Research Methods Test 2

Basic rules of APA style

-Author's names are always inverted -Reference list should be alphabetized by author's last name -If you have more than one work by a particular author, order them according to publication date -Use "&" instead of "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work

Typically contains 2 primary elements in an introduction

-Background information Acquaints reader with foundation and rationale for conducting study -Statement of problem May also include the research hypothesis, although less common today

Factors to consider when Selecting the Data Collection Method

-Demands on the research participant -Costs in terms of money, energy, and time -Ability of the researcher to handle the selected technique, including the data analysis

Focus Group Interview

-Essentially an interview with groups of people -Designed to stimulate participants free expression of feelings, beliefs, etc. -Requires a skilled facilitator to guide discussion

Interviews

-Essentially an oral questionnaire -May be personal or telephone interviews -Structured interview -Unstructured interview

Discussion Section

-Explanation of the results -Interpretation of the findings, culminating with the conclusions -Conclusions should relate back to research problem -Provides implications for professional practice and recommendations for future research

Hypotheses

-Important to most research studies -Tentative explanation of the outcome of a research problem

Rating Scale

-Individual items are judged on a single dimension and scored on a linear scale or continuum by selecting a numerical or verbal point on the scale that corresponds to their impression of the item -Numerical RPE scale -Verbal

Nominal

-Numbers represent categories. Numbers do not reflect differences in magnitude. -Numbers serve to distinguish groups. -Student R number

Ratio

-Numbers represent equal units from absolute zero. -Observations can be compared as ratios or percentages. -Earth's are is composed of approximately 70% water and 30% land, you express the ratio scale of water and land as 70:30

what are required within the citation?

Year (2012), Volume/Issue 25(10) & pg. #s (1729-1736)

The nature of the study will determine what type of

data are required to answer the question and the method of collecting these data

Capitalize only the

first letter of the first word of the Title of the work.

All lines after the first line of each entry should be

indented and all citations should be double- spaced

a scale provides an _____ ______ of the concept of interest

indirect measure

If the intervals between score points are presumed to be equal, thus resulting in

interval data, the responses can be analyzed statistically

Cognitive measures

knowledge on innumerable topics Example: attention, memory, executive function

The number of items to be ranked should be

less than 10, to avoid making the task too difficult

Almost anything can be

measured

Accessible Population

members of the pop. that you can reach

If an instrument is found, but it is not quite acceptable for the current research situation, it may be

modified or revised

Children with a high IQ are _____ _____ motivated than children with a low IQ (Directional Hypothesis _

more easily

Survey research is the

most common type of descriptive research

Physical measures

muscular strength, blood pressure, physiological responses to exercise . . . common in HHP

If changes are major, then it may be necessary to determine

new indices of reliability and validity of the revised instrument

Only undertake if there is

no existing instrument that will suffice

Italicize and capatalize titles

of books and journals

Sampling Unit

one member of your population

Items are ranked, usually in terms of preference or importance, relative to each other. This forced ranking results in

ordinal scores, thus limiting the statistical treatment of the scores

Appendices are rare in?

published articles

Population

refers to an entire group of people or elements having one or more common characteristics

If the null hypothesis is rejected, then the

research hypothesis is affirmed and the researcher concludes there is a significant difference between the groups

If the null hypothesis is accepted, then the

researcher rejects the research hypothesis and concludes there is no difference between the groups

Permission should be obtained before

revising copyrighted instrument developed by someone else

Multiple techniques may be used in a

single study

The purpose of the statistical test is to evaluate the null hypothesis at a

specified level of probability

The Research Hypothesis is transformed into a Statistical or Null Hypothesis (Ho) This is done so that...

statistical tests can be employed that will determine whether the findings are statistically significant or can be attributed to chance

Target Population

the group that is the focus of your research

Sampling

the process of selecting a subgroup or sample of the population

Questioning

the researcher may ask the research participants questions to obtain information

Measurement

the researcher may test the research participants or apply a device to measure certain qualities

Observation

the researcher may watch the research participants perform and record relevant information about them

Nondirectional Hypothesis

when the researcher has no reason to believe a particular relationship or difference exists in any direction

Directional Hypothesis

when the researcher has reason to believe a particular relationship or difference exists

Null or Statistical Hypothesis

A hypothesis of "no difference or no relationship"

Semantic Differential Scale

-A scaling method designed for measuring ones "image" of a selected topic or concept. Subjects will choose a relative position between pairs of bipolar adjectives which describe the topic along a single dimension -No more than about 20 items should be used. Responses are converted to numeric values and treated statistically

Likert Scale

-A very popular scaling technique which measures the respondent's degree of agreement or disagreement on an issue, opinion, or particular belief -The continuum of response typically runs from SA , A, U, D, to SD -Responses to a Likert scale can be considered to be interval level scores, thus allowing scores to be summed and treated statistically

Indirect Observation

-Research participants are filmed or videotaped -Researcher views tape

Direct Observation

-Researcher directly observes research participants -Research participants usually know they are being observed

Results Section

-Researcher reports the results of the data collection efforts the outcomes of the data analysis -Usually includes consideration information from the various statistical techniques -Indicate whether H0 was rejected or not -Normally would not include discussion or interpretation of results

Participant Observation

-The observer participates in the research setting with the research participants, often spending considerable time in the natural setting developing field notes -Qualitative research methodology

Why do statistical testing?

-We want to be as sure as possible that our theories are as correct as possible. -We want to avoid a fluke! -If we give out a new drug and by chance people get better (when the researcher knows it is inactive), then it is a fluke -So, statistical testing tests the probability that your null hypothesis is true or not.

