RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN

Research Design


It is the researcher s plan on how the study will be conducted, the type of data that will be collected, and the means to be used to obtain the data. It is the part of the research that involves the overall methods by which respondents will be selected, controlled and categorized.

Included in the Research design:



RESEARCH DESIGN a detailed explanation of techniques and procedures for data collection and analysis. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE a description of the population and procedure for choice of samples or respondents INSTRUMENTATION a clear description of tools and instruments to be used in statistical treatment of data

Basic Research Designs

A. EXPERIMENTAL - This particular design is an inquiry on cause-andcause-and-effect relationships, and is conducted in specialized setting, such as the laboratory, experimental unit or research center. - the benefit gained in experimental studies is the possibility of establishing causal relationships bet independent and dependent variables.

Types of Experimental Research

1. True Experiment an inquiry that considers 4 properties of experimental research a. Manipulation b. Control c. Randomization d. validity

MANIPULATION - the researcher subjects the respondents of the study to some kind of situation for a specific purpose. CONTROL - The researcher imposes certain conditions over the experimental situation. a. Control Group this group is not subjected to any experimental treatment b. Experimental Group this group is subjected to the treatment used by the researcher.

Example:


The use and non-use of external nonflushing on post-partum mothers postto determine the extent of postpostpartum infections

RANDOMIZATION the researcher assigns subjects to a control or experimental group on random basis, basis, which means every subject has an equal chance of being assigned to any group. VALIDITY the researcher must ensure the validity of data gathered so it will objectively answer all research questions or research hypotheses.

2. Quasi-Experiment - this is an Quasiexperiment that lacks one or more of the 4 properties of the true experiment. Ex. Administering a drug to a group of infants whose mothers are heroinheroinaddicted, to see if the treatment will result in decrease or increase of birth weight in infants.

Advantages of Experimental Design



 

Explains and establishes causal relationships of variables; Increases purity of observations; Creates conditions in the experimental setting that approximates the natural setting; and Free from the pressures of daily life when conducted in a controlled unit.

Disadvantages:


    

Dangerous, particularly if human beings are used as subjects; Difficult to create conditions; Time constraints; NonNon-cooperation of subjects; Population constraints; and A generalization may not be reliable if done in an artificial setting.

B. NON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH NON- this is a research known as surveys which has less control over the study subject and setting.

Reasons for Conducting NonNon-Experimental Research:

1. Situations in which the individual variable is inherently non-manipulable nonEx. Sex, age, personality, physical built 2. There are variables that can be technically manipulated, but should not be, for ethical reasons. Ex: smoking

3. There are situations in which it is deemed impractical or undesirable to conduct experiments. Ex: lack of funds, inconvenience 4. There are also situations in which researcher observes manifestations of events and determines factors that have caused these. Ex: temper tantrums, post-op infections post-

Advantages
   

Less expensive Adequate time Cooperation is easy to obtain; and Fundings may be available for a representative target population

Disadvantages


Not capable of estimating causal relationship in the same degree as the experimental research; Cannot be applied to anew product or procedures; Oftentimes not considered as true research

C. COMBINED EXPERIMENTAL AND NONNON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS - These are known as partial experiments or partially controlled nonnon-experimental designs. D. QUANTITATIVE/QUALITATATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

Classification of Methods of Research

      

Historical Descriptive Developmental Correlational CausalCausal-Comparative True Experimental QuasiQuasi-Experimental

DATA COLLECTION AND TREATMENT

Steps in Data Collection/Gathering:

1. Administer tests and other measures; 2. Tasks will be performed; 3. Instruments will be administer; and 4. Observations and interview will be carried out.

