MSA 600 WEEK 1 COURSE OVERVIEW AND EXAMINING PROBLEM STATEMENTS Dr. Carol Himelhoch Foundation of Research Methods in Administration Information ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ MSA 600 – Foundations of Research Methods Totally Online Dr. Carol Himelhoch Office Hours – By appointment (734)219-5010 Himel1cr@cmich.edu Required Text and Materials  Research: Planning and DesignAuthor: Paul Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, 2nd Custom Edition for CMU, 2017. ISBN 9781-323-47480-8   Materials American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (current edition). Washington, DC Central Michigan University (latest edition). The Student Guide to the MSA Capstone Project Parts 1 and 2. (PDF Format – Download from CMU website) Introduction/Course Description ➢ Course Description ➢ An introduction to research methods designed to build the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct and interpret primary research in the field of administration. Course Objectives        Determine administrative issues and topics that can be researched within the private, public and not-for profit sectors. Identify, collect, evaluate, and synthesize research and professional literature to draw and support conclusions and make recommendations. Identify, evaluate, and synthesize research data to draw and support conclusions and make recommendations. Effectively and concisely communicate research findings, conclusions and recommendations to others in written form using standard written English (grammar, spelling, sentence structure, syntax etc.) and following APA format. Effectively and concisely present research findings, conclusions and recommendations to others in oral form using appropriate visual aids and/or presentation software. Demonstrate an understanding of research methodologies by developing a practice research proposal that may or may not be applicable to the student’s MSA capstone project (instructors and students should be aware of the multiple submission policy found in the Academic Integrity Policy). Demonstrate an applied knowledge of the APA style and format. Deliverables Schedule Team Project    Assigned to teams at end of Week 1 Each team will be assigned a typology and an article that uses that typology (survey research, cost-benefit analysis, program evaluation, feasibility study). 10-Minute Oral Presentation  Explain your typology  Summarize your assigned article  Critique the article for its alignment with what you learned about your typology  Critique the research methods used in the article Individual Papers Papers (cont.) Final Exam (Worth 150 Points)   There is a Final Exam (open book/notes) in this course. You may take the exam at any time during Week 8 but you must have completed the exam no later than Sunday of Week 8 (even though the semester ends on Friday I’m giving you through the weekend to complete the exam). The purpose of the final exam is to enable you to review key concepts from the class. There are total 50 multiple choice questions (3 points per question). You have 180 Minutes and ONE attempt to complete each exam! Do not open the exam unless you are ready to take it! Once an exam is opened, you must finish it within the given time. You will lose one point per minute for passing the limited time. You must work on the test independently and individually! NO makeup exam will be given unless it is pre-approved by the course instructor (with evidence & documents). [IMPORTANT!!!] Prior to taking an online quiz/exam, please review the "Online Exam Tips" tutorial Discussion Board   Weeks 1 through 6 within the Blackboard shell. Students are expected to attend and participate in the dialog. Discussion should be based upon personal experience and reading assignments. Sharing information leads to new ideas, and the best way for us to learn is from each other. To that end, each week has an associated discussion board/forum folder in the course shell. Post a response to each week’s question (answer only one of the question options), and start conversations with your peers. Points are earned for responding to each discussion forum and for replying to fellow participants. Up to 15 points will be earned for each substantive response to the initial discussion board post to the main discussion question. You must respond to two separate posts from your fellow students, for each you will received 5 points. Each week is worth 25 points total. ◼ ◼ Post #1 – By 11:59pm Wednesday Post #2 & 3 – By 11:59pm Sunday WebEx Chat Sessions Pre-Class Assignment  What are your personal definitions of:  Administration?  Technology?  Research?  Environment?  Systems Approach?  Optimization? ◼ Submit via Week 0 link within “Course Materials” Review of Problem Statements Some Former Students’ Examples Strong Problem Statement Keep Focus on Organization No Axes to Grind/Avoid Yes-No Questions The Capstone is Primary Research Primary Research     Conducted by you Surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations, experiments Secondary Research   Can by qualitative or quantitative  Specific to your needs and you control the quality  Conducted by someone else The act of looking for articles and research conducted by others “is” secondary research. Can find both qualitative and quantitative studies Data can be too old or not specific enough to meet your needs. From http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/primary-secondary-market-research-difference/ Week 2 – MSA 600 WRITING PROBLEM STATEMENTS Sample 1 – Program Evaluation Sample 2 – Program Evaluation Sample 3 – Policy Analysis Sample 4 – Program Design Sample 5 – Program Design Sample 6 – Program Design Sample 7 – Mixed Methods Sample 8 – Program Evaluation Sample 9 – Program Evaluation Sample 10 – Program Evaluation Sample 11 – Feasibility Study Remember: A feasibility study is not a business plan. Rather, it examines the technical, commercial, and market feasibilities of starting a business. Your Research Ideas MSA 600 WEEK 3 – PAPER 1 THEN THE LITERATURE REVIEW Dr. Carol Himelhoch Foundation of Research Methods in Administration Definition of the Problem Paper   Follow template to a T Background section  Avoid personal opinions (this is a problem because I say so)  Avoid suggesting solutions to the problem.  