Tools and Instruments in Research
- 2. TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS IN RESEARCH Presented by: Muhammad Sibghatullah ID No: PET07183004
- 3. RESEARCH TOOLS OR INSTRUMENTS Research tools or research instruments are the tools or instruments used to collect data for research purpose. There are several ways to collect data in several different types of methods in research. The most important thing is to choose the right tools for research according to our objectives.
- 4. HOW TO SELECT? Researcher need to keep in mind these questions to select our research tool. What is he really planning to find out? How is he going to observe the target population? What´s the best tool to observe certain variables or indicators?
- 5. QUESTIONNAIRE A questionnaire is a set of carefully selected and ordered questions prepared by an investigation to seek factual information from respondents or to find their opinion, attitude or interest. (Saadi, 2016)
- 6. BENEFITS There are many advantages of questionnaire but most prominent and basic factor is that researcher can reach a large number of people relatively easily and economically. Moreover questionnaire provides quantifiable answers that are relatively easy to analyse. Another important fact is that it consumes less time of researcher than interviews or observation.
- 7. TYPES There are some forms of questionnaire. Researcher can construct questions in the form of closed, open, pictorial and scale items. A researcher can use one type of questions or can use combination of them in questionnaire. The nature of the problem and character of the respondents determine which form will supply the desired data.
- 8. CLOSED FORM These types of questions usually have a prepared list of concrete questions and a list of possible answers. To indicate his answer a respondent simply replies with yes or no or with any alternative response from the list of answers. Yes No Do not know
- 9. OPEN FORM The open form or unrestricted type of questionnaire calls for a free response from respondent in his own words. This allows a clear and brief expression of thoughts from the respondent.
- 10. PICTORIAL FORM Some questionnaires present respondents with drawings and photographs rather than written statement from which to choose answers. This form of questionnaire is suitable tool for collecting data from children and adults with limited reading ability.
- 11. SCALE ITEMS A scale item is a question to which the respondent expresses his agreement or disagreement of various levels. Scale items have fixed alternatives and the respondent indicates where he stands on the scale. Following is an example. Strongly agree Agree Undecided or Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
- 12. INTERVIEWS It is face to face interpersonal situation in which researcher as an interviewer, ask the respondent or interviewee questions designed to obtain answers pertinent to the purpose of the research problems.
- 13. DIFFERENCE Questionnaire Method Interview Method 1. Data is gathered indirectly. 1. Data is gathered directly. 2. No face to face contact between two. 2. There is face to face contact between interviewer and interviewee. 3. Interviewer should have the general knowledge of the topic. 3. Skilful interviewer is needed. 4. Interviewee will hesitate than to write it. 4. Some confidential information can also be obtained 5. Researcher get written information only. 5. Researcher get written and oral both type of information.
- 14. OBSERVATION One of the most common methods for qualitative data collection, participant observation is also one of the most demanding. It requires that the researcher become a participant in the culture or context being observed. Participant observation often requires months or years of intensive work because the researcher needs to become accepted as a natural part of the culture in order to assure that the observations are of the natural phenomenon.
- 15. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY Validity refers to the degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure. While reliability is concerned with the accuracy of the actual measuring instrument or procedure. validity is concerned with the study's success at measuring what the researchers set out to measure. Researchers should be concerned with both external and internal validity.
- 16. External validity refers to the extent to which the results of a study are generalizable or transferable. Internal validity refers to the rigor with which the study was conducted (e.g., the study's design, the care taken to conduct measurements, and decisions concerning what was and wasn't measured).