Influence of Parents on Child Behavior

Topic: _________________________________________

Research Question: _______________________________

Sampling Design

Defines the population and describes your sampling procedure (how do you intend to find and recruit participants?). Describes the number and characteristics (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity, and whatever may be important to your study’s objectives) of the participants you plan to target for your study.

Examples for quantitative and qualitative (please select only the method that applies to your study.

For quantitative studies (survey research) researchers prefer probability sampling technique so as to be able to generalize the results to the entire population. Please review the chapter on Sampling Techniques, choose and describe the sampling technique.

Example: In this study I will collect data from 100 UHWO students. To do so, I will use a probability sampling technique known as simple random sampling. From the population of the student body at UHWO (=3000 students), I will randomly select 100 students to participate in this study. (instructor’s note: make sure to describe the sampling technique.

For qualitative studies (semi-structured interviews, field research) the selection of the participants is based on a non-probability sampling technique (i.e. snowball sampling, purposive sampling, convenience sampling, etc.) For instance, in the population of 3000 UHWO I will choose 15 participants meeting the criteria of being honor students to describe their experiences with regards to the teaching effectiveness of UHWO upper level classes. Therefore, I will employ a purposive sampling technique which is suitable for selecting participants meeting the predetermined criteria of my study (i.e. honor students).

Method Description and Justification

In this section you will have to identify and describe the suitability of the specific method you are going to employ in your study.

Example 1-(quantitative): For my study a quantitative research design is most appropriate because I will test the relationship between income and educational level. The explanatory purpose of my study determines the choice of my method…(expand)

Example 2 – (qualitative): For my study a qualitative research design is most appropriate because the aim of my study is to explore and describe the factors of teaching effectiveness as identified by honor students at UHWO…(expand)

Conceptualization

Conceptual Definitions of the concepts your study (applicable to both Qualitative and Quantitative Studies) and Operational definitions of the variables of your study (ONLY in Quantitative Studies).

For the quantitative studies make sure to address, what is the dependent variable, how will it be measured, what is(are) the independent variables, how will it(they) be measured?

For the qualitative studies, just nominally define the concepts, constructs that are key to your study.

Data Collection Instrument: In this section of assignment 4, you must

develop either a brief survey questionnaire (quantitative study) or a list of questions for a

semi structured interviews (qualitative study)

Only for quantitative Studies (survey questionnaire)

1. Please identify your age

• <20
• 21-25
• 26-30
• 31-35
• 36-40
• 41-45
• 46-50
• 51<

2. Please identify your sex

• Male
• Female

3. How many units are you currently taking

• 12 or more
• 8- 11
• 5-8
• < 4

4. Outside of class, on average how many hours a week do you spend studying per class

• 9 or more
• 6 – 8
• 4-6
• 2-3
• 1 or less

Only for qualitative studies (semi-structured interviews)

1.1 How are your classes structured?

1.1.1 Lectures, discussions, debates, etc.?

1.1.2 How do you prepare for your classes?

2.1 What is required for the classes?

2.12 Assignments, readings, note-taking, etc.?

2.3 What are the challenges of the classes?

Procedures

Describes your plan or strategy to be used to investigate your research

questions. The summary should be detailed enough to be repeated by someone else. Include the instructions to the participants and steps in conducting observations/interviews or distribution of surveys and any specific experimental

manipulations.

Example: To answer the research question, the following steps were conducted. A semi structured interview guide (or for quantitative study a survey questionnaire and a codebook) was first developed with open ended questions to get to the core of the research question. Once the questions were created, the participant recruitment process began. Students were used in this study because they can provide insightful opinions/perceptions/attitudes. The researcher identified the students by approaching them on campus and asking their major, academic level, and if they were interested in being interviewed. If they showed interested, contact information was exchanged (e-mail) and a time and location was then determined for the interview that was best convenient for the interviewee.

At the beginning of the semi-structured interview (or survey interview), the researcher explained the project and consent form. A signed consent form must be obtained for the interview to begin. During the interview, the researcher audio-recorded the interview and used the questions as a guide. The interviewer also took notes on the question guide. Once the interview is over, the recording device is turned off and the interviewee is thanked for their time and participation. The data is then analyzed by transcribing the audio recorder into text on a Word document. The researcher reads over the interview and looks for themes and new information relevant to the topics.

Ethical Considerations

In this section, address at least the following: Anonymity, confidentiality, no harm to the participants.

Example:  Ethical research practice will be ensured by obtaining a signed consent form. The participants will be informed of the study and that they are able to withdraw from the interview at any time. The consent form will assure the participants that the information gained from them is confidential and will be presented as anonymous. Throughout the research report, there will be no way of identifying the specific participant to what he/she has said in the interview.