RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

KEY CONCEPTS & KEY TERMS

ee"ff


CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH: A WAY OF THINKING

- Research is one of the ways to find answers to your questions. The terms
research composed of 2 syllables: re and search. (re: again, anew; search:
examine closely, to test, to try and to probe)
- Rigorous
:
the procedures that are followed to find answers to
questions are relevant, appropriate and justified.
- Systematic :
the procedures adopted to undertake an investigation must
follow certain logical sequences.
- Empirical :
conclusion that are drawn are based upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real-life experiences and observations.
- Pure Research:
involves developing and testing theories and hypotheses
that are intellectually challenging to the researcher but may or may not have
practical application at the present time or in the future.
- Pure Research is also concerned with the development; examination verification
and refinement of research methods, procedures, techniques and tools that form
the body of research methodology.
- Descriptive Research:
attempts to describe systematically a situation,
problem, phenomenon, services
- Correlational Research: attempts to discover or establish the existence of
relationship between two or more aspect of situation.
- Explanatory Research: attempts to clarify why and how there is a
relationship between two aspects of situation or phenomenon.
- Exploratory Research:
to explore an area where little is known or to
investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular research study.
- Structured approach:
everything that forms the research process-
objectives, design, sample are predetermined.
- Unstructured approach: allows flexibility in all these aspect of process.
o Structured approach is more appropriate to determine the extent of a
problem, issue or phenomenon.
o Unstructured approach is used to explore its nature.

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW

- Literature review: the preliminary tasks when you undertake a research study.
You need to go through the existing literature in order to acquaint yourself with
the available body of knowledge in your area of interest.
- Theoretical framework: the structure that can hold or support a theory of a
research study. The theoretical framework introduces and describes the theory
that explains why the research problem under study exists.
- Conceptual framework: stems from the theoretical framework and
concentrates, usually, on one section that theoretical framework which becomes
the basis of your research study.

TMK & KCS 1


CHAPTER 4: LITERATURE REVIEW

- Operational Definition: is a result of the process of operationalization and is
used to define something (e.g. a variable, term, or object) in terms of a process
(or set of validation tests) needed to determine its existence, duration, and
quantity.

CHAPTER 5: IDENTIFYING VARIABLES

- Variables: an image, perception or concept that is capable of measurement;
hence capable of taking on different values.
- Concept:
mental images or perceptions; therefore, their meaning varies
markedly from individual to individual.
- Measurability:
the main difference between a variable and a concept.
Concept cannot be measured; whereas, variables are subjected to
measurement.
- Operationalization:
how concept can be measured.
- Indicators :
a set of criteria reflective of the concept.
- Independent Variable
:
the cause suppose to be responsible for
bringing about changes in a phenomenon or situation.
- Dependent Variable
:
the outcome of the changes brought about by
the introduction of independent variable.
- Extraneous Variable
:
real life situation factors that affect changes in
dependent variable.
- Intervening Variable (confounding variable): link the dependent and
independent variable.
- Active Variables :
variables that can be manipulated, changed or
controlled.
- Attribute Variables :
variables that cannot be manipulated, changed or
controlled.
- Constant Variable :
when a variable can have only one value or category.
- Dichotomous Variable: 2 categories as in YES/NO, GOOD/BAD and
RICH/POOR
- Polytomous Variable:
when a variable can be divided into more than 2
categories.
- Continuous Variable:
have continuity in their measurement.
- Nominal Scale
:
enables the classification of individuals, objects or
responses based on a common/shared property or characteristics.
- Ordinal Scale
:
has all properties of a nominal scale plus one of its
own. It ranks subgroup in a certain order.
- Interval Scale
:
has all characteristics of an ordinal scale; that is,
individuals or response belonging to a subcategories are arranged in an
ascending or descending order.
- Ratio Scale
:
has all properties of nominal, ordinal and interval
scales plus its own property: the zero point of a ratio scale is fixed, which means
it has a fixed starting point.



