BR 1 recap Flashcards
Inductive Approach
= when there is little to no research on this topic, you move from observation to a theory
Stages
- Observation
- Observe a pattern
- Develop a theory based on patterns
Deductive Approach
= you start with a theory and move to observations
Stages
- Start with a theory
- Formulate hypothesis based on a theory
- Collect data to test the hypothesis
- Analyze results
Quantitative Research
= used to test or confirm theories and assumptions
- Mainly expressed in numbers & graphs
- Requires many respondents
- Closed (multiple choice) questions
- Key terms: testing, measurement
Qualitative Research
= used to understand concepts, thoughts, or experiences
- Mainly expressed in words
- Requires few respondents
- Open-ended questions
- Key Term: understanding
Stages of a Research Process (6)
- Introduction
- Literature
- Methodology
- Results/Findings
- Discussion/Analysis
- Conclusion
Independent Variable
The cause, independent of other variables in the study
Dependent Variable
The effect, depends on changes in the independent variable
Problem Background
Describes what the problem is and why it is a problem
Problem Statement
States the main problem the research needs to answer
Different types of research questions (4)
- Descriptive
- Normative
- Correlative
- Impact
Descriptive Research Question
“What are the characteristics of X?”
Normative Research Question
The question that asks what should
“What should X be?”
Correlative Research Question
“What is the relationship between X and Y?”
Impact Research Question
“What impact does X have on Y?”
Census
= a complete enumeration of the elements of a population or study objects
Sample
= a subgroup of the elements of the population selected for the participation of the study
Nominal Data
Also known as categorical data
Examples: gender, political preference, student ID
Ordinal Data
Qualitative/categorical data
Within this data there is a natural rank order
Examples: language ability, level of agreement
Ratio/Interval Data
Quantitative Data
These scales have equal intervals between values
Ratio has a true zero
Interval does not have a true zero e.g. degrees Celsius
Descriptive Statistics
- Summarise and organize characteristics of a data set.
- Describe the sample on the basis of the data that is collected.
- You can calculate simple statistics like average, median, mode, standard deviation
Inferential Statistics
- Help you come to conclusions and make predictions based on your data
- Here you can use the data from the sample to understand the larger population
