Techniques of data collection

OBSERVATION METHOD

Definitions:
Marshall and Rossman (1989) define observation as "the systematic description of events,
behaviours, and artefacts in the social setting chosen for a study". Another definition by
Ranjit Kumar (2011), stated that “observation is a purposeful, systematic and selective way
of watching and listening to an interaction or phenomenon as it takes place." There are 3
types of observations and these are explained below:
1. Naturalistic Observation:
Sometimes a researcher wants to study the behaviour of animals or when a social
psychologist, for example wants to observe behaviour in a social setting about how frequently
people touch each other in different settings. The researcher could study this phenomenon by
going to shopping malls, movie theatres, parks and many such locations and observe, in those
settings, who touches whom, how they touch and the frequency of the same. Such technique
of data collection would be what is known as naturalistic observation, i.e. the observation of
people’s behaviour in natural settings (Linden, 1992). In such a technique, it is important to
note that the research would simply record the behaviour as it occurs and in no way make any
attempts to change the behaviour of the people being observed. This method is the best way
to obtain data on the researches which are directed at studying the behaviour of animals,
example: Jane Goodall went to the areas where chimpanzees lived and watched them eat,
sleep and also gained information about their mating behaviour, in their own natural
surroundings. One advantage is that it allows the researcher to get realistic data of how
people behave, while in laboratory this behaviour might get controlled as people are aware
that they are being watched. Observations made at one point in one setting may not hold true
for another time, even if the setting is similar, because the conditions are not going to be
similar.

2. Participant Observation:
Participant observation as the name suggests is a type of observation where the investigator
actively participates in the various day to day activities of the group which is under
observation. Here, the investigator may already be a member of the group or organization and
decide to observe it under one of more situations. Or he may join the group for the express
purpose for observing. There are two subtypes; first is disguised participant observation
which is often unstructured and usually the identity of the observer is not known to the
members of the group. The second type is; undisguised participant observation in which
people who are being observed know that the observer is present for collecting information. It
is unstructured and the observer has some amount of flexibility in deciding what to observe
and how to record it.
3. Non - participant observation:
It is the method of data collection where the researcher does not take part in the ongoing
observed situation or research event. It is a systematic method where features of the natural
setting being observed, representativeness of the data, a plan to overcome the observer’s
effect have been accounted for. It is more often used in qualitative research than quantitative.
There are 2 types of non – participant observation. The first one is overt, in which the
participants are aware of the researcher’s presence but there is no interaction. This method
has the inherent disadvantage of observer effect or “Hawthorne Effect”. The participant’s
behaviour gets affected due to the awareness that they are being observed, and they may try
to improve their behaviour. The second type is covert, in which participants are not aware of
the researcher’s presence. This method overcomes the bias caused due to observer’s effect.
The researcher may use different means of observing the participants such as one way mirror,
observe from a distance, and use the CCTV cameras. Currently the digital media provides a
perfect platform for the non-participant observation where the researcher joins a social group
or internet community. The researcher can also browse the web page, create avatars in the
digital world or subscribe to the email service. These provide an opportunity to observe
without influencing the setting. This method can be employed along with the other method of
data collection such as in-depth interviews. This gives the researcher a “nuanced and
dynamic” picture of the situation that cannot be easily summarized through other methods
(Liu & Maitlis 2010).
Advantages:
Observational method is useful as it helps to study the behaviour in real life settings and the
variables that are not overlooked in a laboratory setting can be explored by observation
method. It is a universal method and is effectively used in the sciences and provides relatively
objective measurement of behaviour. It is known as the simplest method as it does not require
any technical knowledge. Observation method is also accurate as the researcher is not
dependent on the information given by the respondents.
Disadvantages:
One is that data collection could lead to occurrence of the Hawthrone effect. That is, when
individuals become aware that they are being observed they can alter their behaviour
positively or negatively depending upon the situation. The observer bias could also occur, if
the investigator is partial, he/she can introduce their personal biases and selective perception
of observer can take place. Observation method is time consuming and it is difficult to collect
data from large population. Some observers can miss out information while making notes
hence, it can be an incomplete observation.

Recent research:
In a recent research self-control was frequently believed to function if it was a finite, domain-
general resources. Although, recent research has been attempted to signify this under the
conditions it has failed to show the positive results. In this study, they have taken two groups
of students over separate 17 weeks intervals with 24 hours coverage, participate volunteering
learning and self-testing by using online program. They have assessed the participant’s
behaviour everyday even if it is evening so that it supports the theories of self-control. They
even check that if the participant gets mental fatigue in the task throughout prolonged
persistent efforts. Results are showing that they get fatigue in an hour of the tasks. In any
case, there is an unimportant impact on capacity for the duration of the day. Moreover, time-
of-day has no hindering impact on inspiration; rather there is a solid propensity to build
learning time during the evening. They have observed two representatives of understudies
utilizing the Cerego learning framework more than 17-week time spans, to all the while
evaluate inside undertaking mental fatigue and domain-general self-control in a naturalistic
setting. From the hypothetical situation of asset models of poise, they would expect that all
things considered their example would show expanding exhaustion for the duration of the
day, and this should make an interpretation of into less inspiration to finish learning sessions,
just as potentially more terrible execution.
In another, recent research schoolyards are perceived as significant settings for physical
movement medications during break. Notwithstanding, shifting outcomes have been
accounted for. This study was led to pick up inside and out learning of kids' physical action.
Information were gathered during three weekdays in a government funded school in
Denmark. Eighty-one youngsters (47 young ladies) wore an accelerometer and GPS, sixteen
kids took part in come gathering meetings, and break conduct was watched utilizing an
ethnographic member perception approach. Kids were ordered into low, medium and high
physical movement, generally young ladies were in the structure staying there in view of the
apparent absence of alluring open-air play offices. The kids in the schoolyard were
prevalently young ladies who favoured the schoolyard over the field to stay away from the
aggressive soccer matches on the field though young men ruled the field playing soccer.
Altogether 81 members were incorporated into the investigations and 22 (15 young ladies)
had a place with the most reduced movement quartile (Low), 38 (30 young ladies) to the two
quartiles (Medium) and 21 (2 young ladies) to the most astounding quartile (High). This
study adds to the present writing by a top to bottom assessment of the Dad conduct among a
Low, Medium and High. They found that consolidating quantitative and subjective strategies
in investigating youngsters.

Interview method:
Definitions:
Interview is the most common method for collecting data from people. It is essentially a
social process where person-to-person interaction takes place, either face to face or two or
more individuals. According to Monette et al. (1986), “an interview involves an interviewer
reading questions to respondents and recording their answers”. Burns (1997) stated that “an
interview is a verbal interchange, often face to face, or through telephone in which an
interviewer tries to elicit information, beliefs or opinions from another person”. The process
of asking questions is flexible, where the interviewer has the freedom to formulate questions
as they come to his/her mind. The success of the interview is also dependent upon three
conditions; which is accessibility, cognition and motivation. There are 3 types of interviews
and these are explained below:

1. Structured interview:
A structured interview is also known as a formal interview where questions are decided and
formulated beforehand and the order of the questions is also planned. The responses are
calculated in a specific standardized form. The questions are formulated depending upon an
interview schedule, which is a list of questions, which could either be open ended or closed.
An interview schedule is prepared only for an interviewer to use it in a structured interview.
However, a schedule is a raw material required for data collection but an interview is a
method of data collection, they are interrelated but have different uses. (Kumar, 2014). The
validities for a structured interview are usually greater than an informal interview as the
pattern is structured and the scoring is also predetermined.
2. Semi structured interviews:
Semi-structured interviews are sometimes also known as in-depth interviews. It is a
combination of structured and unstructured interview. Here, the interviewer and the
interviewee engage in a formal interview. There is a semi-structured interview guide which
consists of open-ended questions that the interviewer wants to explore and this is usually
followed by a particular order. It is called as a semi-structured interview because, even
though there is an order to follow the interviewer has the freedom to probe the respondent to
give more explanation on their response (Bernard, 2013). In this type of interview, not all the
questions are framed beforehand and some of them are designed on the spot depending on
which response needs more focus. One main advantage is that, since it combines both the
types of interviews the data is more reliable. It also encourages two-way communication and
here the respondents have full freedom to express themselves. Another advantage is that
because the interviewee has the freedom to express themselves, this leads the interviewer
with in-depth information about the respondent's life with detailed insights.