2

TMK & KCS

CHAPTER 6: CONSTRUCTING HYPOTHESES

- Hypothesis
:
a proposition, condition, or principle which is
assumed, perhaps without belief in order to draw out its logical consequences
and by this method to test its accord with facts which are known or may be
determined.
- Hypothesis
:
is written in such a way that it can be proven or
disproven by valid and reliable data.
- Alternate Hypothesis:
explicitly specify the relationship that will be
considered as true in case the research hypothesis proves to be wrong; other
words, alternate hypothesis is the opposite of the research hypothesis.
- Null Hypothesis
:
is usually written as H0 , stipulating that there is no
difference between two situations, groups, outcomes, or prevalence of a
condition or phenomenon.
- Hypothesis of difference: stipulates that there will be a difference but does not
specify its magnitude.
- Hypothesis of point-prevalance: Hypothesis that researcher have enough
knowledge about the situation or the treatment and its outcome to speculate
almost the exact prevalence of the situation or the treatment or the outcome of a
treatment in quantitative unit.
- Hypothesis of association: This hypothesis implies on the extent of the
relationships in the study population as prevalence of a phenomenon in different
population groups.
- Type I Error
:
rejection of null hypothesis when it is true.
- Type II Error
:
acceptance of null hypothesis when it is false.

CHAPTER 7: THE RESEARCH DESIGN

- Research design :
is a plan, structure and strategy of investigation so
conceived as to obtain answer to research question or problem.
- Traditional research design: is a blueprint or detail plan of how a research
study is to be complete _ operationalizing variable so they can be measured,
selecting a sample of interest to study, collecting data to be used as a basis for
testing hypotheses, and analyzing the result.
- Independent variable : any variable that is responsible for bringing about a
change.
- Dependent variable :
the change in the degree of marital problems was
depend upon counseling.
- Extraneous variable:
all other factors that affect the relationship between
marital problem and counseling
- Change variable :
change in the dependent variable because of the
respondents state of mood or ambiguity in the research instrument.
- Change or Random error : the error thus introduced in the change variable.

CHAPTER 8:
SELECTING A STUDY DESIGN

- Cross-sectional study: this design is best suited to studies aimed at finding
out the prevalence of a phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude or issue, by
taking a cross-section of the population.
TMK & KCS 3

-
-
-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Before and after studies: are conducted by measuring the dependent variable,
or the variable caused by the manipulated independent variable, before and after
the manipulation has occurred.
Longitudinal study :
is an observational research method in which data is
gathered for the same subjects repeatedly over a period of time.
Maturation effect :
the effect of this maturation, if it is significantly
correlated with the dependent variable, is reflected at the after observation.
Reactive effect
:
when the instrument itself educates the respondents.
Regression effect :
the more expression of an attitude in response to the
questionnaire or interview has cause them to think about after their attitude at
the time of the past test.
Conditioning effect :
a situation where, if the same respondents are
contacted frequently, they begin to know what is expected of them and may
respond to questions without though, or they may lose interest in the inquiry,
with the same result.
Reference effect :
refer to the time frame in which a study is exploring
a phenomenon, situation, event or problem
Retrospective study design: studies investigate a phenomenon, situation or
issue that has happen in the past.
Prospective study design: studies refer to the likely prevalence of a
phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude or out come in the future.
Retrospective prospective study design: study focus on the past trends in a
phenomenon and study it onto the past.
Experimental study:
the study starts from the cause to establish the effect.
After only experimental design : researcher knows that a population id being,
or has been, exposed to an intervention and wishes to stud its impact on the
population.
Control group design : the researcher select too groups instead of one
(control group and experimental group). This group is expected to be comparable
as far as possible in every respect except for the intervention.
Double control design: is to identify and separate out the reactive effect
maturation or regression effect of placebo effect.
Comparative design: compare the effective of different treatment modalities.
Matched control experimental design: in this studies, comparability is
determined in an individual-by-individual basis.
Non experimental study: to study starts from the effect to trace the cause.
Semi experimental study: has the properties of both experimental and non-
experimental.
Placebo effect: A patients believe that someone is receiving treatment can play
on important role in his/her recovery from an illness even if treatment is
ineffective. The psychological effect called placebo effect.
Cohort studies: The study bused upon the existence of a common characteristic
such as year of birth, graduation a marriage, within a subgroup of a population.
Panel studies: The same to cohort study except that panel studies are
longitudinal and prospective in nature and collect information from the same
respondents.
Case studies: is an approach to studying a social phenomenon through a
thorough analysis of an individual case.

