Methods of Collecting Data in Psychology - Assignment Example

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY It is often said that a school is a home away from home. It is where spend most of their time engaging not only in academic activities but in social and extracurricular ones as well. Furthermore, people generally perform better in an environment that they feel comfortable in. Thus, it is crucial that the experience students have in their academic institution is as pleasant as possible so that they will perform well in both their academic and non-academic undertakings. Correspondingly, it is important for an academic institution to know whether or not students have positive experiences while undertaking their education. As such, they must find out about the areas that students have trouble with in order for them to improve on these. The questionnaire used was provided by the instructor. In order to collect the required information, the researchers approached respondents, gathered their informed consent and then asked them to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was then adjusted to comply with validity and reliability issues. The questionnaire will measure students’ attitudes to university life, their experience of it and factors that may be important in determining this experience by using a five-point Likert scale which contains both positive and negative statements. The responses made by the sampled students will determine whether their attitudes and experiences are positive or negative. Before the final questionnaire is administered, however, reliability and validity tests were conducted on the questionnaire to ensure that it would be an accurate instrument in measuring the factors that the researcher wishes to explore. INTRODUCTION It is often said that a school is a student’s home away from home. It is where students spend most of their time engaging not only in academic activities but in social and extracurricular ones as well. Furthermore, people generally perform better in an environment that they feel comfortable in. Thus, it is crucial that the experience students have in their academic institution is as pleasant as possible so that they will perform well in both their academic and non-academic undertakings. Correspondingly, it is important for an academic institution to know whether or not students have positive experiences while undertaking their education. As such, they must find out about the areas that students have trouble with in order for them to improve on these. It is for these reasons that the researcher created a questionnaire that aims to measure students’ attitudes to university life, their experience of it and factors that may be important in determining this experience. More specifically, this questionnaire aims to explore such attitudes to the University of Hertfordshire. This questionnaire investigates the attitudes of students on the following aspects of an institution’s services: 1) teaching capabilities; 2) resources; 3) social life; 4) finance / accommodation; and, 5) support services. In particular, the questionnaire seeks to find out whether students have positive, neutral, or negative attitudes towards these academic services. Currently, no such questionnaire exists that would provide the data that this instrument wishes to measure. This questionnaire is thus vital in providing the University of Hertfordshire with the necessary information pertaining to these aspects. The information that will be gathered here may be used by the University in commending the people involved in the areas that students find admirable and in improving those that the students do not approve of. Through this questionnaire, the University will be provided with hard data to support their future plans for the services that they offer. The questionnaire will measure students’ attitudes to university life, their experience of it and factors that may be important in determining this experience by using a five-point Likert scale which contains both positive and negative statements. The responses made by the sampled students will determine whether their attitudes and experiences are positive or negative. Before the final questionnaire is administered, however, reliability and validity tests were conducted on the questionnaire to ensure that it would be an accurate instrument in measuring the factors that the researcher wishes to explore. METHOD Respondents The respondents who were chosen to be part of the study were picked using random sampling. Random sampling is a probability method employed to pick out respondents to a study. In random sampling, each item or element of the population has an equal probability of being chosen at each draw (Anderson, Sweeney, & Williams, 2009). Thus, a sample is considered random if the method for obtaining the sample meets the criterion of randomness, with each element having an equal chance at each draw. The actual composition of the sample itself does not determine whether or not it was a random sample. Table 1. Distribution of Respondents by Sex. Sex Frequency Percent Male 38 50.0 Female 38 50.0 Total 76 100.0 Table 2. Distribution of Respondents by Age. Age (in years) Frequency Percent 18 4 5.3 19 18 23.7 20 19 25.0 21 10 13.2 22 6 7.9 23 7 9.2 24 2 2.6 25 4 5.3 26 1 1.3 27 1 1.3 28 2 2.6 33 1 1.3 42 1 1.3 Total 76 100.0 Table 3. Distribution of Respondents by Year of Study. Year Of Study Frequency Percent Undergraduate Year 1 25 32.9 Undergraduate Year 2 22 28.9 Undergraduate Year 3 16 21.1 Undergraduate Year 4 3 3.9 Postgraduate 10 13.2 Total 76 100.0 Table 4. Distribution of Respondents by School of Study / Department. School of Study/Department Frequency Percent Art & Design 4 5.3 Business 3 3.9 Computer Science 3 3.9 Economics 1 1.3 Engineering 4 5.3 English 2 2.6 Environment Studies 1 1.3 Geography 1 1.3 Health and Human Science 4 5.3 History 2 2.6 Humanities 2 2.6 Journalism 1 1.3 Languages 1 1.3 Law 4 5.3 Life Sciences 9 11.8 Mathematics 2 2.6 Midwifery 2 2.6 MSc DDM 1 1.3 MSc Marketing 1 1.3 Nursing 3 3.9 Pharmacology 2 2.6 Pharmacy 2 2.6 Physics 2 2.6 Physiotherapy 2 2.6 Pre-sessional to MAS 2 2.6 Psychology 6 7.9 Social Science 1 1.3 No answer 8 10.5 Total 76 100.0 Table 5. Distribution of Respondents by Living Accommodations. Accommodation Frequency Percent On Campus (De Haviland) 7 9.2 On Campus (College Lane) 11 14.5 Off Campus (Hatfield) 26 34.2 Off Campus (Home) 32 42.1 Total 76 100.0 Materials The questionnaire used was provided by the instructor. In order to collect the required information, the researchers approached respondents, gathered their informed consent and then asked them to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was then adjusted to comply with validity and reliability issues. Materials The questionnaire used was provided by the instructor. In order to collect the required information, the researchers approached respondents, gathered their informed consent and then asked them to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was then adjusted to comply with validity and reliability issues. Procedure: The questionnaire used was provided by the instructor. In order to collect the required information, the researchers approached respondents, gathered their informed consent and then asked them to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was then adjusted to comply with validity and reliability issues. References Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D., & Williams, T. (2009). Statistics for Business and Economics. Mason, OH: Thomas Higher Education. Black, K. (2010). Business Statistics: Contemporary Decision Making. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Bluman, A. (2004). Elementary statistics: a step by step approach, 5th ed. McGraw-Hill. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Routledge. Grimett, G., & Stirzoker, D. (2001). Probability and random processes. Oxford University Press. Read More