Course: Population Education-II (6574)

Semester: Spring, 2022

Name. Sehrish
Roll No. HFQv4920
MA Teacher Education
ASSIGNMENT No. 2

ASSIGNMENT No. 2
Q.1 What is Malthus theory? How does it serve for “positive checks” and preventive checks?
Thomas Malthus (1766–1834) was an English clergyman who made dire predictions about earth’s ability to
sustain its growing population. According to Malthusian theory, three factors would control human population
that exceeded the earth’s carrying capacity, or how many people can live in a given area considering the amount
of available resources. Malthus identified these factors as war, famine, and disease (Malthus 1798). He termed
them “positive checks” because they increase mortality rates, thus keeping the population in check. They are
countered by “preventive checks,” which also control the population but by reducing fertility rates; preventive
checks include birth control and celibacy. Thinking practically, Malthus saw that people could produce only so
much food in a given year, yet the population was increasing at an exponential rate. Eventually, he thought
people would run out of food and begin to starve. They would go to war over increasingly scarce resources and
reduce the population to a manageable level, and then the cycle would begin anew.
Of course, this has not exactly happened. The human population has continued to grow long past Malthus’s
predictions. So what happened? Why didn’t we die off? There are three reasons sociologists believe we are
continuing to expand the population of our planet. First, technological increases in food production have
increased both the amount and quality of calories we can produce per person. Second, human ingenuity has
developed new medicine to curtail death from disease. Finally, the development and widespread use of
contraception and other forms of family planning have decreased the speed at which our population increases.
But what about the future? Some still believe Malthus was correct and that ample resources to support the
earth’s population will soon run out.
A neo-Malthusian researcher named Paul Ehrlich brought Malthus’s predictions into the twentieth century.
However, according to Ehrlich, it is the environment, not specifically the food supply, that will play a crucial
role in the continued health of planet’s population (Ehrlich 1968). Ehrlich’s ideas suggest that the human
population is moving rapidly toward complete environmental collapse, as privileged people use up or pollute a
number of environmental resources such as water and air. He advocated for a goal of zero population
growth (ZPG), in which the number of people entering a population through birth or immigration is equal to the
number of people leaving it via death or emigration. While support for this concept is mixed, it is still
considered a possible solution to global overpopulation.

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Cornucopian Theory
Of course, some theories are less focused on the pessimistic hypothesis that the world’s population will meet a
detrimental challenge to sustaining itself. Cornucopian theory scoffs at the idea of humans wiping themselves
out; it asserts that human ingenuity can resolve any environmental or social issues that develop. As an example,
it points to the issue of food supply. If we need more food, the theory contends, agricultural scientists will figure
out how to grow it, as they have already been doing for centuries. After all, in this perspective, human ingenuity
has been up to the task for thousands of years and there is no reason for that pattern not to continue (Simon
1981).
Demographic Transition Theory
Whether you believe that we are headed for environmental disaster and the end of human existence as we know
it, or you think people will always adapt to changing circumstances, we can see clear patterns in population
growth. Societies develop along a predictable continuum as they evolve from unindustrialized to
postindustrial. Demographic transition theory (Caldwell and Caldwell 2006) suggests that future population
growth will develop along a predictable four-stage model.
In Stage 1, birth, death, and infant mortality rates are all high, while life expectancy is short. An example of this
stage is the 1800s in the United States. As countries begin to industrialize, they enter Stage 2, where birthrates
are higher while infant mortality and the death rates drop. Life expectancy also increases. Afghanistan is
currently in this stage. Stage 3 occurs once a society is thoroughly industrialized; birthrates decline, while life
expectancy continues to increase. Death rates continue to decrease. Mexico’s population is at this stage. In the
final phase, Stage 4, we see the postindustrial era of a society. Birth and death rates are low, people are healthier
and live longer, and society enters a phase of population stability. Overall population may even decline. For
example, Sweden is considered to be in Stage 4.
The United Nations Population Fund (2008) categorizes nations as high fertility, intermediate fertility, or low
fertility. The United Nations (UN) anticipates the population growth will triple between 2011 and 2100 in high-
fertility countries, which are currently concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. For countries with intermediate
fertility rates (the United States, India, and Mexico all fall into this category), growth is expected to be about 26
percent. And low-fertility countries like China, Australia, and most of Europe will actually see population
declines of approximately 20 percent. The graphs below illustrate this trend.
Q.2 How does pollution effect food chains and food webs? Explain the process of energy flow in foods
chains.
Energy Flow
The chemical energy of food is the main source of energy required by all living organisms. This energy is
transmitted to different trophic levels along the food chain. This energy flow is based on two different laws of
thermodynamics:

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 ● First law of thermodynamics, that states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only
change from one form to another.
● Second law of thermodynamics, that states that as energy is transferred more and more of it is wasted.
Energy Flow in Ecosystem
The energy flow in the ecosystem is one of the major factors that support the survival of such a great number of
organisms. For almost all organisms on earth, the primary source of energy is solar energy. It is amusing to find
that we receive less than 50 per cent of the sun’s effective radiation on earth. When we say effective radiation,
we mean the radiation, which can be used by plants to carry out photosynthesis.
Most of the sun’s radiation that falls on the earth is usually reflected back into space by the earth’s atmosphere.
This effective radiation is termed as the Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR).
Overall, we receive about 40 to 50 percent of the energy having Photosynthetically Active Radiation and only
around 2-10 percent of it is used by plants for the process of photosynthesis. Thus, this percent of PAR supports
the entire world as plants are the producers in the ecosystem and all the other organisms are either directly or
indirectly dependent on them for their survival.
The energy flow takes place via the food chain and food web. During the process of energy flow in the
ecosystem, plants being the producers absorb sunlight with the help of the chloroplasts and a part of it is
transformed into chemical energy in the process of photosynthesis.
This energy is stored in various organic products in the plants and passed on to the primary consumers in the
food chain when the herbivores consume (primary consumers) the plants as food. Then conversion of chemical
energy stored in plant products into kinetic energy occurs, degradation of energy will occur through its
conversion into heat.
Then followed by the secondary consumers. When these herbivores are ingested by carnivores of the first order
(secondary consumers) further degradation will occur. Finally, when tertiary consumers consume the
carnivores, energy will again be degraded. Thus, the energy flow is unidirectional in nature.
Moreover, in a food chain, the energy flow follows the 10 percent law. According to this law, only 10 percent of
energy is transferred from one trophic level to the other; rest is lost into the atmosphere. This is clearly
explained in the following figure and is represented as an energy pyramid.
Trophic level
The producers and consumers in the ecosystem can be arranged into different feeding groups and are known as
trophic level or the feeding level.
1. The producers (plants) represent the first trophic level.
2. Herbivores (primary consumers) present the second trophic level.
3. Primary carnivores (secondary consumers) represent the third trophic level
4. Top carnivores (tertiary consumers) represent the last level.
There are basically three different types of food chains in the ecosystem, namely –