Include the evidence that the problem exists.  Explain the history of how the problem developed, perhaps including relevant organizational background and milestones. Research Problem Section     Structure the problem into the primary research issue, then decompose that issue into a set of subproblems that relate to the primary issue. Do not offer solutions! No personal pronouns (I, we, our, my) are permissible anywhere in the paper. Avoid asking questions in yes/no format. Research Audience & Rationale    Identify the audience who will be able to act on this research (be specific) Answer the “so what” question – Identify the stakeholders and explain why your study is important and worth the expense. Describe the anticipated benefits of the study and what the consequences are if the study were not conducted. Scope & Delimitations   Clearly identify the target population of your study. Explain what boundaries you are setting around your research.  What aspects of the problem will not be covered in your research  What aspects of the problem will be covered ◼ Example: A study examining staff turnover at a senior living company will focus on the assisted living branch, and not on independent living and nursing home facilities. What is a Literature Review?  A literature review is strongly related to the topic in the problem statement with a description of the theories and each major theory critically analyzed, evaluated, and compared. The literature “review must identify vital relationships between different studies while showing how it relates to your project” (Muirhead, 2002, para 6). A Literature Review:    Narrowly focused to concentrate only on truly relevant materials. Discusses published information in a particular subject area. Usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. (http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/). A Good Literature Review Requires:   Knowledge of the use of databases and abstracts, The ability to:  organize the collected data meaningfully,  describe, critique and relate each source to the subject of the inquiry,  present the organized review logically,  to correctly cite all sources mentioned (Afolabi, 1992).  Highlights gaps in knowledge for the betterment of the discipline or the organization. 4 Major Literature Review Objectives (Neuman, 1989)     1. To demonstrate a familiarity with a body of knowledge and establish credibility. 2. To show the path of prior research and how a current project is linked to it. 3. To integrate and summarize what is known in an area. 4. To learn from others and stimulate new ideas. A good review identifies blind alleys and suggests hypotheses for replication.  It divulges procedures, techniques, and research designs worth copying so that a researcher can better focus hypotheses and gain new insights (p. 89).  Cooper (1988) Identified Possible Approaches    (1) exhaustive coverage, citing all relevant literature; (2) representative coverage (discussion of works which typify particular groupings in the literature); and (3) coverage of pivotal works (p.109-111). Boote & Beile (2005)  The literature review must report on what has been previously studied related to the topic and critically examine the methodologies used.  i.e., “All the studies of X to date rely on small sample sizes. No studies have comprehensively examined…”  The literature review “must build on and learn from prior research and scholarship on the topic (Boote & Beile, 2005, para 5). A Literature Review is NOT…   An annotated bibliography or a simple description of the major theories without any critical evaluation, comparison, or comparisons. About everything written on the topic the theories chosen must have the appropriate scope for significance (Boote & Beile, 2006)  Do not include non-essential studies   You control how you use the readings. Do not let the readings control you. Introductory Paragraph  Introduces the reader to a brief overview of what will be covered in the literature review.  EXAMPLE : This chapter will examine historical, current, and gaps in collaborative efforts of secondary educators to create standards, and design cooperative professional development applications for new teacher preparedness for Washtenaw County Public Schools. In particular, topics covered include….etc….(no source, made up). Good idea to….   Document what sources were searched, what key terms, what documents, and how many articles in each source were used in the proposal. EXAMPLE: A plethora of information was available on education reform and effective schools and the affect on student achievement, but the studies did not address the correlation between a superintendent’s tenure and improved academic achievement. A literature review was conducted on the problem statement, purpose, and variables and included searches in four topical areas: superintendent leadership, academic achievement, education reform, and large urban school districts. The keywords and terms associated with the four topical areas were superintendent turnover, superintendent tenure, superintendent leadership, academic achievement, reading and math, education reform, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, adequate yearly progress, achievement gap, revolving door of leadership, ineffective schools, accountability, standardized testing, local community school boards, and large urban school districts. Remind the Reader of the Research