Research Methods in Social Sciences - Term Paper Example

Research Methods in Social Sciences Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction A research in social sciences entails an academic activity that comprises of an organized search for pertinent data on a given subject. It is an intensive and focused search for knowledge and comprehension of social and physical occurrences. To ensure successful research, researchers use various methods to collect data. The selected data collection methods hold crucial effect on the findings and results of a given research. Selection of the most appropriate data collection method depends on the time and cost constraints, research objectives and availability of study sample. Sociologists commonly use survey model to study social behaviour and society. The survey research design involves three common data collection methods that include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The focus of this paper is on questionnaire. The paper details how I constructed and used a questionnaire to collect data on the effects of exercise on physical health. A questionnaire forms one of the data collection methods in social sciences. In research, a questionnaire entails an in instrument that consists of a series of questions as well as other prompts aimed at collecting information from a study sample. According to Hucker (2001), a questionnaire is one of the most popular data collection methods in a research. It helps in finding answers to questions for a research project. A questionnaire can be qualitative and quantitative depending on the temperament of questions. A qualitative questionnaire includes open-ended questions while a quantitative questionnaire comprises of close-ended questions. Qualitative questionnaires are typically used in exploratory or qualitative research while quantitative questionnaire are used in confirmatory or quantitative research. Designing an effective questionnaire is not easy. It calls for consideration of several factors that include the topic or the research problem. While designing the questionnaire to collect information about the effects of exercise on physical health, I used a lot of effort and time. I realised that designing an effective questionnaire entails much more than selecting what questions to include. Apparently, an effective questionnaire should focus on asking questions that are correct and relevant to the research topic as well as questions that match the research design (Wellington & Szczerbinksi, 2007). For instance, while researching the effects of exercise on physical health, I focused on collecting both exploratory and confirmatory information. As a result, my questionnaire entailed exploratory and confirmatory questions. The exploratory questions included open-ended questions that sought to underscore how exercises affect physical health. The questionnaire also included closed-ended questions that sought to confirm or quantify my hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between exercise and physical health of human beings. I used open-ended questions following my understanding that closed-ended questions limit the discussion an aspect that prevents a complete investigation of the respondents’ views concerning the effects of exercises on physical health. More so, closed-ended questions do not allow the researcher to access the thoughts and feelings of respondents towards the topic of study. It is important to note that unlike closed-ended questions, open-ended questions allow the respondents to adequately express their views and opinions. Through use of open-ended questions, participants are given an opportunity to reply to a question using their own views and words. The respondents are usually free to give their responses in a manner that is appropriate to them. However, the respondent must provide relevant information that is closely linked to the study topic. Open-ended questionnaires give participants the freedom of expressing their thoughts and opinions regarding the study topic. To ensure adequate data collection through the questionnaires, I made sure that there were enough spaces left in questionnaires. Besides, open-ended questions, the questionnaire also comprised of closed-ended questions or formal standardized questions. The questions had prompts listed under every question. I integrated both closed-ended and open-ended questions in order to adequately understand the thoughts and views of participants besides getting adequate comparability of responses. It is worth noting that in social research, most questionnaires employ a mixture of closed-ended and open-ended items. One advantage of integrating closed-ended and open-ended questions is to deal with the potential limitations linked to both types of questions. Questionnaires are effective in collection of relevant data (Wellington & Szczerbinksi, 2007). In this regard, the use of questionnaire facilitated a smooth research. While studying the effects of exercise on physical health, I realized that questionnaires are instrumental in data collection. This is because they simplify the topic thereby making it easier for respondents to understand. The questionnaire helped me in collecting reliable and valid data. It is through the data collected through the questionnaires that I was able to understand how exercise impacts people’s health. The questionnaires helped in collecting data that demonstrates the effectiveness of exercise on improving physical health. The association amid physical fitness especially muscle fitness and the general physical health was well expressed through the open-ended questions. In this perspective, questionnaires offer a broad response to a subject. However, I realized that, questionnaire do not provide much depth to the research topic compared to in-depth interviews. Nevertheless, I