3. Unstructured interview:

An unstructured interview is used more than a structured interview and is a flexible method
of collecting data. The main strength is that there is complete freedom in terms of its
contents, structure, question wording and order. As the interviewer is free to ask questions it
helps the interviewer to mould the questions in such a way that it can reflect deeper aspects of
the respondent’s personality. Unstructured interviews are extremely useful in exploring
intensively and extensively and digging deeper into a situation, issue, problem or
phenomenon (Kumar, 2014). In an unstructured interview, there is a greater scope of personal
influence and bias from the interviewer compared to structured interview. Another
disadvantage is that the difference in the language used by the interviewers are likely to make
responses not comparable statistically. Lastly, the results obtained are not amenable to
statistical analysis (Singh, 2017).

Advantages:
Interview method is good because it helps in collecting in-depth information as the
interviewer has the flexibility in the process of questioning. This type of method can be used
with various types of information such as; children, geriatric, illiterate or mentally
challenged. It is most appropriate for studying complex and extensive areas as the
investigator has an opportunity to prepare the participant before sensitive questions and can
even explain complex questions in person. Interview method helps the investigator to
supplement the information obtained from the responses, through observation of the non-
verbal reactions. Lastly, it facilitates the investigator in being sure that participant has
understood the questions properly and if misunderstood, they can either repeat or explain the
question in simple language which increases the validity of the obtained conclusion.
Disadvantages:
interviewer’s variability, where the interviewer views response differently and records them
differently from one interview to another.. It has been observed that with the degree to which
the newer becomes a source of variation, the effectiveness and sensibility of interviewing are
majorly affected. A second disadvantage is; inter-interviewer variability, is when more
amount of interviewers are used in a study and the nature of the interview is structured, the
interviewers vary considerably among themselves in their respective abilities to give the
exact form of information needed, project the proper kind of image, record the information
appropriately, and so on. As the number of interviewers tend to increase, the problem of the
interviewer variability becomes more and more compounded and affects the real purpose of
the interview. A third disadvantage; is validity and dependability of verbal responses where
the interviewees verbally answer the questions asked by the interviewers. Various social
scientists have doubts related to whether a person actually behaves the way he professes to
behave. They have expressed the threat that verbal responses cannot be relied upon with a
considerable degree of validity and dependability. A fourth disadvantage is that it takes more
time to complete because each respondent or interviewee is interviewed individually and the
records of the verbal interaction of each person is kept individually unique. The last
disadvantage is; recording information which means there is no foolproof system of recording
has yet been worked out to everybody's satisfaction.
Recent research:

Recent research presents the researcher's experience of using online semi-structured

interviews in interpretive research, and what the researcher has acquired from this experience.
Semi-structured interviews can be an effective tool in instructive analysis as a result it helps
the researcher to gain in-depth information of participants’ views and make sense of their
lived experiences as stated by them. The results indicate that the use of online semi-structured
interviewing cannot achieve the highly interactive communication that can be achieved in
face-to-face interviews due to the loss of the non-verbal cues. The interview speed is faster
than the normal face-to-face interview because the researcher gets instant replies from
interviewees on his/her questions. The study suggests that a well-conducted research
interview rare and enriching expertise for the topic, who might acquire new insights into his
or her life scenario (Al Balushi, 2018).

The research conducted in 2018 using structured review of 227 papers provides an overview
of ways in which interviews have been used in research on conservation decision making
globally. The results aim at researchers using the interview methodology, but also at
researchers working in conservation research, journal editors, reviewers and decision‐makers
using information from peer‐reviewed papers. The results indicate that the interviews can be
a very useful method in conservation research, allowing for in‐depth understanding of
processes and issues, often based on a small sample size. The usefulness and credibility of
this methodology, however, would benefit from a more strategic approach including better
justification for its use over and alongside other methodologies, and more detail in terms of
how interviews are undertaken and interpreted (Young et al., 2018).
References:

Al Balushi, K. (2018). The Use of Online Semi-Structured Interviews in Interpretive

Research.

B.Burns, R. (1997). Introduction to Research Methods (2nd ed.). Melbourne, Longman,

Cheshire

B. Kawulich, B. (2005). Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method. Qualitative

Social Research, 6(2)

Ballard, C., Monette, D., Sullivan, T., & DeJong, C. (1987). Applied Social Research: Tool
for the Human Services. Teaching Sociology, 15(2). doi: 10.2307/1318044

Baron, A.R; Branscombe, N.R; Byrne,D. (2012). Social Psychology (pp.18).New Delhi:
Pearson

Bernard, H. R., & Bernard, H. R. (2013). Social research methods: Qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Sage

Ciccarelli,K.S; Meyer, E.G. (2016) . Psychology. Noida: Pearson

International Journal Of Science And Research, 7(4). doi: 10.21275/ART20181393

Kumar, R. (2011). Research Methodology a step-by-step guide for beginners (3rd ed., p.
259). New Delhi: Sage.

Kumar, R. (2014). Selecting a method of data collection. In Research Methodology: A Step-

by-Step Guide for Beginners (4th ed., pp. 170-199). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Liu, F., & Maitlis, S. (2010). Nonparticipant Observation. In Albert J. Mills, G. Durepos, &
E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research. (pp. 610-612). Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE

Pawlowski, C., Andersen, H., Troelsen, J., & Schipperijn, J. (2016). Children’s Physical
Activity Behavior during School Recess: A Pilot Study Using GPS, Accelerometer,
Participant Observation, and Go-Along Interview. PLOS ONE, 11(2). doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0148786

Randles, D., Harlow, I., & Inzlicht, M. (2017). A pre-registered naturalistic observation of
within domain mental fatigue and domain-general depletion of self-control. PLOS ONE,
12(9). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182980

Williams, J. (2008). Nonparticipant observation. (pp. 561-562). Sage Encyclopedia of

Qualitative Research Methods. Sage publications

Young, J., Rose, D., Mumby, H., Benitez-Capistros, F., Derrick, C., & Finch, T. et al. (2018).
A methodological guide to using and reporting on interviews in conservation science
research. Methods In Ecology And Evolution, 9(1), 10-19. doi: 10.1111/2041-210x.12828
SECONDARY RECORDS:

Secondary method of data collection is a form of data collection in which the researcher collects
data which were used for other purposes instead of conducting new research. Commonly used
sources are documents, physical data as well as archived research data. Documents can be
personal or official documents such as letters, diaries, family pictures, newspapers, annual
reports, yearbooks, and meeting minutes etc. Physical data such as DNA/ soil/fingerprints on
clothes, are any kind of material things that were created or left which may also give
information about any phenomenon of interest to a researcher. Archived research data are those
kinds of secondary research data which was collected by other researchers for later use.

Advantages:

Documents and physical data:

● Insights into what people think and what they do.

● Can be collected for time periods occuring in the past (eg.historical data).
● Unobtrusive, making reactive and investigative effects very unlikely.
● Useful background and historical data on people,groups and organizations is provided.
● Grounded in local settings.
● Useful for corroboration.
● Useful for exploration.

Archived research data:

● Available on a wide variety of topics.

