EDUCATIONAL Research

methodS (EDP3141)

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 Module Objectives
By the end of this course , students should be
able to:
• Explain different concepts used in research
• Describe the importance and process of
research.
• Identify a researchable problem and
• Conduct literature review to gain a deep
understanding of the problem
• Choose a population & draw a representative
sample
• Develop different data collection instruments
• Respect ethical norms related to research.
• Write a research proposal/report
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 Module Content
• Definition of key concepts in research
• Characteristics and importance of
scientific research
• The process of conducting research
• Research problem (identification,
background, statement, objectives)
• Literature review
• Population and sample
• Classification of research
• Ethical issues related to research
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Teaching/Learning Strategies
• Lectures
• Group Discussion
• Brainstorming and Case studies
Assessment Strategies
• Group & Individual Assignment (50
marks)
• Final examination ( 50 marks)
Consultation hours
• One hour after class
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 1.
1. Basic research concepts
• 1. Research: the process of arriving at
dependable solutions to problems
through the planned and systematic
collection, analysis and interpretation of
data.
• It is indeed the formal, systematic
application of the scientific methods to
the study of problems
• The scientific method, or research
method, is a set of systematic
techniques used to acquire, modify, and
integrate knowledge concerning
observable and measurable phenomena.
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 1. Basic research
• concepts
To use the scientific method, we make observations
that can be measured.
• An observation can be direct or indirect.
• For example, we can directly observe how much
someone consumes in a meal by measuring the
weight or calories of food consumed.
• However, hunger, for example, cannot be directly
observed. We cannot “see” hunger. Instead, we can
indirectly observe hunger by measuring a
physiological response (e.g., insulin levels), or
maybe by recording the time since the last meal
(e.g., in hours).
• In both cases, we indirectly observe hunger by
defining how we measure hunger. Time in hours, for
example, is not hunger, but we can infer that longer
periods of time between meals are associated with
greater hunger. Hence, we can make direct or
indirect observations of behavior by defining how
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we exactly measure that behavior.
• It is the process of collecting and analyzing
information to increase our understanding of
a given phenomenon or issue.
• 2. Educational research: the formal,
systematic application of scientific methods
to study educational problems. It is the
process of collecting and analyzing
information to increase our understanding of
a given educational phenomenon or issue.
• It aims at investigating, finding, assessing,
and evaluating educational problems to
arrive at solutions to such problems.

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• 3. Statistic: a single number obtained
by manipulating other numbers
according to a specific procedure
• 4. Statistics: methods and techniques
for organizing, analyzing, and
interpreting data.
• 5. Descriptive statistics: Methods
that attempt to summarize and
describe the data that have been
collected.
• 6. Inferential statistics: methods
that permit an inference of the
characteristics of a larger group from
the data collected on a smaller group.
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• 7. Design: the scheme, outline, or
plan that is used to answer a
research question
• 8. Variable: any characteristic of
person, object, or event that can
change over time, people, objects, or
events
• 9. Datum/data: a piece of
information.

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 Characteristics of
• 1. Empirical:Research
involves the collection of data,
which provides the basis for drawing conclusions
i.e. conclusions are not based on what you the
researcher feels or thinks, but on concrete
evidence.
• 2. Theoretical: It is concerned with
developing, exploring or testing the theories or
ideas that social researchers have about how the
world operates.
• 3. Cumulative: Research is built upon the
existing facts and theories and helps in refining or
extending the existing principles.
• 4. Verifiable: Any scientific research leads to
verifiable
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results, i.e. can be replicated.
 Characteristics of
Research
5. Research is reductive: all the details
that are not essential, which have little
influence on the process under investigation
are omitted.
6. Research is confirmatory: Research can
be used to confirm or disconfirm what has
been accepted. The researcher has a pretty
good idea of what is going on, or the
researcher has a theory or several theories
and the objective is to find out if the theory
(theories) is supported by the facts.
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 Characteristics of
Research
7. Research is systematic and logical:
not only the observation must be
systematical, but also a certain logical
order must be followed all through

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 Importance of Research
• 1. Research Adds to Our Knowledge:
Through research, new knowledge is
discovered thereby extending the frontiers
of knowledge in the field of interest.
• 2. Providing solutions to problems in
your field of interest
• 3. Improvement of practices: Research
leads to better and improved practices in
the field of interest i.e. It reveals those
instructional materials, techniques&
methods that prove to be more effective or
ineffective.
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• 4. Increasing understanding of
phenomena in the field of interest:
Findings from research lead to the
development and refinement of theories
in your field.
• 5. Bringing about overall
development and progress: The
ultimate aim of research is to bring
about overall development and progress
in the field of interest.

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 2. The research process
• As with any scientific endeavours, the
research process consists of a number of
closely related activities that overlap
continuously rather than following a strict
prescribed sequence.
• To successfully conduct a research, a
researcher must think about different steps
of a scientific research before undertaking
it.
• If these subsequent steps have not been
taken into account in the early stages,
serious difficulties may arise and prevent
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the completion of the research.
These steps are as follows:
• 1. Identification of the problem to be
investigated
• 2. Review of related literature (to gather
the appropriate background information)
• 3. Clarification of the problem by
identifying researchable questions and
hypotheses
• 4. Developing the research design for
data collection
• 5. Data analysis, interpretation drawing
conclusions, and making
recommendations
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6. Writing the research report
• As students in search of your research
topics, the first three steps are often
the most difficult in the process.
• Identifying a researchable problem is
not easy for many research beginners.
• The sources for identifying
researchable problem include: direct
experience, professional literature and
postulated theories (this will be
discussed later).

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• A thorough review of literature enables
the researcher to gather information on
how others have approached or dealt
with similar problems. Certainly, one can
and should profit from the work of others.
• This may lead to the clarification and
redefinition of the research problem,
objectives, formulation of research
questions and hypotheses.
• It also helps identify the knowledge gap
and forms entry point for the researcher
in the identified problem area.
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• Developing a plan for data collection
procedures include identification of an
adequate sampling methodology as
well as the development of valid and
reliable instruments and how they will
be used to gather necessary
information (data collection methods).

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• The procedures for step 5 and 6
depend solely on the outcome of step 3
and 4.
• The statistical procedures employed
must be compatible and relevant with
respect to the research hypotheses or
questions and research design.
• Finally, the conclusions are drawn
based on interpretation of evidence
provided by statistics.
• The general research process is
illustrated in the following figure:
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Problem Litera Proble Data Data Repo
identific ture m colle analysis rt
ation Revie clarific ction &conclu writi
w ation sion ng

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Check your progress
• Using an example discuss the research
process

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 3. The Research Problem
• Definition: it is a problem that
someone would like to research i.e. any
thing that a person finds unsatisfactory
or unsettling, a difficulty of some sort, a
state of affairs that needs to be
changed, anything that is not working as
well as it might.
• It is the axial centre around which the
whole research effort turns.
• Usually a research problem is initially
posed as a question, which serves as the
focus of the researcher’s investigation.
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 Examples
• You may be interested in knowing how
parents feel about the school
counseling program
• You may be interested in how you can
predict which students might have
trouble learning certain kinds of
subject matter.
• Characteristics of a research
problem: To ensure that one’s
research problem is appropriate, it
should have four basic qualities,
namely:
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• a) It should be researchable or
verifiable or feasible: a good
research problem should be that which
can be investigated with available
resources i.e. the one that ca be
investigated without expending an
undue amount of time, energy, or
money.
• b) It should be clear: most people
would agree as to what the key words
in the question mean i.e. it must be in
simple and usual language.
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• c) It should be significant: it is worth
investigating because it will contribute
important knowledge about the human
condition i.e. a good research problem
should contribute to the improvement
of knowledge.
• d) It should be ethical: it should not
involve physical or psychological
damage or harm to human beings or to
the natural or social environment of
which they are a part.

