Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY
Research Design

The Sample

The Instrument

Intervention

Data Collection Procedure

Plan for Data Analysis


Sample
A subgroup of the target
population that the researcher
plans to study for generalizing
about the target population.
Population and Sample
Getting a fraction to understand the whole
Target Population
A more advanced research process
A group of individuals with some
common defining characteristic that is to select individuals or schools
the researcher can identify and study
who are representative of the
population.
Population
a group of individuals who
have the same characteristic
 Sampling Techniques
Probability Sampling

SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING

Drawing randomly from a list of the population (e.g.: names from a hat, using a
matrix of random numbers). Taking every kth element in the
population as a sample, where
 Sampling Techniques
Probability Sampling

STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING

CLUSTER SAMPLING

a process in which certain

subgroups, or strata, are selected for the sample in the same proportion as they The selection of groups, or
exist in the population clusters, of subjects rather than individuals
 Sampling Techniques
Non-Probability Sampling

3
QUOTA SAMPLING

The number of samples is decided by the researcher and

CONVENIENCE SAMPLING selection is also made out of availability of the
respondent.

is selecting a group of individuals who are

conveniently available
for study
 Sampling Techniques
Non-Probability Sampling

PURPOSIVE SAMPLING SNOWBALL SAMPLING

Using researcher’s judgment to select a sample that they believe, based

on prior information, will provide the data they need. One sample leads on to more of the same kind of
sample.
 The Instrument
The Key to Finding the Answers

A survey questionnaire is a commonly used

This refers to the questionnaire or data
1 gathering tool to be constructed,
type of instrument in research that lists
questions about a topic with spaces for
validated and administered. responses.

If researcher-made, it must be tested Yes/No Coding

2 for validity and reliability. Do you consider research to
be important?
I use my phone during
class.
___ 4 Always
Recognition ___ 3 Often
If adopted, the student should
3 indicate its description as to its items,
Which of the following do
you consider in buying a
___ 2 Seldom
___ 1 Never
phone?
scoring and qualification. ___ brand name Subjective
___ price How do you feel when you
The researcher must explain its parts,
4 and how the instrument will be
___ specs
___ others, please specify
leave your phone at home
accidentally.

validated. The instrument to be used Completion TYPES of

should be appended. When I hear my phone
ring, I QUESTIONS
_____________________
 TYPES OF INTERVIEW
1. Structured Interview
• This interview type only includes predetermined questions. The interviewer
prepares a set of questions to ask during the interview and strictly follows
them. There are no follow-up or on-the-spot questions. For example,
interviews with climate policy experts could contain the following questions:

What impact does climate change have on policy making?

How should policy makers prepare for this?

What knowledge is required for policy makers to legislate with climate change?

What other stakeholders should be regularly involved in the policy making process to
ensure that climate change is considered?
 TYPES OF INTERVIEW
2. Semi-structured Interview
The interviewee has predetermined questions in semi-structured interviews, however they are
accompanied by follow-up questions that arise during the interview. It is the best alternative if
you have some interests in a topic and speculations on which aspects of the topic are
interesting, however still would like to discover further through interviewees’ knowledge. It is
also easier for interviewees to be a part of semi-structured interviews as they are closer to real-
life conversations.

3. Unstructured Interview
In unstructured interviews, there are non or only a couple predetermined questions, but a topic
to discuss. This type is most frequently chosen during the early stages of research, or when the
interviewer doesn’t want to prime the interviewee with their questions.

Once you have decided that interviewing is the right method for your research, you should start
the sampling process which is choosing the right people to interview.
 Interview Sampling:
The first task is to figure out who to interview.

Usually the research question specifies the participants. For example, a research
question on the doctors’ perception of their working conditions naturally
suggests that doctors will make up the participant group. Following this example,
doctors are the “population” this study is based on. You can narrow this down to
“all doctors in my town”, or narrow it even further to “emergency room doctors
in southern Stockholm”.

After deciding on the population, the next task is to draw participants from this
population, which will be our “sample”.
 Interview Sampling:
How many people should be in your sample?
• Although there is no fixed answer to this question, there is a rule of thumb. As an interviewer,
once you start anticipating the answers you will get, and you don’t hear anything interesting
anymore, you should probably stop interviewing.