● Is inexpensive
● Often reliable and valid (high measurement validity).
● Helpful to study trends.
● Ease of data analysis.
● Often based in high quality or large probability samples.
Disadvantages:

While using a data from secondary sources one needs to be careful as there may be certain
problems with the availability , format and quality of data ,therefore some disadvantages of
secondary data are :-

● Validity and Reliability :- The validity of the information may vary markedly from
source to source . For example , information obtained from a census is likely to be more
valid and reliable than that obtained from personal diaries.
● Personal bias :- The use of information from newspapers , magazines and personal
diaries etc may have problem of personal bias as these writers are likely to exhibit less
rigorousness and objectivity than one would expect in a research report .
● Availability of data :- The researcher must make sure that the required data is available
from reliable sources before proceeding with the study .
● Format :- Before deciding to use data from secondary sources it is equally important to
ascertain that the data is available in the required format . For example , The data need to
analyse age in the categories 23-48 but in the secondary source , age may be categorised
as 21-29 .
● The secondary data might not provide the complete picture of participants personal
thinking for physical data.

Archived research data:-

● The data might not be available for the population that one wants to study.
● The data which is available might be outdated.
● Many of the most important data findings have already been mined from the data .
● The research questions for research of interest might not be available for the researcher .

Research:

Melissa p. Johnston PhD in 2014 aimed to study that secondary analysis is a method that can
be used in the process of inquiry when a systematic procedure is followed and presents an
illustrative research application using Secondary data analysis in library and info. Science
research. There are many methodological benefits that are offered by Secondary data analysis
and it also contributes to LIS research through generating new knowledge. With the help of
secondary data analysis, the LIS researchers are at a benefit of using high quality data. The
successful use of secondary data analysis needs a systematic process that acknowledges the
challenges of utilizing existing data, and addresses the distinct characteristics of secondary
analysis.

Keeping in mind the future opportunities for research, the American journal of strategic
management & podium started research on the topic secondary data which has some
development in the future. Use of secondary data is very common in strategic management but
as common in iberoamerican countries. The aim of this research is to have more focus on the
uses & opportunities in employing secondary data. Research has proved that, the use of
secondary data is valuable in approach in finding data for one’s need. The method should be
used more often in both iberoamerican countries as well as in sport management studies. With
the help of secondary data research can be done quickly without loss of quality & confusability.

Field studies

A field study refers to a research that is administered in natural settings. This form of research
does not involve any kind of manipulation of the environment by the researcher. However, it
is possible that sometimes, independent and dependent variables already exist within the social
structure under study, and inferences can be drawn about behaviours, social attitudes, values
and beliefs based on the already existing variables. It must be noted that a field study is separate
from the concept of a field experiment. Overall, field studies belong to the category of
nonexperimental designs where the researcher uses what already exists in the environment.

(Salkind, N.J, 2010)

Advantages

● Field studies creates opportunities for first hand experiences that encourage critical
thinking, long term retention, appreciation for nature and increased scientific curiosity.
● When students actively participate in the planning of field study it enhances cognitive
development and motivation.
● Field study is an excellent method for understanding the role of social context in shaping
people’s lives and experiences.
● It emphasizes the role and relevance of social context.
● It can uncover social facts that may not be immediately obvious or of which research
participants may be unaware

Disadvantages:

● Since Field studies take in detail account of the data, these studies at the same time are not
able to collect enough data from a lot of people. Hence the breadth of the study is
compromised for its depth.
● Field researchers develop longer and more committed relationships with their participant
which can lead to intense and taxing relationships.
● Documentation in field research can become difficult since most of the data is based on
observations.
● This method requires an expert as most of the data collected is interpretive in nature hence
the researcher should not just be able to collect data but also make sense out of it.
● And lastly, getting access and acceptance into the sample is of utmost importance in this
type of study as the researcher works very closely with the participant. Lack of acceptance
and access can hamper the quality of data collected.

Research

One of the classic research which used the field study was done by Hofling et. al (1966) which
is greatly known as Hofling’s study of obedience. He constructed a realistic study of obedience
which was carried out in the field on nurses who were unaware that they were involved in an
experiment. The procedure was a naturalistic study that involved 22 (real nightshift) nurses and
a Dr. Smith (administrator), phones the nurses at 22 different occasions. The doctor orders
them to increase the dosage of the drug to 20mg which was beyond the maximum dosage, on
a patient named Mr. Jones. The main aim of the study was to observe the nurse’s behavior. The
medication provided was not real and but the nurses thought they were. The results indicated
that the 95% of the nurses were easily influenced by the orders even though they were not
supposed to take any instructions on the phone according to the hospital rules.

Another research which used the method of field study was by Hebl, Foster, Mannix and
Dovido (2002). The objective of the research was to find out the discriminations or bias towards
Homosexual applicants in employment settings. It involved confederates, where some of them
were portrayed as being homosexuals and applied for jobs at local stores. The research
measured the job offers, length of interactions and anticipated job offers by applicants. The
study revealed more responses were negatively significant in interpersonal ways.

Focus Groups

Focused Groups are a method of data collection. In this method, a focus group moderator keeps
a small and homogenous group of 6-12 people focused on a discussion regarding a research
topic or issue. This helps to explore the perception, experiences and understandings of a group
of people on a particular issue/topic. The discussion lasts anywhere between 1-3 hours and as
a researcher, it is important to ensure that everything that is expressed and discussed is recorded
accurately with the help of audio or video tapes. This setting is different from a group interview
as it focuses on a small-group and the interactions and in-depth discussions that take place
among the participants. These discussions are further studied and is useful for exploring ideas
and acquiring detailed information about how people understand and think about the
issue/topic.

Advantages:

● Focus groups are helpful in collecting a lot of data related to a particular topic or content
of interest.
● The method of probing helps the researchers guide the conversation along with allowing
the group members to converse and give open ended answers.
● It provides with in- depth information about the group members; their subjective
perspectives their attitudes and nonverbal behaviours.
●
● There can be personal alterations in the sessions conducted, for example a close ended
interview would help gain exact information, telephone and email interviews would help
a quick turnaround.
● This type of interview helps create real world interactions, thus the researcher can gain
authentic and natural responses of participants.
● This type of method has moderately high validity measures.
● In this method of data collection probability sampling can be employed.
Disadvantages:

● It can be expensive sometimes.

● A focus group moderator with excellent facilitative and report-building abilities could be
hard to locate.
● If participants feel they are being watched or studied, reactive and investigator effects may
occur.
● It can be dominated by one or two participants.
● It is difficult to generalize results when using small, unrepresentative participant samples.
● It may include large amounts of extra and unnecessary information.
● It may be low on measurement validity.
● Usually it should not be the only method used in a study to collect data.
● Due to the open-ended nature of the data, data analysis can be time consuming.

Research:

Ramasubramaniam.,et.al,(2018) in their study sought to understand the reasons and the related
impact of reduced physical activity and exercise among the adolescent population as it provides
a better understanding about the patterns of physical activity and the limitations they face due
to university pressure. Several research studies have only brought out the reasons for the
inability of adolescents to exercise. This study was aimed at providing an extensive view of the
way in which people view physical activity and the study for the same was done on a sample
of 20 adolescents on the selected school using a focus group discussion . The methodology
involved data collection utilizing a narration based qualitative analysis wherein interviews were
held with the participants and responses were provided with regard to their levels of exercises
ands well as reasons for their reduced levels at the current time Lack of physical activity
among young adolescents is growing concern and it needs a deeper understanding to gain
information regarding barriers to activity and exercise. Results of the analysis showed about
four characteristic barriers or limitations, namely physical and biological limitations,
biopsychosocial based limitations, scholastic pressure based limitations along with culture
based limitations. The study indicated the need to perform more in depth study in the fields of
finding a more practical application towards the need to proper physical activity to enhance the
level of exercises among the population.

