PROJECT 2

Content: Methodology of a Research Report

Main contents:
1. Writing method section
2. Introducing qualitative and quantitative
methods
3. Selecting research instrument(s)
- Sampling method
- Questionnaire design
- Planning and conducting interviews
Identify a specific
research topic
Generate (a) research
question(s)

Writing an introduction

Writing method section

Functions of method section in
research
The method section should:
● Describe what was done to answer the reseach question

● Decribe how it was done

● Justify the experimental design

● Explain how the results were analyzed

How many features
are there in a
method section?
typical features
1. Subjects/participants

Describe the subjects/participants in your experiment, including:

● who they were;
● what their characteristics were;
● how many there were;
● how they were selected.

E.g.: We randomly selected 100 children from elementary schools near the
University of Arizona.
typical features (cont.)
2. Instruments/materials

Describe the materials, measures, equipment, or stimuli used

in the experiment.

E.g.: Two stories from Sullivan et al’s (1994) second-order false

belief attribution tasks were used to assess children’s
understanding of second-order belief.
typical features (cont.)
3. Procedures

Detail the procedures used in your experiment.

You should explain:
● what participants needed to do;
● how data were collected;
● the order in which steps occurred.
E.g.: An examiner interviewed children individually at their school in one session
that lasted 20 minutes on average. The examiner explained to each child that he
or she would be told two short stories and that some questions would be asked after each
story. All sessions were videotaped so the data could be later coded.
SAMPLE METHOD AND
ANALYSIS
Read the following method section (by Khuat Thi Le Lan and Le
Luu Ly, page 33) and do the following tasks:

1. Describe the data collection methods used in the

research.
2. Describe the participants of the research.
3. Describe the procedures used in the research.
Points to remember
● Bear in mind the purpose of the method section.

✔ TAKE NOTES what you did, why you did it, and what happened.

✔ Carefully SELECT which material to include in your final methodology section.

● Remember who your audience will be, and include no unnecessary details.

● Passive voice is preferable.

✔ Avoid using “I” to write about what you did.

● Choose the correct verb tense and be consistent.

INTRODUCING SAMPLING
METHOD
Definition of sample
● When you conduct research about a group of people, it’s rarely possible to collect

data from every person in that group. Instead, you select a sample.

 The sample is the group of individuals who will actually participate in the research.
 To draw valid conclusions from your results, you have to carefully decide how you
will select a sample that is representative of the group as a whole. This is called
a sampling method.
There are two primary types of sampling methods that you can use in your research:
• Probability sampling involves random selection, allowing you to make strong
statistical inferences about the whole group.
• Non-probability sampling involves non-random selection based on convenience or
other criteria, allowing you to easily collect data.
 You should clearly explain how you selected your sample in the methodology section
of your paper or thesis, as well as how you approached minimizing research bias in
your work.
Sampling Frame
● The sampling frame is the actual list of individuals that the sample will be drawn
from. Ideally, it should include the entire target population (and nobody who is not
part of that population).
● Example:
You are doing research on working conditions at a social media marketing company.
Your population is all 1000 employees of the company. Your sampling frame is the
company’s HR database, which lists the names and contact details of every employee.
Sample Size
● The number of individuals you should include in your sample depends on various
factors, including the size and variability of the population and your research design.
There are different sample size calculators and formulas depending on what you want
to achieve with statistical analysis
Probability sampling methods
● Probability sampling means that every member of the population has a chance of
being selected. It is mainly used in quantitative research. If you want to produce
results that are representative of the whole population, probability sampling
techniques are the most valid choice.
4 types of probability sample
Simple random sampling
● In a simple random sample, every member of the population has an equal chance of
being selected. Your sampling frame should include the whole population.
● To conduct this type of sampling, you can use tools like random number generators
or other techniques that are based entirely on chance.
● Example:
You want to select a simple random sample of 1000 employees of a social media
marketing company. You assign a number to every employee in the company database
from 1 to 1000, and use a random number generator to select 100 numbers.
Systematic sampling
● Systematic sampling is similar to simple random sampling, but it is usually slightly

easier to conduct. Every member of the population is listed with a number, but

instead of randomly generating numbers, individuals are chosen at regular intervals.