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 ● Grazing food chain (GFC) – This is the normal food chain that we observe in which plants are the
producers and the energy flows from the producers to the herbivores (primary consumers), then to
carnivores (secondary consumers) and so on.
● Saprophytic or Detritus food chain (DFC) – In this type of food chain, the dead organic matter
occupies the lowermost level of the food chain, followed by the decomposers and so on.
● Parasitic food chain (PFC) – In this type of food chain, large organisms either the producer or the
consumer is exploited and therefore the food passes to the smaller organism.
Q.3 Make a chart of population growth of Pakistan from 2010 to 2022. Also comment on its
expenditures and impact on population studies.
The word ‘Demography’ is a combination of two Greek words, ‘Demos’ meaning people and ‘Graphy’ meaning
science. Thus demography is the science of people. In the middle of the nineteenth century in 1855, the word
‘Demography’ was first used by a French writer Achille Guillard.
Even though, the term “Population Studies” is more popular, the word ‘Demography’ is under wider use these
days. It is considered an important subject capable of throwing light on the nature of population education.
Since antiquity a number of thinkers have expressed their views on the level of economic development and the
size of population. During the time of Confucius, many Chinese and Greek writers, and following them
Aristotle, Plato and Kautilya (around the year 300 B.C.) have expressed their thoughts on the subject of
population. Thus, as a subject, population education is as old as human civilization.
Writers like William Peterson, Hauser and Duncan consider “Population Studies” and “Demography” to be
different. According to them, ‘Demography’ encompasses limited spheres and it studies only the decisive
factors of population growth, whereas in ‘Population Studies’ besides the social, economic, geographical,
political and biological aspects of population, their ensuing relationships are also studied.
Definitions of Demography:
The term demography has been defined both in a narrow and broad sense.
The Oxford Dictionary of Economics defines demography as “The study of the characteristics of human
populations.” According to the UN Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, “Demography is the scientific study
of human populations, primarily with respect to their size, their structure and their development.”
To Barckley, “The numerical portrayal of human population is known as demography.” Similarly, according to
Thomson and Lewis, “The population student is interested in population’s size, composition and distribution;
and in changes in these aspects through time and causes of these changes.”
All these definitions take a narrow view because they emphasise only the quantitative aspects of demography.
Some other writers have defined demography in wide sense by taking the quantitative and qualitative aspects of
population studies.

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In this context, according to Hauser and Duncan, “Demography is the study of size, territorial distribution and
composition of population, changes therein, and the components of such changes, which may be identified as
natality, mortality, territorial movement (migration), and social mobility (change of status).”
According to Frank Lorimer, “In broad sense, demography includes both demographic analysis and population
studies. A broad study of demography studies both qualitative and quantitative aspects of population.”
Thus, according to Donald J. Bougue, “Demography is a statistical and mathematical study of the size,
composition, spatial distribution of human population, and of changes overtime in these aspects through the
operation of the five processes of fertility, mortality, marriage, migration and social mobility. Although it
maintains a continuous descriptive and comparative analysis of trends, in each of these processes and in its net
result, its long run goal is to develop a body of theory to explain the events that it charts and compares. ”
These broad definitions take into view not only the size, composition and distribution of population and changes
in them in the long run but also imply human migration and change in the status of population through
education, employment, social status, etc.
Scope of Demography:
The scope of demography is very wide. It includes the subject matter of demography, is it a micro or macro
study? Whether it is a science or art? These are vexed questions about the scope of demography about which
there is no unanimity among writers on demography. We discuss them as under:
1. Subject Matter of Demography:
The subject matter of demography has become very vast in recent years.
The study of demography encompasses the following:
a. Size and Shape of Population:
Generally, the size of population means the total number of persons usually residing in a definite area at a
definite time. The size and shape of population of any region, state or nation are changeable. It is because every
country has its own unique customs, specialities, social-economic conditions, cultural atmosphere, moral
values, and different standards for acceptance of artificial means of family planning and availability of health
facilities, etc.
All these factors affect the size and shape of the population and if these factors are studied with reference to any
area under demography, we can clearly understand the role they play in determining the shape and size of the
population.
b. Aspects Related to Birth Rate and Death Rate:
Birth rate and death rate are the decisive factors that influence the size and shape of the population and therefore
their importance in population studies is crucial. In addition to these, factors like marriage rate, belief regarding
social status and marriage, age of marriage, orthodox customs related to marriage, early marriage and its effects
on the health of the mother and the child, child infanticide rate, maternal death, still birth, resistance power,