Question in the Introduction  EXAMPLE: The research question studied was “What is the correlation between a superintendent’s tenure and student achievement at XYZ Schools?” Hess (20XX) proposed there are no quick fixes to ailing large urban school districts. Meaningful reform requires time, energy, commitment, and clear leadership. According to Hess, districts should focus on consistent, stable, long-term leadership rather than look to reformists who promote new and improved remedies for urban education… Quantitative Studies-ID the Variables  EXAMPLE: The independent variable that provided the treatment and acted as a factor in this research study was superintendent tenure. The dependent variable was academic achievement scores, which were measured by correlating third through tenth grade reading and math state test results during the eight-year period from which publicly available data were gathered on superintendents in 66 large urban school districts belonging to the district. The moderating or intervening variables in this research study were ethnicity and gender. The variables are defined below. Historical Section  The historical section can be broken into sub-sets of section titles by each variable. If the design is qualitative, the narrative unit of measurement being explored, such as leadership styles, leadership attributes, or leadership decisions are divided into sub-sections under the historical section. Historical Section (Cont.)  Another method is to divide Chapter 2 into variables as the main section, and under each variable, have sub-sections of historical overview, current theories, and gaps in knowledge.  Regardless of the method, a general historical overview related to the topic of discussion is presented.  The following discussions need to be clearly identified as sub-headings and directly correlate to the topic. Example 1 Historical Overview Independent Variable: Superintendent Tenure According to Griffiths (1966), there are three stages in the historical development of the school superintendency. Throughout Stage One, which occurred from 1837 to 1910, the superintendent was responsible for the instructional program, and primary responsibilities included working with teachers. By the end of Stage One, the superintendent’s role began to shift to that of chief executive and responsibilities began to reflect the nation’s shift from an agricultural society to an urban, industrial society (Townley, n.d.). (Sorgi, 20XX, p. 32). Example 2 (Made up – no sources) Summarize all relevant and significant current theories  Current theories are any theories that have been major theories within the last five years. Changes, new paradigms, and new directions should be summarized for the reader. It is important to make sure that discussion of any gaps in the research literature is included.  For example, there may be much research related to career development, but there is a lack of information as it relates to career development for a specific population. Checklist – Source Quality   Are all the major significant historical and current theories related to the problem statement and variables included? Are theories in the historical and current contexts discussed from general to specific related to the research question?   For example, general leadership style theories would be summarized in the historical context before covering transformational leadership theories that the research question is exploring. Is it clear that each theory is described and then analyzed instead of a presentation of back-to-back quotes? Checklist (Cont.)  Are opposite viewpoints or differing theories presented?   For example, a study of the glass ceiling of women in leadership should include a discussion and analysis of men in leadership, and any perceived glass ceiling for males in historical or current literature. A literature review that discusses only theories related to women’s barriers in leadership would read as biased. After the historical and current literature review, are gaps in knowledge discussed for every variable and the need to conduct the research study clear? Example - Gaps A plethora of information was available on education reform and effective schools and the influence on student achievement, but these studies did not address the correlation between superintendent tenure and improved academic achievement scores [Sources made up]  Often, this is a natural progression because your research question is exploring a gap. 7 General Components of a Strong Literature Reviews        1. Organization is presented in an orderly and logical flow. 2. Historical overview with appropriate citations is presented. If appropriate, a discussion of any gaps in the research literature is included. Discussion of germinal research is included. 3. Current findings and studies with appropriate citations are presented. If appropriate, a discussion of any gaps in the research literature is included. 4. Current findings, discussed in order from general to specific, are related to the research question. 5. Each research variable is discussed. 6. Discussion has depth and presents an analysis of the literature rather than a listing of quotations and citations. Discussion relates a logical understanding of why a citation is included. 