● Example: All employees of the company are listed in alphabetical order. From the

first 10 numbers, you randomly select a starting point: number 6. From number 6

onwards, every 10th person on the list is selected (6, 16, 26, 36, and so on), and you

end up with a sample of 100 people.

Stratified sampling
● Stratified sampling involves dividing the population into subpopulations that may
differ in important ways. It allows you draw more precise conclusions by ensuring
that every subgroup is properly represented in the sample.
● To use this sampling method, you divide the population into subgroups (called strata)
based on the relevant characteristic (e.g., gender identity, age range, income bracket,
job role).
● Based on the overall proportions of the population, you calculate how many people
should be sampled from each subgroup. Then you use random or systematic sampling
to select a sample from each subgroup.
● Example:

The company has 800 female employees and 200 male employees. You want to ensure

that the sample reflects the gender balance of the company, so you sort the population

into two strata based on gender. Then you use random sampling on each group, selecting

80 women and 20 men, which gives you a representative sample of 100 people.
CLUSTER SAMPLING
● Cluster sampling also involves dividing the population into subgroups, but each
subgroup should have similar characteristics to the whole sample. Instead of
sampling individuals from each subgroup, you randomly select entire subgroups.
● If it is practically possible, you might include every individual from each sampled
cluster. If the clusters themselves are large, you can also sample individuals from
within each cluster using one of the techniques above. This is called
multistage sampling.
● This method is good for dealing with large and dispersed populations, but there is
more risk of error in the sample, as there could be substantial differences between
clusters. It’s difficult to guarantee that the sampled clusters are really representative
of the whole population.
● Example:

The company has offices in 10 cities across the country (all with roughly the same

number of employees in similar roles). You don’t have the capacity to travel to every

office to collect your data, so you use random sampling to select 3 offices – these are

your clusters.
Non-probability sampling methods
● In a non-probability sample, individuals are selected based on non-random criteria,
and not every individual has a chance of being included.
● This type of sample is easier and cheaper to access, but it has a higher risk of
sampling bias. That means the inferences you can make about the population are
weaker than with probability samples, and your conclusions may be more limited. If
you use a non-probability sample, you should still aim to make it as representative of
the population as possible.
● Non-probability sampling techniques are often used in exploratory and
qualitative research. In these types of research, the aim is not to test a hypothesis
about a broad population, but to develop an initial understanding of a small or under-
researched population.
CLASSIFICATION
Convenience sampling
● A convenience sample simply includes the individuals who happen to be most
accessible to the researcher.
● This is an easy and inexpensive way to gather initial data, but there is no way to tell
if the sample is representative of the population, so it can’t produce generalizable
results. Convenience samples are at risk for both sampling bias and selection bias.
● Example:
You are researching opinions about student support services in your university, so after
each of your classes, you ask your fellow students to complete a survey on the topic. This
is a convenient way to gather data, but as you only surveyed students taking the same
classes as you at the same level, the sample is not representative of all the students at
your university.
 Voluntary response sampling
● Similar to a convenience sample, a voluntary response sample is mainly based on ease of
access. Instead of the researcher choosing participants and directly contacting them,
people volunteer themselves (e.g. by responding to a public online survey).
● Voluntary response samples are always at least somewhat biased, as some people will
inherently be more likely to volunteer than others, leading to self-selection bias.
● Example:
You send out the survey to all students at your university and a lot of students decide to
complete it. This can certainly give you some insight into the topic, but the people who
responded are more likely to be those who have strong opinions about the student support
services, so you can’t be sure that their opinions are representative of all students.
Purposive sampling
● This type of sampling, also known as judgement sampling, involves the researcher using their
expertise to select a sample that is most useful to the purposes of the research.
● It is often used in qualitative research, where the researcher wants to gain detailed knowledge
about a specific phenomenon rather than make statistical inferences, or where the population is
very small and specific. An effective purposive sample must have clear criteria and rationale for
inclusion. Always make sure to describe your inclusion and exclusion criteria and beware of
observer bias affecting your arguments.
● Example: Purposive samplingYou want to know more about the opinions and experiences of
disabled students at your university, so you purposefully select a number of students with
different support needs in order to gather a varied range of data on their experiences with student
services.
Snowball sampling
● If the population is hard to access, snowball sampling can be used to recruit participants via
other participants. The number of people you have access to “snowballs” as you get in contact
with more people. The downside here is also representativeness, as you have no way of knowing
how representative your sample is due to the reliance on participants recruiting others. This can
lead to sampling bias.
● Example:
You are researching experiences of homelessness in your city. Since there is no list of all homeless
people in the city, probability sampling isn’t possible. You meet one person who agrees to participate
in the research, and she puts you in contact with other homeless people that she knows in the area.
QUOTA SAMPLING
● Quota sampling relies on the non-random selection of a predetermined number or proportion of
units. This is called a quota.
● You first divide the population into mutually exclusive subgroups (called strata) and then recruit
sample units until you reach your quota. These units share specific characteristics, determined
by you prior to forming your strata. The aim of quota sampling is to control what or who makes
up your sample.
● Example:
You want to gauge consumer interest in a new produce delivery service in Boston, focused on
dietary preferences. You divide the population into meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans, drawing a
sample of 1000 people. Since the company wants to cater to all consumers, you set a quota of 200
people for each dietary group. In this way, all dietary preferences are equally represented in your
research, and you can easily compare these groups. You continue recruiting until you reach the quota
of 200 participants for each subgroup.
Stepts to choose the sample of your
own
1. Identifyresearch
the group of participants you are interested in according to the potential topic

