Coverage of this week consist of Survey Methodologies, Designing of Questionnaires & Research Techniques.
(Source: http://www.swiftshift.com/)
First of all the definition of survey says it's a way of gathering information about a certain large scale population, by sampling some of its individuals (or a group) through a standardized set of questions. The main purpose of a survey is to extract special information that after a stage of evaluation gives results or statistical characteristics about the sample involved in the project done. Questions included may relate to the surveyed people's beliefs, attitudes, behaviors or characteristics. (fairfaxcounty, 2012) Few of the survey objectives are:
Information needed in order to understand the problem, causes & solutions
Whom and how will the information be used
What population is selected to be studied & if the majority of it, is located easily
Statistically validation of the information & the need to be generalized to a large scale
Analysis used to understand survey results
Will the resulting data statistics be appropriate for the sampling plan used
Survey Modes & Types: (fairfaxcounty, 2012)
Face to Face Interviews - Personal inter-meetings between a interviewer & interviewee Pros - Response rate is high / Clarification of questions can be done / Control over respondents selection / Respondent is motivated or more engaged. Cons - Take time / High cost / Training required for interviewer / interviewee may give sociably accepted answers / less privacy.
Telephone Interviews - These are usually conducted from a main office that make telephone calls to selected house holds or individuals. Pros - Fast & high respond rates / a bit of secrecy is received by the respondent Cons - Question length is limited / external interruptions cannot be controlled / training and quality control measures are needed / difficulty when targeting a geographic location.
Mail/Post Questionnaires - Written surveys that are sent through postman, to the selected set of people out from the population. Pros - Good response rate with follow up procedures / easy to obtain a list of people & locate them geographically / can avoid interviewer bias / answers are not influenced socially / easy administration / low cost. Cons - Questions may not reach the desired person / complex when designing / time consuming.
Internet Questionnaires - Survey communicated through a particular website or by e-mails. Pros - Fast to operate & allocate data / Auto customization allowed / Software advantages / avoid interviewer bias and distortion / answers not externally disturbed / easy administration / low cost relatively. Cons - less information confidentiality / follow ups are difficult to conduct / less control over interviewee / advanced when designing.
(fairfaxcounty, 2012) describe questionnaires as yardstick used to query a population (or a selected group/individual) in order to extract information and data for analysis. It supports in gathering relevant data, convert information into a comparison format, reduce external 3rd party distractions and influence and interact with the interviewee.
According to the (fairfaxcounty, 2012) there are 5 types of basic question formats:
Open ended - no specified answers for interviewee (e.g. The job tasks that I enjoyed the most are................................)
Modified open ended - Can fill in certain answers but the end is specified (e.g. I was ..... old when I started my current job)
Close ended with ordered response choices - (e.g. How would you rate your job satisfaction? circle one answer in each category)
Close ended with non ordered response choices - (e.g. Which of the following food item that you liked the most? a / b / c)
Partially Close ended - choices are given but allow opinions too (e.g. Which of the food item that you liked the most? a/ b/ c or other-write down)
After that lecturer explained the 3 survey models & Its advantages / disadvantages:
Pyramid Structure - Questionnaire starts with a close ended question & ends with a very broad open ended question. This model allows the respondent to be used with the questions gradually and then be open at the very end. But one can get tired at the end of the paper when the personal answers are needed this is a disadvantage of this model. Advantageous when using filters at the beginning.
Funnel Approach - start with open ended and end with close ended. Respondent feels free to answer at beginning and then slightly get specified with the questions presented. Reasonable when the survey is aligned with deductive reasoning. Disadvantageous if the respondent is not familiar with the questions, and if get blocked at the beginning the whole questionnaire become failed.
Fusion Approach - This is the hybrid version of both above approaches. Starts with a broad general questions with opinion based answers and then get specified can insert filters at the middle then question about more specific and subject related matters that directly needed for analysis. Disadvantage is difficult to design.
Research Techniques Every research need large amounts of data and for that collection of data is a vital function. There are two categories of data collection
Primary Data Collection - Data that has been collected basically by the researcher who conduct the research itself. Investigated originally from the scratch. (e.g data collected through questionnaires designed by your self)
Secondary Data Collection - Data collected by a earlier/former researcher and has been re-used in your research by yourself to confirm or depict a theory/statement or hypothesis. Used with reference to the base research paper & author.
