Research Design

Author

Institution

Introduction

Dr Xu is extremely wrong in determining the femininity of women using the mode of dressing of women. This is because as much as the data may be valid, it is unreliable in making such conclusions. This is especially considering that the mode of dressing may be determined by the nature of work, as well as cultural values of the society among others. The tension between validity and reliability lies in the fact that excessive standardization may incorporate artificiality to the authentic assessment form. There exists various likely sources of subjectivity and bias, in which case it is imperative that the researcher samples across all of them. Dr Xu would, therefore, have assessed the candidates on varied settings, numerous occasions and using multiple assessment tools.

The independent variable would be the amount of time that the parent spends with the child. The dependent variable would be the performance of the child, the number of times that the child has been incarcerated, drug or substance abuse and school performance. Level of supervision would be determined by the amount of time that the child spends with the parent or guardian. These are stated in hours per day. Drug and substance abuse would involve the use of drugs for which the child has not been prescribed by a doctor. The drugs in this case have to be named and categorized as alcohol, narcotics or opiates. School performance will be determined in terms of academic performance, as well as participation in class. Marks will be used in this case.

Levels of measurement underline the different ways in which numbers may be used.

A.Age

Age may be defined using the nominal level where numbers are used.

It may also be measured using the interval level. For example, ages ranging from 11-20, 21-30, and so on.

B.Income

Income may also be measured using the ordinal levels, for example, income of $10000, $20000, or $30000. In this case, it is known that an income of $10000 is less preferable than $30000.

Interval level may also be used in this case where the researcher may consider income ranging from $10000 to $20000, $21000 to $30000.

C.Family size

Nominal levels may be used to in measuring family size. The size may be assigned numbers such as two people, three people, five people, and others.

Interval levels would also be used to measure family size where the researcher would characterize families as ranging from 2 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 13, and others.

Deductive research is an approach that allows the researcher to make a hypothesis using theory. The researcher would then collect a variety of information and data, with which he will reject or confirm the hypothesis and resolve the issue. Inductive approach, on the other hand, uses observation to form a pattern and tentative hypothesis and theory. In essence, the researcher would be moving, from the specifics to make inferences on broad theories and generalizations. The key difference between these two approaches is that deductive research makes use of general facts to make a logical conclusion, whereas inductive research moves, from specific observations to make generalized theories.

An example of deductive research. All human beings are mortal. Kennedy is a man. In essence, Kennedy is mortal.

Inductive reasoning. Kennedy is a Briton (Premise). Most Britons like fish (premise). Kennedy likes eating fish (generalized conclusion).

Deductive models of theory construction involve working from the general to the specific. In this model, researchers make a logical conclusion from the premises or available facts. For example, a person may say that he leaves home for work at 8 o’clock, while the drive takes 45 minutes, in which case he arrives at work on time. The deductive theory would be that if he leaves for work at 8 o’clock, he will arrive on time.

Inductive models, on the other hand, moves from the specific observations to relatively broad theories and generalizations. It is worth noting that inductive models of theory construction allow for an element of uncertainty. For example, an individual may make a generalized statement about leaving to work. He would say that he left for work at 8 o’clock and was at work on time, thereby come with the conclusion that every day he leaves his home for work at eight he would arrive to his workplace on time.

Operationalization of concepts underlines the process of defining the various variables and the exact measuring methods used. This facilitates the accurate replication of the methodology of research used in this case. In a hypothesis examining the effects of vegetables on the growth of children, a scientist might have the following hypothesis.

“Children grow in a quicker manner when they eat vegetables.”

The operationalization of the concept would involve the definition of variables involved in this case.

Children- these are American boys and girls between the age of 0 to 11.

Growth will be determined in the form of height and weight.

“Quicker-units and timescale used in measuring this include kilograms, height in centimeters. The determination of these variables in these children will be done fortnightly.

Vegetables- the vegetables used in this case would have to be determined to ensure standardization. They will include fresh, cooked kales, carrots, tomatoes and cabbages to be taken every day.

Informed consent is an extremely crucial ethical issue. It outlines the fact that the subjects must be provided with all necessary information pertaining to the research, so that he can make an informed decision on whether to participate in the study. In a case where an underage subject is to be involved in a research, it is imperative that a guardian or parent is involved in making the consent. In a hypothetical case, supposing researchers need to conduct a research that would involve children suffering from a certain ailment in a hospital. They have carefully worded the consent forms and made sure that they use layman’s language. Unfortunately, their parents or guardians cannot be reached. This is even in a situation where the patients seem enthusiastic about participating in the research. The ethical dilemma is whether the researchers should go ahead and accept the consent of the underage as informed individuals. However, the most appropriate action to take would be to invite their caretakers in the hospital to explain to them and explain to them the various aspects of the research so as to allow for informed consent.

The researcher should, under no circumstance, give incorrect information to the subject pertaining to the research. This is because the subject should have a clear understanding of the risks and implications of the research so as to make an informed decision on whether or not to participate.

Units of analysis refer to things that researchers examine in an effort to create summary descriptions of the subject, as well as explain differences among them. The four units of analysis are individual, group, organization and social interaction.

In research, individual unit of analysis may involve characteristics such as age, gender, religion, race, attitudes, which are then combined to give a composite picture of the entire group represented by the individuals.

In using groups as the unit of analysis, a researcher may use terms such as married couples, friendship cliques, eastside gangs, fraternities and families among others.

In using organizations as the unit of analysis, the researcher may characterize the corporation in terms of net annual profits, percentage of employees from ethnic minorities, gross assets, and academic divisions among others.