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 The research problem is expressed in a
research topic, which:
• Should not exceed 20 words
• Be clearly phrased leaving out words,
phrases or clauses, which do not enhance
the clarity of the title, e.g. a study of, an
investigation into, articles such as “the” or
“A”, etc.
• Avoid use of uncommon/unconventional
and unnecessary abbreviations,
repetitions, etc.
• Bring out scope and key objective of the
research (include site/locale of study,
variables, target population).
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 Sources of research
The two major problems
sources of research problems
are theory and experience.
• 1. Theory: A theory consists of
assumptions and propositions that present
a systematic view of phenomenon.
• A theory contains generalizations and
hypothesized principles, which must be
subjected to rigorous scientific
observation.
• From these principles, the researcher may
seek to confirm or disconfirm some
aspects of that theory.
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• 2. Experience: Often times, selection
of a problem based on theory can be a
bit “heavy” for many research novices.
Therefore, another source of research
problem is the researcher’s personal
experiences.
• 3. Graduate academic experience:
classroom lectures, class discussions,
seminars and reports and out-of-class
exchanges of ideas with fellow students
and professors will unveil a wealth of
stimulating problems to be solved
through research studies.
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• 4. Textbooks: another fruitful source is
reading assignments in textbooks.
Special assignments, research reports
and term papers, all of which will suggest
additional areas of need for research.
• 5. From the review of other peoples’
research: opportunities for more
research are unveiled by the indicated
“next step studies” which need to be
done. This may involve a logical
extension of the described study or
simply replication of the study in a
different setting or by different methods.
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• 6. Practical issues: each society is
always faced with many burning
issues, for instance, cost sharing in
universities, problems of implementing
Universal Primary Education(UPE),
Gender equality and equity, etc.
• A researcher can therefore decide to
take one of these issues and
investigate it logically with a view to
finding a solution to the problem.

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Stating the background to the
problem
The background to the problem should
contextualize the research issue and it
must:
• Create reader interest in the topic by
providing a basis for your research issue
and problem.
• Lay the broad foundation for the
problem beginning from global
perspective narrowing down to regional
context then to the country and actual
location of the study
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• Frame the study within the larger
context of the scholarly literature,
underscoring key issues linked to
your study issue while reaching for
your specific audience.
• Highlight the specific knowledge
gaps that justify your study problem
and which must lead logically to the
statement of the problem in an
ensuing sub-section.

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 Statement of the
problem
• A "Problem Statement" is a description
of a difficulty or lack that needs to be
solved or at least researched to see
whether a solution can be found.
• It can also be described as either a
gap between the real and the desired
or a contradiction between principle
and practice.

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 Characteristics of a
problem statement
A good research problem should at
minimum:
• Address a gap
• Be significant enough to contribute to
the existing body of research
• Be interesting to the researcher and
suit his/her skills, time and resources
• Be investigated via data collection
• Be ethical
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 Format of a problem
statement
A persuasive problem statement
consists of three parts:
• Part A- the ideal: Describes a desired
goal or ideal situation; explains how
things should be.
• Part B- the reality: Describes a
condition that prevents the goal, state,
or value in Part A from being achieved
or realized at this time; explains how
the current situation falls short of the
goal or ideal.
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• Part C- the consequences: Identifies
the way you propose to improve the
current situation and move it closer to
the goal or ideal.
• N.B. Steps 1 and 2 are connected using
a term such as "but," "however,"
"Unfortunately," or "in spite of".

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 Sample statement of the
• problem
(Part A) According to the UR mission
statement, the university seeks to provide
students with a safe, healthy learning
environment. Hostels are one of the
important aspects of that learning
environment, since 55% of UR students live
in campus hostels and most of these
students spend a significant amount of time
working in their hostel rooms. However,
(Part B) Students living in UR hostels
currently do not have air conditioning units,
and during the hot seasons, it is common for
room temperatures to exceed 32 degrees C.
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• Many students report that they are
unable to do homework in their hostels.
Others report problems sleeping
because of high temperature. (Part C)
To this end, the rooms are not only
unhealthy, but they inhibit student
productivity and academic
achievement. In response to this
problem, the study proposes to
investigate several options for making
the hostels more hospitable.

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 Variables in research
• What is a variable: any characteristic of
person, object, or event that can change
over time, people, objects, or events.
Types
• Independent variable: the independent
variable is also known as the predictor
variable or explanatory variable.
• It is the variable that influences the
dependent variable and it is the presumed
cause of the variations in the dependent
variable (s).
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• Dependent variable: the dependent
variable is also known as the criterion
variable.
• It is the variable that is predicted,
influenced or explained by the
independent variables. In fact, it is the
result of the variations in the predictor
variables.
• Extraneous variable: It is any variable
other than the independent variable that,
if not controlled, can affect the
dependent variable.
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 Example
• Topic: Impact of exposure to practicals
in the laboratory on students’
performance in science subjects at INES
Ruhengeri.
• DV: students’ performance in science
subjects
• IV: Exposure to practicals in lab
• Ext. V: students’ prior science
background, educational and
occupational status of parents,
qualification of science teachers, etc.
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 Formulation of research
purpose, objectives,
questions/hypotheses
• Research purpose: the purpose is
referred to as the general objective, is the
general/broader intent of the entire
research.
• Research objectives: they are also
referred to as specific objectives. They are
the specific intent/goals of the research.
They must be SMART: Specific, Measurable,
Attainable/Achievable, Realistic and Time
bound. They should also be directly linked
to the study variables as indicated in the
title.
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• Research question: They reflect the
purpose or the objectives of the study
and they asks about the relationship
between two or more variables.
• Research questions are more specific,
detailed and concrete than objectives.
They derive from objectives and they
are the questions that are actually
answered directly by the data in the
research.
• Hypothesis: the predicted outcome of
the study i.e. intelligent guess of what
might be the results of the research.
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 Types of hypothesis
• a) Null Hypothesis (Ho): a
prediction of an absence of
relationship or effect
• b) Alternative hypothesis (H1): a
predication of relationship or effect.