Scales to measure the answers - "Likert Scale" is the most common in usage
Primary Scales of Measurements:
Nominal - Like numbers assigned to runners
Ordinal - Rank order of winners (numbers contain a predefined meaning)
Internal (Sub set of ordinal) - Performance rating on a 1-10 scale
Ratio - Finishing time of a race in seconds
Evaluation & Piloting Surveys:
Always pre-prepared the techniques that you are going to use (questionnaires / surveys), be clear with each objectives, select a group for sampling, maintain proper order, select question structures & and extract wanted data from people. Furthermore researchers can also do pilot studies with a few set of people who have the similar characteristics of the selected people for the survey, and do question them and get feedback. This allows to see future potential problems of the survey and enable you to determine if information will answer your research question or not.
Finally at the end of the week I collected lot of knowledge about research methodologies. And learn how to create questionnaires & surveys using proper designs as these are useful in business researches. furthermore I got to know about the scales used to measure the answers, survey models & question formats in questionnaires. By learning this week's topics I improved in understanding different surveys done in other researches & got more familiar with research interviews and etc.
I hope you enjoyed My 9th Week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!
This week university announced "Christmas Holidays" for students but the lecturer assigned us to carry on and work out in our ARMPD individual assignments.
It was the time that i officially start my individual assignment & initially I planned on doing an IT solution proposal for the ministry of education in Sri Lanka but due to the reason that a senior in my university have already solved and given a solution for same related issues in her final year project. Therefore I again started think from the beginning and chose a manufacturing company that I have personal contacts with and planned an IT solution to improve & increase it's efficiency than the current system in operation.
Project Proposal Content should be: (35%)
In professional format
With correct referencing
Should include Justification of feasibility and viability as an academic project
Clarify project aims
Appropriate method
Logical Planning of task, Level of detail
Consideration of risks
Later on student is expected to present the solution at a Project Colloquium (15%) that covers elements such as:
Professional Attire
Voice Clarity
Presentation material
Effective Delivery
During the holiday student did company background search, primary investigations about company productions and sales & referred many research papers that could assist the assignment. But other than that student couldn't move forward with the assignment since the vacation was fully scheduled with personal and other subject module homework.
I hope you enjoyed My 8th Week Holiday Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!
"Where can you find a good research paper?" "What is a research paper?" "Any Guidelines to write research papers?" have any of these questions make you feel miserable in your life? Then this topic will be your medication to solve all of your doubts regarding research papers.
(Rajasekar, Philominathan, & Chinnathambi, 2013) once stated that Research paper isa written presentation of important and useful aspects of the research work done.It should clearly present the purpose and outcome of the specific research investigation. By publishing a research paper writer can get feedback from other researchers and professionals in in the field. It will also evaluate the success and originality of the research done and furthermore will interact with the third party readers who are interested about the topic or subject investigated. Research findings and innovative ideas will add value to a research and publishing a paper will guarantee your authority over the matters. Delaying the publication of the paper may loose your rights on findings. That is why Eli Maor, once said "in academic matters the iron rule is publish or perish". Research papers can be found at Conference proceedings and journals.
At class the lecturer provided following points on "What is a research paper":-
Answer a problem statement
Present Findings
Depicts detailed analysis of a particular topic or area
Provide References
Applies various types of research methods
Validate findings using scientific methodologies
Include Literature review as a main part of theory
Main Guidelines for reading a research paper:
Read Critically - Do not always assume that the authors are always accurate. Ask appropriate questions, do critique and find out the best (e.g. - Are they solving the right problem? / Are the assumptions that authors make reasonable? )
Read Creatively - Read the paper with a positive perception (e.g. - What are the good ideas / Any possible improvements? / Do the ideas presented have other applications or extensions that the author might have not thought of? / What is the next level - going further from the base paper)
Make notes - Write down your questions or criticisms as you read the paper. Underline key points presented. Mark down vital data that are important or questionable.
Summarize the paper - Ability to describe author's question and answer in short. Gain insight into more specific details of the research. Deepen your idea by outlining sub points that support the main idea
Compare the paper to other work - Make justification on author's findings by comparing with other supported or related researches.
Have a conclude note - gather all the information found on previous steps and create a small review where you can read and recall significant points regarding a certain research immediately when needed. Like memo card.
After attending few study sessions lecturer then gave students a task where we should read a research paper based on the problem identified for our individual assignmentand fill out a table this task can be viewed under the heading "Dec 17th Class Activity" Table consist of info such as: Title of the paper / Authors / References / Main points of research / how it effect the project / related papers & comments.
From this learning log I gained proper knowledge on how to read and summarize research papers where it will positively impact on my individual assignments. And I hope one day i could publish my own research paper in order to prove what I gain from this module.
I hope you enjoyed My 7th Week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!
Topic Related Videos:
References :-
Rajasekar, S., Philominathan,
P., & Chinnathambi, V. (2013). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. physics edu
journals , 1-32.