SAMPLING PROCEDURE


UNIVERSE a totality of elements to which research findings may apply. This also refer to the group of people or objects from which the researcher intends to generalize the findings of the study. ELEMENTS refer to the entities that make up the sample and the population. Ex: patients, staff nurses, student nurses

POPULATION refers to the accessible group of individuals from which the sample will be drawn by the researcher. Target Population the group of individuals or objects about which speculative information is desired. Ex: All student nurses in X College

Subjects/Respondent Population the group of individuals or respondents chosen to provide data and info needed. Ex: BSN IV or graduating student nurses Stratum a mutually exclusive segment of the population, distinguished by one or more traits or qualifications Ex: Age youngest to oldest Civil Status single or married

SAMPLING the process of selecting a representative population to represent the entire population. Sampling is a practical and efficient means of ensuring the quality of data that will be gathered. Sampling Unit a specific area or place which can be used during the sampling process Ex: medical-surgical ward medicalSampling Frame a complete list of sampling units from which the sample is drawn. Ex: If there are a total of 10 clinical areas in a hospital, only 2 or 3 areas will be included

SAMPLING DESIGN the scheme that specifies the number of samples drawn from the population. It can be purposive, random, stratified, convenience, etc SAMPLE a portion of the population from which data will be solicited for purposes of the research. It is a subgroup of the population which constitutes the respondents of the study. Also called subjects or respondents of the study.

Examples:


Universe: Universe: 500 student nurses at X College Target Population: 100 BSN IV Population: students Samples: Samples: 50 students out of the 100

Steps in Sampling
1. Identify the target population or the universe - the group to which you want to apply your findings.
Ex: All graduating students All staff nurses of Hospital X All juvenile diabetics of MM

2. Identify your respondent population the portion of the target population accessible to you from which data and info will be drawn.
Ex: BSN graduating students Staff nurses in the ICU Juvenile diabetics with insulin deficiency

3. Specify the criteria for respondent selection criteria must be specific with respect to the characteristics of the respondents.
Ex: BSN graduating students with no RLE deficiencies Length of service of staff nurses Physical disability of juvenile diabetics

4. Specify the sampling design once the respondent population is identified, decide how the samples will be chosen and how large this will be by considering the representativeness of the subjects.
Ex: probability sampling using simple random or the use of non-probability nonsampling using purposive sampling

5. Recruit the Subjects when the sampling design has been determined, the next step is recruit the subjects and seek their cooperation and support. A screening instrument may be used to determine if the subjects meet the criteria set in the study.

TYPES/CATEGORIES OF SAMPLING

1. NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING NON- elements or subjects are selected in a non-random way. nonA. Accidental or convenience sampling - uses the most readily available or most convenient group of people or objects as study respondents

B. Quota Sampling divides the population into homogenous strata or sub-populations to ensure subrepresentative proportions of the various strata in the sample. Ex: If a researcher decides that age and sex are the variables he/she wants to study, and decides to interview 50 persons in 4 groups.

C. Purposive or Judgment sampling subjects are handpicked to be included in the sampling frame based on certain qualities. Ex: A researcher is interested in determining the perception of healthcare providers regarding their organization.

D. Snowball Sampling consists of the identification of a few persons who meet the requisite characteristics of the study and who in turn, lead the other persons who may be interviewed.

Advantages of Non-Probability NonSampling

 

Convenient Economical

Disadvantages:
- Likely to produce biased samples or errors in judgment because the researcher cannot estimate the precise elements of the population that will be included in the sample.

2. PROBABILITY SAMPLING - involves the random selection of subjects or elements of the population.
A. Simple Random Sampling - each has an equal chance or probability of being chosen as subjects of the study. - a sampling frame is used, listing all the elements in the pop n from which the sample is drawn.

Two techniques can be done through simple random sampling:  Lottery or fishbowl technique  Table of random numbers

B. Systematic Random Sampling In this type of sampling, the members of the population are arranged in some fashion perhaps alphabetically or other sort, then a random starting point is selected; and then every kth member will be the succeeding sample. Ex: every 10th name in a list of patients in odd
numbered rooms, every 5th house, every 6th baby in the nursery.

C. Stratified random sampling divides the population into homogeneous subgroups from which elements are selected at random.
Ex: pick out 200 samples from a 5,000 population, then group them according to age.