2. Choose the size of sample --> often given by the requirements from the manager,

employer or lecturer at university

3. Identify the kind of sampling method you want to use (based on the kind of primary

research you choose to do)

4. Set the criteria to choose the specific group of participants

Example:
● Aim: Habits  quantititative research
● Interested subject: Young people
● Size of sample: 200 (required by lecturer)
● Kind of sampling method: Stratified sampling method (probability sampling method)
● Criteria chosen to set the sample
+ location: studying in BA
+ genders: 100 female groups and 100 male groups
Or hometown: 100 students from HN and 100 students from other provinces
Introducing
qualitative and
quantitative methods
definition and classification
Qualitative Data  Qualitative research methods  Qualitative
research (Aim: the needs, demands, satisfaction level, preferences,
effectiveness, impacts/ effects…)
✔ Qualitative data brings you the details and the depth to
understand their full implications.
✔ The nature of data is descriptive and so it is a bit difficult to
analyze it.
✔ The data is interpreted as spoken or written narratives rather
than numbers.
✔ It is concerned with the data that is observable in terms of smell,
appearance, taste, feel, texture, gender, nationality and so on.
✔ The methods of collecting qualitative data are:

• Focus Group

• Observation

• Interviews

• Archival Materials like newspapers.

definition and classification
Quantitative Data  Quantitative Research Method  Quantitative
research (Aim: the habits, trends, popularity, frequency, situation…)
✔ Quantitative data gets you the numbers to prove the broad general
points of your research.
✔ It refers to the data which computes the values and counts and can be
expressed in numerical terms.
✔ It is concerned with measurements like height, weight, volume, length, size,
humidity, speed, age etc.
✔ The data can be presented in the form of charts, graphs, tables, etc.
✔ The methods used for the collection of data are:

• Surveys

• Experiments

• Observations and Interviews

 (group work)
WHAT ARE THE
DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN
QUALITATIVE
AND
QUANTITATIVE
Examples
Identify qualitative and quantitative questions:

1. How long have you been a customer of our company?

2. How likely are you to purchase any of our products again?
3. What were the main reasons you chose our product/service?
4. How did you feel about our customer service?
5. What is the difference in the daily calorie intake between men and
women in London?
6. Would you consider using our product/service again?
7. What would make you use our product/service again?
8. How often do you buy mobile apps for fitness purposes?
9. How regularly do you go abroad for a holiday?
Selecting
research
instruments
QUESTIONNAI
RE DESIGN
BRIEF OVERVIEW
 Conducting a survey is a common way of collecting information in
research. It is usually what people first think of when they want to
perform a needs assessment or evaluate a program.