Weekly learning log was started with the topic "Understanding Research Process" and the lecturer described this broad process simply with 4 steps such as:
Narrow to a specific problem - Identification of the problem / state hypothesis you may use the fish-bone analysis method to narrow the problematic area. Also requires investigation
Develop Approach - Identification of the target sample, select data collection procedures & Design data collection plan (data sampling) - e.g. use of questionnaires
Choose Analysis - Implement research plan and prepare the report
Literature Review - This is an important step indeed to justify all the above steps mentioned, this stage is used to identify previous problem related solutions and get insights from them
Research problems can be categorized into these main sectors:
Next topic on the board was "Writing a Problem Statement" The term problem statementmeans a general declaration that depicts a completed plan that will be used to solve problem at hand. When doing a research, problem statement is sure to explore any anticipated tangible or intangible problems that the researcher may encounter in future.
Once (Hernon & Metoyer-Duran, 1993) discovered 9 attributes that respondents associated with Problem Statement, such as:
Clarity & Precision
Identification of what would be studied
Identification of overarching question and key factors or variables
Identification of Vital Concepts and terms
Articulation of the study's boundaries or parameters
Some Generalization
Conveyance of study's importance, benefits & justification
Reduce unnecessary jargon
Conveyance of more than the mere gathering
After that the lecturer handed over a document to the students that contains tips on writing a problem statement:(Source: http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/for-students-and-parents/tips-on-writing-a-problem-statement.html)
Accordingly after that lecturer distributed another worksheet, which explains in what direction you should write a problem statement. Students were asked to observe a given a given example and then fill out empty boxes according to the given situation.
Problem statement structure was divided by into parts by these questions in each box:
Original problem or focusing question
Stakeholders who are most affected by the problem
Type of problem
Suspected cause of the problem
Goal for improvement and long-term impact'
Proposal for addressing the problem
Final problem statement (concluded version)
In general IT field A good problem statement should be concise, measurable, specific & must mention what it impacts. In scientific research mode a good problem statement should express relationship between 2 or more variables is stated clearly and unambiguously as a question and that should implies possibilities of empirical testing. Therefore I consider a good problem statement should be one that, clearly and comprehensively depict the issues and concerns addressed by it.
O'Connor, B. N. (2000)
And according to (yourdictionary, 2015) benefits of writing a good problem statement can be given as below:
Helps to keep focused with your research area
Able to create a consistent and guided project
Make sure the project answer the chosen specific question
Overall impact in making project qualitative
Finally from this project I've learned that to understand the big picture you first need to clarify and be confident about the research subject area, then only the result will become efficient and feasible.
Research Process steps and Problem statement sketch is a very useful method which can used to keep your project in track. This topic gave me a good insight on how to work with my ARMPD assignment as well.
I hope you enjoyed My 6th Week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!
Topic Related Videos :-
References -
Hernon, P., & Metoyer-Duran, C. (1993).
Problem statements: An exploratory study of their function, significance, and
form. Library & Information Science Research, 15, 71−92
O'Connor, B. N. (2000) Information Technology,
Learning and Performance journal, Vol. 18, No. 2.
Fifth week of the module was started of with two broad topics and first to discussed was about "Ethics & Code of Conduct" As usual the lecturer wanted to break the silence by asking students their opinion about the terms related. Ideas spoken by the individuals included that Ethics is a way of thinking, doing the right thing and an ethical person is someone who believe in what they do. After brainstorming with the class together, lecturer presented her fine opinion about ethics to be is that, it is an cultural or a social believe or an adequate amount of measure that society accept/expect you to do. As an example she mentioned that one of her moral value is being a vegetarian.
According to (Malloy, 2008) Ethics means, a set of tools that provides a yardstick to determine whether we should do or not do a certain action and the preferable extent of a previous action that should have maintained, and overall accepted by the majority of the society.
To adopt ethical behavior for an individual may not be easy, therefore a person should receive specific motivations from external parties or within him/her self. Lecturer provided some basic Incentives for ethical conduct:
Trust - Belief in someone, something or else the truth
Security - In general when someone is being aware of consequences, in specific fields like IT it's the protection of assets and product or customer(supplier/buyer) information
Comfort - In general the peace of mind
In Business Ethics people can get Incentives/motivation form the external parties as well, to keep up their relationships with organization's stakeholders and to improve ethical decision making in day to day business. To make sure that the staff is pushed towards ethical conduct, there are two basic approaches that the management of the company can be followed:
Sanctions Approach - This is where the employees are threatened to follow a specific disciplinary code and if breached relevant punishments/reflective actions would be taken. This method is used for a long time but recently law related to employees sometimes object certain actions taken according to incorporated law rights. But still it's considered to be successful because the fear in employee sometimes guide him/her towards the right path.