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 Example
• Research topic: Factors associated with
the incidence of youth suicide in Gasabo
District .
• Objective : To establish the relationship
between family background factors and
the incidence of youth suicide in Gasabo
District .
• Research question 1: What is the
relationship between family income and
the incidence of youth suicide in Gasabo
District?
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• Null Hypothesis 1: There is no
relationship between family income
and the incidence of youth suicide in
Gasabo District.
• Alternative Hypothesis 1: A
relationship exists between family
income and the incidence of youth
suicide in Gasabo District.
• Research question 2: What is the
relationship between parental break-
up and the incidence of youth suicide
in Gasabo District?
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• Null Hypothesis 2: There is no
relationship between parental break-
up and the incidence of youth suicide
in Gasabo District.
• Alternative Hypothesis 2: There is
relationship between parental break-
up and the incidence of youth suicide
in Gasabo District.

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Check your progress
• Using examples, examine/discuss the
different types of research variables
• Identify different sources of a research
problem
• Using examples, distinguish between
null and alternative hypotheses
• Discuss the difference between research
purpose, objectives and questions
• Discuss different parts of a problem
statement and how it differs from its
background
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4. THE REVIEW OF THE
•LITERATURE
The literature review is a summary of the
writings of organized authorities and
previous research that provide evidence
that the researcher is familiar with what is
already known and what is still unknown
and untested.
• The literature review therefore requires
time and effort to identify, locate and
analyse existing documents and
information on the topic with the objective
of revealing contributions, weaknesses and
gaps. The literature review can be obtained
from a number of sources.
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 Characteristics of Literature
Review
A good Literature Review A bad literature review

• Is a synthesis of • Is an annotated
available research bibliography
• Is a critical evaluation • Is confined to
• Has appropriate description
breadth and depth • Is narrow and shallow
• Has clarity and • Is confusing and
conciseness longwinded
• Uses rigorous and • Is constructed in an
consistent methods arbitrary way

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 Sources of the literature
•
review
a) Primary sources: This is a direct
description of an occurrence by an
individual who actually observed or
witnessed its occurrence i.e. they are
publications in which researchers
report the results of their studies, in
other words they are publications in
which authors communicate their
findings directly to readers. E.g.
journals, reports, etc.
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• b) Secondary sources: They are
publications in which authors describe
the work of others i.e. publications
written by an author who was not a
direct observer or participant in the
events. E.g. textbooks, encyclopedias,
yearbooks, etc.
• N.B. Both sources are useful and very important.
However, as much as possible the review of
literature should be based more on primary
sources since the authors of secondary sources
may slant the intentions of primary sources to
agree with their own view and leave out
information that may contradict their personal
views.
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 Importance of the literature
review
• It shows that the researcher is aware of
the available existing work already
researched on in his/her area of
interest;
• It identifies what the researcher takes
to be key issues;
• It assists the investigator to identify
gaps in knowledge as well as weakness
in previous studies

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• It assists the investigator to identify
variables that need to be considered
in the research as well as those that
prove irrelevant.
• It assists the researcher to discover
connections, analogies or other
relations between different research
results by comparing various
investigations.

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 STEPS TO CONDUCT
LITERATURE REVIEW
Having happily found a suitable topic, the
next step is to review the literature through
the following steps:
• 1. Identify and list the key words: the
keywords guide your literature search.
• 2. Locate the literature sources:
locating both primary and secondary
sources of your literature allow you to get a
picture of your topic in the broader context.
• 3. Evaluate the sources for quality:
critically evaluate your sources to get the
ones which contains relevant information
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• 4. Abstract the sources: classify or
arrange your sources in reverse
chronological order i.e. from the latest
ones because the most recent research
is likely to have profited from previous
research.
• 5. Analyze and organize the
literature: read and organize your
literature as per variables of your study
• 6. Write the literature review:
report your literature using appropriate
ways of reporting the literature.
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 Writing the literature review
report
There are two main ways of reporting the
literature review. These are
paraphrasing and direct quotation.
• a) Paraphrased texts: the reader, in
this case the researcher, gives the
general message being portrayed by
the literature text.
• b) Direct quotation: the researcher
quotes some sections of the text word
by word.
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 CITING YOUR
LITERATURE

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 What is a reporting
verb?
• Also called citation verb
• They are verbs that writers use to
introduce other authors’ ideas,
findings and claims.

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 The role of citation verbs in
academic writing

• Reporting (or citing) verbs creates

sentence variety in a sentence and
makes your writing sound formal and
academic. Verbs such as “say”,
“tell”, “ask”, etc., are mostly used in
oral communication and are not
appropriate for academic writing.

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 The role of citation verbs in
academic writing

• Reporting verbs have different

meanings and varying degrees of
expressive strength.
• It is very important to recognize the
expressive strength of reporting
verbs in order to use them
appropriately

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 Types of reporting verbs
• According to Hyland (1999, as cited in Swales and
Feak, 2012, p. 54), there are more than 400
reporting verbs.
• The choice of a reporting verb depends on either
(1) what the writer thinks about the author’s
ideas, findings, claims, etc., or (2) the kind of
information that is being reported. Examples:
• (1) Boote and Beile (2005) argue that doctoral
students should first be scholars before
researchers.
• (1) The researchers assert that their findings
were conclusive, not merely suggestive (Fenwick
et al., 2008).
• (2) Huang (2007) investigated the causes of
airport delays.
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 Reporting verbs
expressing agreement
• acknowledge, admit, agree,
concede, concur, confirm,
recognize, support, etc.

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 Reporting verbs
expressing argument/
persuasion
• Interpret, justify, argue, contend, ,
emphasize, insist, etc.
• Example
• Leonard et al (1999) argue that there are
three elements of self perception.

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 Reporting verbs
expressing believing

• Believe, claim, declare, express,

feel, maintain, assert,
guarantee, insist, etc.

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 Reporting verbs
expressing conclusion
• conclude, discover, find, infer
Examples
• Evans et al. (2007) found that antibiotics
resistance was increasing in US hospitals.
• Pinnarat (2006) concluded that biodiesel …

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 Reporting verbs expressing
disagreement /questioning

• challenge, debate, disagree, question

• Example
• Reissig et al. (2009) questioned whether
energy drinks are safe.

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 Reporting verbs
expressing discussion
• comment, discuss, explore
• Examples

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 Reporting verbs expressing
emphasis
• Emphasize, highlight, stress, focus,
underscore, etc.
• Examples
• Thompson (1999) focused on the structure of
a dissertation in a school of agriculture.

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 Reporting verbs expressing
evaluation/
examination
• Analyse, appraise, assess, compare consider,
contrast, critique, evaluate, examine,
investigate, etc.
• Examples
• Arslan (2007) investigated the performance
characteristics…
• Muehlbach and Walsh (1995) examined the
effects of caffeine …

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 Reporting verbs expressing
evaluation/ explanation/presentation

• comment, define, describe, estimate,

identify, illustrate, list, mention, note,
observe, outlines, point out, present, report,
restate, reveal, state, study, use
• Example

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 How to use reporting verbs

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 Some reporting verbs [usually] followed by nouns
• Analyse, applaud, appraise, assess, attack, consider,
contradict, critique, debate, describe, discard, discuss,
dismiss, disregard, evaluate, examine, explore, express,
highlight, identify, ignore, illustrate, investigate, justify, list,
oppose, outline, praise, present, question, refute, reject,
restate, scrutinise, studys, support, underscore, use,
validate, verify, etc.
• Examples
• Eunson (1987, p. 67) defines motivation as 'what is
important to you'.
• Mullins (1994) mentions two common general criticisms of
Herzberg's theory.