7. Balanced discussion of alternative viewpoints is given. The literature compares and contrasts the different points of view regarding the research in the fields. Annotated Bibliography – A Building Block  10 Sources   Each source is worth 8 points, 5 points for overall mix of sources, 5 points for overall organization, 10 points for following the format of the 6 main areas, 100 points total. Six Main Areas - Elements for each entry: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Citation in APA format Clear identification of the main points of the source Paraphrased (in your own words) summary of the source Minimum of 3 direct quotations from the source, properly cited Evaluation of the source using CARS (see next slide) Explanation of why or how this source will be used to support your research. CARS  Credibility      Anonymity (no author listed) Lack of quality (poor grammar, misspellings) Overly negative or critical Relevance Accuracy     No date Out of date Vagueness Original  Reasonableness      Extreme tone or language Conflict of interest Sweeping generalizations Reliable Support     No source for data or statistics No documentation No corroborating sources One-sided point of view Week 4 MSA 600 Dr. Carol Himelhoch Rubric For Literature Review & Research Ethics The restatement of key problem statement is short, to-the-point, and clear for the reader who is reading chapter two stand-alone. It should re-orient the reader to the problem. Introduction A concise overview of the topics to be covered is provided in the introduction. Focus of Literature Review Chapter Paper focuses on the literature and does not contain student’s opinions. Paper does not tell the story of what happens in the student’s organization. Rather, the focus is on the literature and the research on the problem as presented in the literature (a.k.a., the social stock of knowledge). Strong thematic connections are presented (within section headings). Thematic Connections The analysis of the literature is thoughtful and well-organized. Analysis is thematic and not a collection of “this article said and that article said”. Summary of articles is kept to a minimum. Summary Section  The whole work leads to a logical conclusion (summary section), which is based on the problem statement. Chapter complies with APA format. Grammar and syntax are at the graduate level. Writing Quality Section headings are used for organizing the paper thematically. High-quality references are used. References Page Relevant to problem statement A minimum of 10 references – scholarly, peer-reviewed. Some trade journal references are acceptable. From Whitworth University's IRB website , Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA, (https://www.whitworth.edu/.../PowerPoint/EdDeptP.) Nuremberg Code 1947  From trials of Nazi doctors who performed experiments on people in concentration camps.      Voluntary consent Anticipate scientific benefits Benefits outweigh risks Animal experiments first Avoid suffering From Whitworth University's IRB website  No intentional death or disability Nuremberg Code 1947 (Cont.)  Protection from harm  Subjects free to stop at any time  Qualified investigators  Investigator will stop if harm occurs From Whitworth University's IRB website Tuskegee Syphilis Study Macon Co., AL 1932-1972  400 African- American men  Researchers tested the men for latent syphilis and studied its natural course From Whitworth University's IRB website Tuskegee Syphilis Study Spinal taps Recruited with promise of “special free treatment” for “bad blood” Actually spinal taps without anesthesia, called “spinal shots” Enrolled without consent From http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtuskegee1.html Tuskegee Syphilis Study  Denied antibiotic therapy in the 1940s and 1950s (although safe and effective)  Study halted in 1972: 28 of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis. Sets a minimum standard Federal Regulations and IRBs 1974-Today Based on the Belmont Principles (will cover shortly) Applies to ALL research Puts the responsibility on the institution • Through the establishment of a local IRB to review research with human subjects • IRB=Institutional Review Board From Whitworth University's IRB website ❑Respect for persons The Belmont Principles 1979 ❑Individuals should be treated as autonomous ❑individuals with diminished autonomy should be entitled to additional protections. ❑Beneficence  Maximize benefit, minimize harm  Justice  Addresses the distribution of the burdens and benefits of research. One group in society should not bear the costs of research while another group reaps its benefits. From https://msalganik.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/the-belmont-report-three-principles-for-ethical-research/ Categories of Risk Minimal risk: The risks of harm are not greater, considering probability and magnitude, than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests More than minimal risk: Risks exceed, either in probability or magnitude, those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests From Whitworth University's IRB website Invasion of privacy Risks in Behavioral and Social Research Breach of confidentiality Embarrassment Stigma Psychological Trauma From Whitworth University's IRB website The Belmont Principles 1979 ▪ Respect for persons: dignity and autonomy  Participation is informed and voluntary  Special protection of vulnerable subjects From Whitworth University's IRB website The Belmont Principles 1979 ▪ Justice  Fair and equitable selection of subjects  Benefits and burdens of research is distributed fairly among populations From Whitworth University's IRB website  Vulnerable populations require a higher level of oversight         Children Mentally Handicapped Prisoners Minorities Women Fetuses in utero The Elderly Employees, Students. Special Populations found in sub-parts of the regulation From Whitworth University's IRB website  May be coercive if  Subjects are in a group when recruited and there is an unspoken expectation that they should participate because of their membership in the group, (e.g. students, racial affiliation)  Compared to the study subjects, the investigator has a position of socio-economic status and/or expertise (e.g. supervisor, doctor or professor)  The technical jargon makes subjects feel intimidated and/or prevents understanding Informed Consent From Whitworth University's IRB website Purpose