1. LECTURE 5.
RESEARCH METHODS

2. Validity and Reliability of data collected.
A study is valid when the conclusions are true because they capture what they intend to capture.
Validity also refers to the accuracy we make in a study.
It is usually the true reflection of the situation.

3. Two ways to assess the validity of an instrument;
Empirical and theoretical validation
Empirical validation eg;
If it is assumed in a study that business people do not have time to attend to the children's home assignments and if it is supported by available data, the phenomena in question is said to be an empirical validity
Theoretical validation;
A measure based on theoretical principles of discipline

4. Concept of reliability;
Definition;
When the conclusions are repeatable under same or similar circumstances we say the study is reliable.
It refers to the consistency of the measurement we make in a study.

5. Concepts and Classification
The purpose of this is to give a brief overview of how to plan a survey and of how to design a questionnaire.
Survey Methods
Survey research is one of the most important areas of measurement in applied social research.
The broad area of survey research encompasses any measurement procedures that involve asking questions of respondents.
A "survey" can be anything from a short paper-and-pencil feedback form to an intensive one-on-one in-depth interview.

6. Survey is a non-experimental, descriptive research method.
Surveys can be useful when a researcher wants to collect data on phenomena that cannot be directly observed (such as opinions. eg; library services).
Data is is a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables
Surveys are used extensively in information science to assess attitudes and characteristics of a wide range of subjects.
Eg; from the quality of user-system interfaces to library user reading habits

7. In a survey, researchers sample a population
In a survey, researchers sample a population. Basha and Harter (1980) state that "a population is any set of persons or objects that possesses at least one common characteristic.“
Examples of populations that might be studied are 1) all 2001 graduates of GTUC in Ghana
2) all the users of i phones on GTUC campus.
Since populations can be quite large, researchers directly question only a sample
(i.e. a small proportion) of the population.

8. In surveys, data are usually collected through the use of questionnaires, although sometimes researchers directly interview subjects.
Surveys can use qualitative (e.g. ask open-ended questions)
or quantitative (e.g. use forced-choice questions) measures.
There are two basic types of surveys:
cross-sectional surveys and
longitudinal surveys

9. Cross-Sectional Surveys
Cross-sectional surveys are used to gather information on a population at a single point in time.
An example of a cross sectional survey would be a questionnaire that collects data on how parents feel about Internet filtering, as of March
A different cross-sectional survey questionnaire might try to determine the relationship between two factors, like religiousness of parents and views on Internet filtering.

10. Longitudinal Surveys
Longitudinal surveys gather data over a period of time. The researcher may then analyze changes in the population and attempt to describe and/or explain them.
The main types of longitudinal surveys are;=
Trend studies,
Cohort studies/panel studies.

11. Trend studies
Trend Analysis is the practice of collecting information and attempting to spot a pattern, or trend, in the information. In some fields of study, the term "trend analysis" has more formally defined meanings.
Although trend analysis is often used to predict future events, it could be used to estimate uncertain events in the past, such as how many ancient kings probably ruled between two dates, based on data such as the average years which other known kings reigned.

12. Cohort studies /Panel studies.
Cohort study or panel study is a form of longitudinal study (a type of observational study) used in medicine, social science, actuarial science, business analytics, and ecology.
It is an analysis of risk factors and follows a group of people who do not have the disease, and uses correlations to determine the absolute risk of subject contraction.

13. CASE STUDY
A case study is a detailed investigation of a single individual or group.
Case studies can be qualitative or quantitative in nature, and often combine elements of both.
The defining feature of a case study is its holistic approach. It aims to capture all of the details of a particular individual or group (a small group, classroom, or even a school), which are relevant to the purpose of the study, within a real life context.

14. Case studies rely on multiple sources of data; including interviews, direct observation, video and audio tapes, internal documents, and artefacts.
The final report or write-up is a narrative with thick, rich descriptions. Increasingly, case studies are being presented as multimedia packages, such as a documentary, to showcase the uniqueness and complexities of the context.

15. Case studies can be used for descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory purposes (Yin, 1993).
For any of these purposes, there are two distinct case study designs: single-case study design and multiple-case study design.
Single-case studies are an examination of one individual or group. In choosing a case, researchers may purposely select a typical, or outlier, cases.

16. Multiple-case studies use replication, which is the deliberate process of choosing cases that are likely to show similar results. This helps to examine how generalizable the findings may be.
Even when there are no specific quantitative techniques or validity issues to address when implementing a case study, objectivity is extremely important.
It is recommended that organizations use outside consultants or research organizations to conduct case studies.

17. This allow the case study to be conducted by experts in interviewing, conducting focus groups, and analyzing qualitative data, and also protects the results of the study from a perceived bias of the organization.
Eg. While a company with a product that aims at improving literacy in children with learning disabilities might conduct an objective, enlightening case study that shows why their product worked successfully in a specific school, school districts might not trust this result unless it was conducted and analyzed by an unaffiliated organization.

18. The time and cost of conducting a case study largely depends on the unit of analysis.
Eg. conducting a case study on a single child’s experience using a tele-therapy approach may only take a short period of time and minor costs to gain all relevant information.
However, examining how and why an intervention worked within a whole school or within a large district would take much longer and would be far more expensive to gather all relevant interviews, focus groups, and other data.

19. Before initiating a case study, you should be sure that you have the required amount of time and resources to complete it.
How to analyze the data.
Case study data tends to be qualitative in nature, and thus qualitative data analysis methods should be applied.
The most common method in qualitative data analysis is “coding.”

20. A quasi-experimental study is a type of evaluation which aims to determine whether a program or intervention has the intended effect on a study’s participants.
Quasi-experimental studies take on many forms, but may best be defined as lacking key components of a true experiment.

21. While a true experiment includes (1) pre-post test design,
(2) a treatment group and a control group, and
(3) random assignment of study participants,
Quasi-experimental studies lack one or more of these design elements,
However in experimental results demonstrating/proving your solution is of much importance.
There is the need to;
Explain the tests you performed (and why)
Explain how you gathered the data

22. Presenting your results in experiments;
There is the need to choose quality over quantity;
the reader will not be impressed with pages and pages of graphs and tables, instead s/he wants to be convinced that your results show something interesting and that your experiments support your conclusions.
Discuss your results! Explain/interpret your results (possibly compare your results to related work)

23. THANK YOU.

24. Coding;
Coding is a process in which researchers analyze data for themes, either pre-determined or emerging.
These can be as simple as colour coding themes and subthemes with highlighters or with a word processor, or more involved, as assigning abbreviated codes to tag digital content such as audio tapes, video files, documents, etc., within qualitative software packages that can then sort and compile tagged content.

25. Either way, codes will be study specific, depending entirely on the purpose and findings of the study.
It is important for multiple researchers to ensure that they are coding with the same assumptions and standards by comparing and discussing their codes on a percentage of the data.
This ensures researchers are thinking about the data in the same way and drawing similar conclusions.
Analysis then proceeds from an interpretation of these codes and what they mean for the larger research questions.