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 Verbs [usually] followed by ‘that’
• Acknowledge, add, admit, agree, allege,
announce, argue, assert, assure, believe, claim,
clarify, comment, complain, concede, conclude,
confirm, feel, find, hypothesise, imply, indicate,
infers, insist, maintain, note, observe,, points
out, posit, postulate, propose, prove, recognise,
recommend, report, reveal, show, speculate,
state, stress, suggest, theorise, think, etc.
• Examples
• Leonard et al (1999) argue that there are three
elements of self perception.
• Mullins (1994) found that there is an increasing
importance on the role of autonomy and self
regulation of tasks in improving motivation.
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 References
• Centre for learning and teaching (2016).
Reporting verbs. The University of New Castle

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 Using nouns in academic writing
(Nominalization)
• Nominalization can be very helpful to make
your writing more academic and concise.
Example:
We analysed the data from the experiment, and
it revealed that children react when they have
too much sugar.
Nominalisation (more academic and concise):
The analysis of the data revealed children's
reaction to excessive sugar intake.
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 Reasons for nominalization
Nominalisation is used to:
•prevent informality;
assist in maintaining an impersonal tone,
creating objectivity in academic writing;
makes the writing more reader-friendly and
concise.(see the example in the previous slide)

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Use of active and passive verbs in
academic writing. Which choice to
make?
 Use active voice when the reader needs to know who
or what carried out the action
E.g: The researcher collected data from all sites monthly.
Use passive voice when:
• it is not important to know who collected the data
E.g: Data were collected monthly from all sites.
• It sounds repetitive to use a personal pronoun subject
E.g: Least significant differences (l.s.d.) were calculated to
compare means. Instead of: We calculated least
significant differences (l.s.d.) to compare means.

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 Check your progress
• 1. Distinguish a good literature
review from a poor one
• 2. Distinguish between primary and
secondary sources of literature
• 3. Discuss how the review of relevant
literature can assist the researcher.
• 4. Discuss different steps involved in
the literature review
• 5. Give a brief explanation of how
you can report the literature review.
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 5. Classification of
Research
There are two ways of classifying
research:
• A. According to methods they employ
i.e. the overall strategy followed in
collecting and analyzing data.
• B. According to the purpose of the
research i.e. the degree of direct
applicability of the research to
educational practice or settings.
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 A. Classification according to
methods
According to methods, research can
mainly be categorized into:
• 1. Quantitative research: This is the
collection and analysis of numerical data
to describe, explain, predict or control
phenomena of interest.
• 2. Qualitative research: this consists of
the collection, analysis, and interpretation
of comprehensive narrative and visual
(i.e. non-numerical) data to gain insights
into a particular phenomenon of interest.
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 Quantitative Vs Qualitative
Quantitative Qualitative
Purpose Answer “How many/how much?” Answer “why” question
question
Focus Testing hypotheses or theories Exploring ideas or formulating
theories/hypotheses
Types of Numbers/quantifiable Observations, symbols, visuals, words,
Data lived experiences, etc.
Data Mostly survey questions, Mostly through focus group discussion
collection tests/assessments, experiments and guides, semi-structured interview guides,
instruments observation guides to observe and qualitative observation guides or
behavior, event or phenomenon observation check-list.
quantitatively
Types of Close-ended or multiple choice Open-ended
Questions
Analysis Statistics Grouping of common data: Summarizing,
categorizing, interpreting

Expressed Numbers, graphs, tables, few words Words

in
Sample Many respondents Few respondents
Characteriz Testing, measurement, objectivity, Understanding, context, complexity,
ed by replicability subjectivity

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• 3. Mixed-Methods Research: this
combines quantitative and qualitative
approaches by including both
quantitative and qualitative data in a
single study.
• N.B. The purpose of mixed methods
research is to build on the synergy and
strength that exists between
quantitative and qualitative research
methods to understand a phenomenon
more fully than is possible using either
quantitative or qualitative methods
alone.
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 B. Classification according to
the purpose
According to the degree of direct
applicability of the research to educational
practice/settings, research is classified as:
•1. Basic research/Fundamental
research: conducted for the purpose of
developing or refining a theory, e.g.
descriptive surveys.
•2. Applied research: conducted for the
purpose of applying or testing a theory to
determine its usefulness in solving practical
problems,
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e.g. action research.
 6.Population and sample in
research
• a) Population: It is the group of interest
to the researcher, i.e. the group to whom
the researcher would like to generalize
the results of the study.
• It is the complete collection (or universe)
of all the elements (units) that are of
interest in a particular investigation. It is
an aggregate or totality of objects or
individuals, having one or more
characteristics in common that are of
interest to the researcher and where
inferences are to be made.
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 Types of population
• Target population: the actual
population to which a researcher would
really like to generalize (this is rarely
available).
• Accessible/sampled population: the
population from which the sample is
actually drawn. The target population is
in fact the ideal choice; while the
accessible is the realistic choice of the
researcher.
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• b) Sample: it is a collection of some
elements (a subset) of a population. It is
indeed a portion of the population
whose results can be generalized to the
entire population. A sample is sought
when the population is too large to work
with.
Characteristics of a good sample
• A good sample should be representative
of the population
• A good sample will reproduce the
characteristics of the population
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• It should be free from error due to bias
or due to deliberate selection of the
units of the sample.
• It should be properly selected: a small
sample properly selected may be much
more reliable than a large sample
poorly selected.

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• Example 1
• The research problem to be
investigated: Impact of computer-
assisted instruction on the reading
achievement of 1st and 2nd graders in
Gasabo district
• Target population: all 1st and 2nd grade
children in Gasabo district
• Accessible population: all 1st and 2nd
grade children in Ndera and Kimironko
sectors
• Sample: 10% of the 1st and second grade
children in Ndera and Kimironko sectors
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• Example 2
• Research problem to be
investigated: The attitudes of fifth year
students in teacher training programs toward
their student teaching experience
• Target Population: All fifth-year students
enrolled in teacher training programs in
Rwanda
• Accessible population: All fifth year
students enrolled in teacher training programs
in TTC Save and Mbuga.
• Sample: two hundred fifth year students
selected from students enrolled in TTC Save
and Mbuga.
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 Sampling
• What is sampling? Sampling is the
process of selecting elements from a
population in such a way that the
sample elements selected represent the
population. In other words, it is the
process of extracting a portion of the
population from which generalization to
the population can be made. Sampling
involves steps and scientific methods
that the researcher follows to get a
sample representative of the
population.
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 Sampling process
The process of sampling must go through
five (5) steps:
•Define the population;
•Identify the group to be sampled (list
elements of the sample)
•Determine an appropriate sampling
methodology
•Decide on an adequate sample size
•Select a representative sample.
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 Advantages of sampling
• Reduced costs: if data are collected
from the entire population, cost may be
very high. It becomes economical if the
data are collected from a sample.
• Greater speed: sampling is less time
consuming both in data collection, analysis
and presentation of findings.
• Greater accuracy: in dealing with a
sample, the volume of work is reduced,
therefore careful execution of field work is
possible. The processing of data is also done
more accurately, which may in turn produce
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accurate results.
 Disadvantages of
sampling
• The main disadvantage of sampling
is that the selected units may not be
representative of the population
• Even when it is representative, it is
not 100% representative of the
entire population.