Procedures Elements of Written Consent Voluntary Participation How the information will be used How to opt out at any point How to contact the researcher Signatures of subjects From Whitworth University's IRB website Examples of when written consent can be waived PHONE INTERVIEWS – KEEP A LOG SURVEYS – INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATION EITHER VERBAL OR WRITTEN (TACIT CONSENT) From Whitworth University's IRB website ON-LINE SURVEYS – INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATION What about my study? When is research taking place with human subjects? Research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. The knowledge is published or presented in a public forum. Human subject is a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains 1) data through intervention or interaction, or 2) identifiable private information. From Whitworth University's IRB website Surveys or interviews done to inform institutional practice that stay within the institution Journalism interviews for newspaper articles Quality control, quality assurance From Whitworth University's IRB website Activities that are not research with human subjects However . . .  Even if your project is exempt, or not considered research with human subjects, you still have to follow ethical and legal principles From Whitworth University's IRB website  The IRB criteria are: What about my study? IRB Review Criteria     There must be a benefit. The protocol must minimize the risks. There must be an equitable selection of subjects. Participation must be informed and voluntary. No unfair inducements such as large cash payments.  Privacy and confidentiality of subjects and data must be protected. From Whitworth University's IRB website Purpose & subject matter Procedure What a script should cover Voluntary participation How to opt out at any point without penalty Your name, and contact information From Whitworth University's IRB website MSA 600: RESEARCH METHODS Week 5 – Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods Dr. Carol Himelhoch DEFINITION OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS • Qualitative designs explore patterns or themes in data that are not necessarily in numerical format to answer the driving research questions and fill in the gap in knowledge that is the problem (Creswell, 2004). • Qualitative designs attempt to discover why, how, and what is occurring (Yin, 2004). WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT QUALITATIVE METHODS? • Can discover new paradigms based on solid trends in data (Blum & Muirhead, 2005). • Explores unknown variables not previously documented in literature. • Can generate theories based on the data, where no preconceived models exist. • Attempts to describe and interpret data with the goal of detailed and well-rounded results, including identifying researcher biases and assumptions (Blum & Muirhead, 2005). MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS • Quantitative designs require a pre-determined selection of variables that the researcher believes, based on literature, experiences, or both that will affect one another called the independent and dependent variables as an educated guess (Sproull, 2004). • Quantitative designs describe the result of an experiment, a correlation testing, and often involve the acceptance or the failure to reject the null hypothesis (Sproull, 2004) using statistical formulas and hypothesis testing with a significant randomly selected sample that represents the population (Creswell, 2004). MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS • Qualitative methods do not have educated guesses to test hypotheses (Sproull, 2004). • Qualitative methods explore patterns that either emulate literature findings of studies done in the past or find new results. Patterns found in qualitative designs could be completely new findings the researcher explores (Creswell, 2004). • Other than counts and modes, statistical analysis is usually not part of qualitative designs (Sproull, 1995) nor is hypothesis testing (Creswell, 2004). • Qualitative designs explore patterns based on a unit of measure that is a term instead of a number VARIABLES IN QUALITATIVE DESIGNS • Unit of measure is the unit the researcher is going to analyze the data with – what the problem is driven by • If a research study were concerned with only leadership decisions – this is the research study’s unit of measurement. • In some qualitative designs such as a case study, the unit of measure is the unit of analysis, and is the entire organization that is under study (Simon, 2006). VARIABLES IN QUALITATIVE DESIGNS • Qualitative designs have another type of predefined variable: • how is the researcher going to initially categorize the patterns, and based on what? These variables are called the initial categories. • The researcher must group the themes by common patterns based on researching what major literature findings (for similar studies) in the past indicated were important to solve the problem. INITIAL CATEGORY EXAMPLE • For example, literature findings in the study of foster care leadership decisions found from previous literature studies that the success of foster care children was based on leadership decisions on three initial categories: housing decisions, mental health services, and biological family visits. As the student grouped the patterns, new patterns and sub-themes emerged. • This student found that leaders were making decision to assign a wide variety of drugs to children who were reported by the foster care provider for any type of behavioral problem; children with no behavioral problems were given mental health counseling instead of drugs – this was a major finding not reported in any previous literature findings. DATA COLLECTION FOR QUALITATIVE DESIGNS:TRIANGULATION • It is imperative that qualitative data