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NOVEMBER 2024 Study Guide

You can refer to your notes and slide presentations if you so desire!
❖ Characteristic of good research: Based on the work of others- consult and use
previous researchers’ work - must cite the sources correctly to prevent plagiarism
,- cyclical- good research is ongoing - begins with questions and ends with additional
questions which starts the process again
- incremental- builds on existing knowledge from previous researches
- replicable- steps can be followed to conduct another similar study
- generalizable to other settings etc- results from one study can be applied to another
place if the conditions are similar
-apolitical- not driven by any special interest groups or biases but instead is done for the
betterment of society
- based on logical rationale and tied to theory - good research should make sense and
should have some structure
❖ Research Process: Steps- asking questions, identify important factors, create the hypothesis,
collect relevant data, test the hypothesis, work with the hypothesis, reconsidering the theory,
ask new questions
❖Two views: positivist (quantitative) and anti-positivist (qualitative)
• Characteristics of quantitative vs qualitative research (purpose etc.)
• Quantitative vs Qualitative
▪ Objective vs Subjective
▪ Explain and predict vs explain and describe
▪ Large representative sample vs small purposeful sample
▪ Standardized instruments (questionnaires) vs researcher as the main
instrument (interviews, focus groups, observation)
▪ Numbers (statistics) vs Words (rich, thick descriptions)
❖Types of knowledge
• Expert( knowledge obtained from individuals who have the knowledge and skills and
accepting without questioning)
•Traditional knowledge ( accepting without questioning knowledge passed down from
parents/grandparents)
• Scientific
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● Theory (definition) & Induction vs deduction

● Theory – two parts- concept ( symbol and meaning) and construct
● Induction- qualitative research ( move from specific examples to a generalization
forming theories)
● Deduction- quantitative research ( move from a generalization to specific case
testing theories)
❖ RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
o Types of Research:
o Basic vs Applied – Basic has no immediate use- Applied- has immediate
use/application
o Experimental (True experiment and Causal comparative) vs Non-experimental
Experiment- control and manipulate variables to determine if there is a causal
relationship ( random assignment to treatment and control group), Causal –
comparative- also called Expost facto- quasi-experimental- used when the
independent variable cannot be manipulated or controlled (pre-assignment to
groups)
Non-experimental
Correlation- if the two variables are related e.g. The research will determine the
relationship between writing notes in class and academic performance.
Historical- studying events in the past to see what connections they have to the
present and the future e.g. What effect did Hurricane Hattie have on the
development of new communities in the country?
Ethnography- in-depth study of cultures e.g. The research will investigate the
practices and beliefs of the young women in San Antonio Village in the Toledo
district.
Descriptive (survey)- studying an existing phenomenon exploratory and can be
observational or case study) e.g. What are students’ attitudes towards the decision
to make school uniforms mandatory for the junior college?

o Reminders
● There are 2 types of relationships: Causal and Associational (correlational)
● Experiments are the only way that the researcher can determine
cause-and-effect relationships because he can control and manipulate
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variables in a controlled environment

❖ COMPONENTS OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL

• (Introduction- Problem statement, hypothesis, Educational value, Delimitation,
and Definition of terms)
• Lit Review
• Methodology
▪ - Type of study, research design, sampling method, description of
participants, description of site/setting, data collection method-
• Data analysis and presentation
• Conclusion- Summary of findings, ethical considerations, limitations,
and recommendations
• Appendix- sample of questionnaires, tally sheets
• References
INTRODUCTION :
❖ Problem statement: can be a statement or a question e.g. The research will investigate the
effect that corruption has on voters’ attitude towards politicians. OR What effect does
corruption have on voters’ attitudes towards politicians?
o Variables- Independent (cause) and Dependent (effect)
▪ e.g. The research will investigate the effect that Facebook use has on
students’ academic performance.
The Independent variable is Facebook use, NOT the effect of Facebook use, and the
dependent variable is students’ academic performance
o Hypothesis – 2 types
a. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS ( Two types: Directional & Non-directional)
b. NULL HYPOTHESIS
▪ Directional- Facebook use will have a negative effect on students’ academic
performance.- states what kind of relationship- negative
▪ Non-directional- Facebook use will affect students’ academic performance.-
states that there is a relationship but does not state what kind
▪ Null- Facebook use does not affect students’ academic performance- states no
relationship exists between the variables.
o Remember that a Hypothesis states the relationship and is a STATEMENT, NOT
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QUESTION!
• Ethics in research
▪ ensuring that the rights and privileges of the participants are not violated and that they are
protected from harm
▪ IRB- Institutional Review Board
• Vets research proposals to ensure that ethical guidelines are followed to reduce risks
• Full review if deception is used
Ethical Principles
▪ Confidentiality vs anonymity
▪ Informed consent
• Components of the letter ( who you are, purpose, possible benefits etc)
▪ Deception
• Debriefing- after the study is completed
▪ Coercion
▪ Sharing benefits