D. Cluster Sampling or Multi-Stage MultiSampling subdividing the population into smaller units and then selecting only at random some primary units where the study should then be concentrated. It is sometimes referred to as area sampling because it is frequently applied to geographical areas.

Ex: province municipality individual respondents

village

Advantages - There is less bias, as every element in the population is given an equal (independent) chance of selection. Disadvantages - It is time consuming, expensive, inconvenient, and impossible to obtain.

Identify what type of sampling is applicable to the following examples:

1. In a large school district, all teachers from two buildings are interviewed to determine whether they believe the students have less homework to do now than in previous years.

2. Every 7th customer entering a shopping mall is asked to select his or her favorite store.

3. Nursing supervisors are selected using random numbers in order to determine annual salaries.

4. In a medical study, patients are classified according to four blood types O, A, AB and B, whether they are RH- or RH+ and also RHaccording to whether their BP is low, normal or high.

5. In a study of a cause of lung cancer in particular patients who has the disease, patients were matched with controls by age, sex, place of residence and social class. The frequency of cigarette smoking in the two groups were then compared.

Sloven Formula
n = N___ 1+Ne2 n = sample size N = population size e = margin of error (error of tolerance may range from .01 to .20)

Where

METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA

1.

2.

3.

Use of already existing or available data Use of observers data these are gathered through actual observation and recording of events. Use of self-recording or reporting selfapproach

Types of Instruments
1. Questionnaire a self-directing selfinstrument with questions and indicators for the respondent to react from. It measures information levels, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, ideas, feelings and perception, as well as factual information from the respondents.

2. Interview a one-on-one dialogue one-onbetween the researcher and respondent to elicit data from the latter on the phenomenon under study.
Types: Structured Interview with specially prepared questions Unstructured Interview the interviewer asks questions at random

A.

B.

How are Variables Quantified and Measured?

1. Quantitative Enumeration of Variables - data are defined in such a way that they can be explained according to the scale of measurement (refers to the device that assigns code numbers to subjects in order to place them in continuum with respect to the attributes being measured. The code number ranges from zero to 100.

Example: definition of patient s satisfaction is measured by the number of times a day the call bell rang or the number of times the patient went out of bed. Example: Civil status 1. single 2. married 3. separated 4. widow 5. divorced 5 categories

2. Qualitative Description of variables or the Descriptive Analysis Phase

A. Nominal Scale this consists of a number of discrete, mutually exclusive and exhaustively named categories, distinct from one another. Ex: Nursing care to relieve body malaise, using body positions.

2. Ordinal scale this is used in ordering observations, according to magnitude or intensity. Data are categorized and ranked from most to least according to frequency of occurrence.
TYPES: A. LIKERT SCALE respondents are asked to indicate the degree to which they agree or disagree with the ideas expressed by the indicator. Ex: Variable: Sanctity of Marriage SA Strongly Agree A Agree U Uncertain D Disagree SD Strongly Disagree

B. GRAPHIC RATING SCALE respondents are asked to respond to bipolar continuum such as from the highest to the lowest or most to least . Ex: Variable: quality of care needed during breastfeeding. 1. optimum quality care 2. average quality care 3. minimum quality care 4. very little quality care 5. no quality care at all

C. GUTTMAN SCALE this is used to assess attitudes of respondents, using a continuum cumulative statements. Ex: What is your concept of health care services?
a. Healthcare should be available to all people b. Rich and poor alike can benefit from greater availability of healthcare c. Free health care for all would be the interest of the nation/government. d. Congress must enact a law making free health care for all who need it.

4. Semantic Differential Scale this is used to measure the meaning of concepts to determine the emotional-evaluative component emotionalof the respondent s attitude. In this scale, respondents are asked to rate their attitude towards a given concept or proposition using several options. Ex: Motherhood means: Bad Good Passive Active Weak Strong Irresponsible responsible