is triangulated (Creswell, 2004). • Triangulation means combining results from different sources to increase confidence in its reliability (Yin, 1993). • Triangulation in qualitative designs means that the data originates from many sources such as archival files, interviews, articles, observations; replicating patterns in variety of sources increases the reliability of qualitative studies (Blum & Muirhead, 2005). DATA COLLECTION FOR QUALITATIVE DESIGNS:TRIANGULATION • In general, qualitative design results are more reliable if the data sources where the researcher found the data are triangulated by different sources. • A general guide for a qualitative study is to triangulate the data by three different sources of data • Typical sources would be interview questions, archival databases, and previous literature findings over time. QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION METHODS • Qualitative designs collect data by several methods • Interviewing (not close ended surveying). • Observing as a non-participant, • Participant observing. • Field Notes. • Archival files example – historical women leadership in publishing. QUALITATIVE SAMPLE SELECTION METHODS (NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLES) • Samples of participants for qualitative methods in general, follow six main types. • Over time (archival). • Stratified (sub-groups) purposive • Sampling w/purpose (i.e., subject’s knowledge of research issue, ability to contribute depth and relevance of data) • Critical Case. • Small number of cases that "yield the most information and have the greatest impact on the development of knowledge" (Patton, 2001, p. 236) • Snowballed. • Convenience. • Group of related experts. QUALITATIVE SAMPLE SIZES • Sample sizes for qualitative studies have no set guides for the size of the sample. • In general, the researcher must make it clear to the reader why the sample was chosen including the size. ANALYZING THE OUTCOMES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS • Patterns are grouped by the unit of measurement, initial categories, and new themes. • Tools such as NVivo by QSR or Atlas can be used to analyze transcribed electronic findings or this process can be manual QUALITATIVE DESIGNS – WHAT ARE PATTERNS OR THEMES? • Think of finding patterns like a filing cabinet. • The first drawer is the first initial category, and folders under that category are emerging new themes. • If the researcher chooses to do the analysis manually, the researcher would make a copy of every time the respondent said the same thing as another respondent, and count the number of responses in each group. • If 18 out of 20 respondents said that the leadership decision in response to unethical employee actions was to fire that employee, this is a major theme or folder in the file drawer under the human relations action as the initial category to group the data results. • If only 2 out of 20 responded in this manner, the results are described and noted this is not a theme that emerged, it is an outlier response and reported as such. QUALITATIVE DESIGNS – WHAT ARE PATTERNS OR THEMES? • For every major pattern, the researcher describes the sub-themes, and then reports on new themes that previous literature did not indicate would be a theme summarizing what was found, adding the counts, and sometimes using percentages (keep it consistent if using percentages, stick to percentages for every theme). • Examples of what was found are described for every theme but the entire data are not reported under each theme. In most cases, the data from respondents are coded so that names are not released, examples are RES1, RES2 (respondent one, two), or W1 (women one). QUALITATIVE DESIGNS – WHAT ARE PATTERNS OR THEMES? • Results are grouped by themes, and the results are summarized, analyzed, and evaluated to determine if the findings are the same as major literature findings (and what literature with sources) or different, and so what? • Who cares -- Is the theme a major breakthrough in the gap of knowledge or is it the same? Implications are discussed for every major pattern. • Outlier responses presented, which are not part of any pattern are analyzed for reasons. MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: CASE STUDY • The case study is an intensive description and analysis of a phenomenon or social unit, such as an individual, group, institution, or community. • In contrast to surveying a few variables across a large number of units, a case study tends to be concerned with investigating many, if not all, variables in a single unit. • A case study can be multiple cases of similar occurrences or a single case study or an historical case study (Yin, 1993). MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: PHENOMENOLOGICAL • A phenomenological qualitative design is an in-depth exploration of a bounded system based on extensive data collection (Creswell, 2004). -- The critical element of a phenomenological design is that in order to understand the problem, the lived experiences of the sample answers the gap in knowledge. • A qualitative phenomenological study attempts to understand the problem by understanding understand people’s perceptions and perspectives related to lived experiences (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001). • A phenomenology design is based on the telling the story of an experience to enable people to understand how the experiences that people being studied have impacted their lives (Creswell, 2004). MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: GROUNDED THEORY • Grounded theory means that theory is developed from the raw data with a general theory or theories guiding the initial pattern analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). • The initial parameters for data analysis are grounded in theory; grounded theory design is a