What is the nature of descriptive research?

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What is the nature of descriptive research?

• Type of research concerned with status..
• Problems can be solved through thorough
  observation, analysis, and description.

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Survey Research

• Technique that seeks to determine present
  practices or opinions of a specified population.
• Can involve questionnaire, interview, or
  normative study.

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1. Questionnaire

• Pen and paper survey to obtain information to ask
  subjects to respond to questions (no observation
  of behavior).

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Value of Open - ended questions?

• Allows for considerable latitude to respond ideas
  and feelings.
• Drawbacks
• many do not like
• time consuming
• strays from question
• difficult to synthesize and categorize

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Value of close -ended questions

• Forced choice responses
• rankings
• scaled items
• categorical responses

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Rankings

• Rank the following activities with regard to how
  you like to spend leisure time

• ___Reading
• ___Watch TV
• ___Arts Crafts
• ___Vigorous sports
• ___Mild exercise

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Scaled items (often a Likert)

• In a teacher education preparation program,
  students should be required to take a history and
  philosophy of education course.
• SA A N D SD

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• Indicate the frequency in which you read the
  chapters in your textbook for each class period.
• Never Rarely Some Often Always

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Categorical responses

• Generally two choices
• yes - no
• True - false
• Limitations
• lack of other options
• not much info

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How to plan a questionnaire

• Determine objectives
• Delimit sample
• Construct questionnaire
• Conduct pilot study
• Write Cover letter

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• Send questionnaire
• Perform follow-up procedures
• Analyze results
• Prepare research report

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Weaknesses

• May not be candid
• May provide socially desirable responses
• Sampling Errors
• Non Sampling Errors

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Correlational research

• 1. Explores the relationship among variables.
• 2. Sometimes can predict, but
• DOES NOT establish cause-effect

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• Must lean heavily on past research to define
  important variables.
• Garbage in Garbage out!!!!
• The size of the correlation coefficient depends
  to a considerable degree on the spread of the
  scores.
• In prediction, subjects must be representative of
  population to whom study is directed. (sample
  specific)

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Limitations

• Planning
• identification of pertinent variables
• Based on theory pervious research
• Analysis
• Assuming cause-effect