Affective measures

-opinion, attitude, interest, personality traits, motivation, self-concept -affective factors are often more difficult to capture quantitatively and are typically measured through the use of pencil and paper self-report scales

Three basic questions to consider:

1. Are the research participants appropriate for the research question? 2. Are the research participants representative of the population of interest? 3. How many research participants should be used?

Basic steps include the following:

1. Review the literature 2. Develop tentative instrument 3. Obtain opinions of experts concerning the instrument 4. Revise the instrument as needed 5. Pilot test the instrument 6. Further revise the instrument as needed 7. Finalize instrument

Title length should be

15 words or less

Research Hypothesis

An "educated guess" or tentative proposition regarding the possible solution or explanation to the problem being studied

Critiquing a Research Article

Astute readers should be able to critically read research reports and make informed judgments about the quality of the research

examples of indirect observation

Children observed while they interact in a jungle gym alone, with same gender, with group of children, with adults.

Semantic Differential Scale (bipolar scale) ex

Clean - - - - - - - Dirty

Disclosure of Research Findings

Culmination of research process is the public disclosure of results that can be found in Article in professional journal Presentation at a conference Contractual research report Thesis or dissertation

3 types of Observation Techniques

Direct observation Indirect observation Participant observation

2 types of Research Hypothesis

Directional Non-directional

Introduction Section

Helps the reader understand why the study is being proposed/conducted

In-text citation rules for More than two authors, less than six

Include all authors names the first time you reference the source, then in subsequent references use the first author's last name followed by "et al." and publication date First reference: Henig, Holyoke, Brown and Paquet (1998) challenged the research... Following references: Henig et al. (1998) discussed...

In-text citation rules for 2 authors...

Include both names each time you cite their work in text and use "and" in sentence, (&) end sentence Kloiber and Summers (2013) examine the rationale... (Kloiber & Summers, 2013)

In-text citation rules for Six or more authors

Include only the last name of the first author followed by "et al." and publication date Belfield et al. (2002) provide a relatively simple... Same rules apply to end of sentence: Researchers provided a relatively simple analysis of the strength gains (Belfield et al., 2002).

Example of Research Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that children taught by teaching method A will perform better on a reading achievement test than children taught by method B

References & Appendix

Listing of all books, articles, or other sources cited by the author Format varies according to specific journal Astute readers should carefully peruse the list of references

Data Collection Instruments

May include any mechanical or electronic equipment, physical performance task, paper-and-pencil test or scale, as well as a questionnaire designed to collect data on the variable of interest

Ordinal

Numbers indicate rank order of observations. Sequential Ordering. 1st, 2nd, 3rd place

Interval

Numbers represent equal units or intervals from an Arbitrary Zero Point. Example: Celsius scale (can be zero, and can be negative)

example of participant observation

Observe the daily physical activity in a specific population and taking field notes

example of direct observation

Observing subjects as they run a mile; many say the pressure can increase/decrease motivation and performance

Major categories of measures include

Physical Cognitive Affective

Typical Contents of Research Report

Preliminary information (Abstract) Introduction Methods Results Discussion References Appendix (if appropriate)

Wide variety of methods that involve questioning the research participant some of the ways are through

Questionnaires Structured Unstructured Checklist Interviews

Rank Order Scale ex

Rank the products in order of perceived quality

problem of direct observation

Researcher's presence might change the way the research participants act

Rating Scale ex

Selected a score from 1-10

Likert Scale ex

Strongly agree-agree-neutral-disagree, strongly disagree

Functions of Discussion Section

Summarize the results Interpret the results Offer conclusions Theorize Provide recommendations Suggest future research

example of a Research Hypothesis

THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN ANXIETY LEVELS OF CHILDREN WITH HIGH IQ AND THOSE WITH LOW IQ

example of Null or Statistical Hypothesis

THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN ANXIETY LEVELS OF CHILDREN WITH HIGH IQ AND THOSE WITH LOW IQ

Your study results need to have statistically significant results, and not have results that occur by

chance

Example of Null Hypothesis

There will be no significant difference in reading performance between students taught by method A and students taught by method B or Teaching method has no effect on the reading performance of students

Measurement Techniques

This broad category of techniques involves actively testing the research participants on the characteristics of interest

Subject Selection and Sampling

This is considered highly important in social and behavioral research

Preliminary Information

Title Author information Acknowledgments Abstract May be as short as 150 to 200 words Brief but clear summary of research study Not required by all journals

In-text citation rules for One author....

Use the last name of the author and the publication year of the work only (Kloiber, 2013). Kloiber (2013) argues that...

Methods Section

Usually contains information about: Research participants Instrumentation Procedures -Methodology and procedures are usually described in detail

There is _ ________ in the motivational level of children with a high IQ and children with a low IQ (Nondirectional Hypothesis)

a difference

Sample

a small subgroup of a population of interest thought to be representative of that population

Observation Techniques

a study in which a researcher simply observes behavior in a systematic manner without influencing or interfering with the behavior

The results of the statistical test will enable the researcher to

accept or reject the null hypothesis

Scales can be used to obtain information on

almost any topic, object, or subject

Your results (p value)must surpass the ____ _____ to earn statistical significance.

alpha level

For you to "rule out" chance, you implement a

alpha level to get true statistical analysis

Some controversy exists among researchers and statisticians regarding the

appropriate statistical treatment of scaled responses

Scaling is the process of

assigning numbers to the various levels of a particular concept that we wish to measure