Dalanon.,et.al (2016) performed a quantitative analysis along with a theme based content cross
culture based analysis in order to assess the organization based culture and levels of conflict
along with the scientific as well as theory based associations in the performance rate of
teachers, the competency level of management, in a non urban private school in the Philippines.
Focus group discussion was used as a method for data collection by analyzing the positive and
negative attributes along with opportunities based on a SWOT analysis. Results stated that the
levels of organization conflict, performance of teachers along with their subscales were higher,
but the competencies based on. In the organization climate construct, women with a higher
position in their job along with a fixed year of working showed greater level of commitment
and loyalty towards their work. Performance of teachers, on the other hand, showed that the
newer appointed faculty members could learn to adapt to a variety of situations that they are
subjected to in their scholastic settings and create a better learning environment for their
children. The males, however, showcased better managerial competencies with relation to their
integrity and ability to interact with others, which in turn acted as a supplement towards the
enhancement of teaching in the rural areas of the Philippines.
References:

Blackstone, A (2012) Principles of Sociological Inquiry: Qualitative and Quantitative

Methods, Maine, Saylor Foundation.

Chew, S (2017) Evaluating a Clinical Decision Support System: A basic field study
approach. Clinical Informatics, retrieved from:
http://hiicp.org/info_clinical/hci/info_clinical_hci_7.html

Christensen.L.B, Johnson.B. R and Turner.A.L (2015). Chp 2 . Research approaches and data
collection method from " Research methods, Design and Analysis, 12ed".(pg -76). England.
Angshuman Chakraborty and Shokshi Shah Khandelwal.

Dalanon, J., Diano, L. M., Belarmino, M. P., Hayama, R., Miyagi, M., & Matsuka, Y. (2018).
A Philippine Rural School's Organizational Climate, Teachers' Performance, and
Management Competencies. Online Submission, 6(1), 248-265.

Hebl, M. R., Foster, J. B., Mannix, L. M., & Dovidio, J. F. (2002). Formal and Interpersonal
Discrimination: A Field Study of Bias Toward Homosexual Applicants. Personality and
Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(6), 815–825. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202289010

Hofling, C. K., Brotzman, E., Dalrymple, S., Graves, N. & Bierce, C. (1966). An
experimental study of nurse-physician relations. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease,
143, 171-180. Retrieved from https://www.stuvia.com/doc/254476/hofling-hospital-1966

Ramasubramaniam, S., Nair, V. G., & Angeline, G. (2018). Perception of physical activity
patterns among adolescents attending adolescent friendly services at school campus: A Focus
Group Discussion Study. Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 8(2), 282-287.

Ranjit Kumar (2011) ,Chapter "Selecting a method of data collection" from "Research
Methodology " 3 edition ,(p-163) .London , Thousand Oaks , California , Singapore , New
Delhi 110044 , SAGE Publications Ltd.

Salkind, N. J. (2010). Encyclopedia of research design Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Publications, Inc. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412961288.n152
What are Focus Group Interviews and Why Should I Conduct Them? (2019, August 9).
Retrieved from https://www.statisticssolutions.com/what-are-focus-group-interviews-and-
why-should-i-conduct-them/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328363920_Secondary_Data_in_Research_-
_Uses_and_Opportunities

http://www.qqml-journal.net/index.php/qqml/article/view/169
QUESTIONNAIRE

A questionnaire consists of a list of written questions which are answered by the respondents
themselves. A questionnaire requires the respondents to read and interpret the questions and
then give answers in writing. Since the respondents are required to understand the meaning of
the questions themselves, questions must be clear and easily understandable. Along with this,
questionnaires are usually constructed in an interactive style.There are 2 types of questions
commonly used for social researches. These are open-ended and closed questions.

The various ways in which you can administer a questionnaire are as follows:

● The Mailed Questionnaire – It is the most common approach to collect information.

Access to the participants address is a must.
● Collective Administration – One of the best ways of administering a questionnaire is
to obtain a captive audience such as students in classroom, people attending a
function, etc. It is the quickest and an affordable way of collecting data and it ensures
very high response rate.
● Online Questionnaire – It is quite a common approach to collect information due to
advancement in technology. The questionnaire can be sent on mobiles, uploaded on a
website or provided by sending a link on email.
● Administration in Public place – A questionnaire can be administered in public place
which is slightly more time consuming. The purpose of the study is explained to
potential respondents and their participation in the study is requested
Advantages of Questionnaires

● Questionnaires are comparatively less expensive because participants are not

interviewed and we save time and financial resources as well.
● As there is no one on one interaction between the participant and the interviewer, this
method provides for accurate information given even when sensitive questions are
asked.
Disadvantages of Questionnaires

● The main disadvantage of this method is that the administration can only be done to a
limited population who can understand and write. It cannot be administered on people
who are very young, old or handicapped.
● If, for any reason, the participant does not understand some questions, there is very
less chance for them to clarify the issues unless they get in touch with the researcher
 which does not happen quite often. Because of this, different participants understand
the questions differently and write accordingly which affects the quality of
information.
● When we mail or send the questionnaire to people, there is a likelihood of socially
desirable answering. This may not provide for accurate information from that
particular participant.

Example:

FalknerL. P., Nix .S.,& Tomas .K. (2017) conducted a study to assess mathematical ability
beliefs among girls and boys with the most difficult or challenging material. The study
examined the potentially interacting effects of gender and these ability beliefs on student
pathways to STEM careers. Closed question questionnaires were used to assess mathematical
abilities. It was found that even at the same level of observed ability girls' mathematics ability
beliefs under challenge are markedly lower than those of boys.

In next research, Paechte .M., Mocher .D., Martskvishvili .K., Wimmer .S., & Papouseh .L.
(2017), used closed questions type of questionnaire used to assess influence of students
mathematics anxiety and statistical anxiety on performance in statistics. The research finding
suggest that the mathematics anxiety positively relate to performance in statistics, and
statistics anxiety led to higher procrastination and, therefore, contributed indirectly and
negatively to performance.

Tests

Tests are standardized or researcher-constructed data collection instruments designed to

measure personality, aptitude, performance and achievement (Christenson, Johnson &
Turner, 2014). It helps researchers in qualitative and quantitative data collection. Researchers
use test to measure specific variables while conducting research.

Mostly tests are standardized and have reliability, validity and norms. Tests can be
administered in group as well as individual setting depending upon the research being
conducted and the type of test administered. Tests can be hand scored or various softwareare
available to derive the results. Test are most useful tool in educational research, they provide
data for most experimental and descriptive studies in education.

There are different types of tests used to collect data, which depends upon the variable that
the experimenter is measuring. There are numerous types of tests used but following are the
majorly used ones:- personality tests, intelligence tests, achievement tests, aptitude tests,
interest tests, neuropsychological tests, etc.

Advantages of tests

● Psychological tests have the ability to assess the level of development within a
specific area. Cognitive development and career skills are measured and focus
specially on development of an individual. The tests results provide both strengths
and limitations of an individual, which further helps in the development of the
individual.
● The information that is obtained from these tests is objective in nature and thereby
helps in analyzing an individual’s personality and the way they tackle everyday
problems. It helps the person to find new creative ways to solve problems and go
about doing things.
● These tests provide information, which is unbiased, and are presented without any
filter or judgment.
● These tests are easy to administer and save a lot of time.
● Tests are not only used in therapy sessions or for psychological purposes, they can be
used in different situations and settings as well.
Disadvantages of tests

● These tests were mostly developed in the English language, so these tests are not
applicable to the entire human population.
● These tests attempt to measure the attributes and traits of an individual that are not
directly observable hence there is always going to be a gap between what is intended
to measure and what it actually measures. The nature of the tests relies on measures
that are indirect in nature such as an individual responding to hypothetical situations.
● There can be varying interpretations of the test results by different test administrators,
which acts as a disadvantage since it does not provide a concrete analysis.
● Psychological tests may be inaccurate for a lot of reasons for example, an individual
may not be honest while answering the questions, he/she may do so in order to appear
socially desirable.
Example:

HosamAl-Samarraie, Atef Eldenfria and HusameddinDawoud (2017) conducted a study to

explore the impact of the Big Five personality traits on human online information seeking.
They examined changes in eye movement behavior across three types of information seeking
tasks- factual, exploratory and interpretive. The NEO-PI-R was used to assess the
participant’s personality profile.The results revealed that individuals high in
conscientiousness performed fastest in most information-seeking tasks, followed by those
high in agreeableness and extraversion.