LITERATURE REVIEW
• Importance of Lit. review ( sources must have some relevance or connection to the topic that the
researcher is investigating
▪ Characteristics of a well-written lit review ( done early in the study to help to determine
what information exists about the topic of interest and its feasibility)
• It summarizes important information on the problem
• It locates the present study with others studying the same or related problems
• It identifies the strengths of the studies read and ‘gaps’ that this study should be able to
address
• It pinpoints any challenges previous researchers experienced in investigating this issue and
how the researcher intends to address those challenges
• It criticizes the existing literature by comparing studies and indicating where they agree
or contradict each other
• It reflects on what has already been done and what others have said and gives personal opinions
and insights
• It includes literature from 1st world countries as well as developing countries (like the
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Caribbean)

APA - CITE SOURCES CORRECTLY TO PREVENT PLAGIARISM

▪ General guidelines
-Everything is double-spaced, has 1-inch margins all around, 10-12 pt font Times New
Roman or Arial
-Title page: Header that includes only the page number, title in bold print with capital
letters for the first letters of the important words, author(s), institution and department,
course code and name, instructor and date. The information should be centered.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

▪ IN-TEXT CITATIONS (PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS)

• PARAPHRASE
• the researcher explains the information from the source in his/her own
words without changing the meaning.
• the citation can occur at the beginning or at the end - in either case, the
author(s) last name(s), and the year of publication should be included (N.B.
NONE OF THESE SPACES SHOULD BE LEFT BLANK)
• At the beginning: Valentine (2023) stated that there are far too many
holidays in the school year.
• At the end: There are far too many holidays in the school year (Valentine,
2023).

• DIRECT QUOTATIONS
• the researcher takes the information from the source as is - word for word-
and cites it
• Short Quotations are less than 40 words, are enclosed in quotation marks,
and include a page number (p. #) or paragraph number (para. #). E.g. Barrow
(2023) believes, “The Government of Belize is right to impose sanctions on
Israel”(p. 2).
• Long quotations are 40 words +, have NO quotation marks BUT are
indented and blocked, and include a page number (p. #) or paragraph
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number (para. #). E.g.

Barrow (2023) believes:
The Government of Belize is right to impose sanctions on Israel. Too
many innocent individuals are being killed in Palestine, and we can
not justify or support this. I stand with the government
in calling for an immediate cease-fire so that all these senseless
bombings and killings can stopped. (para. 2)
However, the Leader of the Opposition……
N.B.
• Interviews are only included in-text and not on the reference page
• Two authors in the sentence will be written with and between the two
Barrow and Briceno (2023) but at the end of the sentence the ampersand
will be used between the two (Barrow & Briceno, 2023)
• Three or more authors will be written with ONLY the first author’s last
name followed by et al. If the authors are Barrow, Briceno, and Musa, it
is written as Barrow et al. (2023) at the beginning and (Barrow et al., 2023)
at the end.
▪ COMPLETE CITATIONS- REFERENCE
General guidelines
• Must be on a SEPARATE PAGE
“References” should be in bold print and centered
• Must have the HEADER ( page #)
• double-spaced
• hanging indent
• must include all sources cited – if not it is plagiarism
• Alphabetical order according to authors’ last names
• use the & instead of spelling out the word “and”
EACH ENTRY
● All authors up to 20 must be listed
● No first names should be included ONLY last names followed by the first and
middle initial if one is available
● The year of publication comes immediately after the author (s). This is followed by
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the title of the article (only the first word, proper nouns, or the first word after a
colon or dash should be capitalized)
● The title of the journal or magazine should be italicized and each important word
should be capitalized.
● The title of a book is italicized and the publisher ONLY is included, NOT where it is
published.
Journal
Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue),
page numbers. DOI
Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active
empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180.
https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105
Webpage or Online Content
Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL
Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium.
https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01
Book
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter
also for subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI (if available)
Stoneman, R. (2008). Alexander the Great: A life in legend. Yale University Press.

METHODOLOGY

❖ Sampling - THIS IS NOT A DATA COLLECTION METHOD- THIS IS HOW YOU

SELECT YOUR PARTICIPANTS- BE CAREFUL WHEN SELECTING YOUR

PARTICIPANTS SINCE THIS CAN AFFECT THE VALIDITY OF YOUR RESEARCH
RESULTS
• Probability and non-probability sampling (larger representative sample for quantitative
studies – if the population being studied has 100 members, then you would use all the
members in your sample but usually smaller samples are used for qualitative studies). All
probability sampling methods have some element of randomization.
▪ Snowball- non-random (referral)
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▪ Systematic- random (kth value)

▪ Simple random – means that everyone has an equal chance of being
selected N0T that the sample is chosen by just randomly giving those

who are available- that is CONVENIENCE SAMPLING (table of

random numbers- sample with and without replacement)

▪ Purposive – non-random- selection based on possession of characteristics

that will be studied
▪ Stratified- random- layers or sub-groups that exist in population that need to
be represented in sample
▪ Cluster- random – groups not individuals are selected when the population
is spread over a large geographic area
▪ Quota – non-random version of stratified
▪ Convenience- non-random -selection of those who are available

