Research Instruments

What is a Research Instrument?

 Research Instruments are measurement tools (for example,

questionnaires or scales) designed to obtain data on a topic of
interest from research subjects.
 As a researcher you need to ent to use based on the type of study
you are conducting: quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method
 For instance, for a quantitative study, you may decide to use a
questionnaire, and for a qualitative study, you may choose to use a
scale.
Characteristics of Solid Research Instruments

 They must be valid and reliable (the same results occur repetitively).
 Use instruments that use a conceptual framework to do the job.
 The tools have to be able to gather the data that pertains to the research topic and they
should help you to test the hypothesis or answer the research questions being investigated.
 Ensure all tools withstand scrutiny of bias and are appropriate in the context in which you
are using them. Try to include tools that reflect the culture and diversity impacted by the
research.
 In your methodology section, include clear, concise directions on how to use any
uncommon instruments or instruments that are predominantly used in your field of study.
Types of Research Instruments

 Standardized Test Questionnaire

 Attitude Scale
 Checklists
 Rating Scale
 Semantic Differential
 Research Interview
 Observation
 Focused Group Discussion (FGD)
 Document Analysis
Standardized Test Questionnaire

 It is one that is written and administered so all

participants are asked the precisely the same
questions in an identical format and responses
recorded in a uniform manner.
 It increases the measures of reliability.
 Benefits of Using Standardized
Questionnaires

 Accuracy
 Quantification
 Scientific generalization
 Communication
 Comparisons
Attitude Scale

 Attitude scales provide a quantitative measurement of attitudes, opinions or values by

summarizing numerical scores given by researchers to people's responses to sets of
statements exploring dimensions of an underlying theme.
 According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary , it is a measure of the relative quantity of an
attitude possessed by an individual as contrasted with a reference group
 How to Create an Attitude Scale?

 Identify a research question related to attitude. Narrow the focus to a single, unidirectional
issue.
 Generate a series of agree-disagree statements about the subject that ask support the issue
to varying degrees. The more statements you come up with, the more useful your data will
be.
 Assign each statement a score of 1 to 5 based on how strong you believe the statement is. A
higher score indicates a more supportive position, while a lower score indicates a more
neutral position. You can score the questions yourself, but the risk of bias is lower if you
get consensus from a study group.
 If you’re working in a study group, have each member score how strong they believe the
statements are. Find the median score given to each question and then order your questions
in ascending order, with the questions with the lowest medians at the top.
Checklist

 Checklists are used to encourage or verify that a number of specific

lines of inquiry, steps, or actions are being taken, or have been
taken, by a researcher.
 A checklist is a simple instrument consisting prepared list of
expected items of performance or attributes, which are checked by a
researcher for their presence or absence.
Rating Scale

 Rating Scale is a device by which judgments may be

qualified or an opinion concerning a trait can be analyzed.
 Rating scale is a tool in which the one person simply
checks off another person’s level of performance.
Categories of a Rating Scale

 Ordinal Scale
 It is a scale the depicts the answer options in an ordered manner. The difference
between the two answer option may not be calculable but the answer options will
always be in a certain innate order. Parameters such as attitude or feedback can be
presented using an ordinal scale.
 Interval Scale
 It is a scale where not only is the order of the answer variables established but the
magnitude of difference between each answer variable is also calculable. Absolute or
true zero value is not present in an interval scale.
Types of Rating Scale

 Graphic Rating Scale

 Numerical Rating Scale
 Descriptive Rating Scale
 Comparative Rating Scale
Graphic Rating Scale

 Graphic rating scale indicates the answer options on a scale of 1-3,

1-5, etc.
 Respondents can select a particular option on a line or scale to
depict rating.
 This rating scale is often implemented by HR managers to conduct
employee evaluation.
 Likert Scale is a popular graphic rating scale example
Example of a Graphic Rating Scale
Numerical Rating Scale

 Numerical rating scale has numbers as answer options and not each number corresponds to
a characteristic or meaning.
 For instance, a Visual Analog Scale or a Semantic Differential Scale can be presented
using a numerical rating scale.
Descriptive Rating Scale

 In a descriptive rating scale, each answer option is

elaborately explained for the respondents. A
numerical value is not always related to the answer
options in the descriptive rating scale.
Comparative Rating Scale

 It involve the direct comparison of stimulus objects. Most often, the respondent is asked to
compare one brand, product, or feature against another. Comparative scale data must be
interpreted in relative terms and have only ordinal or rank order properties.
Uses of Rating Scale

 Gain relative information about a particular subject

 Compare and analyze data
 Measure one important product/service element
Advantages of Rating Scale

 Rating scale questions are easy to understand and implement.

 Offers a comparative analysis of quantitative data within the target sample for researchers
to make well-informed decisions.
 Using graphic rating scales, it is easy for researchers to create surveys as they consume the
least time to configure.
 Abundant information can be collected and analyzed using a rating scale.
 The analysis of answer received for rating scale questions is quick and less time-
consuming.
 Rating scale is often considered to a standard for collecting qualitative and quantitative
information for research.
Semantic Differential

 A semantic differential scale is a survey or questionnaire rating

scale that asks people to rate a product, company, brand, or any
'entity' within the frames of a multi-point rating option.
 These survey answering options are grammatically on opposite
adjectives at each end. For example, love-hate, satisfied-unsatisfied,
and likely to return-unlikely to return with intermediate options in
between.
Semantic differential scale examples &
question types
 Slider rating scale - Questions that feature a graphical slider give the respondent a more
interactive way to answer the semantic differential scale question.
 Non-slider rating scale - The non-slider question uses typical radio buttons for a more
traditional survey look and feel. Respondents are more used to answering.

 Satisfaction rating - The easiest and eye-catchy semantic differential scale questions are
the satisfaction rating questions.
 Open-ended questions - These questions give the users ample freedom to express their
emotions about your organization, products, or services.

 Ordering - The ordering questions offer the scope to rate the parameters that the
respondents feel are best or worst according to their personal experiences.
Advantages of semantic differential

 The semantic differential has outdone the other scales like the Likert scale in vitality,
rationality, or authenticity.
 It has an advantage in terms of language too. There are two polar adjectives for the factor to be
measured and a scale connecting both these polar.
 It is more advantageous than a Likert scale. The researcher declares a statement and expects
respondents to either agree or disagree with that.
 Respondents can express their opinions about the matter in hand more accurately and entirely
due to the polar options provided in the semantic differential.
 In other question types like the Likert scale, respondents have to indicate the level of
agreement or disagreement with the mentioned topic. The semantic differential scale offers
extremely opposite adjectives on each end of the range. The respondents can precisely explain
their feedback that researchers use for making accurate judgments from the survey.