Basic Research Methods in IT

chapter 4
Research Design
 What is research design?
• A research design is the arrangement of conditions for the collection and analysis of
data in a manner that aims to address the research problem.
• The research design should be inline with:
• What is the study about? (Problem definition)
• Why is the study being made? (Justification)
• Where will the study be carried out? (Location)
• What type of data is required? (Quanti, Qual, Pri, Sec)
• Where can the required data be found (target population)
• What will be the sample design (technique chosen)
• What techniques of data collection will be used? (observation, interview, questionnaire, or
document analysis)
• How will the data be analyzed (Data Analysis techniques & tools to be employed)

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 Research Design(con..)

We may split the overall research design into three

• The sampling design - which deals with the method of selecting
items to be observed for the given study.
• The statistical design - which concerns with the question of how
many items are to be observed and how the information and data
gathered are to be analysed;
• The operational design - which deals with the techniques by
which the procedures specified in the sampling, Statistical and
observational designs can be carried out.
 What is Sampling?

• The act, process, or technique of selecting a suitable sample,

or a representative part of a population for the purpose of
determining parameters or characteristics of the whole
population.
• Is a process used in statistical analysis in which a
predetermined number of observations are taken from
a larger population.
• A census study occurs if the entire population is very small or
it is reasonable to include the entire population 4
 Sampling?(con…)

• The main reasons for sampling instead of doing a

census.
– Economy
– Timeliness
– The large size of many populations
– Inaccessibility of some of the population
– accuracy
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Sampling?(con…)
 Sampling Technique

• Probability sampling
– Each member of the population has a chance (equal in the
case of random selection) of being selected.
• Non-probability sampling
– Some members of the population have little or no chance of
being selected.

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 Sampling Technique(con…)

• Probability Sampling
– Simple random sampling
– Systematic random sampling
– Stratified random sampling
– Proportional stratified sampling
– Cluster sampling

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 Probability Sampling Technique(con…)

• Simple random sampling

– The least sophisticated of all sampling designs
– Simple random selection where every member of the
population is given an equal chance of being selected;
– Good for homogeneous population;
– Easy when the population is small and elements are known;
– Impractical for very large populations

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 Probability Sampling Technique(con…)

• Systematic random sampling

– Selecting elements of the population in predetermined sequence;
– Select every kth item on a list (k= N/n)
– Randomness element is in picking up the starting point.
Steps
 Calculate the sampling interval
 Select a random start between 1 and sampling interval
 Repeatedly add sampling interval to select subsequent sample

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 Probability Sampling Technique(con…)

• Stratified random sampling

– Applied when the population has different layers (strata)
– The researcher samples from each one of the layers
(stratum) equally
– Examples
• Sampling of school children from grades 4, 5 and 6
• Sampling of customers
– Corporate customers
– Residential customers
– etc
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 Probability Sampling Techniques … cont’d
• Proportional stratified sampling
– When number of the elements of the strata are different
• 2,000 corporate customers
• 400,000 residential customers
 Probability Sampling Techniques(con…)
• Cluster sampling
– Grouping the population into clusters and then
select members of clusters
Random selection
Population of clusters
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

C5 C6 C7 C8 C8
C9 C10 C11 C12 C11
 Probability Sampling Techniques(con…)

Population Appropriate sampling

characteristics technique
Homogeneous members •Simple random
sampling
•Systematic random
sampling
Stratified population with Stratified random
approximately equal in size sampling
Stratified population, strata Proportional stratified
different in size sampling
Population with discrete Cluster sampling
clusters with similar
characteristics
 Non-Probability Sampling Techniques

• Non-probability sampling
– Convenience sampling
– Quota sampling
– Purposive sampling

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Non-Probability Sampling Techniques (con…)

• Convenience sampling
– Taking of samples that are readily available
• Ex: those that arrive on a scene by coincidence
– May be appropriate for some less demanding research
• Purposive sampling
– Units of the sample are chosen purposively.
– Choosing people who we have decided are “typical” of a
group;

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 Non-Probability Sampling Techniques (con…)
• Quota sampling
– Elements are selected in the same proportion as in
the stratified sampling but not in a random fashion
• Ex: there are equal number of Information
Technology (IT) and Computer Science (CS)
students
– Quota sampling would choose 20 IT and 20
CS students without any attempt to random
selection
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 Summary of Sampling Process

• Steps in the sampling process (Shajahan, 2004)

– Defining the population( eg people who live in Ethiopia,
Ambo)
– Specifying the sampling unit
– Specifying the sampling frame
• ( a list of all the items in your population. Eg , Abdi,Chala, …)
– Specifying the sampling method
– Determining the sampling size
– Specifying the sampling plan
– Selecting the sample 18
 Bias in Sampling

• Bias: Any influence, condition or set of conditions

that singly or together distort data
• Ex: the impact of the researcher’s personality on the
response of the interviewee.
• Bias attacks the data integrity
• Sampling bias: any influence that may have disturbed
the randomness by which the choice of a sample has
been selected

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 Data Collection
• is a term used to describe a process of preparing and
collecting research data
• It is important to choose the right data collection method(s)
as this will allow data to be collected that will meet the
objectives of the research;

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 Types of Data
• Primary Data:
– Are those which are collected afresh and for the first time
and thus happen to be original in character
• Secondary data:
– Are those which have been collected by someone else and
which have already been passed through the statistical
process

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 Methods of Primary data collection
• Observation (Systematic viewing)
• Personal Interviews (structured or
unstructured
• Telephone Interviews
• Questionnaire (self administered)
– Popular in case of big inquiries
• Schedules (filled by enumerators)

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• Choice of data collection method largely
depends upon
– The objective of research
– Minimization of Bias
– Reduction of non-response
– Reduction of data error
– Minimization of expenses

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 Development of Questionnaire
• Open ended question
• Multiple choice
• Yes / No
• Likert scale (Rating scale)
– 5 4 3 2 1 or -2 -1 0 1 2
– Strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree
• Rankings

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 Questionnaire design
– Pay attention to Pattern of questions
– Pay attention to the number of questions
– Avoid Difficult questions
– Avoid Leading questions
– Avoid Ambiguous questions

• Pilot testing is very important

– Helps to validate your questionnaire

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 When to use different types of questions

• Open questions should be used when rich qualitative data is needed that
describes the respondent´s perception of their own experience.
• Multiple choice questions are useful when there is more complexity in the
range of possible responses in discrete categories, but the range of
expected responses is still fairly limited.
• Dichotomous questions are useful in situations where you want to force
respondents to express a clear opinion or as a filter for determining which
subsequent questions are appropriate.
• Rating scales are useful for seeking a measure of perceptions and
attitudes of respondents.
• Rank ordering can be useful when the relative preference of respondents
is sought from a relatively limited range of options.
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 Collection of secondary data

• Secondary data might be either published or unpublished.

• One should however be careful in using secondary data since
the data available may be misleading.
• One has to check for
– Suitability
• (Is it relevant for your research problem)
– Adequacy
• (will you be able to answer your questions sufficiently)
– Reliability
• (when was the data collected, who collected data, how was the
data collected?)
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 Quiz(10%)

1. List and discus different probability sampling technique

2. List and discus different non probability sampling
technique
3. List different method of primary data collection