A study conducted by Sebnem Yalçin and Nina Spada (2016) investigated the relationship
between foreign language aptitude and the learning of two English structures defined as easy
or difficult to learn. The LLAMA Aptitude Test (Meara, 2005) was used to measure language
aptitude. A written grammaticality judgment and an oral production task were used to
measure language outcomes. The results of the study suggested that different components of
aptitude contribute to the learning of difficult and easy second language structures in different
ways.

Rating Scales

Rating scale is also defined as close-end survey question. The rating scale method offers high
degree of structure for appraisals. Rating scale is a set of categories designed to obtain more
information it is most established question types for online and offline surveys where the
respondents are expected to rate a feature. A rating scale is a category in which there are
statements that expresses an attitude or perception towards something. The most common
rating scale is a likert scale. The characteristics of a rating scale are that it contains a number
of categories. Rating scale is widely used to gather the information that provides relative
information about specific topic. Researchers use rating scale in research to associate a
qualitative measure with the various aspects.

S.S. Stevens proposed that data are ordinal categorizations in terms of levels of
measurements. In this, it is stated that equal differences do not represent equal intervals. As
the difference between strong disagreements to agreement might not be same from the
difference between disagreement and agreement and in Rasch model to measure an attitude
or perception more than one rating scale is required to do statistical comparisons between the
categories.
There are three types of rating scales which are mainly used in online survey:

● Graphic Rating Scale: Graphic rating scale indicates the answer options on a scale of
1-5,1-3 etc. likert scale is a popular graphic rating scale.

● Numeric rating scale :Numerical rating scale has numbers as answer options and not
each number corresponds to a meaning.

● Descriptive rating scale: In descriptive rating scale each answer option is elaborately
explained for the respondents.

Advantages of rating scales

● The rating scales are a means of collecting vast data in a short amount of time. These
are faster as they are quick and easy to understand and do not require the test taker to
formulate long and elaborative responses for expressing their opinions
● The rating scales are usually ones that witness a lower dropout rate of test takers, as
compared to other scales of data collection. This is because rating scales are less time
consuming, easy to complete as well as less complex.
● These take very little effort from the test taker’s part, as they provide multiple options
or choices, where the test takers are required to select what suits them the best. The
choices are framed in a self-explanatory manner and are not confusing.
Disadvantages of rating scales

● Rating scales being forced choice questions, tend to miss out on potential data. This is
because the given options might not always cover every aspect of one’s opinions and
limit the test taker to select among only what is given.
● Since these are easy to complete, the respondents might often mark random answers
instead of reflectively thinking about the given question or statement. Hence, the data
obtained might lack honesty, passion and precision from the respondents.
● The rating scales do not allow the respondents explore outside the given statement or
choices provided, and hence restrict the analysis of data only to the obtained
responses. These can thus be misinterpreted
Example

Jo M. Hendrickson, et. al., studied the perceptions of students with autism and their parents.
They used the Community Assessment of Psychic Experience (CAPES) which assesses the 5
areas that are associated with adjustment challenges of students with ASD. The CAPES
contains 37 items that are on a Likert scale of 1-4 whereby 1 = strongly disagree, 2 =
disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree. Scores 1 and 2 specifies negative responses and 3
and 4 specifies a positive response. (Hendrickson, 2017)

Nihal Dal (2018) used the Big Five Personality Traits and Narcissism as the predictors of
anxiety and confidence. Various psychometric measures were used. To assess pre-exam
anxiety and self-confidence, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Graphic Rating Scale (GRS)
was used. The participants were instructed to rate their responses on two endpoints, at one
end “very low anxiety/self-confidence” and at the other “very high anxiety/self-confidence”.
References:

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Linear Rating Scale. (2017, August 11). Retrieved from

https://surveymethods.com/blog/benefits-and-weaknesses-of-a-linear-rating-scale/

Al-Samarraie H., Eldenfria A., Dawoud H.(2017). ‘The impact of personality traits on users’
information seeking behaviour.’In Information Processing & Management, Volume 53, Issue
1, January 2017, pp. 237-247

Andrich, D. (1978). A rating formulation for ordered response categories.Psychometrika, 43,

357-74

Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.Psychometrika,

16, 297-333.

Dal, N. (2018). The Big Five Personality Traits and Narcissism as thePredictors of Anxiety
and Confidence before Archery Class Final Exam. Universal Journal of Educational
Research , 2875-2879.

Folkner .L. P., Nix .S., & Thomas .K. (2017). Gendered Pathway : How Mathematics
Ability Beliefs Shape Secondary and Post-secondary Course And Degree Field Choices.

Hendrickson, S. W.-G. (2017). Perceptions of Students with Autism and Their Parents: The
College Experience. Education and Treatment of Children, 571–596.

Paechter .M., Mocher .D., Martskvishvili .K., Wimmer .S., & Papouseh .L. (2017).
Mathematics anxiety and statistical anxiety : shared but also unshared components and
antagonistic contribution to performance in statistics.

Yalçin, S., & Spada, N. (2016).Language aptitude and grammatical difficulty. Studies in
Second Language Acquisition, 38(2), 239-263.
SURVEY

Introduction

Survey research is the collection of data obtained by asking individuals questions either in
person, on paper, by phone or online. Surveys are also a tool for primary research that is
gathering data first-hand from its source. Common types of surveys include interviews and
questionnaires, which are comprised of multiple choice questionnaires, opinions and polls.
Survey research and the use of survey as a tool is used within academia, government and
business. It is a flexible approach which is used to study a wide variety of basic as well as
applied research questions. Thus, it is both a quantitative and qualitative research.

Survey method is speculated to have its origin in the English and American “social surveys”
which were conducted around the turn of the 20th century by researchers and reformers
wanting to document the extent of social problems (Converse, 1987). By the 1930s, the US
government was conducting surveys to document economic and social conditions of the
country. Similarly, in the beginning of 1930s, psychologists made crucial advances in
questionnaire design, including techniques which are still used today, such as the Likert scale.
Eventually, an interest in surveying around election times paved way for several long-term
projects. Ever since, from market research and election polling, survey research has extended
its scope into several academic fields, including political science, sociology, and public
health—where it continues to be an important approach to collecting new data.

Types of survey

Longitudinal Surveys

Longitudinal surveys are “concerned with illuminating social change and with improving the
understanding of causal inferences over time” (Bryman, 2012). Surveys are generally divided
as cross-sectional and longitudinal. However, the difference between them is that cross-
sectional surveys occur once whereas longitudinal surveys take place on multiple occasions. In
longitudinal studies, the data is collected not just for one time point but for multiple ones. These
studies last for years together. They include at least two time points or more as the researchers
decide. These studies have their own merits and demerits.
 Merits of longitudinal surveys:
1) Longitudinal surveys generally collect and compile unbiased information.
2) These studies talk about characteristics like frequency, timing and duration.
3) These studies generally make time-trend analysis possible.
4) Allows researchers to keep a track of the subjects and conditions being studied.
Demerits of longitudinal surveys:
1) These surveys tend to be very time consuming and expensive.
2) There are coverage errors when there is a gap between the sampling frame and the total
population.
3) The coverage errors tend to increase with time.
4) There is a chance of attrition (loss of data) when the survey is conducted for a greater time
period.