TMK & KCS

CHAPTER 9: SELECTING A METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

- Observation: Is a purposeful systematic and selective ways of watching and
listening to an interaction or phenomenon as it takes place.
- Participant observation: Researchers participate in the activity of the group
being observe in the same manner as its members, with or without their knowing
that they are being observed.
- Non-Participant observation: Researcher do not get involved in the activity of
the group but remains a passive observer, watching and listening to its activities
and drawing conclusion from this.
- Hawthorne Effect :
When a charge in behavior of persons or groups is
attributed to their being observed.
- Elevation Effect
:
When observer have a tendency to use particular
part of the scale in recording an interaction.
- Halo Effect
:
When the way an observer rates an individual on one
aspect of the interaction influence the way someone rates that individual on
another aspect of the interaction.
- In-depth interview :
is repeated face to face encounters between the
researcher and information directed toward understanding informants
perspective on their life, experience, or situation as expressed in their own word.
- Focus group interview : research explore the perception, experiences and
understanding of a group of people who have some experiences in common with
regard to a situation or event.
- Structured Interview :
The interviewer asks respondents the same
questions using a predetermined series of interview questions. Deviations from
the predetermined series of questions are not allowed in the interview process.
- Unstructured Interview : An interview in which the researcher asks open-
ended questions. The researcher aims to give respondents the latitude to talk
freely on a topic and to influence the direction of the interview. There is no
predetermined plan about the specific information to be gathered from these
types of interviews.
- Open-Ended Data :
the possible response are not given. In the case of a
questionnaire, the respondent write down the answer in his/her own word.
- Close ended question:
the possible answers are set out in the questionnaire
or schedule and the respondents or investigators ticks the category that best
describe the respondents answer.

CHAPTER 10:
COLLECTING DATA AND USING ATTITUDINAL SCALES

- Likert Scale
:
summated rating scale that are based on assumption
that each statement/item on the scale has equal attitudinal value, importance
or weight in terms of reflecting an attitude towards the issue in question.
- Thurstone Scale :
equal-appearing interval scale or differential scale
that calculates a weight or attitudinal value for each statement.
- Guttman Scale
:
cumulative scale that is one of the most difficult
scales to construct and therefore is rarely used.
- Attitudinal Scale :
measure attitudes toward an issue.

CHAPTER 11:
ESTABLISING THE VALIDITY AND RELAIBILITY OF RESEARCH
TMK & KCS 5


-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Validity

:
the ability of an instrument to measure what it is
designed to measure.
Face Validity
:
the establishment and judgment of a logical link that
instrument is measuring what it is supposed to between the questions and
objectives of the study.
Content Validity :
the assessment of the items and questions that cover
the full range of the issue or attitude being measured.
Predictive Validity :
is judged by degree to which an instrument can
forecast an outcome.
Concurrent Validity:
is judged by how well an instrument compares with a
second assessment concurrently done.
Reliabity

:
it is considered as so when the research tool is
consistent and stable, and, hence, predictable and accurate.
External Consistency Procedures:
compare findings from 2 independent
processes of data collection with each other as a means of verifying the reliability
of the measure.
Test/re-test
:
an instrument that is administered once, and then
again, under the same or similar condition.
Parallel forms

:
the construction of 2 instruments that are
intended to measure the same phenomenon to 2 or similar populations.
Internal Consistency Procedure: items measuring the same phenomenon
should produce similar results.
The Split-half Technique :
designed to correlate half of the items with
other half and is appropriate for instruments that are design to measure attitudes
towards an issue or phenomenon.
Stepped-up Reliability
:
calculated by Spearman-Brown Formula on
half the instrument that are needed to be corrected in order to assess the
reliability for the whole instrument.

CHAPTER 12:
SAMPLING

- Population / Study population: A clearly defined group of people or objects.
Samples are drawn from the population and statistical results that are derived
from random samples can be generalized to the whole population.
- Sample
:
A group that is selected from a larger group (the
population). By studying the sample, the researcher tries to draw valid
conclusions about the population.
- Sampling design
:
The part of the research plan that specifies
how and how many respondents will be selected for a study.
- Sampling unit / sampling element: each respondent that become the basis of
selecting your sample.
- Sampling frame

:
the list identifying each despondent in the
study population.
- Sampling statistics
:
your finding based on the information obtain
from your respondents (sample).
- Population parameter/ population mean
:
the estimates arrived at
from sample statistics.
- Saturation point
:
when you reach a stage where no new
information is coming from your respondents.
6
TMK & KCS

TMK & KCS 7