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level of medical services, availability of nutritious food, purchasing power of the people, etc. also affect the
birth and death rate.
c. Composition and Density of Population:
In the subject matter of demography, the study of composition and density of population is important. In the
composition of population factors like the sex ratio, race wise and age- group wise size of population, the ratio
of rural and urban population, distribution of population according to religion and language, occupational
distribution of population, agricultural and industrial structure and per sq. km. density of population are very
important.
With this type of information regarding the possibilities of development in that particular area, social-economic
problems of the area, problems created due to increase in urban population, and density of population form part
of population studies.
Socio-Economic Problems:
Out of the many problems relating to population growth, the effects of high density due to industrialization in
the urban areas are of more importance as they affect the socio-economic life of the people. Problems like slum
areas, polluted air and water, crime, addiction to liquor, juvenile delinquency, and prostitution, are also
important subjects of study in demography.
Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects:
Along with the quantitative problems of population, the qualitative problems also form part of population
studies. Moreover, the study of demography includes the availability of physicians in the total population,
number of hospitals, the number of beds in hospitals, expectation of life at birth, daily availability of minimum
calories, resistance power, advertisement of family planning programme and its development, the changes
brought in the attitudes of people regarding child birth and adequate medical facility for delivery, etc.

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Q.4 Bing a citizens of Pakistan, what do you think about your responsibilities for the protection of
environment? Describe your efforts which you take for the same. Elaborate the scientific methods of
research in population education.
In 1997, the government enacted the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act to safeguard, conserve, rehabilitate
and improve the environment of the country through sustainable development measures such as pollution
control. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Council, which was first established in 1984, was also
reconstituted following the enactment of the 1997 legislation. Its main function is to supervise the
implementation of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act. 
Here are a few more agencies that deal with the ecological problems of Pakistan. 
● Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency
● Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (formerly known as ENERCON) 
● Pakistan Forest Institute
● National Council for Conservation of Wildlife
● The Zoological Survey Department of Pakistan
● Akhtar Hameed Khan National Centre for Rural Development & Municipal Administration
KEY ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN PAKISTAN
Pakistan is an agricultural country as nearly 60% of its overall population resides in rural areas with little to no
access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities. Owing to the growing population, expansion of the
economic sector, unplanned urbanization, poor waste management system, and a number of other factors, the
environmental problems in Pakistan are getting worse with each passing year.
Let’s take an in-depth look at some of the most serious environmental issues in Pakistan and discuss possible
solutions to tackle these growing threats.
Deforestation refers to the loss of forest areas that occurs when humans cut down trees to obtain wood and fuel
but do not replant them. Urbanization, growing population, and rapid expansion of cities are also among the
leading causes of deforestation in Pakistan. 
Apart from destroying the natural beauty of the land, cutting down forests also has a huge impact on the
ecosystem as it affects countless wildlife habitats. Unfortunately, with more and more rural areas converting
into urban centres, Pakistan has a high deforestation rate. Moreover, due to lack of resources and poverty, many
rely on timber from trees to keep them warm during the winter months or build homes.
Nevertheless, whatever the reason may be, one can’t argue against deforestation being a huge threat to our
environment. 

