CHAPTER III

AED 615
Fall 2006
Dr. Franklin
Chapter Overview
• Chapter III is your thesis or project
“recipe”.
• You describe the steps you took to
conduct your research or designed your
project.
• How detailed should it be?
• The reader should have enough
information that he/she could replicate
your research with the same or similar
population and arrive at the same results.
Re-Introduce the Reader

• What is it again you are doing?

– Purpose statement
– Objective
– A paragraph or two.
• If the reader is interested in your
methodology, he/she does not have to go
back and forth through Chapter I to revisit
the purpose and objectives.
Operational Framework

• A visual representation of your steps to

complete your research.
• Construct a flow-chart with labels.
• Make it a “figure” for your document.
• Follow APA style for formatting a “figure”.
• Be sure to have a narrative of your
Operational Framework.
• Tell the reader what occurs at each step.
Methodology

• Type of research
• Design
• Population
• Sample & sampling
• Data gathering procedure
• Data analysis procedure
Type of Research of Project

• Descriptive
• Experimental
• Historical
• Qualititative
• Project (Curriculum design)
Design

• Survey
• Interrelationships studies
• Developmental studies
• Experimental studies
Surveys

• School surveys (ie. Teachers, students,

administrators, etc.)
• Job analysis
• Documentary analysis
• Public opinion surveys
• Community surveys
Interrelationships

• Case studies
• Causal comparative
• Correlational studies
Developmental Studies

• Growth studies
• Trend studies
• Model or system development
Experimental Studies

• True experimental designs

• Quasi-experimental designs
• Pre-experimental designs
Data Gathering Procedures

• Instrument development
• Instrument description
• Validity
• Reliability
• How will you get the information?
– Self-administered survey questionnaire
• Mailed
• On-line
• Ask in person
• Ask over the phone
Data Gathering Procedures
– Interview
• Face to face
• Open-ended
• Follow-up questions
– Observation (Ethnographic)
• Watching
• Listening
• Recording
• Non-participatory
Instrument Validation

• Does the instrument measure the

constructs we intend to measure?
• Is the instrument reliable?
– If we retest the subjects with the same
instrument over a period of time (with no
treatment in between), will they respond the
same?
– Is there inter-item reliability?
Instrument Validation

• Is the instrument valid?

• Does it measure what you want it to
measure?
Population

• Describe the subjects of your study.

• What characteristics do they share that
includes them in your population of
interest?
• Will you include all members of the
population in your study? (Census).
• What is the total number? (N)
Sampling
• Is the size of our population so big that a census
is too costly, or will take too much time?
• Sample the population
– Random
– Stratification
– Proportional
– Clusters
– Purposive
• Sample must be representative of the population
Response Rate

• How many participants responded to your

survey?
– Early vs late respondents
– Respondents vs non-respondents
– Controlling for non-response error
• Reporting your response rate
Data Analysis Procedures

• Statistical procedures (ie. use of SAS,

SPSS, or another analysis software
program)
• Descriptive
• Inferential
• Qualitative – transcription of interviews
(coding, categorizing, etc.)
• Use of specialized procedures