Cross-sectional survey design is done when data is collected at a single point in time.

Correlational-used to investigate the direction and magnitude of relationships among variables in

a particular population.

Cristobal & Cristobal (2016) defines correlation research as the research design employed to
investigate the direction and magnitude of relationships among variables in a particular
population.

Experimental-Research primarily concerned with cause and effect relationships in studies that
involve manipulation and measurement. It utilizes the method of difference.

True Experimental Design-Participants are randomly selected. There is an experimental and a

controlled group where the experimental group is exposed to treatment.

Quasi-Experimental Design-Participants are not randomly selected.

Pre-Experimental Design-One-group pretest-posttest design provides a comparative description

of a group of participants before and after the experimental treatment

Population-a group of individuals who have the same characteristic.

Target Population-A group of individuals with some common defining characteristic that the
researcher can identify and study

Sample-A subgroup of the target population that the researcher plans to study for generalizing
about the target population.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Probability

1. Simple-Drawing randomly from a list of the population (e.g.: names from a hat, using a
matrix of random numbers
2. Systematic-Taking every kth element in the population as a sample, where

𝑁
𝑘=
𝑛

3. Stratified Random Sampling-a process in which certain subgroups, or strata, are selected
for the sample in the same proportion as they exist in the population.
4. Cluster Sampling-The selection of groups, or clusters, of subjects rather than individuals

Non-Probability

1. Convenience Sampling-is selecting a group of individuals who are conveniently available

for study.
2. Quota Sampling-The number of samples is decided by the researcher and selection is also
made out of availability of the respondent.
3. Stratified Sampling-Using researcher’s judgment to select a sample that they believe,
based on prior information, will provide the data they need.
 4. Snowball Sampling-One sample leads on to more of the same kind of sample.

Read this, then answer:

A researcher wants to conduct a practical research in order to determine the effectiveness of peer
counseling on the decreasing the truancy of his classmates. Of his 56 classmates, he has selected
20 whose residences are within a kilometer’s radius from the school.

What sampling technique did the researcher use?

Do you agree on the strategy he has employed?

The Sample

The target population of the study are the senior high school students during the second term of
the academic year, 2017-2018 of Sacred Heart College, Lucena City. These students belong to
three different strands of the SHS program, namely: Accountancy and Business Management
(ABM); Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS); Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM).

With a population size of 500, the researchers will consider a sample of 223 respondents
determined using Slovin’s formula for computing sample size with a five percent margin of error.
These samples shall be randomly selected through stratified random sampling with the SHS
strands being used to define groups and SPSS to randomly determine the samples.

Instrument- Key to Finding the Answers

A survey questionnaire is a commonly used type of instrument in research that lists questions
about a topic with spaces for responses.

Yes/No
Do you consider research to be important?

Recognition
Which of the following do you consider in buying a phone?
___ brand name
___ price
___ specs
___ others, please specify

Completion
When I hear my phone ring, I_______________________

Coding
I use my phone during class.
___ 4 Always
___ 3 Often
___ 2 Seldom
___ 1 Never

Subjective
How do you feel when you leave your phone at home accidentally.

Determining the Sample Size

There are a few guidelines that we would suggest with regard to the minimum number of
subjects needed. For descriptive studies, we think a sample with a minimum number of 100 is
essential. For correlational studies, a sample of at least 50 is deemed necessary to establish the
existence of a relationship. For experimental studies, we recommend a minimum of 30
individuals per group Fraenkel & Wallen (2012)

Instrument Design-A good questionnaire must…

Contain different types of questions: personal, attitudinal or behavioral; sensitive questions (if
applicable).

Use strategies for good construction: uses clear language, makes sure that answer options do not
overlap; posing questions that are applicable to participants.

Valid and reliable. Underwent pilot testing to a small number of individuals.

Name (Optional) ____________________________

Age _________ Sex __ M __ F Grade ___

Validity is the ability of an instrument to measure what it intends to measure.

Reliability refers to the consistency of results.

EVALUATING QUESTIONS

Do you like cellphones?

Unclear, vague question

Do you believe that students must be allowed to use cellphones during class?

Do you believe cellphones and laptops must be allowed for use inside the classroom?

A combination of two questions

Do you believe that laptops must be allowed for use inside the classroom?

Do you consider a quadcore processor to be an important feature of a cellphone?

Contains jargon

Is the speed of response of the cellphone important to you?

Whenever the teacher is discussing in front of the class and a phone rings right in the middle of
it, it can be distracting. Do you find the ringing of a phone distracting enough to take you out of
your focus?

Too long
Do you find ringing sounds of a phone distracting while in class?

Agree or disagree: The school should not discontinue its ban of cellular phones in class.

