONNAIRE: Design Instructions
B. Confidentiality/ Anonymity
C. Question instructions
At the beginning of each part:
Ensure that each part (block of similar questions) or each question has a clear instruction on how to respond.
Indicate the form of the answer expected (e.g. numeric, tick-box, rank etc.) and how many answers are expected, by using "most relevant", "one only" or "all which apply"

40. QUESTIONNAIRE: Design Instructions
D. Routing (skip and jump) instructions
Where respondents' answers to an earlier question affects subsequent sets of questions, ensure that the route which they should take is clearly specified, for example, "If NO, please go to Question 15“.

41. Questions’ Order
Respondents may refuse to co-operate if your survey begins with awkward or embarrassing questions.

42. Questionnaire: Layout
Print clearly
Allow adequate space between questions so that you can write down any comments made (but don't waste too much paper!!)
Write the questions themselves in lower case (i.e. like this writing)
Write the INSTRUCTIONS in UPPER CASE (i.e. capital letters)

43. Pilot Study Purposes: To test how long it takes to complete.
To check that the questions are not ambiguous.
To check that the instructions are clear.
To allow you to eliminate questions that do not produce usable data.
Ideally it should be piloted on a group similar to the one that will form the population of your study.

44. Questionnaire Checklist
Have you avoided all leading questions?
Is the question as specific as possible?
Avoid using words like "occasionally", "regularly", "often"
Are the questions going to be understood by all respondents?
Avoid the two extremes of vocabulary (a) technical jargon; (b) slang or colloquialisms
Is each question applicable to all respondents?
If not, you will need a "filtering" question first
Are any of your questions double-barrelled?

45. PRIMARY & SECONDARY sources are all other people’s works…
PRIMARY & SECONDARY sources are all other people’s works….how about YOUR PROPOSAL REPORT? HOW are you going to collect YOUR INFORMATION?