 A survey questions a large group of people, called respondents or

subjects. The easiest way to ask many questions is to create a
questionnaire, a written list of questions that people fill out.
What is a Questionnaire?
A questionnaire is defined as a research instrument
that consists a set of questions or other types of
prompts that aims to collect information from a
respondent.
 DISCUSSION 3
(group work)
WHAT ARE THE
STRENGTH AND
WEAKNESSES OF
A
QUESTIONNAIRE
STRENGTHS OF A
QUESTIONNAIRE
● Can provide powerful information

● Can give an account of the extent as well as the nature of

a phenomenon

● Can be used to test hypotheses

● Can allow generalization from the results to a wider

population than that surveyed.
WEAKNESSES OF A
QUESTIONNAIRE
● Give a static picture of people or events at one point in
time

● Give no context information

● May not deal adequately with complex, ‘real life’ issues

● Requires the researcher to ask relevant questions

appropriately

● Open to bias
WHEN TO USE
Surveys are a useful method if:

● your research questions are well designed and relatively

straightforward

● the information is not readily available elsewhere

● the reporting of your results has to encounter public scrutiny

● you have the resources (money and time) to do them properly.

 Question structure
⮚ How you structure your questionnaires affects the type of
answers respondents give.
⮚ It also has a dramatic influence on the way you analyze the
data.
⮚ The 4 basic structural types are:
• Open-ended
• Closed
• Partially closed
• Scaled
 Open - ended questions
● Allows respondents to answer in their own words.
● Is use when you cannot pre-empt what answer you get or list all
possible answers.
● It is ideal for an exploratory study/sample size is small.

E.g.: ‘How could the health services in this community be

improved?’
Open - ended questions
Advantages
● Stimulates creative responses
● Does not pre-empt responses
● Is more suited to interview if questions are not very specific

Disadvantages
● Much more demanding and time consuming
● More difficult for less articulate
● Answers may be irrelevant, incomplete or cryptic
Closed questions
● Offers respondents a limited range of specific choices.
● Must offer the choices you covering the range of answers
that respondents are likely to give.

E.g.: Are you satisfied with the city bus service?

Yes No
closed questions - ordered
answer
Ordered choices
answer choices:
● Are variants of a single dimension.
● Are most suitable for determining intensity, degree or
frequency of a particular variable.

E.g.: To which age group do you belong?

A. 0 – 19
B. 20 – 29
C. 30 – 39
D. 40 – 49
E. 50 – 59
F. 60 & over
closed questions - non-ordered
answer
Non-ordered choices
answer choices:
● Are a limited group of independent alternatives.
● Are most suitable for establishing priorities among alternative
issues.

E.g.: Which of the following best describe the benefit you gained from the
fitness program you attended?
A. Lost weight
B. Improved muscle tone
C. Increased aerobic fitness
D. Feel better about myself now
E. Made new friends
 Partially closed question
● This type is a natural compromise between open and closed structure.
● It avoids some of the pitfalls of both.