Double negatives

Do you agree that the school should continue banning phones in class?

SHS Students’ Social Media Use and Their Attention Span in Class

Specifically, this study shall seek answers to the following questions:

1. What is the level of social media usage of Grade 12 students of Sacred Heart College in
terms of:
a. forms of social media?
b. frequency of social media use?
c. mode of social media use?

2. What is the attention span in class of Grade 12 students of SHC?

This study shall make use of two research instruments to provide data on the variables being
studied. A validated questionnaire will be used to determine the respondents’ level of social
media use. To measure the respondents’ attention span in class, the researchers intend to use a
mobile application. These instruments are further described in the succeeding paragraphs.

Social Media Use Questionnaire. The purpose of this questionnaire is to assess the respondents’
level of social media use in terms of three factors: form of social media use, frequency of use,
and mode of use. It was developed and tested for validity and reliability by Cruz (2012) for his
research on the impact of social media usage on the academic performance of Grade 10 students
in the Philippines. Aside from being recent, the researchers have decided to use the instruments
because it has been constructed with the context of Filipino students in mind.

A cover letter addressed to the researchers is attached to the questionnaire explaining the
research, its rationale and purpose, and the general instructions on how to fill out the form. The
questionnaire is composed of four parts. Part one seeks to gather data regarding the demographic
profile of the respondents which includes their sex, age, and SHS strand. Part two of the
questionnaire lists down all available forms of social media and instructs the respondent to check
those which they use, as many as applies. Part three seeks to determine how frequent the
respondents use social media by asking them to rate their level of frequency to 10 statements.
Possible responses are limited to a five-point Likert scale: (5) Always, (4) Often; (3) Sometimes;
(2) Seldom; (1) Never.

Clearly and completely describe how the intervention will be implemented, such that the reader
can replicate the intervention.

Describe what happens in comparison group.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

The process for gathering the needed data in the study is described in the following steps.

1. The researcher shall seek the permission of the authors of the instruments that will be
adapted in this study.
2. The researchers will secure permission of the university to obtain a list of SHS students
from which the samples will be selected. Also, a permission to conduct data collection
will be sought from the concerned officials of the school.
 3. The questionnaires shall be distributed to the selected samples during one of their classes
with a permission from the facilitating professor and the note of approval of the
university.
4. Questionnaires shall be retrieved the same day as they were given to ensure a higher
return percentage of questionnaires.

PLAN FOR DATA ANALYSIS

To answer the questions presented under the Statement of the Problem, the following statistical
tools will be employed:

1. Percentages will be used to present and analyze data regarding the demographic profile of
the respondents.
2. Weighted mean will be computed to represent the responses of each respondent to the
questionnaire and their attention span score while standard deviation will be used to
determine the degree of variability in these values. This mean shall be interpreted as
follows:
3. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient will be used to determine the
degree of relationship between social media use and attention span. The correlation
coefficient will be interpreted as follows (Dela Cruz, 2005)

CONCLUSION

The portion that gives meaning to your research and your results.

The objective of the Conclusion section is to examine the results, determine whether they solve
the research question, compare them within themselves and to other results (from literature),
explain and interpret them, and then draw conclusions or derive generalizations, and make
recommendations for applying the results or for further research (Wilkinson, 1991:327).

In writing this section,

 Interpret and summarize the findings.

 Revisit research questions and craft conclusion. State answers to research questions
following their sequence.
 Relate the conclusions to the research questions.
 Limit the conclusions to the data presented
 Be objective.
 Avoid exaggerating or manipulating data to prove your point.
 Present answers as general statements of findings.
 Do not include related literature.
 Write recommendations for beneficiaries of results of study cited in Significance of
Study.
 Look at limitations of study, in scope, sample, instruments, intervention implementation
and adequacy, and data collection.
 Give suggestions on how to improve the study based on the limitations.
 Include areas for future research and give at least one example.

Organize the parts of your research report based on the standard research-report structure
that consists of the sequential components:

 Title
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Methodology
 Results or Findings
 Conclusion
 Recommendations
 References
 Appendices

FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE LANGUAGE OF ACADEMIC WRITING.

 Observe the mechanics of research-report writing which are as follows:

a. Physical Appearance
b. Quotations (block quotation)
c. Footnotes
d. Statistics and Graphs
e. Final Draft

Consider the research-report writing styles or format.