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Solution
The solution for this environmental issue is pretty clear: we need to plant more trees and conserve our
remaining forests. Luckily, the government has launched multiple tree plantation drives in Pakistan over the
past years to overcome this problem.
Furthermore, Pakistan already has a huge man-made forest in Punjab known as Changa Manga. Other than that,
the One Billion Trees initiative undertaken by the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also a noteworthy
achievement in this regard. It is also worth mentioning that going paperless can play a huge role in curbing
deforestation in Pakistan. 
If you’ve suffered through the winter smog in Lahore and other big cities, you would agree that Pakistan is
going through an air pollution crisis. 
Air pollution can be defined as the presence of toxic solid and liquid particles in the air along with certain gases
that are harmful to the environment. This type of pollution is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels for
transportation and the production of electricity. The black smoke that you see coming out of vehicles on the
road and out of factories in the industrial areas are all leading causes of air pollution in Pakistan.
Lack of rainfall and low wind speed have also exacerbated the issue in some parts of the country.
Solution
One of the most efficient ways to deal with air pollution in Pakistan is to plant more trees. In addition,
concerned authorities must take action to reduce the number of diesel vehicles that emit excessive carbon in the
air. The high content of lead in petrol is also an important issue that needs immediate attention, as inhaling
smoke from vehicles can result in a high concentration of lead in the blood of children and adults. The local
assembling of electric vehicles in Pakistan could play a crucial role in saving our environment from greenhouse
gas emissions.
On a personal level, you can help solve this environmental issue in Pakistan by reducing the number of trips you
take in your car or, if possible, riding a bicycle instead. People who live in the northern areas of the country can
also try and minimise their use of firewood. Similarly, the use of wood stoves must also be reduced.
Furthermore, we should ban the somewhat common practice of burning leaves and garbage along with other
materials to help protect the environment in Pakistan.
Water pollution is caused when toxic substances such as chemicals, waste, and certain microorganisms
contaminate a body of water, rendering it harmful for human use or consumption. Drinking from polluted
streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds, or using its water to bathe or cook, can be extremely harmful to one’s health. 
The reasons behind water pollution could be a poor sewage system, throwing chemical wastage from factories
into the ocean, and an increase in litter, especially plastic. Given that Pakistan is an agricultural country with an
arid climate, water pollution is also harming our crops and land. This is also one of the main reasons why a
large chunk of the population does not have access to clean drinking water. 
To sum it up, water pollution in Pakistan is considered a huge risk to public health. 

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Solution
One of the best ways to counter this environmental problem in Pakistan is to set up a proper sewage treatment
and management system. The agricultural sector of the country also needs to reduce its use of pesticides and
fertilizers, as these harmful chemicals can easily find their way to water bodies and lead to pollution.
More importantly, the government must take steps to ban individuals and companies from disposing of their
waste and rubbish into lakes, rivers, and oceans. 
Like most developing countries, land pollution is a serious environmental issue in Pakistan.
Annually, the country generates approximately 48.5 million tons of solid waste with a 2% increase each year.
Since we don’t have a proper waste disposal system, most of it is either burned, which causes air pollution or
buried on vacant land, causing soil erosion. Moreover, the rest of the waste is just dumped on empty lots,
damaging the environment and leading to land pollution.
Urbanization and the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides are also some of the major causes of land
pollution in Pakistan. 
Solution
You can minimize land pollution by adopting a zero-waste lifestyle and reducing your use of plastic. In fact,
authorities in Pakistan recently proposed a ban on plastic bags in order to actively fight against plastic pollution.
Other ways to help tackle this ecological problem of Pakistan include recycling and reusing things, buying
organic products, and avoiding using harsh chemicals such as industrial cleaners and bleach solutions.
Since we ourselves are responsible for protecting our environment, please check out our guide on how to keep
Pakistan clean and green. Furthermore, Karachi Cleanliness Drive is a great example of how we must take steps
to deal with these environmental issues in Pakistan.
Before we discuss global warming in Pakistan, let’s first establish that the terms global warming and climate
change are not interchangeable. However, it’s a common mistake that most people make.
To further clarify, global warming refers to the long-term warming of the planet due to pollution, whereas
climate change is a broad phenomenon referring to abnormal variations to the Earth’s climate. To put it simply,
one can say that global warming is a symptom of climate change.
Now, unfortunately, Pakistan is one of the biggest victims of global warming in the world. The heatwaves and
cold snaps that we have been suffering for the past several years are all due to increased global warming. The
main reason behind this is the emission of fossil fuels. However, it is definitely not the only culprit.
Solution
If we want to help protect the ozone layer from depleting at such a quick pace and help reduce the size of our
carbon footprint on the Earth, we should consider adopting a sustainable and minimal-waste lifestyle. It will
help minimize our impact on the planet’s natural resources and ensure a high quality of life for our future
generations.
Furthermore, apart from being environment-friendly, it is also extremely healthy.