Reward Approach - More than the previous method this method it self sounds ethical. Here the employees would receive salary inducement or personal scores/comments to their annual employee appraisal form in order to motivate them behave ethically in any given business situation.
Students in groups, were asked to search Code of Conduct available at British Computer Society (BCS) and write down special points or characteristics include in them. Also to research about other society conducts available on internet. And identify common points in them, ultimately to gain knowledge about "Code of Conducts" at organizations. (My teammates: Mishan & Jude)
BCS code of conduct
Main points noted down by our group were:
Public Interest - Health, Privacy, Security & well being of individuals and the surrounding environment
Professional Competence & Integrity - Always accept the attainable workload incorporation to your professional competence of the organization
Duty to relevant Authority - Maintain professionalism with obligation and diligence, in according to relevant authorities requirements while practicing professional decision making at all times
Duty to the profession - Obliged to improve professional standards at workplace while participating in development, use and enforcement. Depict good reputation of BCS.
Furthermore our group identified another 2 more organizations that also consist of a code of conduct, first one is "Code of Governance of the Irish Institute of Technology" (IIT) this also included some rules that aligns with Integrity, Information security, Obligation, Loyalty, Fairness in Work/External environment, Authority and Review. Secondly "SCOTS" which talk about code of conduct for a specific system (users) in a specific region. Any company that uses this system is obliged to perform their tasks according to these rules, it also consists of following main points; Addresses Responsibility, Personal use of internet, Misuse and unacceptable behavior, Accidental access to sensitive data & Monitoring of certain usage of the system.
At the end students realized that there are Common Code of Conducts in each of the above such as:
Integrity
Privacy
Reputation
Responsibility
Monitoring of the system
Use of Internet
Behavior and honesty
Public Interest
Competency
Loyalty
Good Practices
Interaction with customers
Next topic that was learnt on the same week was "Nature and Purpose of Research" The term research refers to a logical and systematic searching process that explore new or specific information. (Rajasekar, Philominathan, & Chinnathambi, 2013) the world renown song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - How I wonder What you are!" simply summarize all the essence about research. That is a certain person explore about an unknown object/topic, words like how & what emphasize research process steps.
Then the students were taught about Deductive Reasoning (Logic): means the direction of thinking is from general assumption to specific assumption.
(for an example: All vampires are immortal. Edward is a vampire. Therefore Edward is immortal)
Whereas Inductive Reasoning (Induction) means: Direction of thinking is from specific to the general (sampling method). This is the basic principle of scientific inquiries. Any researcher may observe an individual or a small size group/sample from the larger population and arrives at conclusions according to the results obtained from the sample, assuming that chosen sample represents the whole research population.
Lecturer thereafter taught the students, Basic 5 scientific steps/methods to do a research:
Identifying the problem
Formulating a hypothesis (make assumptions of either what is causing it or what is resulting)
Developing a research plan
Collecting and analyzing data
Interpreting the results and forming conclusions
Finally after few learning sessions students were given a questionnaire called "Are you ethically challenged ?" where there are 5 questions related to real world situations to check how you react accordingly, each student must chose only 1 answer that depicts the most possible reaction if they face the situation in real.
My answers were mostly "B's" where the result description of quiz says that it depicts high ethical standards & know how to solve/handle complicated dilemmas without fearing about the negative consequences rather more focused on the righteous thing to do. While understanding the true value pf professional integrity. But in addition sometimes even I find my self pushed out of the ethical route due to various non-ethical incentives, therefore I hope hereafter to be more focused on ethics rather than non-ethical benefits.
At the end of the week students were requested to start their research proposal by identifying a problem area and writing why it is important to eliminate/reduce or to find a solution for that specific issue. By learning this week topics I now can take ethical decision in life/businesses also got to know about various codes of conduct in different organizations. Plus I'm more aware of scientific research methodologies that includes Deductive and Inductive reasoning and etc. Overall this week's learning log improved my professional skills in theory and in practical both.
I hope you enjoyed My 5th Week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!
Topic Related Videos
1. Introduction to ethics:
2. Traits of work ethics
3.Ethics & Values
4. Will Smith Documentary on LIFE, SUCCESS, WORK ETHIC, & PRIORITIES
5. What is Research
6. Research proposal
7. Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students
8. Inductive VS Deductive Reasoning
References -
Malloy, D. C. (2008). Nature of Ethics. Understanding
the Nature of Ethics, Values and Purposes of Business, Health Care and Law
, 59-65.
Rajasekar, S.,
Philominathan, P., & Chinnathambi, V. (2013). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. physics
edu journals , 1-32.