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 Issues addressed by
sampling
• How many elements will be selected
(Sample determination).
• How elements will be selected.

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Determination of the sample size
• a) Using tables: tables have been
developed to enable the researcher
determine the size of the sample in
accordance with the size of the
population.
• b) Calculations using formula:
formula have been developed to
calculate appropriate sample size. These
formula take into account the sampling
error that may occur during sampling.
The simplest one is: n=N/1+N(e)2 (Slovin’s
formula)
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 Determination of the sample
•
size
After the computation of the research sample size ‘n’ using the
Slovin’s formula, the computation of the sample size for the
category of respondents with unequal sizes of strata (n i) is done
using Kothari’s Proportional allocation.
• The magnitude of each stratum (ni) is equal to the ratio of
stratum in comparison to the total size of the targeted
population
• It is given by the formula ni=n.Pi.
• ni= Sample size in given stratum
• n= Research sample size
• Pi= Proportion of the population included in the stratum (Ratio
of the stratum in comparison to the size of the total target
population)
•9/14/2024
• c) Calculations using percentages:
some scholars have established the
percentages of the population to be
used as the sample depending on the
size of the population. For example,
some says 5%, 10%, 20%, etc.
However, the best method is to use a
formulae or a table.
• D) Online sample size calculator

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 Sampling
methods/techniques
• There are two types of sampling
techniques: Probability and non-
probability sampling techniques.
• 1. Probability sampling/scientific
sampling approaches
• These are sampling approaches that
involve selecting a sample in such a
way that all elements in the population
have some probability of being selected.
There are many types of probability
sampling.
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• a) Simple random sampling: This
technique gives every member of the
population an equal and independent
chance of being selected. This
increases the representativeness of the
sample. There are two methods to pick
random samples:
 Random numbers: if there are
numbers that identify the elements of
the population, the table of random
numbers can be used. This table is
provided in many elementary statistics
books.
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  The Lottery method: with this
method, the name or number is written
on the tag that identifies elements of
the population to be sampled. The tags
are folded and placed in a container
and this is shaken to mix them. One
tag is then drawn from the container
and the process is repeated until the
required number of tags is obtained. It
is to note that any tag picked is
dropped back into the container after
recording the name on it; this gives all
elements equal chance of being
selected.
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• b) Systematic/interval sampling: in
systematic sampling approach, every nth
element of the population is selected.
The first element is randomly selected,
and others are systematically sampled.
Systematic sampling process
• 1. Identify the population (N)
• 2. Determine the sample size (n)
• 3. Calculate the nth
• 4. Randomly select the first element
• 4. Select each nth number
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• To formulize this,
nth = N/n for example N= 100, n= 20
nth = 100/20=5
• This implies that every 5th element of
the population will be selected after
randomly selecting the first one.

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• c) Stratified sampling: this technique
takes into consideration the
heterogeneous nature of the population.
It consists of dividing the population into
sub-populations/groups such that the
elements within each sub-population
are homogenous.
• Simple random samples are then
selected independently from each sub-
population. The stratified sample size
should be proportionate to stratum size.

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 Steps in stratified sampling
• 1. Identify and define the population
• 2. Determine the desired sample size
• 3. Identify the sub-groups for which
you want to guarantee representation
• 4. Classify all members of the
population as members of one of the
identified sub-groups.
• 5. Randomly select the sample

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• d) cluster/multi-stage sampling:
this technique employs the selection of
groups, or clusters, of subjects rather
than individuals.
• While in stratified sampling the
elements within a stratum are
relatively homogeneous and cannot be
used as a representative subset of the
population, in cluster sampling, the
elements in each cluster are relatively
heterogeneous and each cluster can be
used as a representative subset of the
population.
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• 2. Non-probability/non-scientific
sampling approaches: these are
sampling methods where the elements
in the population do not have a known
probability of being selected i.e. the
elements of the population do not have
a well-defined chance of being selected
and may not be clearly defined in such
case that the representativeness of the
sample in not an issue.
• Non scientific sampling methods are
categorized into four:
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• a) Convenience sampling (also called
accidental or man-in-the-street
sampling): in this approach, the
researcher selects units that are
convenient, close at hand, easy to reach,
etc. It includes in the sample whoever
happens to be available at a given moment
for a researcher conducting the study. e.g.
the researcher may position himself/herself at a
particular place or street point at any given
time, on a specific day and collect information
from his or her informants.
• N.B. The results of such sampling technique
should be generalized to the target
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population with caution.
• b) Purposive sampling or
judgmental sampling: in this type of
sampling, the researcher uses his/her
own judgment or common sense
regarding the participant from whom
information will be collected i.e. the
researcher usually selects a sample
based on his or her experience of
knowledge of the group to be sampled
and has in mind that these respondents
have the information he/she requires.
e.g. If you plan to study how Abunzi judicial
system works you will purposively select some
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abunzi or any other experts in that area.
• c) Quota sampling or proportionate
sampling: This technique is used in
large-scale surveys. It is often used when
it is not possible to list all members of the
population of interest. A quota is assigned
to a specific category of the population.
• d) Snowball sampling or networking
sampling: It involves asking a key
informant to name other people who
should be contacted by the investigator in
order to understand some aspects of a
situation under study.
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 Check your progress
• How does a population differ from a sample?
• Give an account of advantages and
disadvantages of sampling and what should
be the characteristics of a good sample?
• The determination of sample size is very
important in research methods. Discuss the
different approaches available for sample
size determination.
• Analyse different probabilistic sampling
methods.
• Distinguish among the different types of non-
probabilistic sampling approaches.
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7. Research instruments/Data
collection instruments
• These are the tools that enable the
researcher to gather information from
the respondents. They are of several
types and it is up to the researcher to
choose the one to use depending on the
nature of the research.
• 1) Questionnaire: it is a form consisting
of interrelated questions prepared by the
researcher about the research problem
under investigation, based on the
objectives/research questions
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 Strengths and weaknesses of questionnaire
Strengths
• It is less expensive compared to other
methods
• Questionnaires offer greater assurance of
anonymity
• They may cover a wide geographical area
• It is an efficient use of time i.e. information
can be collected from a large number of
people and questions can be easily analysed
• Questions are standardized i.e. everyone
gets the same questions
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 Weaknesses
• They do not allow probing, prompting and
clarification
• They do not offer chances for motivating the
respondents to participate in the process of
filling the questions.
• Questionnaire items are fixed i.e. they do not
provide opportunity to collect additional
information.
• The identity of respondent is concealed and
the conditions under which questionnaire was
answered are not known.
• Due to lack of supervision, items in the
questionnaire are sometimes partially filled.
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 Types of questions
• a) Open-ended questions: Open-ended
questions are items which call for a free
response in the respondent’s own words;
no clues to the answers are given. They
are essay type of questions. E.g. How do
you appreciate university training you
have
received?.....................................................
...
Advantages of open-ended questions
• They give freedom and spontaneity of
expression to respondents
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• They are simple to construct because
the researcher does not need to come
up with appropriate response
categories
• They can stimulate respondent to think
about their feelings or motives and
express their feelings
• They give respondents opportunity to
give insight into their feelings,
background, hidden and deeper
motivations, interests and decisions.
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 Disadvantages of open-ended
questions
• Responding to open-ended questions
can be time consuming
• Quantification of responses is difficult
• Because they give freedom of
expression, responses given may be
irrelevant or not focused to the
problem being investigated.

