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7400.685-080 -
Research Methods in FCS
School of Family and Consumer
Sciences
http://www3.uakron.edu/witt/rmfcs/rmfcs.htm
Spring
Semesters - Tuesday Evenings
5:20-7:55pm in 209
Schrank Hall South
Instructor: David D. Witt,
Ph.D.
Types of Research in FCS & Sampling Techniques
Family and Consumer Sciences covers a lot of territory. A department such as ours is really like a small university with topics of study from each of our divisions. As previously mentioned Food science deals with the practical science of food production and preservation, Nutrition and Dietetics takes into account our internal environment (our bodies) in which the cultural as well as the biological processes of nutrition and food production ultimately take place. Clothing and Textiles is the specialization that deals with a sort of portable environment (our garmets) in terms of its effeciency and qualities as well as its production, care, fashionability, commercial appeal, and uniqueness. Interior Designers detail a less portable but no less personal aspect of the spatial environment, concerning themselves with personal issues such as territoriality, adaptation to the space. Family and Child Developmentalists are concerned with the quality of the environments in which children and families work and grow. Child Life Specialists are indeed specialized in their concern for the medical care of children and the impact a child's illness has on the family. Studies of interest in each area are listed here. Some of the listings are published research, some are the major papers of graduate students just like you. Each link below is "clickable" in .pdf format for your reading and edification.
This kind of variety suggests the
importance of types of observation, or the "kind" of research to be
done. Time for a story. On our last trip to New Orleans, we
noticed a man on his knees under one of those gas street lights. he was
carefully searching the ground under the light for something. As
we approached, I said, What are you
looking for? He replied, I
lost my keys back down this alley somewhere. I
asked, If you lost them down the
alley, why are you looking for them
here on the corner? He replied, "The light is so
much
better here."
Methodology teachers have a saying: Methodologies used to do research are dictated by the reality of observation if the researcher allows them to be. Perceiving the reality of the situation in which observations are made is the first step in allowing appropriate methodologies to bubble up to the surface of our powers of reason and logic. Seeing the reality of the situation requires thought, experience, and, more importantly, patience. Put another way, researchers never decide on methodologies as a first step in the process. This principle is true for just about everything in life, although we have to relearn it each time we try something new.
There are two broad categories of observations: Quantitative and Qualitative observations. Neither is preferrable to the other, and both have proven invaluable to the research interests in FCS. Qualitative observations describe in narrative and are usually observations made in depth on few subjects - case studies, ethnographies, historical and library-based research. Qualitative analysis usually, but not always, result in narrative, logical arguments that serve as analysis, much like investigative reporting, or a judge looking over evidence in a trial. Quantitative observations describe in numerical terms (how much of something, the thing's dimensions or features) - surveys, experiments, the quantification of qualitative data. Quantitative observations often result in statistical analysis. Observations can also be classified in terms of how much intrusion there is into the natural world under observation. Unobtrusive observations are those in which observations are concealed or hidden from the environment under observation - coding behavior from behind a one-way mirror, indirect and participant observations. Obtrusive observations are those in which the observations are made out in the open - surveys, questionnaires, interviews, experiments involving human respondents. From these two broad catagories, we can fall back on an old, useful friend - the two by two table, to help us see many of the possibilities for making observations - there can be four types: Quant/obtrusive, Quant/unobtrusive, Qual/obtrusive, and Qual/unobtrusive.:
Some of the best research will involve more than one type of observation, resulting in what researchers call "triangulation". If questionnaire based observations tell the researcher one thing, and indirect observations support that finding, the researcher has more faith that the results are real and true. Survey Research is probably the most often used method of observations, and includes self-report questionnaires and interviews. With self-report questionnaires a list of questions, scales, indexes are amassed into an attrative as possible booklet. Respondents are asked to complete the questions to the best of their ability. Here, the reading ability of the respondents has to be taken into consideration (a sample of uneducated or very young respondents wouldn't be able to complete a questionnaire). This limitation is overcome to some extent by having questions asked in person in the form of interviews. The advantage of using an interviewer is that the respondent can be directed (sometimes referred to as probing) to answer questions that they might find confusion. The survey research has the advantage of generating data sets with large sample sizes, and each observation is comparable to every other. Survey has the disadvantage of having to rely on the truthfulness of respondents. People can, and often do, lie. There are, however, steps that should be taken to increase the level of truthfulness. For example, to combat respondent fatigue and lack of truthfulness, the construction of the questionnaire should reflect a rhythm of light and serious questions, and the researcher should refrain from always asking questions in exactly the same format. Variation and variety in questionning will keep the respondents' attention. With survey research, concepts in the hypotheses are operationalized into question sets with each measure represented in question form. Later, during data analysis, the researcher can make statistical comparisons to test operational hypotheses and complete the research process with a discussion of findings. Here are three examples of successful surveys:
The Hawthorne Effect is where the participants or subjects in research projects, instead of acting naturally, try to please the researcher by giving her the results she is looking for. It is named after The GE corporation in Hawthorn, Ohio. It is also known as subject or response bias Single blind
control - is where the researcher or the
participant does not know the purpose of the experiment. When the
researcher is 'blind' this controls for the Rosenthal
Effect or
researcher bias; i.e. seeing what you want to see rather than what is
there. Hidden Direct Observations might come in the form of observers sitting behind one-way mirrors, or watching video images of behavior, or even eavesdropping on - the point is that the actors are unaware they are being observed. Aside from the obvious ethical considerations of invasion of individual privacy, direct observation has been a staple technique for as long as there has been behavioral sciences. Data gathering using D.O. requires multiple observers for each discrete behavior observed. Observers must be trained in exactly the same way, and should be given opportunity to practice making observations before officially beginning data collection. For these reasons, D.O. can be an expensive proposition. Issues of inter-rater reliability and data coding require extensive planning prior to starting research with this method. As a method of data collection, Participant Observation requires that the observer becomes part of the cultural or environmental landscape, attempting to achieve near complete immersion in the ecology under study. While objectivity is threatened (there is a good chance the participant observer will enter into relationships with subjects) and that the observer will contaminate observations by their very presence, there is an equal chance that data gathered will have a rich, first-hand feature that cannot be obtained through more invasive methodologies. For these reasons, and like all observational methods, participant observation is best coupled with other modes of data collection. The research presented here begain as a participant observational study and was continued over several years with library, internet and secondary source analysis. See Pet Burial in the United States, published in C. Bryant (Ed.) The Handbook of Death and Dying, Vol. II, Sage Publications. Secondary Analysis of Existing Data Sources can come in the form of examination of the historical record, including the perusal of manuscripts and existing documents and records, as in Historical research. Secondary Analysis also includes reusing existing quantitative data multiple times. Secondary analysis can serve as an additional method of observation which can add integrity to initial quantitative or qualitative findings. Secondary analysis can also be used in original research as well. In fact, while there is recent historical data being added to the record, we aren't generating any new ancient history, but this doesn't prevent historians from re-examining the record as their thinking evolves. Some of the most interesting research is done in the form of case studies and ethnographies, and sometimes done by untrained "researchers". Vance Packard (The Status Seekers) and Studs Terkle (Working) are just two non-researchers whose study of American culture received enormous success in the popular press. Ethnography is a method of studying and learning about a person or group of people. Typically, ethnography involves the study of a small group of subjects in their own environment. Rather than looking at a small set of variables and a large number of subjects ("the big picture"), the ethnographer attempts to get a detailed understanding of the circumstances of the few subjects being studied. Ethnographic accounts, then, are both descriptive and interpretive; descriptive, because detail is so crucial, and interpretive, because the ethnographer must determine the significance of what she observes without gathering broad, statistical information. Clifford Geertz, whose thoughts about culture are excerpted in the Other Important Definitions of Culture, is famous for coining the term "thick description" in discussing the methodology of the ethnographer. (http://www.wsu.edu:8001/vcwsu/commons/topics/culture/glossary/ethnography.html) Great resources on ethnography as a method of observation can be found at the American Folklife Center http://www.loc.gov/folklife/other.html Case studies are single person or single group analyses. From Prof. Garson's class notes, see http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/cases.htm Types of case studies. Jensen and Rodgers (2001: 237-239) set forth a typology of case studies, including these types:
Sampling
To
reiterate - the goals of scientific research - describing, explaining,
and predicting phenomena and behavior - are not possible without
beginning with a theoretical basis for those goals. Equally
important is the ability to generalize any findings of research back to
that theoretical base. The most critical aspect of any research
project in terms of generalizability is the selection of
respondents/subjects on which observations are made. Generally
speaking, sampling is the practice of selecting a portion of some
identifiable population on which to make observations. This
portion (sample) must be represenative of the larger population of
interest if the research is to legitimately draw conclusions from
sample responses.
The idea is to be able to say with some degree of certainly that findings hold true for some defined portion of the population. The next best alternative to observing every single person in a population, which would make generalization a "slam-dunk" (and is practically impossibile), is to draw a representative sample from the population on which generalizations are intended. For example, if a researcher was attempting to generalize about the purchasing habits of older teenagers, simply identifying a group of teenagers at the mall will not provide the representativeness required to lend credibility to any results of analysis. The research must consider as many as possible of the factors by which one sample of teenagers might differ from any other. This is where that all important theoretical basis informs the process.
Some things to keep in mind:
Sampling
Exercise "Are women satisfied in all
respects with their jobs?"
Explain how you would draw a sample that would be representative of all
women in Northeast Ohio. "How are employed women different from women who work at home?" 2. You are interested in high school athletes and body image - specifically, you want to compare the body images of high school athletes to those of non-athletes. Explain your sampling strategy. Why is representativeness less important here than in #1?
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