Plasma University

College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)

Chapter 2
Basic Terminologies in Research
 Chapter Outlines:-

- What is Research Abstract?

- Primary Data & Secondary.

- Research Variables.

- Sampling Techniques

 ABSTRACT:

- A clear, concise summary that communicates the essential information about the

study.

- In research journals, it’s usually located at the beginning of an article.

 DATA

Refers to all the information a researcher gathers for his or her study.

Two types of data:

1) Primary data: data obtained from the field which has not undergone any statistical

analysis

Primary data refers to the first hand data gathered by the researcher himself

2) Secondary data: Secondary data means data collected by someone else earlier,

from research articles, national surveys

 Research VARIABLES

Variable: attributes or characteristics that can have more than one value, such as

height or weight.

1
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

- Variables are qualities or quantities, properties or characteristics of people, things,

or situations that change or vary.

- Some variables are attributes that are expressed quantitatively.

- For example age is expressed in years, height is expressed in meters and weight

is expressed in kilograms.

- Also there is another variable which is expressed in categories,

- EX: OCCUPATION may be expressed as farmer, teacher, nurse, lab

technician, GENDER is expressed, male & female.

- The variables in a study of a cause-and-effect relationship are called

the independent and dependent variables.

 Dependent variable vs Independent Variable

- The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables

in your study.

- The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the

independent variable.

- In conclusion, IV: variable that is changed are called independent variable

- While Dependent variable: variable effected by the change.

2
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Examples of DV & IV

Research Question:-

- How does phone use before bedtime affect sleep?

Independent variables Dependent variables

The amount of phone use - Number of hours of sleep

before bed - Quality of sleep

• Another Example; you are interested in whether a higher minimum wage impacts

employment rates.

• You can’t control the minimum wage yourself. Instead, you look at a state that raised
its minimum wage last year, and compare it to a neighboring state that did not.
 Your independent variable is the minimum wage.
• Your dependent variable is the employment rate.
 Extraneous variables

Are factors that are not the part of the study but may affect the measurements of the
study variables.

3
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Operational Definition

Refers to the way in which the researcher defines the variables under investigation.

 Research Population

- Population: is all the entities that are relevant for your research (People or

Companies).

- Now, in some cases it might happen that if your population is very small & you

include it whole in that case it’s called Census.

- If your population is large, you need to select a sample from it.

Examples:

- All standard seven pupils in the country

- All laboratory technicians in Banadir region

- All patients suffering from diabetes in Somalia

- All foreign Diplomacies in Somalia.

 Target Population

- The absolute population to which the researcher wants to generalize the results

also known “Universe”

- It is often impractical to select a representative from target population b/c it may be

difficult to identify individual members.

- Given population may be large or may be scattered over a wide geographical area.

- Time, money and personal may be required to locate all members in order to

select representative sample.

4
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

- Therefore researchers draw sample from accessible population this is more

narrowly defined and manageable population.

- Examples of accessible populations might be:

- All standard seven pupils in the district

- All diabetic patients attending clinics in Mogadishu hospital

 Sample: smaller group obtained from accessible population.

 Sample: is the part of population, which is included in your research.

Examples:

• Two hundred pupils from particular district.

• One hundred diabetic patients from Mogadishu clinics.

5
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Deciding About Your Sample Size

- If the size of your target population is 80, your sample size should be at least 66.

- By using Slovene’s formula for calculating or counting sample size.

- The sample of this study was:

- Where n= the required sample size

- N= the target population and equals to 80

- e = standard error or level of significance (0.05 or 5%)

6
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Sampling:

- Is the process of selecting a number of individuals for a study in a way that the

individuals selected represent the large group from which they were selected.

- The main purpose of sampling is to secure a representative group which will

enable the researcher to gain information

 Sampling frame

- Is a complete list of all cases in the population from which your sample will be

drawn.

- Could be extremely large if population is national or international in nature.

- Frame is needed so that everyone in the population is identified so they will have

an equal opportunity for selection as a subject (element).

- Ex: we are writing a research about the opinions of students at Plasma University

on accommodation, now your sampling frame will simply be the full list of

students that are at the university.

 Sampling Techniques

1. Probability Sampling Techniques

2. Non-Probability Sampling Techniques.

 Probability Sampling Techniques

- Three Steps:

1. Identify sampling frame.

2. Decide on sample size

7
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

3. Choose sampling techniques (Simple random sampling, systematic random

sampling, and stratified random sampling.

 Simple random sampling

Is a randomly selected subset of a population. In this sampling method, each member

of the population has an exactly equal chance of being selected.

• Ex: use generator of random numbers to get non-repeating numbers.

 Systematic Sampling

- Is a probability sampling method in which researchers select members of the

population at a regular interval number (or k) determined in advance.

- It can also be used when you don’t have a complete list of the population.

8
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Stratified Sample

Researchers divide a population into homogeneous subpopulations called strata (the

plural of stratum) based on specific characteristics (e.g., race, gender, location, etc.).

Population is divided according to some relevant variable.

• Example: Our population is 1500 students currently studying at the university & we

are researching their satisfaction with current accommodation.

9
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Cluster Sampling

- Is appropriate when you are unable to sample from the entire population.

- Population is divided according to some naturally occurring variable.

- Ex: we are researching companies in the whole country, the variable can

geographical area, we have 1000 companies in the country that we are

researching, we will group them by the district were there headquarter is located.

We wil use again some random numbers to select clustered we will research. So

we have a list of district may be twenty of them. & each one of district is some

number of companies that we are our sampling frame. So we will chose three

district. D5, D9 & D13.

 NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING

- The process of selecting a sample from a population without using statistical

probability theory.

- Note that: each elements/member of the population does not have an equal

chance of being included in the sample, & the researcher cannot estimate the error

caused by not collecting data from elements/member of the population.

10
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

- The selection depends upon the situation.

 Validity, Reliability & Research Limitation

- Reliability The degree of consistency or accuracy which an instrument measures

the attributes it’s designed to measure.

- Validity the degree to which an instrument what it’s intended to measure.

- Research Limitation: an aspects of a study which the researcher knows may

negatively affect the result or generalizability of the results, but over which he or

she has no control.

 Hypothesis

- Is a tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts and can be tested by

further investigation

- A hypothesis is a prediction of the outcome of a test. It forms the basis for

designing an experiment in the scientific method.

- Null Hypothesis

- Alternative or Research Hypothesis

11
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed
 Plasma University
College of Humanities, Health Science & CBE (CHS)
Research Methods

 Chapter Two-Key-Terms & Review Questions

What is the difference b/w primary Data & Secondary data?

Question 2

Distinguish Dependent Variable & Independent Variable?

Question 3

Differentiate Target Population & Sample Size?

Question 4

Elaborate Population & Sample?

Question 5

Explain Simple Random Sampling & Systematic Sampling?

Question 6

Elaborate stratified sampling & Cluster Sampling?

Question 7

Define Research Hypothesis?

12
Classes: BMLT, BPA & BBM VI Lecturer: Hashim Ahmed