Cross sectional survey

When there is a collection of data at a single point in time from a sample drawn from a specific
population, it's known as a cross-sectional survey. This design is mostly used to document the
prevalence of particular characteristics in a population. It also helps to assess relations between
variables and differences between subgroups in a population. Although the data are collected
only once, they are mostly collected from multiple groups or types of people in a cross-sectional
survey (e.g., such as people from multiple age groups, different socioeconomic classes, and
with different accomplishments and abilities). Cross-sectional data can be used to test causal
hypotheses in a number of ways (e.g., with statistical techniques like two-stage least squares
regression) (Blalock, 1972). It can be used to identify the moderators of relations between
variables that helps to understand the causal processes at work (e.g., Krosnick, 1988). A single,
cross-sectional survey can be used to assess the after-effects of a social event. A hybrid of
longitudinal and cross-sectional approach unknown as the cohort sequential design is a design
in which different age groups are tested longitudinally.

Merits of cross-sectional surveys

1) They provide information about differences in development between different age groups.
2) It’s considered more economical in terms of time than longitudinal research, since
participants are tested at just one point in time.
3) As the participants are not periodically tested, there would be no chance that they would
become test-wise (better performance due to increased familiarization with the procedure).
4) Problems of participant attrition would be very unlikely as the participants are tested only
once.

Demerits of cross-sectional survey

1) Every person belongs to a particular cohort. If we find that people of different age groups
differ along some dimensions this difference might be because of differences in cohort
membership. for e.g. a group of 25 years perform better than 75 year old on the intelligence
test, the finding indicates a decrease in the level of intelligence with age, the difference can
be attributable to the cohort difference i.e. the 25 year old people have better schooling,
technological advancement, parental support etc. as compared to 75 year
olds.(Feldman,2015).ss
2) Chances of selective dropout is more in cross sectional studies, where the participants of a
particular age group are more likely to quit participating in the study than others. For e.g.
a study on cognitive abilities is conducted among the pre-schoolers includes lengthy
assessment, complex tasks etc., it is possible that the young pre-schoolers might find the
task difficult and thus are more likely to discontinue participation in the study than the older
pre-schoolers.
3) Cross sectional-studies are unable to inform about in groups or individuals. In cross
sectional studies though we can establish that the changes are because of age we cannot
fully determine whether such difference is related to changes overtime. (Feldman, 2015).

Successive Time Series

Some of the most important surveys are carried out by the government, researchers and market
research agencies at repeated and regular time intervals in order to build up information on the
target variables in the research such as information on economic, social and market
trends,. Family expenditure survey, general household survey, national food survey, etc. are
surveys that deal with series data or trend analysis and are called successive time series survey.
Successive time series data means that data collected from the survey is in a series of successive
time periods or intervals of time. (Scott, Smith & Jones, 1977). Common frequencies for
Successive time series survey are found to be monthly, quarterly and annual. This type requires
high quality survey that should be based on probability sampling methods that provide
estimates of characteristics of a population and permit analysis of relationships between
variables. (Makridakis, 1976).

Merits of Successive time series

1) One of the biggest advantages of successive time series is that analysis aids in forecasting
(prediction), identifying relationships between series, identifying turning points and
assessing the underlying direction.

2) Seasonal adjustment is widely used by government as it has three main benefits: aid in
short term forecasting, aid in relating time series to other series or extreme events and allow
comparability in the different time series for e.g. from month to month.

3) Survey using this method can also be useful to study cross-correlation relationship between
two time-series and their dependency on one another.

Demerits of Successive Time Series

1) A survey may be conducted continuously but the sample size in any time period may not
be sufficient to provide reliable estimates for that period. (Steel & McLaren, 2008).

Mail Survey

The mail questionnaire method is a survey method where questionnaires are sent to
interviewees via a mail and the interviewee fills the questionnaire and sends it to the
interviewer. (Christensen, Johnson, and Turner, 2015, p.341). It is majorly used by educational
and sociological researches. The questionnaire consists of several items designed to obtain
some information about the respondent via email. A mail questionnaire is a direct means from
obtaining first-hand information from the respondent (Singh, 2008, pp.384 &385). A mail
questionnaire must consist of a covering letter and a prepaid self-addressed envelope for higher
response rate. (Kumar, 2014, p.179).

Merits of a Mail Survey:

1) Mail survey is cost effective because the cost of mail survey is comparatively less than the
cost of interviewing the respondent.
2) Mail survey helps in collecting data from a scattered population. The test administrator
only requires the email address of the respondent in order to collect the data, even from a
different part of the world.
3) Mail survey reduces the problems related to interviewers like personal bias which may
affect the reliability and validity of the test.
4) Mail survey makes it very easy and convenient to collect data from the participants as the
problem of contacting the respondent is reduced.
5) Mail survey yields honest answers as compared to other methods of survey.
Demerits of a mail survey:
1) In mail surveys there is a very poor percentage of response rate.
2) The mail questionnaire is an inflexible technique of survey because the test administrator
cannot check the validity of the answers and has no way to ask the respondent any questions
with regards to the test or if by chance, the respondent has left any question unanswered.
3) Mail surveys are not considered appropriate for spontaneous answers.
4) In a mail survey, the test administrator cannot make a note of any observations like
their reaction to some typical questions or if they have any doubts, it cannot be clarified.
5) There is no authenticity in a mail survey, because the test administrator does not have any
idea if it is the right person who is actually appearing for the test. (Singh, 2011).

Online Survey
Web-based survey, also known as online survey, is an electronic survey that is posted on the
World Wide Web. Once the survey instrument is constructed and posted, respondents are
identified and sent an email message inviting them to participate in the research study. If they
agree, they are given a link with an Internet address to the survey instrument. All they have to
do is click on the link, which brings them to the Web site containing the survey instrument,
which they then proceed to complete.(Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2015).Respondents can
receive online surveys via various mediums such as email, website, social media etc.
One variation of the Web-based survey that has recently been introduced is the pop-up survey
(Llieva, Baron & Healey, 2002). This type of survey appears in the browser’s window while
browsing various Web sites and respondent can browse the survey on clicking the link. It has
positively contributed to web based survey.
Merits of Online Surveys:
1) Accessibility to larger audience and Cost-efficient: The accessibility of the sample is not
limited by geographic barrier, a large data can be collected in a short period of time and
 administrative cost is minimal. Anderson and Kanuka (2003) have estimated that electronic
surveys cost about one-tenth of the cost of a comparable mail survey.
2) Minimum margin-of-error: In online survey software available, researchers can analyse
collected data through it the margin-of-error in case of online surveys is therefore very
limited.
3) Respondents are more Truthful: Research has shown as the anonymity involved in online
surveys, respondents are more honest and engage in truthful behaviour while responding to
the survey as compared to personal administrations as it may lead to social desirability.
Demerits of Online Surveys
1) Limited access to certain sections of a population: There are sections of a target population
which may not have access to internet. In many cases, response from such individuals may
prove to be effective for research.
2) Questionable data reliability: Online surveys are conducted in the absence of an
administrator therefore the responses received, in many cases may be considered
questionable.
3) Volunteer Sampling Bias: Those who responded to the survey were motivated to do and it
produces samples that might significantly differ from the population and, therefore, is
inferior to random sampling methods that produce representative samples. There is
evidence that e-mail surveys generate better response rates than Web-based surveys and
are more likely to avoid multiple entries to the same survey by the same person (Llieva et
al., 2002).

