1. Quantitative research Meeting 7

2. Research method is the most concrete and specific part of the proposal.

3. Essential steps in designing a quantitative method surveys experiments

4. Defining surveys and experiments  A survey research provides quantitative description  An experiment mainly aims to test the impact of a treatment on an outcome, controlling for other factors which may affect the outcome.

5. Components of survey design

6. Survey design  Basic purpose and rationale are important  you can discuss: what is the aim of survey research? Why did you choose survey as the instrument for data collection procedures? Is it be cross-sectional or longitudinal surveys? What form of data collection are you using?

7. The Population and Sample  Identify the population.  Is it a single or multistage (clustering) sampling design?  Identify the selection process for individuals.  Are you involving stratification of the population before selecting the sample?  Describe the procedure for the sample selection?  What are the amount?

8. Instrumentation  Name the survey instrument used  Using an existing instrument, describe the established validity and reliability from the past use of it.  Include the sample items of the instrument.  Indicate the major content sections in the instrument (cover letter, items, closing instruction).  Discuss plan for pilot testing.  For mailed survey, identify the steps for administering the survey.

9. Variables in the study Relate the variables to the specific questions in the instrument.

10. Data analysis  Report information about the number of members of the sample who did and did not return the survey.  discuss the method by which response bias will be determined.  Discuss a plan to provide a descriptive analysis of data for all independent and dependent variables in the study.  If the proposal contains an instrument with scales or a plan to develop scales (Combining items into scales), identify the statistical procedure (i.e., factor analysis) for accomplishing this.  Identify the statistics and the statistical computer program for testing the major questions or hypotheses in the proposed study.