past perspective but could generate new theories for the future as a framework for leaders. • Grounded theory must be developed from extensive, over time, primary data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: GROUNDED THEORY • Interviewing 20 participants in one interview is not enough to grounded theory from the resulting data. • A better source of data for grounded theory so that the theory is based on substantial data and thus more reliable would be a year of electronic student messages in online classrooms, or 10 years of primary archival data in a database as the result of yearly interviews. • Triangulation of data sources adds to the reliability of any theory grounded in data. • A pilot study of a smaller sub-set of the same data is another method to triangulate data for a grounded theory study. • The importance of extensive data is that the researcher must have enough data to cross-check a wide-variety of documents to assist in grasping the meaning of events or phenomena that may otherwise not be noticeable but are important in recognizing the development of new theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: DELPHI • Delphi research develops new theories where none exist as a consensus of interviewing experts in the field (Simon & Francis, 2002). • Delphi research is used when experts in a certain field can be found and the problem can be solved in an effective manner based on subjective conclusions. • The researcher inquires the experts with openended questions, gathers data, and then based on a consensus of the answers, re-interviews the same experts for more opinions. MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: ETHNOGRAPHIC • Ethnographic research attempts to put the problem into the context of the time of the event based on the culture during that period in time typically over a long term time period of months or years (Creswell, 2004). • An example is how the Bible meaning is studied in context of what certain terms meant during the culture of the time period of the Bible’s passages. For instance, the value of money during biblical times was substantially different than it means in today’s culture. • Data are usually obtained through participant observation by the researcher and then verified with the group living the phenomenon (Simon, 2006). MAJOR TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGNS: CONCLUSION • Qualitative methods are not black and white results of statistical tests and can be difficult to write because the meaning must be clear and most of the results are described in words. • Conducting a qualitative design is worth the effort because the results explore new meaning and could discover unknown patterns nonpreviously found in literature. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DEFINED (ALIAGA AND GUNDERSON, 2000) • Quantitative research is ‘Explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics)’. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ANSWERS QUESTIONS BY • Ascribing importance (significance) to numbers or sizes or reactions and results SCIENTIFIC THEORY • Self correcting: Prevailing wisdom requires constant reevaluation when new evidence appears. Each discovery reveals a tiny piece of a giant puzzle. • Science never proves anything, it just continues to add puzzle pieces to the big picture. PROS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH • Clear interpretations • Makes sense of and organizes perceptions • Careful scrutiny (logical, sequential, controlled) • Reduce researcher bias • Results may be understood by individuals in other disciplines CONS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH • Can not assist in understanding issues for which basic variables have not been identified or clarified • Only 1 or 2 questions can be studied at a time, rather than the whole of an event or experience • Complex issues (emotional response, personal values, etc.) can not always be reduced to numbers FOUR TYPES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH • Experimental • Survey • Meta-Analysis • Longitudinal EXPERIMENTAL • Compare two or more groups that are similar except for one factor or variable • Statistical analysis of data • Conditions are highly controlled; variables are manipulated by the researcher “The effects of” “The influence of…” SURVEY RESEARCH • Use set of predetermined questions • Collect answers from representative sample • Answers are categorized and analyzed so tendencies can be discerned META-ANALYSIS • Numerous experimental studies with reported statistical analysis are compared • Distinguishes trends • Effect size (the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable) can be compared LONGITUDINAL • Individual or group research conducted across time • Subject attrition is major problem • Preserving confidentiality is also difficult HYPOTHESIS • Hypothesis = an idea that will be tested through systematic investigation • A researcher’s prediction of what outcomes will occur • Fits experimental research, also called “Hypothesis Testing” INDEPENDENT VARIABLE • The variable that is controlled or manipulated by the researcher • The variable that is thought to have some effect upon the dependent variable • The one difference between the treatment (experimental) and control groups DEPENDENT VARIABLE • That which is measured • The outcome • That which is influenced or affected by the independent variable MEASUREMENT AND SAMPLING IN QUANTITATIVE METHODS • Measurement • Populations and Sampling • Random Assignment • Generalizability SAMPLING • Specify your population of concern • Sampling • Selecting respondents from population of concern • Random sampling-each member of the subset has an equal probability of being chosen. • Systematic selection-selecting samples based on a system of intervals in a numbered population. • Stratified sampling-the