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• b) Close-ended questions: in close-
ended questions, the researcher
provides alternatives or short
responses to the questions where
respondents are required to select the
answers that best describe their
opinions. The researcher may also ask
questions which require short
responses. E.g. what is your marital
status? A) Married b) Divorced c)
widowed d) single e) specify any
other
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 Merits of close-ended questions
• They are economical to use in terms of
time and money
• They elicit specific responses, which are
easy to analyse
• They allow comparison of groups
because all respondents consider the
same universe of content.

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 Demerits of close-ended questions
• They are more difficult to construct
because categories must be well
thought out
• Responses are usually limited and the
respondents are, therefore, compelled
to answer questions according to the
researcher’s choice
• There is possibility of biasing the
respondent by forcing them to choose
among given alternatives and of
suggesting ideas that were not in their
minds.
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 Administering the
• There
questionnaire
are 4 methods that are used to
collect data through questionnaires:
• a) Personal administration with on-
the-spot-collection: The researcher
delivers the questionnaire in person and
waits for the respondent to complete it
and she/he goes back with it.
• b) Personal administration with
collection after time interval: The
researcher delivers the questionnaires to
the sampled population and collects
them after some time.
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• c) E-mailing questionnaires: The
researcher puts the questions on the
web for the respondents to fill.
• d) Mailing questionnaire: Under this
mode, a fully constructed questionnaire
is sent by post to the respondent, who
is expected to complete it and send it
back to researcher by post.

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• 2) Interview guide/schedule: An
interview is an oral questionnaire where the
investigator gathers data through direct
verbal interaction with participants. It is a
set of questions that an interviewer asks
when interviewing respondents.
Types of interview
• a) Structured Vs Unstructured
interviews
 Structured interview: the same
questions are presented in the same
manner and order to each subject and the
choice of alternative answers may be
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restricted to a predetermined list.
 Unstructured interview: this is more
flexible, questions and their order are
not necessarily the same from one
interviewee to another.
• b) Individual Vs group interview
Individual interview: when the
interviewer addresses the questions to
one respondent at a time. She/he asks
direct or indirect questions to one
respondent, who in turns answers them.
Group interview: more than one
respondent is involved in the interview
situation e.g. husband and wife, mother
and daughter, teacher and pupil, etc.
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• c) Single Vs panel interviews
 Single interview: one person/interviewer
is conducting the interview.
 Panel interview: a panel consisting of
various experts in the study area interviews
the subjects.
• d) Personal Vs non-personal
interviews
 Personal interview: the oral
conversation takes place in a face-to-face
situation, usually with the interviewer
presenting the questions and the
respondent giving answers.
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 Non-personal interview: there is
no face-to-face relationship;
interviews are administered through a
medium other than the interview for
example, via telephone or computer
(skype).

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• 3) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs):
A FGD is a group that gathers people
from similar background or settings or
experiences to handle and discuss an
issue or topic of interest to the
researcher. The group brainstorms on
the issues but the conclusion of the
group findings are not the outcome of
the group consensus but a synthesis by
the researcher.

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• 4) Observation schedule/checklist:
Observation is a method of data
collection that employs vision as its
main means of data collection. It is a
process in which one or more persons
examine what is happening in some
real-life situation and then classify and
record pertinent happenings according
to some planned scheme.

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 Types of observation
• a) Naïve Vs Scientific observation
 Naïve observation: It is every day,
unstructured observation, which people
use when they interact with others in
social situations
 Scientific observation: it is an
observation that is systematically
planned and executed, related to a
certain goal and subjected to tests and
controls.
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• b) Participant Vs non-participant
observation
 Participant observation: observers
actually become members of the group
they are supposed to study.
 Non-participant observation: when
observers study their subjects from
outside the group without becoming a
part of the environment of the
observed.

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• c) Natural Vs laboratory
observation
 Natural observation: the
observations take place in natural
settings
 Laboratory observation:
observations take place in an unnatural
setting such as in laboratory.

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• 5) Test: A test as a research
instrument is used to measure the
dependent variable. Cognitive tests
measure intellectual process such as
thinking, memorizing, problem solving,
analyzing, reasoning, and applying
information. Most of the tests in
educational system are cognitive,
measuring achievement and aptitudes.

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 Types of test
• a) Achievement tests: They are
designed to provide information about
how well test takers have learned what
they have been taught, and are
typically applied in school settings.
• b) Aptitude tests: They are the
cognitive measures that are commonly
used to predict how well an individual is
likely to perform in the future e.g.
entrance examination test.
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• 6) Document analysis/review guide
or schedule: Documentation involves
delivering information by carefully
studying written documents, or visual
information from sources called
documents. These could be textbooks,
newspapers, articles, speeches,
advertisements, pictures and many
others. In other words different
documents are reviewed to get useful
information on the study area.

