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Introduction to research methods 10/26/2004 Xiangming Mu How to do research? • Identify a topic • Literature review – – – – • • • • Using key words to gather related literature Identify useful literature Design a literature map Identify limitations, problems, and interesting ideas Refer to related theories Propose research statement and hypotheses Propose research methods and conduct studies Analyze data and provide discussion/results Research Variables • What is a variable – Various definitions – Characteristic or attribute of an individual or an organization that can be measured or observed and that varies among the people or organization being studied (Creswell,2002) • Different types of variables – – – – – Independent variables Dependent variables Intervening variables Control variables Confounding variables Variables • Independent variables – Are variables that (probably) cause, influence, or affect outcomes – Also called treatment, manipulated, antecedent, or predictor variables • Dependent variables – Are variables that depend on the independent variables – They are the outcomes or results of influence of the independent variables – Also called criterion, outcome, and effect variables • Intervening or mediating variables – “stand between” the independent and dependent variables – Mediate the effects of independent variable on the dependent variable Variables (cont’) • Control variables – – – – are a special type of independent variable Are measured in a study Potentially influence the dependent variable Usually use statistical procedures to control for these variables (i.e., ANOVA) • Confounding or spurious variables – Are not actually measured or observed in a study – Their influences usually can not be directly detected in a study Research Methods • Quantitative Methods – Survey and experiment • Qualitative Methods • Mixed Methods Quantitative Methods: Survey • Survey – A survey design provides a quantitative or numeric description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population – The researcher generalizes or makes claims about the population – Conventional (face-to-face, mail, etc.) or web-based • Types of survey – Self-administered questionnaires – Interviews – Structured record reviews to collect financial, medical or school information – Structured observations Quantitative Methods: Survey (cont’) • Survey instrument – Validity: whether one can draw meaningful and useful inferences from scores on the instruments. – Reliability: whether the results reported from measures remain consistency. Quantitative Methods: Experiment • The basic intent of an experiment is to test the impact of a treatment (or an intervention) on an outcome, controlling for all other factors that might influence that outcome • As one form of control, researchers randomly assign individuals to groups • Usually one group receives a treatment and the other group does not, the experimenter can isolate whether it is the treatment and not the characteristics of individuals in a groups that influence the outcome • May also need to identify a sample and generalize to a population Experiment Design • Between-subject design: compare outcomes from two or more groups – Factorial design: using two or more treatment variables to examine the independent and simultaneous effects of these treatment variables on an outcome--- also includes the combination effect of multiple variables • Within-group design – Study of the behavior of a single individual over time under treatment or without-treatment conditions Statistical Analysis • Report the descriptive statistics – Means, standard deviations, and rangs • Report the inferential statistical tests – t test – Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Qualitative Methods • Takes place in the nature setting • Uses multiple methods that are interactive and humanistic • Is emergent rather than tightly prefigured • Is fundamentally interpretive • View social phenomena holistically • Uses complex reasoning that is multifaceted, iterative, and simultaneous Data collection types • Observations • Interviews • Documents • Audiovisual materials Observation • Definition – The researcher takes field notes on the behavior and activities of individuals at the research site. • Researcher role – Complete participant • Has a firsthand experience • may be seen as intrusive – Complete observer • Useful in exploring topics that may be uncomfortable for participants to discuss • “private” information may be observed that the researcher cannot report Interviews • Definition – The researcher conducts interviews with participants • Types – Face-to-face – Telephone – Focus group • Structure – Unstructured and open-ended questions – Structured and well designed questions (more control) Documents • Types – public documents: • i.e., newspapers, official reports – Private documents: • i.e., personal diaries, letters, e-mail Audio and Visual materials • Data – Data from photographs, art objects, videotapes, or any forms of sound • Features – Maybe difficulty to interpret – May directly share the “reality”