Personally administered survey

Personally administered survey is the survey method is which a trained personal is present at
the time of collecting the data. In this method the instructions are given orally by the trained
personal. Personally administered survey usually provides in-depth information about the
respondent by asking extensive seeking questions. This type of survey method is used when
the survey is limited to a local area or when specific target population is involved. Personally
administered surveys can be conducted in a group setting or individual setting (Srivastava &
Rego, 2011).
Merits of personally administered survey:
1) The biggest advantage of the personally administered survey is that the researcher can
establish rapport and motivate the participants. The researcher also clears all the doubts of
the participants on the spot.
2) Observing the body-language and non-verbal reaction of the respondents while doing the
survey can give additional insights to the researcher.
3) The response rate for personally administered survey is high as compared to email and
online survey. (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016).

Demerits of personally administered survey:

1) The presence of the researcher may make the respondents uncomfortable, which may lead
to giving false or socially desirable answers.
2) In personally administered survey the instructions are usually given by the researcher, this
giving and explaining the instruction can cause a bias, as the researcher may explain
question differently to different participants.
3) This type of survey method can only be used when data has to be collected locally or from
a specific target group. (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016).

Recent Research

Makkar & Basu (2018) conducted a cross sectional survey with bank employees in Mumbai to
understand how emotional intelligence affects behaviour in the workplace. This was an
online survey where 150 employees were chosen and data on three questionnaires i.e.
Goleman's framework of EI, Workplace Behaviour Scale (WBS) and Job Content
Questionnaire was collected. It was found in the study that there was a negative relationship
between emotional intelligence and workplace behaviour and that job stress acted as a
moderator i.e. brought about changes in this relationship.
Wills et al (2017) conducted a longitudinal survey that lasted for a year to understand how the
use of e-cigarette can affect the onset of cigarette smoking behaviour. The survey included high
(9th, 10th and 11th grade) school children from Hawaii. The survey took into account
demographic variables, e-cigarette and cigarette smoking questionnaire, parental support
questionnaire, parental monitoring questionnaire and sensation seeking questionnaire which
were all designed by the researchers and personally administered by skilled professionals. The
first administration of the questionnaire was done in 2013 (T1) and second administration in
2014 (T2). It was found that the T1 never-smokers, those who used e-cigarettes in T1 were
more likely to smoke cigarettes at T2. However smokers during T1 did not increase in intensity
in T2 phase.
Reference

Anderson, T., & Kanuka, H. (2003). E-research: Methods, strategies, and issues. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.

Blalock. H. M. (1972). Causal inferences in nonexperimental research. New York: Norton

Bryman, A. (2012) Social Research Methods (4th Ed.)New York: Oxford University Press.

Buck, N. (2008) Introducing panel surveys: the BHPS. In Richard Berthoud and Jonathan
Burton (eds.), Praise of Panel Surveys. University of Essex: ISER

Christensen, l., Johnson, B. & Turner, l. (2015). Research Methods, Design and analysis (12th
Ed) Pearson education limited, p.341

Converse, J. M. (1987). Survey research in the United States: Roots and emergence, 1890–
1960. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Feldman. (2015). Development Across the Life Span (7th ed.), pp. 29. New Delhi, India:
Pearson Indian Education Service Pvt.Ltd.

Krosnick, J. A. (1988). The role of attitude importance in social evaluation: A study of policy
preferences, presidential candidate evaluations, and voting behaviour. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 55, 196- 210.

Kumar, R. (2014). Research Methodology A step by step guide for beginners (4th Ed). Sage
publications, p.179.

Llieva, J., Baron, S., & Healey, N. M. (2002). Online surveys in marketing research: Pros and
cons. International Journal of Marketing Research, 44, 361–375.

Lynn, P. (2009) Methods for Longitudinal Surveys. In Peter Lynn (ed.), Methodology of
Longitudinal Surveys (pp. 1-19). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Makkar, S & Basu, S. (2018). Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Workplace Behaviour

among Bank Employees in Mumbai, India: An Assessment of the Moderating Role of Job
Stress. South Asian Journal of Management, 25(3), 135-158

Makridakis, S. (1976). A Survey of Time Series. HEPHAESTUS Repository, 44(1), 29-70.

Scott, A., Smith, T., & Jones, R. (1977). The Application of Time Series Methods to the
Analysis of Repeated Surveys. International Statistical Review, 45(1), 13-28. doi:
10.2307/1403000

Singh, A. (2008). Tests, Measurements and Research Methods in Behavioural Sciences. Patna:
Bharati Bhuvan, pp.384-385.

Steel, D. and McLaren, C. (2008), Design and Analysis of Repeated Surveys (Working Paper).
Retrieved from https: //ro.uow.edu.au/cssmwp/10

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons. pp.143-144.

Srivastava, T. N., & Rego, S. (2011). Business research methodology. Tata McGraw-Hill
Education.

Weisberg, H. F., Haynes, A. A., & Krosnick, J. A. (1995). Social group polarization in 1992.
In H. F. Weisberg (Ed.), Democracy's feast: Elections in America (pp. 241-249). Chatham, NJ:
Chatham House.

Wills, T., Knight, R., Sargent, J., Gibbons, F., Pagano, I. & Williams, R (2017). Longitudinal
study of e-cigarette use and onset of cigarette smoking among high school students in Hawaii.
Tobacco Control, 26, 34–39. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052705
(EXPERIMENTAL METHOD)

Introduction

One of the approaches to conducting psychological research is known as experimental research.

Experimental research attempts to identify cause-and-effect relationships by conducting
controlled psychological experiments. The key feature of this approach is that one thing is
deliberately varied to see what happens to something else (i.e., to determine the effects of
presumed causes. Both scientists and nonscientists use experimentation to try to identify causal
relationships. However, scientific experimentation differs from practical experimentation in
that the scientist makes a deliberate attempt to make observations that are free of bias and that
have controlled for extraneous variables. Causality refers to a condition in which one event—
the cause— generates another event—the effect. However, causality is more complex. If
something does happen, the thing or event we manipulate is called the cause and what happens
is called the effect wherein the causal variable is the independent variable and the effect or
outcome variable is the dependent variable.

Advantages of the Experimental Approach:

● It helps to understand the causal relationships between variables and understand the
effect of manipulation of the independent variable.
● Variables can be actively manipulated and various outcomes can be observed.
● Control over extraneous variables is easily possible either by conducting the activity in
a laboratory or using the techniques of random assignment or matching.

Disadvantages of the Experimental Approach

● The generalizability of the results reduces as the experiment was conducted in an

artificial and sterile setting.
● It promotes the view that humans are manipulative mechanistic objects (Gadlin & Ingle,
1975).

Field Experiments

Field Experiment is an experimental research study which is conducted in the real-life setting
or the natural environment. It is different from natural experiments because in this type of
experiments researchers actively manipulates the IV and studies the causal relationship
between the IV and the DV. The researcher also attempts to control as many extraneous
variables as possible (Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2014). It follows all the steps of the
scientific process. This type of experiment is widely used by geologists, social scientists,
environmental biologists among others (Shuttleworth, 2010).

Regan and Llamas (2002) used a field experiment to find out if a female shopper’s appearance
influenced the amount of time it took for an employee of a store to approach and acknowledge
her. To study this, they had two conditions - in the first condition a female confederate was
dressed in formal clothes with open hair and in the second condition a female confederate was
dressed in informal sports clothes with hair tied. Track of time was kept. They found the time
taken to approach females with good appearance is lesser than females with average
appearance. The above inquiry is an instance of a field study since the study was carried out in
natural surroundings of a mall along with manipulation of a variable, i.e. the type of dress.
Field experiments are outstanding for studying various issues.

Tunnell (1977) stated that field experiments must be carried out in a way that will make all the
variables function in the actual world terms. The study conducted by Regan and Llamas (2002)
comprised of three features of naturalness recognized by Tunnell, which includes behavior that
is natural, a setting which is natural and a treatment that is also natural. According to Tunnell,
these are the features we should try hard for when we carry out a field experiment (Christensen,
Johnson & Turner, 2014).

