Discussion board quantitive methds and analysis common assessment - Essay Example

Discussion board quantitative methods and analysis common assessment March 3, Discussion board quantitative methods and analysis common assessmentAs a member of the Family of Research Council who has been increasingly concerned about drug use by professional sports players, I designed and conducted a survey on people’s beliefs on the American culture’s influence on illegal drug use. I surveyed 2259 adults and adolescents around the country and bellow are the details about my survey.The type of survey usedI used telephone interviews for the survey.

The method involved initial contacts with the research participants for discussions on scope of the study and making appointment for the actual interview. Phone calls were then made to the participants at their convenient times and questions presented. Advantages and disadvantages of the survey usedThe method has many advantages and disadvantages. One of its advantages is its flexibility that allowed for data collection at research participants’ convenience. This could have also facilitated response rate.

Another advantage of the phone interview method is its speed in data collection relative to other methods such as written interviews because it offers instant response. Phone interviews are also cheaper than other methods because its cost is limited to phone call rates. Other advantages of the method are ability to record responses without negative implications on research participants, ability to explain research requirements to the interviewees, and eliminated need of research assistants (Kothari, 2004).

There are, however, challenges of limited time for data collection and limited scope of a study to individuals with phones. The method may also be restricted in geographical scope due to call rate factors. Phone interviews are also not suitable for interviews that require comprehensive responses and are susceptible to interviewer bias. The method may also dictate that interview questions are brief due to cost (Kothari, 2004).Types of scores used and rationale for useQualitative data was used for the study and the study’s objective informed the data type.

The study aimed at understanding people’s beliefs, which are subjective, and therefore require qualitative approach and measure (Kothari, 2004).Use of random samplingA random approach was used to select research participants subject to the inclusion criteria of being an adolescent or an adult. Sampling strategyStratified random sampling was used for recruiting research participants. The method involves identification of participants in groups with similar and distinguishing characteristics and then generating participants from each of the groups.

In the study, participants were grouped by counties and then by age groups, adolescents and adults. Samples were then dawn from each sub groups (Kothari, 2004). Rationale for the method for the type of dataThe method was used because of anticipated cultural differences across generations and across geographical regions. Stratification then ensures a representation sample because it recruits participants from all population segments (Kothari, 2004). Possible results if a convenience sample of adolescents had been usedUsing a convenience sampling that only consists of adolescents would yield biased opinions on perceptions on effects of American culture illegal drug use.

Cultural differences between adolescents and adults such as tolerance to drugs use and addiction to media and its products are some of the factors that would identify bias that would possibly defend the media (Kothari, 2004).ReferenceKothari, C. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Delhi: New Age International.