E.g.: What is the single most important reason that you ride the bus?
A. I don’t have a car.
B. I don’t want to fight rush-hour traffic.
C. Riding the bus is cheaper than driving my car. -
D. Riding the bus conserves and reduces pollution.
E. Other (Please describe)

● “OTHER, PLEASE SPECIFY / DESCRIBE” is used in a closed question when you

cannot foresee all the possible responses.
 Partially closed question
Advantages
● Allows unexpected answers to surface
● Is easy to analyze
● Do not force people to choose inappropriately

Disadvantages
● May be difficult to compare responses in ‘OTHER’ category
 Scaled questions
● The responses is chosen from a range of values.
● Respondents rank their answer in terms of a particular
dimension. (degree of satisfaction/frequency of use).
Scaled questions
Advantages
● Avoid vagueness of terms
● Make clearer comparison

Disadvantages
● Have to make subjective judgment about significance of response
 Types of Scaled questions
● Likert scale
● Graphic scale
● Inventory scale
● Ranking scale
 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNING
•TIPS
Keep it brief, when possible.
✔ Most questionnaires don't need to be longer than a page.
• Choose a simple visual design.

✔ Select a common font, like Arial or Helvetica, and suitable text size.
• Create questions with straightforward, unbiased language.

✔ Use clear and unbiased language.

✔ Ask one question at a time.

• Aim for logical flow to questions
DISCUSSION 4
(Individually)
Why should the
questionnaire be
tested before
conducted?
Pilot the questionnaire
● Test a questionnaire with a small number of the same kind of
people before the main questionnaire is actually conducted.

What for?
● reveal unanticipated problems
● see if the questions are understandable
● see if interviewees give useful answers.
Planning and
conducting
interviews
Overview
INTERVIEWS

● Provide in-depth information about a research issue/question.

● Is often described as a qualitative research method.

● Gather a broad range of information from a few subjects.

 DISCUSSION 5
(Group work)
-in which situations
should interviews be
used?
-What types of
questions should be
Overview
WHEN TO USE

● To get in-depth information.

(the story behind a participant's experiences)
● To further investigate responses.
(follow-up of a questionnaire)

❖ Open-ended questions are usually asked during interviews.

ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
● adaptability
● improved response rate
● quality of responses/in-depth information
● more convincing prepared explanation of the study’s purpose

● not many misunderstandings

DISADVANTAGES
● more expensive
● time-consuming
● highly subjective technique → danger of bias
Types of interviews
● Unstructured interview:
✔ This is guided by the responses of the interviewee.

✔ The direction of the interview is relatively unpredictable.

● Semi-structured interview:
✔ The course of the interview is determined by topic and issues.

● Structured interview:
✔ This is guided by a list of set questions in a predetermined order.
Steps in conducting the interview
1. Choose a setting with little distraction.
2. Introduce yourself.
3. Ask the person if it is O.K. to record the interview.
4. Interview.
5. Be sensitive to the person's schedule and time
limits.
6. Take note.
Wording of questions
● Open-ended wording.

✔ Respondents can answers with their own terms.

● Neutral questions.

✔ Avoid wording that might influence answers.

● One question at a time.
● Clear questions.
● “WHY" questions should be wisely used.

✔ This type of question may inhibit their responses to this and future
questions.
Tips for effective interviews
● Make sure the research question is clear.
● Develop a checklist of the questions to be asked during the interview.
● Express clearly the purpose of the interview.
● Start with a neutral question to facilitate free flow of information.
● Use open-ended questions so that the respondent can choose his answer.
● Limit the content of each question with a single idea to avoid confusion.
● Reduce questions that give responses of “yes” or “no” because they give limited
information.
● Do not influence the respondent by asking leading questions.
● If you have not understood the response, ask the respondent to repeat and clarify.

● Do not assume answers.

● Do not pass judgments.
● Avoid irrelevant discussions.
● Keep the interview short.
● At the end of the interview, summarize the points reported and ask the respondent if
reflection
1. How many features are there in the method section?
2. What are the differences between quantitative data and qualitative data?
3. How many types of questions are there?
4. How many types of interviews are there?
ASSIGNMENT:
- You work in group and write a report related to the main content
+ Topic: soft drinks  aim: the habits
+ potential subject: young people
+ target: 200
- Identify the sample of your research
- Identify your research instrument to choose the suitable sample of research
and collect the data & explain the reasons why you choose these methods
- Design the research instrument
- Write your method section for your research report.
 any
question?