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So, do you have any suggestions regarding environmental issues in Pakistan? If yes, please feel free to share
your thoughts and comments with us by dropping an email at blog@zameen.com. Meanwhile, for more
information regarding environmental problems and tips on how to solve them, stay tuned to Zameen Blog –
a leading lifestyle blog striving for a cleaner and greener Pakistan.
Q.5 What are the different steps of research while conducting a research studies in population
education? Prepare a research plan on any topic of population education.
Scientific research involves a systematic process that focuses on being objective and gathering a multitude of
information for analysis so that the researcher can come to a conclusion. This process is used in all research and
evaluation projects, regardless of the research method (scientific method of inquiry, evaluation research, or
action research). The process focuses on testing hunches or ideas in a park and recreation setting through a
systematic process. In this process, the study is documented in such a way that another individual can conduct
the same study again. This is referred to as replicating the study. Any research done without documenting the
study so that others can review the process and results is not an investigation using the scientific research
process. The scientific research process is a multiple-step process where the steps are interlinked with the other
steps in the process. If changes are made in one step of the process, the researcher must review all the other
steps to ensure that the changes are reflected throughout the process. Parks and recreation professionals are
often involved in conducting research or evaluation projects within the agency. These professionals need to
understand the eight steps of the research process as they apply to conducting a study. Table 2.4 lists the steps
of the research process and provides an example of each step for a sample research study.
Step 1: Identify the Problem
The first step in the process is to identify a problem or develop a research question. The research problem may
be something the agency identifies as a problem, some knowledge or information that is needed by the agency,
or the desire to identify a recreation trend nationally. In the example in table 2.4, the problem that the agency
has identified is childhood obesity, which is a local problem and concern within the community. This serves as
the focus of the study.
Step 2: Review the Literature
Now that the problem has been identified, the researcher must learn more about the topic under investigation.
To do this, the researcher must review the literature related to the research problem. This step provides
foundational knowledge about the problem area. The review of literature also educates the researcher about
what studies have been conducted in the past, how these studies were conducted, and the conclusions in the
problem area. In the obesity study, the review of literature enables the programmer to discover horrifying
statistics related to the long-term effects of childhood obesity in terms of health issues, death rates, and
projected medical costs. In addition, the programmer finds several articles and information from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention that describe the benefits of walking 10,000 steps a day. The information

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discovered during this step helps the programmer fully understand the magnitude of the problem, recognize the
future consequences of obesity, and identify a strategy to combat obesity (i.e., walking).
Step 3: Clarify the Problem
Many times the initial problem identified in the first step of the process is too large or broad in scope. In step 3
of the process, the researcher clarifies the problem and narrows the scope of the study. This can only be done
after the literature has been reviewed. The knowledge gained through the review of literature guides the
researcher in clarifying and narrowing the research project. In the example, the programmer has identified
childhood obesity as the problem and the purpose of the study. This topic is very broad and could be studied
based on genetics, family environment, diet, exercise, self-confidence, leisure activities, or health issues. All of
these areas cannot be investigated in a single study; therefore, the problem and purpose of the study must be
more clearly defined. The programmer has decided that the purpose of the study is to determine if walking
10,000 steps a day for three days a week will improve the individual's health. This purpose is more narrowly
focused and researchable than the original problem.
Step 4: Clearly Define Terms and Concepts
Terms and concepts are words or phrases used in the purpose statement of the study or the description of the
study. These items need to be specifically defined as they apply to the study. Terms or concepts often have
different definitions depending on who is reading the study. To minimize confusion about what the terms and
phrases mean, the researcher must specifically define them for the study. In the obesity study, the concept of
“individual's health” can be defined in hundreds of ways, such as physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual
health. For this study, the individual's health is defined as physical health. The concept of physical health may
also be defined and measured in many ways. In this case, the programmer decides to more narrowly define
“individual health” to refer to the areas of weight, percentage of body fat, and cholesterol. By defining the terms
or concepts more narrowly, the scope of the study is more manageable for the programmer, making it easier to
collect the necessary data for the study. This also makes the concepts more understandable to the reader.
Step 5: Define the Population
Research projects can focus on a specific group of people, facilities, park development, employee evaluations,
programs, financial status, marketing efforts, or the integration of technology into the operations. For example,
if a researcher wants to examine a specific group of people in the community, the study could examine a
specific age group, males or females, people living in a specific geographic area, or a specific ethnic group.
Literally thousands of options are available to the researcher to specifically identify the group to study. The
research problem and the purpose of the study assist the researcher in identifying the group to involve in the
study. In research terms, the group to involve in the study is always called the population. Defining the
population assists the researcher in several ways. First, it narrows the scope of the study from a very large
population to one that is manageable. Second, the population identifies the group that the researcher's efforts
will be focused on within the study. This helps ensure that the researcher stays on the right path during the

