Tools of Research

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Tools of Research
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Goal of Research

• To derive conclusions from a body of data and
  discover what was previously unknown
• tools are needed to facilitate this goal
• there are many kinds of tools because of the
  varied nature of the types of research, but there
  is a general set of tools

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Research Tools

• Specific strategy the researcher uses to collect,
  manipulate, or interpret data
• the library and its resources
• the computer and its software
• techniques of measurement
• statistics
• the human mind
• facility with language

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Library and Its Resources

• Includes the virtual library
• (WebCat Search the BSU Libraries' Catalog )
• a listing all materials the library owns,
  including books, software videocassettes, CDs,
  and a variety of other media.
• indicate whether the Libraries own a specific
  journal, but will not help locate articles on a
  topic.

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Library and Its Resources

• reference section
• To search for journal articles, use the databases
  listed under the Indexes/Articles section on the
  Universities Libraries' Do Research page.

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Finding the Books

• Coded and arranged according with 2 principal
  systems
• Dewey decimal classification system
• the Library of Congress (LC) classification
  system
• browse among the shelves

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Finding Periodicals

• Determine if library shelves a periodical
• Current volumes are left loose on shelves
• older volumes are bound and found on the first
  floor
• after a certain period, volumes may be
  microfiched

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WWW

• On-line journals
• The Directory of Computing Science Journals
• URL http//elib.cs.sfu.ca/cs-journals/
• 522 journals, with 414 publisher's title pages,
  226 tables of contents, 65 abstracts directories,
  112 home pages, 159 bibliographies, 16 full-text
  archives and on-line journals, and other
  information.

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WWW

• Using search engines
• careful of web pages content - look at the
  source

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Text Definition of Measurement

• limiting the data of any phenomenon - substantial
  or insubstantial - so that those data may be
  interpreted, and, ultimately, compared to an
  acceptable qualitative or quantitative standard

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Everyday Measurement

• Everyday use measurement is to discover the
  extent, dimensions, quantity or capacity of
  something.
• How well you liked a song
• the personality of a friend
• the weight of your dog

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Research Measurement

• Assigning numbers to empirical events in
  compliance with a set of rules.
• Three steps
• selecting observable empirical events
• using numbers or symbols to represent aspects of
  the events
• applying a mapping rule to connect the
  observation to the symbol

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Data Types

• Each data type has its own set of underlying
  assumptions about how the numerals correspond to
  real-world observations
• four widely used scales of measurement
• nominal
• ordinal
• interval
• ratio

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Nominal Data

• Data partitioned into categories that are
  mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive
• no order, no distance, or origin
• basic empirical operation is for determination of
  equality
• which class has the most members
• use chi-square to compare relative frequencies

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Ordinal

• Order, but no distance or unique origin
• determination of greater or lesser values
• must fulfill the transitivity postulate, if a gt b
  and and b gt c then a gt c
• nonparametric models
• percentile rank, Spearmans rank order correlation

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Interval

• Both order and distance but no unique origin
• determination of equality of intervals or
  differences
• calendar time ( the elapsed time between 3 and 5
  a.m equals the time between 4 and 6 a.m, however
  6 a.m is not twice as late as 3 a.m because zero
  time is an arbitrary origin)

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Ratio

• Order, distance, and unique origin
• determination of equality of ratios
• geometric mean, percentage variation

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Sources of Measurement Differences

• Systematic ( results from a bias)
• random (occurs erratically)
• error sources
• respondent - hunger, impatience
• situational - surrounding
• measurer - recording, encouragement
• instrument - omissions, ambiguous

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Characteristics of Sound Measurement

• Validity - the extent to which a test measures
  what we actually wish to measure
• Reliability - the accuracy and precision of a
  measurement
• Practicality - wide range of factors of economy,
  convenience and interpretability

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Validity

• Many forms
• two main are external and internal
• external - generalize across persons, settings
  and times
• internal - the extent to which the differences
  found reflect the true differences

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Internal Validity Types

• content - degree to which the measuring
  instrument provides adequate coverage of the
  topic under study
• criterion-related - success of measures used for
  prediction, the degree to which the predictor is
  adequate in capturing the relevant aspects

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Internal Validity Types

• Construct - Answers the question, What accounts
  for the variance in the measure? attempts to
  identify the underlying construct(s) being
  measured and determine how well the test
  represents them

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Reliability

• The consistency with which a measuring instrument
  yields a certain result when the entity being
  measured hasnt changed. (waist-measuring)

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Reliability and Validity

• reliability is a contributor to validity and is a
  necessary but not sufficient condition for
  validity.
• If a scale measures your weight correctly, then
  it is both reliable and valid.
• If it consistently overweighs you by six pounds,
  then is is reliable but not valid.
• If the scale measures erratically from time to
  time, then it is not reliable and therefore
  cannot be valid.

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Statistics

• Descriptive - summarize the general nature of the
  data obtained
• Inferential - help make decisions about the data

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Human Mind

• Deductive logic - if this then this logic
• Inductive reasoning - specific instances to draw
  conclusions about entire classes of objects or
  events
• scientific method - identify a problem, postulate
  a hypothesis, gather data, analyze, interpret
  data and resolve the problem.

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Facility with Language

• Need to read subject matter to gain specialized
  terminology
• expressive
• must eventually be written

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Measures

• What can you measure about these objects ? (be
  specific)
• a. Laundry detergent
• b. Employees
• c. Factory output
• d. Job satisfaction
• e. Program

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Data Types

• Suggest properties of each of these objects that
  can be measured by each of the four basic types
  of scales.
• a. store customers
• b. voter attitudes
• c. hardness of steel alloys
• d. profitability of various divisions in a
  company
• e. program