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 Check your progress
• List different types of data collection
instruments
• Examine the merits and demerits of
each data collection tool.
• Categorize each type of data collection
tools.
• Give a brief account of different
methods of collecting data using a
questionnaire
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 8.Data analysis and
Presentation of Findings
• A. Data analysis: research data are
classified into two: Qualitative and
quantitative data.
• 1) Qualitative data
• Definition: qualitative data are
information about the world, not in the
form of numbers. Analytical techniques of
qualitative data include:
• a) Content analysis: examines the
intensity with which certain words, point
of view and emotionally words are used
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• b) Quick Impressionistic summary:
summarizing key findings, explanations,
interpretations, and conclusions made
while in the field and then write a report.
• c) Thematic analysis: categorization
of data into related themes
• 2) Quantitative Data
• Definition: Quantitative data are
information about the world, in the form
on numbers which are used to express
quantity. Analysis of quantitative data
requires the use of different statistics.
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• a) Descriptive statistics: Methods that
attempt to summarize and describe the
data that have been collected, e.g.
frequency distribution and percentiles,
measures of central tendency (mean,
mode, median), measures of variability
(standard deviation, variance, etc)
• b) Inferential statistics: methods that
permit an inference of the characteristics
of a larger group from the data collected
on a smaller group. (Pearson Product
Moment correlation coefficient, Chi-square,
T-test, ANOVA, ANCOVA, F-test, etc.
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• B. Presentation of Findings
There are three modes of presenting
findings
• a) Tabular mode/tabulation: Once
data have been analysed and
summarized, the researcher may
choose to present the findings in
tabular form. Tables may be showing
frequency distribution, or may display
measures of central tendency and
dispersion such as mean, mode,
median, standard deviation, etc.
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• b) Graphic mode/graphs: Once data
are analyzed, the researcher can begin
to present the findings by using
different graphic forms (e.g. pie charts,
bar graphs, histograms, etc.)
• c) Textual/narrative mode/Texts:
Findings from qualitative data are
usually presented in texts/narratives
i.e. verbatim.

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 Check your progress
• Discuss different methods used to
analyse qualitative data in research
• How does descriptive statistics differ
from inferential statistics?
• Discuss the different modes of data
presentation in research.

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 Data analysis…
 It is the process by which data are
converted into useful information.
 Raw data need to be processed in
some way to make it amenable to
drawing conclusions.
 Prepare your data with an analytical
approach on mind.
• Recognize different types of data and
understand the implications of data
type for subsequent analyses

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 Data analysis…
Select the most appropriate tables
and diagrams to explore and illustrate
different aspects of your data.
Select the most appropriate statistics
to describe individual variables and to
examine relationships, differences and
trends between variables and trends
in your data;
Interpret the tables, diagrams and
statistics that you use correctly.

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 Data analysis…
 For non-numerical data
indicate the method of
thematizing (developing
themes and describe them
using verbatim
patterns/quotes from the
respondents)

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 Data analysis and reporting
Possible ways of analysing your data: descriptive

• Most of time we group the data in tables

• Research example
• You want to study the popularity of different leisure
activities by gender. You distribute a survey and ask
participants how many times they did each of the
following in the past year:
• Go to a library
• Watch a movie at a theater
• Visit a national park
• Your data set is the collection of responses to the survey.
Now you can use descriptive statistics to find out the
overall frequency of each activity (distribution), the
averages for each activity (central tendency), and the
spread of responses for each activity (variability).
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 Frequency distribution (table)
A data set is made up of a distribution of values, or scores. In tables or graphs, you can
summarize the frequency of every possible value of a variable in numbers or percentages.

Frequency distribution table Grouped Frequency distribution Table

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 Over to you: Exercise
Construct a grouped distribution table knowing that the class width is 5

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 Cross tabulation table
• Cross tabulation is a statistical tool that is used to
analyze categorical data.
• Categorical data is data or variables that are
separated into different categories that are mutually
exclusive from one another.
• An example of categorical data is eye color. Your eye
color can be divided into 'categories' (i.e., blue, brown,
green), and it is impossible for eye color to belong to
more than one category (i.e., color).
• Cross tabulation helps you understand how two
different variables are related to each other.
• For example, suppose you wanted to see if there is a
relationship between the gender of the survey
respondent and if sex education in high school is
important.

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 Cross tabulation table
• Using the survey data, you can count the
number of males and females who said
that sex education is important, and the
number of males and females who said
that sex education is not important.
• You then take this information and create
a contingency table, which displays the
frequency of each of the variables.
• Suppose that there are 300 females and
300 males who completed the survey.
Here is what our cross tabulation looks
like:
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Cross tabulation table

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 Over to you: Cross-tab
exercise
• Scenario
• Mark recently opened a sports and fitness
center in his town. In just the first week, he
has already gained 148 regular customers,
87 of which are male and 61 of which are
female. To get feedback on the products
and services that his store is offering, he
decided to conduct a customer survey.
• Taking gender into account, Mark asked his
customers about their satisfaction level
with his products and services.

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 Over to you: Cross tab
• The answer options were unsatisfied, satisfied, and unsure.
There were 25 unsatisfied, 12 unsure and 50 satisfied male
customers. There were 5 unsatisfied, 20 unsure and 36
satisfied females customers. In total, there are 30
unsatisfied, 32 unsure and 86 satisfied customers.
• Questions
1. For this given scenario, create a contingency table showing
the given data using cross tabulation. The table should
focus on two variables (gender and the satisfaction level).
2. Is there any data that can be classified as categorical
data?
3. What can you say about the total number of satisfied
versus unsatisfied customers? Is Mark's business doing
well in its first week of operation?
4. What will happen if the number of unsatisfied customers
were greater than the number of satisfied customers?
What should Mark do to lessen the dissatisfaction level?

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 Line graphs (1) Single line
graph
• Line graph is usually meant for showing the frequencies for various values of a variable
• The simplest of line graphs is the single line graph, so called because it displays information concerning one
variable only, in terms of its frequencies.

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 Line graphs (2) Multiple line graph
• Multiple line graphs illustrate information on several variables so that
comparison is possible between them

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 Line graphs exercise
• Knowing that: when constructing a line graph, we typically
choose to put the independent variable (i.e. the thing that we
control) on the x-axis, whilst the dependent variable (the
thing we’re measuring) goes on the y-axis. So, our line graph
will have
• The days of the week on the x-axis (Horizontal), equally
spaced
• The number of hours of sleep on the y-axis (vertical),
• Construct aMON
Day line graph
TUES of the following
WEDNES scenario
THURS FRID SATUR SUND

Sleep hours 7.5 6.5 6 8.5 9.5 9 6

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Pie charts

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Bar charts

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 Histograms
• A histogram graph is a bar graph
representation of data. It is a representation
of a range of outcomes into columns
formation along the x-axis.
• In the same histogram, the number count or
multiple occurrences in the data for each
column is represented by the y-axis. It is the
easiest manner that can be used to visualize
data distributions.
• Uncle Bruno owns a garden with 30 black
cherry trees. Each tree is of a different
height. The height of the trees (in inches)
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Histograms

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 Reading
A mean in math is the average of a data set, found by adding
all numbers together and then dividing the sum of the
numbers by the number of numbers. For example, with the
data set: 8, 9, 5, 6, 7, the mean is 7, as 8 + 9 + 5 + 6 + 7 =
35, 35/5 = 7.
Mode: The most frequent number—that is, the number that
occurs the highest number of times. Example: The mode of {4
, 2, 4, 3, 2, 2} is 2 because it occurs three times, which is
more than any other number.
Median: The middle number; found by ordering all data
points and picking out the one in the middle (or if there are
two middle numbers, taking the mean of those two numbers).
Example: The median of 4, 1, and 7 is 4 because when the
numbers are put in order (1 , 4, 7) , the number 4 is in the
middle.
NB: In an even-numbered set, you will need to calculate the
average of the two middle numbers. Eg. 1,4,7,5, ---1 4 5 7 by
putting the numbers in order, Median= (4+5)/2= 4.5
Range in math is the difference between the highest and
lowest value from a set of data. Range in math can be found
by subtracting the two values. 1,4,7,5, the range = 7-1= 6
Standard Deviation is a measure of how far each observed
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 Different Tests