researcher divides the population into separate groups, called strata. Then, a probability sample (often a simple random sample ) is drawn from each group • Convenience sampling-made up of people who are easy to reach. • Snowball sampling-where existing study subjects recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances SAMPLING BIAS • Non-response bias • Be persistent • Offer incentives and rewards • Make it look important • Volunteer bias • Some people volunteer reliably more than others for a variety of tasks GENERALIZABILITY • How do you know that what you found in your research study is, in fact, a general trend? • Does A really, always cause B? • If A happens, is B really as likely to happen as you claim? Always? Under certain conditions? EXPERIMENTS • An operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions to discover an unknown effect or law, to test or establish a hypothesis, or to illustrate a known law • Key feature common to all experiments: • To deliberately vary something in order to discover what happens to something else later • To seek the effects of presumed causes • A controlled empirical test of a hypothesis. • Hypotheses include: • A causes B • A is bigger, faster, better than B • A changes more than B when we do X • Two requirements: • Independent variable that can be manipulated • Dependent variable that can be measured EXPERIMENTS IN RESEARCH • Comparing one design or process to another • Deciding on the importance of a particular feature in a user interface • Evaluating a technology or a social intervention in a controlled environment • Finding out what really causes an effect • Finding out if an effect really exists REMEMBER • Experiments explore the effects of things that can be MANIPULATED TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS • Randomized – units/participants assigned to receive treatment or alternative condition randomly • Quazi – no random assignment • Natural – contrasting a naturally occurring event (i.e. disaster) with a comparison condition QUESTIONNAIRES & SURVEYS • Self-report measures • Questionnaires & surveys • Interviews • Diaries • Types • Structured • Open-ended QUESTIONNAIRES & SURVEYS • Advantages • Sample large populations (cheap on materials & effort) • Efficiently ask a lot of questions • Disadvantages • Self-report is fallible • Response biases are unavoidable RESPONSE BIASES • Relying on people’s memory of events & behaviors • Emotional states can “prime” memory • Recency effects • Social desirability • Solution: none that are simple • Yea-saying • Solution: vary the direction of response alternatives GENERAL SURVEY BIASES • Sampling – are respondents representative of population of interest? How were they selected? • Coverage – do all persons in the population have an equal change of getting selected? • Measurement – question wording & ordering can obstruct interpretation • Non-response – people who respond differ from those who do not RELIABILITY • The ability of a measurement tool to yield consistent results over time or under similar conditions CONTENT VALIDITY • The extent to which the items on a testing tool (that being used to measure the dependent variable) reflect all of the facets being studied • All aspects are sampled (e.g. a written exam to measure oral-presentation skills will have poor content validity) CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY • Also called Predictive Validity • The extent to which a testing tool yields data that allow the researcher to make accurate predictions about the dependent variable • i.e., will an HR test predict good job performance? CONSTRUCT VALIDITY • The extent to which the testing tool measures what it is supposed to measure • Relationship between the items on the tool and the dependent variable • Also relates to actual (physical) construction of a written tool (e.g. , Survey) and how this impacts the accuracy of the results INTERNAL VALIDITY • Internal Validity is the approximate truth about inferences regarding cause-effect or causal relationships (http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intval.php). • The extent to which what you did in the study caused what you observed EXTERNAL VALIDITY • Relates to the extent to which findings can generalize beyond the actual study participants • “How valid are these results for a different group of people, a different setting, or other conditions of testing, etc.?” REFERENCES • • • • • • • • • • • Allen, G. M. (2003). Spirituality of leadership among African American women. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Phoenix Baker, K. J. (2005). A model for leading online K-12 learning environments. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Phoenix. Bernard. R S. (1999). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Sage Publishing: Thousands Oaks, California. Blum, K. D. & Muirhead, B. (February, 2005). The right horse and harness to pull the carriage: Teaching online doctorate students about literature reviews, qualitative, and quantitative methods that drive the problem. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2, (2.) Retrieved May 8, 2006 from, http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Feb_05/index.htm Creswell, J. W. (2004). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (2nd ed.). Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall. Glasser, B. G, & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Adline de Gruyter. Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2001). Practical research: Planning and design (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Leman, K. (1985). The birth order book: Why you are the way you are. Shklovski, I. (2010) https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=quantitative+sampling+methods+powerpoint+pres entation
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