❖ Data collection: THIS IS HOW YOU COLLECT THE INFORMATION

FROM YOUR PARTICIPANTS - NOT HOW YOU SELECT THE
PARTICIPANTS

Store data collected in a safe place- do not dispose of it immediately after completing
the research.
▪ Survey
•Qualitative
O majority of open-ended questions (allows the interviewee to share their
thoughts/feelings in their own words) and uses probing (additional questions
not in the protocol that the researcher uses to get more information from
interviewee)
• Interviews- Interview Protocols/guides (time-consuming & likely to be subjective
but provides in-depth data in the participants’ own words
• Quantitative
● Questionnaires- ( easy to distribute to large # of participants in a relatively short
period of time/is an objective standardized instrument/provides anonymity and
confidentiality (less costly and can ask an array of questions about a topic/construct,
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return rate can be low and honesty of participants is unsure- this can affect the
validity of the research) etc.
● -majority of close ended items (multiple-choice/completion/rating scale items that
give options from which participants can choose
o Likert scale – rating scale (SA A N D SD) – these are
STATEMENTS not QUESTIONS that participants rate.
Corruption affects voters’ attitudes towards politicians.
SA A N D SD
Components of cover letter/introduction
o Format
▪ Introduction
• Dear Participants,
• Who you are , purpose of the study, promise confidentiality, can withdraw, ask for
honesty, thanks for time and effort, signature.
▪ Clear instructions - Please circle your choice and respond in the spaces provided
where applicable.
▪ Demographics- gender, age, ethnicity etc
e.g. Age : less than 16 16 – 18 19-21 22- 24 25+

▪ Valid questions- questions that can measure what is being tested/studied- ALL
questions must be related to what is being studied. In other words, you cannot be
studying gender issues but have no question that is related to gender.
▪ Organized from easiest to most difficult
▪ Ranges are mutually inclusive and exhaustive-
(account for the lower and higher end of the ranges &
ensure that the ranges do not overlap)
▪ No double/triple-barrel questions - asking two or three
questions together
▪ No leading questions - questions that “put words in the
respondents mouth”- lead their responses in the direction
that the researcher want
▪ Avoid double-negatives- don’t never
▪ Length- if it is too long then participants might be less
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likely to respond
▪ Focus groups (qualitative) - group interviews
▪ Observation (use checklists-quantitative) (qualitative- write/record field notes about
observations)
• BUT is usually qualitative
• participant and non-participant
o Hawthorne effect- when participants modify their behavior as
a result of being in an experiment
▪ Existing sources/documents
• Memos, diaries, gradesheets, census data etc.
• Can be used to cross-check the responses collected by other methods ▪
Standardized tests (quantitative) • CSEC, CAPE, PSE
▪ TRIANGULATION- USING TWO OR MORE METHODS TO INCREASE VALIDITY
OF THE DATA BY CROSS CHECKING THE RESPONSES.
▪ PILOT TEST- GIVE THE INSTRUMENT TO A GROUP OF
INDIVIDUALS THAT POSSESS SAME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
SAMPLE BEFORE THE REAL DATA COLLECTION
PROCESS STARTS.
▪ KEEP THE DATA STORED IN A SAFE PLACE- DO NOT DESTROY AS
SOON AS RESEARCH IS COMPLETED
❖ Data Analysis/Presentation:
▪ Quantitative- numbers, statistics ( descriptive statistics, Measures of Central
tendency
● mean (average) - sum of the scores divided by the number of scores
○ Scores: 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 Sum 50+60+70+80+90 =350/5= 70 Mean score
● mode (most common)
○ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90,70 Mode is 70 since it appears twice
● median (score that occurs in the middle when the scores are arranged in order form
the lowest to the highest),
○ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 Median is 70 since it is in the middle
○ 90, 50, 80, 60, 40, 70- 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90- two scores in the middle so the
median is found by adding both scores and dividing by 2 (mean/average)
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60+70 = 130/2=65 Median score

● frequency tables percentages, cross tabulation
• Presented in charts, tables, graphs
▪ Qualitative- words , rich thick descriptions (organize, sort/categorize/code and
identify themes within the data and use the exact words of the
interviewee to support the themes identified)
▪ determine if the hypothesis is accepted or rejected, connect the findings to the
literature in the analysis/discussion

❖CONCLUSION
● Summary of findings
● Limitations
○ What could have affected the results
○ Return rate of questionnaires
○ Sample size and sample type
● Ethical consideration
○ Informed consent letter
○ Maintenance of privacy and confidentiality
● Recommendations for future research

Levels of measurement
-Nominal- categories (gender & marital status)
-Ordinal- order (rank in class)
-Interval- no true zero value and each interval has the same distance apart (standardized test
scores, Celsius)
-Ratio- true zero value (age, money, height & weight) scales

Reliability & Validity- Reliability (consistency of the results) vs. Validity ( accuracy- the test is testing what not
should be testing- if a test is valid, it will also be reliable)
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