• Chi-square,
• Product moment correlation coefficient (r)

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 Testing a hypothesis
• A p-value, or probability value, as a statistical test, is a number
describing how likely it is that your data would have occurred by
random chance (i.e. that the null hypothesis is true).
• The level of statistical significance is often expressed as a p-value
between 0 and 1. The smaller the p-value, the stronger the evidence
that you should reject the null hypothesis.
• A p-value less than 0.05 (typically ≤ 0.05) is statistically significant. It
indicates strong evidence against the null hypothesis, as there is less
than a 5% probability the null is correct (and the results are random).
Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis, and retain the alternative
hypothesis.
• However, if the p-value is below your threshold of significance
(typically p < 0.05), you can reject the null hypothesis, but this does
not mean that there is a 95% probability that the alternative
hypothesis is true.

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 Testing a hypothesis
• A p-value higher than 0.05 (> 0.05) is not statistically significant and indicates

strong evidence for the null hypothesis. This means we retain the null

hypothesis and reject the alternative hypothesis.

• Instead, we may state our results “provide support for” or “give evidence for”

our research hypothesis (as there is still a slight probability that the results

occurred by chance and the null hypothesis was correct – e.g. less than 5%).

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 How to report a p-value style
• When reporting p values, report exact p values (e.g., p
= .031) to two or three decimal places.
• However, report p values less than .001 as p < .001.
• Do not use 0 before the decimal point for the statistical
value p as it cannot equal 1, in other words, write p = .001
instead of p = 0.001.
• Please pay attention to issues of italics (p is always
italicized) and spacing (either side of the = sign).
• p = .000 (as outputted by some statistical packages such as
SPSS) should be written as p < .001.
• The opposite of significant is "nonsignificant"

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 Correlation coefficient
 The correlation coefficient (ρ) is a measure that determines the degree to
which the movement of two different variables is associated.
 The most common correlation coefficient, generated by the Pearson
product-moment correlation (r), is used to measure the linear relationship
between two variables.
 The possible range of values for the correlation coefficient is -1.0 to 1.0. In
other words, the values cannot exceed 1.0 or be less than -1.0.
 A correlation of -1.0 indicates a perfect negative correlation, and a
correlation of 1.0 indicates a perfect positive correlation.
 If the correlation coefficient is greater than zero, it is a positive relationship.
Conversely, if the value is less than zero, it is a negative relationship.
 A value of zero indicates that there is no relationship between the two
variables.

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 Useful interpretation of r values

Exactly –1. A perfect negative linear relationship

–0.70. A strong negative linear relationship

–0.50. A moderate negative relationship

–0.30. A weak negative linear relationship

0. No linear relationship

+0.30. A weak positive linear relationship

+0.50. A moderate uphill (positive) relationship

+0.70. A strong uphill positive linear relationship

Exactly +1. A perfect positive linear relationship

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Specific regression model by type
of data

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 9. Logistical, Ethical,
Human relations, and Legal
issues in Research
• 9.1 Logistical issues related to
research: they are all the prior processes,
activities or actions that a researcher must
address or carry out before undertaking
research to ensure successful completion
of a research project. Awareness of such
issues and subsequent preparation will
save the researcher a great deal of
resources (money, time, and energy), and
will also ensure high quality research.
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The logistics for conducting research
can be divided into three categories,
namely:
•a) Pre-field work logistics: These
are specific considerations that a
researcher must carry out before
embarking on data collection exercise in
the field. They include items such as:
the layout of the research instruments,
obtaining research permit, training
research assistants, budgeting,
packaging of research instruments, etc.
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• b) Fieldwork logistics: All the
processes, activities or actions that a
researcher must address during the
actual field exercise. They include pre-
testing instruments, addressing language
barriers, coping with geographic terrain,
and tackling transport related challenges.
• c) Post-fieldwork logistics: Post-
fieldwork logistics are all activities that a
researcher must undertake after the
fieldwork. These include collecting
instruments from the field, editing and
coding them.
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• 9.2 Ethical issues
• a) Informed consent: The potential
respondent must authorize his/her
participation in the research study,
preferably in writing, although at times
an oral consent or assent may be more
appropriate. Participation should be
voluntary, and people have the right to
refuse to divulge certain information
about them. Respondents should also
be free at any time to discontinue their
participation with no negative
consequences to themselves.
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• b) Confidentiality: The researcher has
the responsibility of keeping confidential
the information given by participants and
assuring them that their information will be
used only for the purpose of the research.
Furthermore, the researcher bears the
responsibility to ensure that methods of
storage and treating information do not
reveal the source of information.
• c) Anonymity: the researcher should
ensure there is strict anonymity to protect
the participants from victimization or public
embarrassment of identifying with the
information given to the researcher.
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• 9.3 Human Relations
• a) Mien and Decorum: This is the
dignified manner and conduct of the
person i.e. a person’s appearance,
manner or expression of face, as
showing feeling. It is important for the
researcher to have acceptable outlook,
have acceptable and desirable
mannerism in the way he/she interacts
with the authorities or research
informants/respondents.

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• b) Following the appropriate chain of
command: In research, it is very
important to follow the right channels of
authority. For example, if you are carrying
out a research in schools, it is important
to obtain permission from the Ministry of
Education, the district’s DEO, SEO and
then the head teacher.
• 10.4 Legal issues
• a) Research plagiarism: this occurs
when the researcher copies another
research’s or author’s work (words, ideas,
etc.) as his/her own words without
acknowledging
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 the sources. This practice of plagiarism
is a crime punishable by law; legal
proceedings can be taken against
researchers who practice plagiarism.
•b) Research fraud: In research, fraud
occurs in a situation where a researcher
fakes data that has not actually been
collected. For example, in some cases,
the research assistants or some
researchers are sent to collect data, but
they end up filing the research
instruments themselves. This is a
serious crime punishable by the law.
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 Check your progress
• Using appropriate examples, critically
discuss the logistical issues related to
research.
• Discuss, using appropriate examples,
the ethical issues related to research.
• Critically examine the human relations
issues in research.
• Give an account of the legal issues
related to research and their
implications.
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 Conceptual models

• Theoretical framework
• Conceptual framework

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 Theoretical framework
• A system of ideas that explains a
phenomenon
• E.g. Social cultural learning theory,
general systems theory, behaviourism
theory, cognitivism, etc.
• Mention the theory
• Mention the theorist/proponent
• Mention the theory tenets
• Show how the theory is linked with
your study/research
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 Conceptual framework

• A diagram that shows the

interrelationship between the
variables
• Variables and other related factors
are put in boxed and connected
using arrows

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 Conceptual framework

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