Research Design I Flashcards
Pharm Adeyemi
What is research?
Research is a careful and systematic way of solving problems and gaining new knowledge.
Discuss research design.
- Research design is the plan for connecting the conceptual research problems to the pertinent and achievable empirical research. It is an inquiry which provides specific direction for procedures in a research.
- Also described as a plan, structure and strategy of investigation that is adopted with an aim of obtaining answers to research questions with optimal control of variables.
- The essence of research design is to translate a research problem into data for analysis to provide relevant answers to research questions at a minimum cost.
Extensively classify research design.
- Quantitative Research Design
a) Experimental
- True experiment
- Quasi experiment
b) Non-Experimental
- Survey research
- Causal-comparative research
- Correlation design
- Qualitative Research Design
- Case studies
- Narrative research
- Phenomenological research
- Grounded theory
- Ethnography
- Action research - Mixed Method Research Design
- Comparative parallel mixed method
- Exploratory sequential mixed method
- Explanatory sequential mixed method
What is sampling?
Sampling is a technique of selecting individual members or a subset of the population to make statistical inferences from them and estimate the characteristics of the whole population.
For example, suppose a drug manufacturer would like to research the adverse side effects of a drug on the country’s population. In that case, it is almost impossible to conduct a research study that involves everyone. In this case, the researcher decides on a sample of people from each demographic and then researches them, giving him/her indicative feedback on the drug’s behaviour.
What are the two main types of sampling?
i. Probability sampling
ii. Non-probability sampling
What is probability sampling?
A sampling technique where a researher seles a few criteria and chooses members of a population randomly.
Every member of the population has a known, non-zero probability of being selected. This ensures that the sample is representative of the population and allows for statistical inferences.
What are the types of probability sampling? Describe them.
i. Simple Random Sampling: Each individual has an equal chance of being selected (e.g., lottery method).
ii. Cluster Sampling: The population is divided into clusters (e.g., age, sex location), and entire clusters are randomly selected.
iii. Stratified Random Sampling: The population is divided into subgroups (strata) that don’t overlap but represent the entire population, and random samples are drawn from each (e.g., LCDA > Rural/Urban > Streets).
iv. Systematic Sampling: Used to choose the sample from a population at regular intervals, selecting every k-th individual from a list after a random starting point.
Why do we use probability sampling?
- Reduces Sample bias
- With a diverse population, it provides the fairest representation.
- It provides a higher degree of accuracy
What is non-probability sampling?
Non-probability sampling is a sampling method that uses non-random criteria like the availability, geographical proximity, or expert knowledge of the individuals you want to research in order to answer a research question
Some members of the population have no chance of being selected or the probability of selection is unknown. This method is used when probability sampling is impractical.
Identify and describe the types of non-probability sampling.
i. Convenience Sampling: Selecting individuals who are easiest to access (e.g., surveying people in a mall). It’s purely done based on proximity and not representativeness. This non-probability sampling method is used when there are time and cost limitations in collecting feedback
ii. Judgmental (Purposive) Sampling: The researcher selects individuals based on very specific criteria, such as their characteristics, knowledge of an event, experience or researcher’s discretion (e.g., experts in a field).
iii. Quota Sampling: Selecting a sample that mimics certain attributes of the population (e.g., based on the ethnic diversity of the country, choosing 3 hausa, 2 Yoruba, 2 igbo respondents.) It is not statistically accurate, but characteristically mimics the population distribution.
iv. Snowball Sampling: Participants recruit others into the sample, often used in hard-to-reach populations (e.g., studies on drug users).
Why do we use non-probability sampling?
- To create a hypothesis
- For qualitative or exploratory research
- Budget and time constraints:
Describe adequately quantitative research design.
What are the two classes?
Quantitative research is considered as an analytical approach towards research. It is a technique that uses measurements that produce quantifiable/discrete values.
The collected data results from empirical observations and measures. These methods require a good amount of time and planning, and always tend to have closed ended responses.
The two classes are:
i Non-experimental design
ii.Experimental design
Non-experimental quantitative research design can be further grouped into:
i. Survey design
ii. Causal-comparative design
iii. Correlation design
Describe survey research.
Survey research is a non-experimental quantitative research design used to systematically collect data from a sample to describe, compare, or explain attitudes, opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a population. It relies on structured instruments, such as questionnaires or interviews, to gather numerical data for statistical analysis.
It is a method of obtaining large amounts of data, usually in a statistical form, from a large number of people in a relatively short time using closed-ended questions.
Survey research observations can be ____ or ____, while survey research methods can be classified into ____, ____, ____ and ____
Survey research observations can be cross-sectional or longitudinal studies.
While survey research method can be classified into:
-descriptive survey e.g., questionnaire
- analytical survey e.g., rating survey
- school survey
- genetic survey
What is the principal advantage of survey studies? What are the major drawbacks of the design?
Principal Advantages
-They provide information on large groups of people in a low-effort and cost-effective manner.
- Surveys allow researchers to assess a wider variety of behaviors and other phenomena than can be studied in a typical naturalistic observation study.
Major Drawbacks
-Controlling against sample bias which can greatly compromise generalisation of the findings to the population;
-It depends on the cooperation of respondents which determines the degree of the results’ reliability.
- Information that is not known by the respondents can hardly be unearthed and the information that is personal or secretive may easily be inaccurate.
In the methodology of survey design, you need to define the:
i. population/ sample
ii. sample size
iii. sampling method
iv. eligibility criteria
v. inclusion
vi. exclusion
vii. tool
viii. ethical Considerations
ix. plan for Statistical Ananlysis
