St.

Paul’s University

Admission Number: BACSDIST291619

COM 319

Communication Research

September - October

CAT 1
1. Define the term ‘measurement’ as used in research. (2 marks)

Measurement is the process recording the observations that are collected while doing

research.

2. What are the four levels of measurement in research? (4 marks)

a. Nominal measurement is the lowest level of measurement in this level data collected

is classified into different categories using alpha numeric symbols, letters, and words

classifying the attribute in a unique way. Example If the data of food belonging to

five different categories. Example if talking about types of food, fruits belonging to

the vitamins could be classified as V potato in carbohydrates as C.

b. The other level of measurement is the ordinal level of measurement. In this level of

measurement attributes are ranked from the greatest to the smallest the numbers given

in this measurement show the rank order example 1st 2nd 3rd etc. the differences in

distance between attributes are meaningless example student scores 96 , 94, 86, 80

they would be ranked 1st 2nd 3rd 4th .

c. The third level of measurement is the interval level of measurement in this level the

attributes are classified by specifying that the distances between each interval on the

scale.

d. The fourth level of measurement is the ratio level of measurement. In this level of

measurement, the attributes have equal intervals and there is always an absolute value

of zero the differences between the points on the scale have an equivalent distance

between them.
3. “For measurement to be useful to research, it must be reliable and valid.” Define the two

underlined terms. (4 marks)

Reliability quality and consistency of measurement the degree of accuracy is very

important the results should be accurate and consistent when measurement is repeated.

Validity refers to the degree to which the tools of measurements are legitimately made for

what is being measured in your study.

4. Outline the steps to be followed in Content Analysis. (4 marks)

a. Identifying and defining the problem.

b. Formulate a hypotheses and research questions.

c. Determine the population.

d. Sample the population.

e. Define content categories.

f. Coding of content samples.

g. Analyse coded scores.

h. Conclude & Report

5. Analyze two strengths and two weaknesses of each of the following research methods

(8 mks)

i) Case Studies

Strengths

a. Gives suggestion on why something has happened the way it has.

b. Provides tremendous and in-depth detail in a study developing new and

advanced research

Weaknesses
 a. May be biased and prone to generalisation in the way the data is interpreted.

b. It is a time consuming process some may have a lot of data that needs a lot of

interpretation

ii) Observational Research.

Strengths

a. Access to people in real-life situations in their natural setting and normal behaviour

b. It provides access to someone’s knowledge of the situations

Weaknesses

a. Time consuming process

b. If the subject being observed knows they are being observed it may affect the

results

6. Define the term ‘sampling’ (2 marks)

Sampling is a method of studying where a few items are selected from a large population

to represent the whole population.

7. Briefly discuss three sampling techniques used in research. (6 marks)

a. Simple random sampling this is where every member of the population has an equal

chance of being chosen and included in the sample

b. Quota random sampling also called Stratified Random Sampling or proportional

involves dividing your population into homogeneous subgroups and then taking a

simple random sample in each subgroup examples size, gender or occupation.

c. Systematic random sampling is a procedure in which the subject is chosen from a

target population by selecting a random starting point and using a sampling interval
Sampling interval is calculated by dividing the entire population size by the desired

sample size.