Advantages of Field experiments:

● Field experiments have stronger ecological validity than experiments conducted in the
laboratory because the natural environment can be related to actual life.
● Demand characteristics are a smaller problem with field experiments than with
laboratory experiments. This is so, because, in a field experiment there is a lower
probability for the individuals to alter their behavior because they are not aware that
they are being observed or studied reducing unnatural behavior of people.

Disadvantages of Field experiments:

● The extraneous variable cannot be controlled. Communication amongst participants or

participation of the participant in another activity cannot be prevented by the researcher.
 ● Ethical principles such as informed consent are compromised. If the individuals are not
informed about their involvement in the experiment, their privacy should be
maintained.
● They have poor reliability since duplication of natural conditions of a field experiment
is difficult.
● Field experiments are additionally vulnerable to sample bias, as individuals involved in
the study were not randomly assigned to the experimental circumstances. (Turner, n.d)

Laboratory Experiment

The laboratory experiment is a research study that is conducted in a laboratory where accurate
measurements are possible. These are used in various fields of social sciences like psychology,
sociology, political science and economics (Kalkhoff, Youngreen, Nath & Lovaglia, 2014). In
this method, the researcher studies the effects of manipulated variables (IVs) on measurable
variables (DV’s) by controlling the influence of almost all control/extraneous variables
(Christensen et al., 2014). This method helps to test the hypothesis by cause and effect
relationship as the environment is highly controlled (Tanner, 2019). The participants can also
be randomly assigned to experimental conditions to avoid experimenter bias.

Milgram conducted an experiment in 1963, where the participants were asked to deliver electric
shocks to the learner when they give an incorrect answer. In reality, the learner was actually a
research assistant who pretended to receive shocks. The aim of the study was to examine how
far people would go in obeying an instruction by an authority figure if it involves harming
another person. Milgram found that 65% of participants were willing to deliver the maximum
level of shocks despite the fact that the learner seemed to be in serious distress or even
unconscious (Baron & Branscombe, 2012)

Advantages of Lab experiment:

● Variables can be controlled and manipulated to a greater extent allowing eliminating a

lot of extraneous variables.
● Use of accurate equipment allows for precise and reliable results to be obtained.
● The experiment can be easily replicated as similar controls can be established in lab
settings.

Disadvantages of Lab experiment:

 ● Participant’s behaviour may change as they may be aware of the experimental settings.
● There may be low ecological validity.

Internet Experiments

Internet experiments types of experiments that are conducted over the internet, and like most
experimental studies researchers manipulate independent variable(s) and control for extraneous
variables. The use of a computer began as early as the 1970s, researchers used computers as a
tool to standardize tests, control stimuli, and record responses given by participants. Internet
Explorer, Netscape Navigator came along in the 1990’s post the development of the internet,
in which hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) was developed, which when coded in a certain
way, allowed for showing web pages with certain words, images and graphics (Christensen et
al., 2014). Fast-forward to now, internet researchers are still very much considered as a good
option, but like any other experiments it has its advantages and disadvantages, which are as
follows:

Advantages of Internet experiments:

● Ease of access to participants from different target groups and cultures is made possible
and also sharing it through internet sources saves time and money.
● High statistical power is achieved because we can collect a sample from a greater
sample size.

Disadvantages of Internet experiments:

● Multiple submissions can be done by a single person under a different name/identity.

● Due to lack of experiment control, confounding variables in the environment cannot be
controlled.
● Self-selection where only motivated individuals become participants may hinder the
results based on the variable being studied.

TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS

Crucial Experiments

The concept of crucial experiments was first described by Francis Bacon. He described it as
the situation where one theory is true as compared to other theories in use. This concept was
then further revised and used by Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton. They described this situation
as where all possible rival theories can be tested. A crucial experiment in psychology is the
experiment, which tests all possible hypotheses in research. It is an experiment where all
hypotheses are tested but findings support only one hypothesis and all other alternate
hypotheses are rejected.

Advantages of Crucial experiments:

● The concept of crucial experiments is considered important as it is ideal.

● There are even some of the views that efforts should be made to achieve that ideal.

Disadvantages of Crucial Experiments:

● The experimenter cannot be sure of a true crucial experiment since it is not possible for
the experimenter to state all possible alternative hypothesis.
● The notion “crucial’’ is subjective and not wholly objective. Hence, not all researchers
agree than an experiment is actually a crucial experiment.

Confirmatory Experiments

In this type of experiment, the explicit hypotheses are tested using various types of tests and
generally confirmed. According to McGuigan (1990), the common description for this type of
experiment is "I'll-bet-this-would-happen-if-I-did-this." Findings of the experiment are used to
test the formulated hypothesis. The hypothesis is accepted as true if the findings support it and
if the findings are not according to the hypothesis then the hypothesis is modified so that it fits
the data. If the hypothesis is modified then it is again tested by a new experiment. Such studies
will resemble adequately powered clinical trials and consists mainly of “efficacy studies” that
use rigid and pre-specified designs, a priori stated hypotheses, prolonged durations, and the
most clinically relevant assays and endpoints available. It confirms a pre-specified relationship.
It complements the exploratory research method (Kimmelman, Mogil & Dirnagl, 2014).

Advantages of Confirmatory experiments:

● It tests the prior hypothesis thus, increasing the confidence in the conclusions.
● It also helps in reducing type 1 error.
Disadvantage of Confirmatory experiment:

● It is not often used to test a new hypothesis.

Exploratory method

The purpose of this method of data collection is to gain insight into a topic where sufficient
study has not been conducted and the entire research has not been defined. This method is used
when one wants to gain further knowledge about the topic rather than gain definite, conclusive
evidence for research questions (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012). It is considered as the
first step in initiating preliminary research into a topic which creates a foundation based on
which further research can be conducted (Singh, 2007). When a new topic has to be explored,
generally, this method is employed.

Advantages of Exploratory method:

● It allows for a change in the direction of the research as new data and statistics are
analyzed.
● It forms a base on which further analysis can be made to understand if a certain topic is
worth exploring or not (Singh, 2007).

Disadvantages of Exploratory method:

● Since the research is only preliminary, multiple such studies that exist cannot be used
to make conclusive analysis and judgments. It hampers decision making.
● Yet again, since they are only preliminary they may not be representative of the sample
and cannot be generalized to the larger population (Singh, 2007).

Pilot Experiment

A pilot study or a Pilot experiment is an experiment which is conducted before the actual
experiment. This experiment involves a small number of participants. It basically wants to
make sure that the procedure, values that are assigned to the variables under study are fit or
not. It helps to find out the mistakes that might be made in the actual experiment. This study
can either be simple or complex. The degree of complexity usually depends on the interests
and standards of a researcher. (Singh, 2011)
Advantages of Pilot experiment:

● It helps the researcher to know in advance about if the main research could fail or if
there are any glitches which could take place in the final experiment.
● It could also help them know if there are certain protocols which are not followed or
the instruments, sampling methods, data analysis techniques which they are going to
use are appropriate or not (Teijlingen, 2014).

Disadvantages of Pilot experiment:

● These studies can lead to inaccurate assumptions or predictions as the same data and
participants are taken from the main research or funding issues.
● Response rate can be low and statistical findings may not be promising and the number
of participants are low (Teijlingen, 2014).

Conclusion

The aim of any analysis is to draw a conclusion together with other observations. The
researcher might generalize the results to a wider phenomenon if there is no indication of
confounding variables "polluting" the results. When the experiment is imposed on a specific
variable, related data should be collected and compiled in a systematic way. After analyzing
compiled data it should be condensed into a usable form. If the researcher suspects that the
effect stems from a different variable then the independent variable, further investigation is
needed to gauge the validity of the results. An experiment is often conducted because the
scientist wants to know if the independent variable is having any effect on the dependent
variable. Variables correlating are not proof that there is causation. Experiments are more
often of quantitative nature than qualitative nature.
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