Presentation 3 - Instrumentation

Presentation 3 which took place on 12/8/10 had been conducted by Norlela, Zubaidah and Roslina. The presentation was again, quite heavy but very informative.

Thanks to Ela, Kak Zu and also Ros who have been very patient with us.

To view the slides, click here.

Summary...

Instrumentation is a process of a preparation of a researcher in collecting data for their research. Data is information that is gathered by a person who intends to conduct a research. Data consists of demographic information eg. gender, age, occupation, etc. Apart from that, interviews outcome, responses from respondents are also called data.

Validity of data means the data could be accounted for and defended in terms of inferences. As for reliability, it means the researcher has reliable instruments which produced result that is consistent to be used by the researcher. Objectivity is needed in conducting a research and researcher should avoid subjectivity from his or her judgement.

Types of instruments include rating scales, interview schedules, observation forms, tally sheets, flowcharts, performance checklists, anecdotal records, and time-an-motion logs. Respondents would complete questionnaires, self checklists, attitude scales, personality inventories, etc. Written-response instruments are all kind of written responses from respondent ie. multiple choice, true / false, short answer, etc. Performance instruments are more towards devices designed to measure procedures or products.

A raw score is the initial score and a derived score is a raw score which had been translated into a meaningful score.

There are four types of measurement scales which are nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Nominal scale uses number to indicate membership in a category, ordinal scale uses numbers to rank scores, interval scale uses numbers in representing equal intervals in various groups and ratio scales uses numbers to represent equal distances from one point.



Summary some more...
Four roles that observer can play:-
• Participant observation – researcher takes part in the study
• Non-participant observation – researcher only observes the group
• Naturalistic observation – observing individuals naturally ie. the researcher records all data that he observes without leaving anything or manipulating the data.
• Simulation – the researcher instructs the subject what to do but not how to do to observe the subjects’ acts and actions towards his instruction

Observer can give impacts towards the observations indirectly as by being in the area observed, they might affect the way the subject reacts towards the situation.

Observer bias may takes place when the researcher choose the outcome or findings based on what they see or hear and listen.

Another method to collect data in qualitative research is interviewing selected individuals. There are four types of interviews as follows:-
• Structured interview ] – verbal questionnaires
• Semistructured interview ] and formal
• Informal interview – less formal interviews compared to structured or semistructured
• Retrospective interview – can be either the above interview types. The subject has to recall and reconstruct their memory on something happened in the past.

There are six basic types of questions asked to respondents as follows:-
• Background / Demographic – background of the respondent
• Knowledge – info that the respondent has on certain issue (more on the issue of the research
• Experience / Behaviour – info on experience that the respondent had previously
• Opinion – questions are directed to what respondent think on certain issues
• Feelings – concerns on how respondent feel about certain issues
• Sensory – focus on what the respondent has sensed – seen tasted, smelled, touched.