Designing Research Tools

1. Designing Research Tools Dr. Farhat. R. Malik (Associate Professor) Community Health Sciences- P.M.C

2. Session Objectives At the end of this session the students will be able to; • Define research tools. • Classify different types of tools. • Describe criteria and guidelines in construction of tools. • Discuss the construction and administration of research tools. • Elaborate strengths & weaknesses research tools. Activity; • Design research tool for research projects

3. Recap

4. Data Collection Tools • Refers to the device used to collect data, such as a paper questionnaire or computer assisted interviewing system. • Methodologies used to identify information sources and collect information during an evaluation.

5. Questions while developing research tools? • What tools will you need to collect data? • Do some tools already exist that you can use as is? • Can you get samples of tools that you can adapt or simply use as a template for your own? • Who will collect the information—one of your own staff or people hired for this specific purpose as consultants or contractors?

6. Tools • What you need to know: numbers or stories • Where the data reside: environment, files, people • Resources and time available • Complexity of the data to be collected • Frequency of data collection • Intended forms of data analysis

7. Searching for Research Tools???? • Read professional journals. • Read Books. • Have a chat with other researchers. • Combine or adapt one or more tools used by others. • Develop one’s own research tool according to needs.

8. Quantitative Approach • Data in numerical form. • Data that can be precisely measured • age, cost, length, height, area, volume, weight, speed, time, and temperature • Harder to develop • Easier to analyze

9. Qualitative Approach • Data that deal with description • Data that can be observed or self-reported, but not always precisely measured • Less structured, easier to develop • Can provide “rich data” — detailed and widely applicable • Is challenging to analyze • Is labor intensive to collect • Usually generates longer reports

10. Characteristics of a Good Tool • Relevant. • Valid. • Reliable. • Credible.

11. Data Collection Tools • Participatory Method. • Records and Secondary data. • Observation. • Surveys. • Interviews • Focus Group Discussion. • Questionnaires

12. Guidelines for developing research instrument • The instrument be valid & reliable. • The content be appropriate to test hypothesis and answer the questions. • Must provide comparable data. • Free of bias and build in clues. • Can collect data that is reliable and authentic to answer his questions. • The tool should be constructed in a way that cheating is minimized.

13. 1- Participatory Method • Involve groups or communities heavily in data collection Examples: • Community Meetings. • Mapping. • Transect Walks.

14. 2- Records & Secondary Data • Files/records • Computer data bases • Industry or government reports • Other reports or prior evaluations • Census data and household survey data • Electronic mailing lists and discussion groups • Documents (budgets, organizational charts, policies and procedures, maps, monitoring reports) • Newspapers and television reports

15. 3- Observation See what is happening around; • Traffic patterns • Land use patterns • Layout of city and rural areas • Quality of housing • Condition of roads • Conditions of buildings • Who goes to a health clinic

16. Observation Method ADVANTAGES • Can produce large quantity of data • All data are usable. • Relatively inexpensive. • Subjects usually available and does not rely on his recall. • It can be started and stopped anytime with no skill. • These can be recorded at the time which reduces the bias DISADVANTAGES • Can not measure all type of data. • Time & resource intensive. • Participants and providers may behave differently when being observed. • If observers not trained may introduce biasness.

17. 4- Surveys & Interviews • Excellent for asking people about: perceptions, opinions, ideas • Less accurate for measuring behaviors • Sample should be representative of the whole • Big problem with response rates. • Precise & reliable data • Structured; • Precisely worded with a range of pre-determined responses that the respondent can select • Everyone asked exactly the same questions in exactly the same way, given exactly the same choices • Semi-structured; • Asks same general set of questions but answers to the questions are predominantly open-ended

18. Modes of Administration • Telephone surveys • Self-administered questionnaires distributed by mail, e-mail, or websites • Administered questionnaires, common in the development context • In development context, often issues of language and translation

19. 5- Interviews • Often semi-structured • Used to explore complex issues in depth • Forgiving of mistakes: unclear questions can be clarified during the interview and changed for subsequent interviews • Can provide evaluators with an intuitive sense of the situation

20. Challenges of Interviews • Can be expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming. • Selective hearing on the part of the interviewer may miss information that does not conform to pre-existing beliefs. • Cultural sensitivity: e.g., gender issues • Can not be generalized. • Data can be difficult to annalyze.

21. 6- Focus Groups • Type of qualitative research where small homogenous groups of people are brought together to informally discuss specific topics under the guidance of a moderator. • Purpose: to identify issues and themes, not just interesting information, and not “counts”

22. Focus Group Process

23. 7- Questionnaires List of questions to extract specific information from the respondents It serves four basic purposes: • Collect the appropriate data • Make data comparable and amenable to analysis • Minimize bias in formulating and asking question • To make questions engaging and varied

24. Steps in Questionnaire Construction • Preparation • Constructing the first draft • Self-evaluation • External evaluation • Revision • Pre-test or Pilot study • Revision • Second Pre-test if necessary • Preparing final Copy

25. Types of Questions • Factual questions; Personal data like age, education etc • Opinion and Attitude Question; Questions about belief, feelings, concepts • Information question; How and when subjects know about a given topic • Self – perception question; Self perception about a given issue. • Standard of action question; How respondents will act in certain circumstances. • Projective questions; • questions are used that allow respondents to answer inquiries in an indirect manner by imposing their personal feelings, attitudes, or beliefs on another person or group of persons.

26. Criteria for a good Questionnaire • Clarity of language. • Singleness of objective. • One to one correspondence. • Correct Grammar, Spelling & Construction.

27. Types of Questions Unstructured Question: Allow respondents to reply freely without having to select one of several provided responses. Structured Question: It specifies the respondents answer in a several provided options in a question.

28. Ways of Administrating a Questionnaire • Collective Administration: To obtain a captive audience such as students in classroom, people attending a function. • Administration in a public places: In a public place such as a shopping Center, health center, hospital, school or pub, it is dependent upon the type of study population . • The mailed questionnaire: (The most common approach) To send the questionnaire to prospective respondents by mail

29. Questionnaires MERITS • Relatively simple method. • Less time consuming. • Researcher gathers data from a wide sample DEMERITS • Responses lack depth. • Respondent may omit any item he chooses. • Some items may force the subject to select responses that are not his choice. • Printing can be costly if lengthy. • Some items may be understood. • Sample is limited to literate persons.

30. References • https://alaworkshopdata.wordpress.com/data-collection-tools/ • https://learningspacetoolkit.org/needs-assessment/data-gathering-tools-2/index.html • http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/images/cooperacao/formseminar_module8.ppt • https://www.slideshare.net/shahida20/tools-for-data-collection-75324132 • https://www.slideshare.net/priyansakthi/methods-of-data-collection-16037781

31. Activity • Develop a research instrument that can collect data for your research project.