HHS 4 U/4CI : INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY
INDEPENDENT STUDY: A PHASE APPROACH
PHASE THREE: PLANNING OF PRIMARY RESEARCH AND DESIGN OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
(for peer feedback) DUE:
Phase 3 consists of decision-making about the target audience of your primary research and the design of a primary research instrument based on the information gathered from the secondary review of literature and instructions from class on how to design effective surveys or questionnaires. Refer back to your secondary research to get ideas as to questions to ask or areas to investigate in your primary research, and to class notes and instructions about designing an effective primary instrument. Be sure that your answers to your questions can be categorized and that the information you gather is relevant and appropriate to your study. Design your primary instrument: a survey, questionnaire and/or interview questions or a combination of both as described in Part 2 below.
Part 1: Planning of Primary Research
a. Clearly and precisely describe what will be investigated in this primary research study. Briefly describe your target audience (age groupings, gender, grade level, categories of people etc.) who will be surveyed or interviewed and indicate any other necessary characteristics of your sample grouping including the estimated sample size.
b. Briefly describe the method(s) used to gather primary research along with an explanation as to how the method(s) selected are suitable to achieving the purpose of your primary research study.
c. Briefly describe how the results of the primary research (also referred to as field work) will be recorded or reported. eg. will your report on each question separately or will you be able to group question results together? how will you record answers to an interview? where will charts or graphs or tables be necessary to illustrate a point?
Part 2: Designing a Primary Research Instrument
Design your primary research instrument according to the class handout and class instructions. Keep in mind the following characteristics:
-a title that indicates the topic of research but does not bias the study
-an introductory paragraph that explains the purpose of the study, explains that participation is voluntary, gives instructions for completing and returning the survey, assures confidentiality and anonymity, identifies you as the contact person and thanks the respondent for participating in the research
-one to two typed pages maximum
-appropriately designed on the page and easy to read
-asks for relevant/useful background information about the person answering the questionnaire
-questions are brief and clear and appropriately phrased as to collect pertinent/relevant information related to the purpose of the survey
AND/OR
-the interview questions are well designed and relevant to the topic area
-the questions show evidence of knowledge about the topic areas being investigated
-questions are open-ended so that the person being interviewed can offer as much detail as possible
After approval and editing of your instrument, you will make multiple copies and administer your instrument (referred to as primary data collection). You will distribute your surveys and then collate your results and report your findings in report form, using charts, tables or graphs to enhance your presentation. You will be required to explain and analyze the responses to your questions and present clear and accurate critical analysis of the data in phase 4 (your final product).
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