In using social artifacts as the unit of analysis, the researcher may use things such as photos, songs, poems, newspapers, pottery, buildings, automobiles and books among others.

An ecological fallacy refers to an error of logic or deduction where the researcher makes conclusions pertaining to an individual based on group data analysis. In a study on the Heat Wave that affected Chicago in 1995, Eric Klinenberg underlined the vulnerability of the elderly, who he saw as especially vulnerable to social isolation from family, friends, as well as other support networks. This is because of neighborhood conditions like empty sidewalks, low population density and high crime rates. The conclusion that the elderly lived in isolation and aloneness is an ecological fallacy. This is because consequent research showed that heatwave deaths may come extremely quickly even in instances where the elderly were not living in literal isolation and where familial ties were strong.

A scale refers to a composite measure that has its foundation on multiple, continuous level indicators. The composite may be a sum of responses to the indicator items or other calculations. There are variations to the responses to every indicator in terms of their strength, and, consequently to the construct’s total score. An example of scales is the Likert scale which incorporates the format as “strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree.

An index, on the other hand, is a composite measure that rank-orders and summarizes several specific observations and is a representation of more general dimensions. It is an accumulation of scores from varied, individual items. For example, in measuring job satisfaction, a researcher may have indexes from 1-4, in which case he would ask certain questions then grade the response in terms of the percentage of positive and negative responses from the respondent.

Typologies are nominal-level variables that are known to summarize two or more variables. For example, the term “Womanizer” may encompass or summarize variables in a person who is Suave, a wine drinker and good-looking.

The Bogardus social distance scale is a technique used in measuring the willingness of people to take part in social relations with people of other kinds. In a situation where a researcher wants to determine the attitudes of racism and prejudice among UTSA students, he would ask questions such as the following.

Are you willing to live with other races in the same country?

Are you willing to live with a person from a different race in the same community?

Are you willing to live with people from other races in the same neighborhood?

Are you willing to have people from other races as your nextdoor neighbors?

Are you willing to live in the same hostel room/ apartment with a person from a different race?

There would be clear variations in intensity, which would suggest the structure among items. It is presumed that, in cases where an individual is willing to have some association, he would also be willing to accept all those that precede it as they have lesser intensities.

The importance of time in research design lays in its ability to determine the nature of research to be carried out. It is worth noting that time has a bearing on the cost of any research, as well as the definiteness of the information presented by the study. Two designs that make varied use of the element of time include cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies. Cross-sectional studies refer to studies that are carried out at a single point in time, in which case the researchers would be taking a slice of their observation. Longitudinal studies, on their part, takes place over a long duration. In this case, they could be essential in establishing sequences of changes in behaviors.

There are four specific criteria for causality suggested by sociologists

Material causality underlines the physical matter or the mass of material by which a certain item is made.

Formal causality underlines the incorporations of an analogy of the artisan’s plan to determine how something was meant to be.

Efficient causality underlines the situation where an external entity from which the ending of the change or the change itself started is considered.

Final cause underlines the end or purpose that something is bound to serve.

In instances where a person makes a statement that the father is the cause of the child, the statement encompasses two causality criteria. Formal causality is underlined as the father determined the existence of the child, while the efficient causality is underlined by the fact that the father (an external entity) triggered the existence of the child.

A cross-sectional study refers to an observational study where the researchers would record information pertaining to their subjects without manipulating the study environment. The key feature of this category of study is that it would allow for comparison of varied population groups simultaneously or at a single point in time.

The key benefit of this research method is that it enables researchers to compare numerous, varied variables at the same time without any additional cost.

However, this category of study may not offer definite information pertaining to the cause-and-effect relationships, because the studies offer snapshots pertaining to a single moment in time, in which case they never consider the occurrences prior to or after the snapshot has been taken.

Longitudinal studies, on the other hand, are also observational, in which case the researchers would not interfere with the subjects. In this study, however, researchers would conduct several observations pertaining to the same subjects but over a certain period. Researchers carry out repeated observations of the same subjects over long periods.

The key benefit of longitudinal studies is that they enable researchers to detect changes or developments in the characteristics of target populations thereby establish a sequence of events.

However, these studies take a long time to conduct and are often extremely expensive.

In conducting a research on poverty, a researcher would conceptualize poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon that is definite and measured in terms of economic welfare terms such as consumption and income. A person would be considered poor in cases where he falls below a predetermined economic welfare level, which is deemed to constitute a reasonable minimum by the society’s standards.

There are various dimensions to the concept. It may be looked at in terms of capabilities, where the researcher would consider education, skills, lack of information and confidence. Livelihood and assets may also be considered, where the researcher may group them as inadequate, seasonal or precarious. Another dimension would be places where an individual lives, which may be characterized as unserviced, risky and isolated. The body of the respondent may also be examined where the researcher may consider poor appearance, sickly, hungry or exhausted.

Indicators, in this case, would be income levels, consumption per head, education levels, housing, social amenities and welfare provision. The levels of measurement used in this case may include nominal where the people’s income would be determined. In addition, interval levels of measurement may be used where the income would be grouped within certain ranges. Ordinal levels may be used in characterizing housing, such as permanent, semipermanent, and temporary.

A spurious relationship refers to a situation where there exists a statistical relationship between two or more variables, which are, in fact, not causally linked. This underlines the fact that the statistical relationship would be emanating from a third variable.

It has been emphasized that in order to prevent or avoid reporting spurious relationships, it is imperative that researchers first carry out pretesting of unit roots. They would then follow this up with the application of cointegration analysis.