• Some knowledge on different sample types is also helpful to get through the sampling
question:
Convenience sampling, Purposive sampling, Quota sampling, snowball sampling

• You don’t need to choose only one method of sampling, but can mix and match, for
example using stratified sampling and snowballing methods.
 How do I get people to agree to be interviewed?
Any research interview should have a consent form which is an ethical way of interviewing. As a
comprehensive consent form this should include:

• Who you are

• The aim of your research
• What your research is about
• Why you are doing interviews
• How the interview data will be stored
• How the data and information collected will be used

Consent forms are given before starting the interviews, and inform the participants with the basic
information, their rights and privacy. As part of the research ethics, the form should explain when and how
participants can withdraw their data from the research, if they wish to, during and after the interview.
What kind of questions will give the most detailed data?
In a nutshell, the best questions are:

• Plain in language and easy to understand

• The ones asking only one question, rather than two or more
questions lumped into together
• Neutrally framed-not leading the interviewee in any direction
• Socially and culturally appropriate
• Logically ordered — one should lead to the other, and all of them
should be related to the main research question
What kind of questions will give the most detailed data?

Closed Questions
If a question can only have one single answer, then it is a closed question. For
example:

• Do you like working here?

• Do you use Google maps or Apple maps for navigation?

Closed questions are helpful if you are targeting an accurate and brief answer. They
can be used together with open-ended questions. However, using closed ended
questions frequently in an interview may hinder getting more detailed answers.
What kind of questions will give the most detailed data?

Open Questions
This is the most common type of question in the interviews as they generate
detailed and out-of-box answers. For example, asking:

• “How do you feel about working here” rather than saying “Do you like
working here?”
• “What do you think about donations to food banks” rather than saying “Do
you think donating to food banks is a good idea?”
• “What do you think /feel about the government’s aid?” rather than asking
“Do you think the government is helping enough?”

Questions formulated in this manner are likely to generate more diverse and
longer responses.
What kind of questions will give the most detailed data?

Leading Questions
Leading questions are the ones that lead your participant to one specific answer. These types of questions are
the ones a good interviewer should avoid. For example:

• Do you think Math is difficult?

• Shouldn’t teachers grade students more generously?

As part of a good preparation practice, one should notice the leading questions and rephrase them in
neutral ways:

• What do you think about the difficulty level of Math?

• Is there anything you would change in teachers’ grading schemes?
• These are neutrally worded versions of the exact same questions, however they are more likely to generate
unbiased and free opinion of the participants.
What kind of questions will give the most detailed data?

Single Questions
-interview questions that include only one point.

It is a common mistake by researchers to gather more than one question to ask at

once.

• “What do you think about the current government and why do you think that?”
is an example of two questions merged into one and asked back to back.

If you detect double questions in your questionnaire, you should split them into
two and ask one by one; “What do you think about the current government?” and
then follow with “Why do you think that?”
Top Tips for Preparation
• Once you prepare an interview questionnaire, make sure that the questions are
in logical order. Questions on similar topics should be placed together to help the
conversation flow naturally.

• Prepare some follow-up questions beforehand.

• You can prepare alternative ways of asking the same questions, in case the
concepts are not familiar to the interviewee.

• Start with more simple and straightforward questions as these will put the
interviewee at ease and kick start a natural conversation.

• Before you start interviewing, it is very beneficial to hold a mock or pilot

interview with friends or family. This pilot practice will make sure the questions
are understandable and give you a good practice.
During the Interview
• Consider the convenience of the interviewee and make them feel comfortable.

• The venue is important as it determines the noise level around.

• There are different alternatives for capturing the interview data. The most
traditional alternative is taking notes by hand. Although this alternative might be
the first one to come to mind, it is very inefficient, as an average person can only
write 30–35 words per minute while most people speak at a pace of 120 words.
Although some people can type faster than they take notes, it might distract you
from the interview process.
Top tips for interview process and recording
• Avoid noisy venues. Outside noise would disrupt the quality of the recording.
• Have a backup device. Either check if your device is recording or have a back up device.
• Try not to interrupt the interviewee and avoid two people talking at once. This is a mistake
usually occurring in the beginning of interviews until both parties get used to each others’ pace
of speaking. Although talking at the same time occurs naturally, it would decrease the recording
quality.
• Always ask for permission before recording. As part of the ethical way of doing research, do not
record without permission.
• Ask prompts to get more targeted information. Remember not to ask leading questions but ask
prompts; “What did you think when the event happened?” or “What was the effect of X on Y
event?” are example prompt questions.
• Use probes to get more elaboration on an answer. Probes are for when you don’t fully
understand the answer given. Example probes can be “Can you say a bit more about that?” or
“Could you give a few more details?”
HOW TO ANALYZE DATA
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Study how a qualitative analysis was
conducted in this sample.

Joy Ledesma Domingo-PhD-ELE

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This is now the Qualitative Finding/Report

Joy Ledesma Domingo-PhD-ELE

In a nutshell,you can do qualitative data analysis in this another example:

EXAMPLE: ​

RESEARCH QUESTION: HOW DO SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS

APPLY RESEARCH IN THEIR PRACTICE SETTING?​

Interview question:

“What are some possible ways in which you might use

research in your practice setting?
Joy Ledesma Domingo-PhD-ELE