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study. Finally, by defining the population, the researcher identifies the group that the results will apply to at the
conclusion of the study. In the example in table 2.4, the programmer has identified the population of the study
as children ages 10 to 12 years. This narrower population makes the study more manageable in terms of time
and resources.
Step 6: Develop the Instrumentation Plan
The plan for the study is referred to as the instrumentation plan. The instrumentation plan serves as the road
map for the entire study, specifying who will participate in the study; how, when, and where data will be
collected; and the content of the program. This plan is composed of numerous decisions and considerations that
are addressed in chapter 8 of this text. In the obesity study, the researcher has decided to have the children
participate in a walking program for six months. The group of participants is called the sample, which is a
smaller group selected from the population specified for the study. The study cannot possibly include every 10-
to 12-year-old child in the community, so a smaller group is used to represent the population. The researcher
develops the plan for the walking program, indicating what data will be collected, when and how the data will
be collected, who will collect the data, and how the data will be analyzed. The instrumentation plan specifies all
the steps that must be completed for the study. This ensures that the programmer has carefully thought through
all these decisions and that she provides a step-by-step plan to be followed in the study.
Step 7: Collect Data
Once the instrumentation plan is completed, the actual study begins with the collection of data. The collection
of data is a critical step in providing the information needed to answer the research question. Every study
includes the collection of some type of data—whether it is from the literature or from subjects—to answer the
research question. Data can be collected in the form of words on a survey, with a questionnaire, through
observations, or from the literature. In the obesity study, the programmers will be collecting data on the defined
variables: weight, percentage of body fat, cholesterol levels, and the number of days the person walked a total
of 10,000 steps during the class.
The researcher collects these data at the first session and at the last session of the program. These two sets of
data are necessary to determine the effect of the walking program on weight, body fat, and cholesterol level.
Once the data are collected on the variables, the researcher is ready to move to the final step of the process,
which is the data analysis.
Step 8: Analyze the Data
All the time, effort, and resources dedicated to steps 1 through 7 of the research process culminate in this final
step. The researcher finally has data to analyze so that the research question can be answered. In the
instrumentation plan, the researcher specified how the data will be analyzed. The researcher now analyzes the
data according to the plan. The results of this analysis are then reviewed and summarized in a manner directly
related to the research questions. In the obesity study, the researcher compares the measurements of weight,
percentage of body fat, and cholesterol that were taken at the first meeting of the subjects to the measurements

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of the same variables at the final program session. These two sets of data will be analyzed to determine if there
was a difference between the first measurement and the second measurement for each individual in the
program. Then, the data will be analyzed to determine if the differences are statistically significant. If the
differences are statistically significant, the study validates the theory that was the focus of the study. The results
of the study also provide valuable information about one strategy to combat childhood obesity in the
community.
As you have probably concluded, conducting studies using the eight steps of the scientific research process
requires you to dedicate time and effort to the planning process. You cannot conduct a study using the scientific
research process when time is limited or the study is done at the last minute. Researchers who do this conduct
studies that result in either false conclusions or conclusions that are not of any value to the organization.

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