Research Design

True/False Questions

1. A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the business research project.
(True,

2. Specifying the measurement and scaling procedures is one of the components involved in
research design.
(True,

3. Conclusive research is typically more formal and structured than exploratory research.
(True,

4. Identifying alternative courses of action and establishing priorities for further research are
purposes for which exploratory research is used.
(True,

5. One reason to conduct descriptive research is to determine the degree to which business
variables are associated. For example, to what extent is shopping at department stores related
to eating out?
(True,

6. A descriptive design requires a clear specification of the who, what, when, where, why, and
way (the six Ws) of the research.
(True,

7. Cross-sectional designs involve the collection of information from any given sample of
population elements only once.
(True,

8. Cohort analysis is a type of multiple cross-sectional design that consists of a series of surveys
conducted at appropriate time intervals, where the cohort serves as the basic unit of analysis.
(True,

9. A longitudinal design differs from a cross-sectional design in that the sample or samples
remain the same over time.
(True,

10. A major advantage of longitudinal design over the cross-sectional design is the ability to
detect change as a result of repeated measurement of the same variables on the same sample.
(True,

11. Business managers continually make decisions based on assumed causal relationships.
Because these assumptions may not be justifiable, the validity of the causal relationships
should be examined via formal research.
(True,

Multiple Choice Questions

12. _____ is a framework or blueprint for conducting the business research project. It specifies
the details of the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure
and/or solve business research problems.
a. Research classification
b. Research design
c. Design formulation
d. None of the above
 (b,

32. The primary objective of _____ is to provide insights into, and an understanding of, the
problem confronting the researcher.
a. exploratory research
b. conclusive research
c. causal research
d. descriptive research
(a,

33. Cross-sectional and longitudinal designs are types of _____

a. causal research
b. exploratory research
c. descriptive research
d. none of the above
(c,

34. Which of the objectives below would best represent conclusive research?
a. describe market characteristics or functions
b. determine cause and effect relationships
c. provide insights and understanding
d. test specific hypotheses and examine relationships
(d,

35. Which of the following statements is not true about exploratory research?
a. It is flexible.
b. It is a pre-planned and structured design.
c. It is versatile.
d. It is often the front end of total research design.
(b,

36. _____ is a type of conclusive research that has as its major objective the description of
something—usually market characteristics or functions.
a. Exploratory research
b. Conclusive research
c. Causal research
d. Descriptive research
(d,

37. A formal research design specifies the methods for selecting the sources of information and
for collecting data from those sources. A _____ design requires a clear specification of the
who, what, when, where, why, and way (the six Ws) of the research.
a. descriptive
b. causal
c. exploratory
d. none of the above
(a,

38. _____ designs involve the collection of information from any given sample of population
elements only once.
a. Exploratory
 b. Causal
c. Cross-sectional
d. None of the above
(c,

39. _____ is the most used descriptive design in business research.

a. Longitudinal design
b. Exploratory design
c. Cross-sectional design
d. none of the above
(c,

40. _____ is a cross-sectional design in which there are two or more samples of respondents
and information is obtained from each sample only once.
a. Multiple cross-sectional design
b. Single cross-sectional design
c. Cohort analysis
d. None of the above
(a,

41. Which of the following statements is true about cohort analysis?

a. A cohort is a group of respondents who experience the same event within the same
time interval.
b. It is unlikely that any of the individuals studied at time one will also be in the sample at
time two.
c. The term cohort analysis refers to any study in which there are measures of some
characteristics of one or more cohorts at two or more points in time.
d. All are correct.
(d,

42. The question, “How did the American people rate the performance of George W. Bush
immediately after the war in Afghanistan?” would be addressed using a _____. However, a
_____ would be used to address the question, “How did the American people change their
view of Bush’s performance during the war in Afghanistan?”
a. longitudinal design; multiple cross-sectional
b. cross-sectional design; longitudinal design
c. longitudinal; cross-sectional design
d. none of the above
(b,

43. _____ refers to a sample of respondents who have agreed to provide information at
specified intervals over an extended period.
a. experiment
b. survey
c. panel
d. none of the above
(c,

44. All of the following are advantages of longitudinal designs over cross-sectional designs
(Table 3.4) except:
a. detecting change
 b. accuracy
c. large amount of data collection
d. representative sampling
(d,

45. _____ are errors that can be attributed to sources other than sampling, and they can be
random or nonrandom.
a. Random sampling error
b. Non-response error
c. Non-sampling error
d. Response error
(c,

46. _____ is a type of non-sampling error that occurs when some of the respondents included
in the sample do not respond. This error may be defined as the variation between the true
mean value of the variable in the original sample and the true mean value in the net
sample.
a. Random sampling error
b. Non-response error
c. Non-sampling error
d. Response error
(b,

47. Error that arises from the respondent’s unwillingness to provide accurate information is
_____. Respondents may intentionally misreport their answers because of a desire to
provide socially acceptable answers, avoid embarrassment, or please the interviewer.
a. questioning error
b. unwillingness error
c. sampling frame error
d. recording error
(b,