was able to conclude that exercise is a miracle that keeps people physically fit, hence good physical health. People who exercise regularly boost the functionality of their muscles, energy and sleep quality besides reducing the risk of psychological issues. The questionnaires helped me attain the objectives of the research study. The outlined objectives were attainable through the thoughts, views and opinions of people as highlighted in the questionnaires. From the study, I learnt that researching secondary source materials such as textbooks is essential. The review of secondary sources gives a researcher the basis on which to develop the questionnaire. The research topic guides researchers in the line of enquiry and helps in ensuring that they are clear about the objectives of the questionnaire. In order to collect relevant data, the questionnaire must be reliable and valid. This means that the questionnaire must be accurately focused and asks questions that are related to the topic. As a result, the sample frame of the questionnaire is essential. With respect to my research topic, the sample frame of my questionnaire included 100 people both young and old enrolled in physical fitness. I realized that providing well organized questions facilitates collection of valid data. This is because the questionnaire gives the respondents a prospect to elaborate on their answers through offering qualifications, motivations or justifications. The questionnaires provide rich information. However, sometimes not all participants are forthcoming with their ideas, as it requires more effort to write the responses. Questionnaires do not work with complex responses that involve motives and reasons, which cannot be easily converted to pre-coded questions. With pre-coded or closed-ended questions, I realized that care must be taken while constructing response categories. The categories must correspond to the question and must be mutually exclusive, appropriately labelled, exhaustive and balanced. I realized that data from well organized questionnaires is easy to analyze while well organized questionnaires are easy to complete. However, questionnaires are not particularly useful or appropriate when the researchers want to probe participants for explanations, motives, reasons and other intricate textual information. I realized that an effective question should be comparatively simple and short with logical sequence that moves from easy to intricate questions. The opening questions must be formulated in a way that arouses the interests of the respondents to provide further details. Relatively intricate questions that put so much strain on the intellect or memory of the respondents should be put towards the end of questionnaire. The questionnaire should not include personal questions while vague and technical terms should be avoided. The questionnaire should have adequate space that is aimed at helping in tabulation and editing and should have provisions for indications of uncertainty. Questionnaires that are used in social sciences should be aimed at generating grounded public knowledge and should be performed in a disciplined manner. The questionnaire as a data collection method is perfect for studying a phenomenon where people are aware of their behaviour. Questionnaire The Relationship between Exercise and Physical Health Physical health is crucial for the overall wellbeing of people. Physical health offers appropriate care to human bodies for optimal functioning and health. In addition, physical health promotes the balance of mental health, nutrition and physical activity to keep the body in good condition. Research demonstrates that regular exercise can help in reducing the risk of numerous diseases and health status besides promoting the overall quality of life. Regular exercise manages or prevents a broad range of health concerns and problems such as stroke, metabolic syndrome and cancer to mention but a few. A positive link between exercise and physical health has been suggested. However, this relationship has not yet been fully explicated. The objective of the questionnaire is to gather information on the effects of exercise on physical health. The respondents will be required to provide answers to the questions at the best of their knowledge. The questionnaire answers will be handled confidentially and used only for the purpose of research. The questionnaire is divided into two sections. Sections A contains biographical questions Section B, contains open-ended questions while section C contains close-ended questions. Kindly ensure that you provide all the answers as required. Section A: Biographical Questions 1. Please indicate your age (a) 18-35 [ ] (b) 36-50 [ ] (c) Over 50 [ ] 2. Please indicate your Gender (a) Male [ ] (b) Female [ ] Section B: Open-ended Questions 1. In your view, what is exercise? 2. How regular do you exercise and why do you exercise? 3. What are the effects of exercise on your physical health and wellbeing? 4. Do you believe that exercise can improve your overall physical health? 5. In your opinion, do you believe that certain health problems such cancer and stroke can be prevented or managed through physical exercise?. Please elaborate your answer 6. In your opinion, does exercise promote optimal functioning of your body? Please elaborate your answer 7. In your opinion, is physical exercise detrimental to health; does it cause harm to your vital organs such as the heart and lungs?. Drawing on your answer to this question, what are the benefits or costs of exercise on the vital organs? Section C: Closed-ended Questions Questions Strongly Agree Agree Moderately Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 1. Regular Exercise improves our physical and psychological wellbeing 2. Physical health is determined by physical fitness 3. Regular exercise is a predictor of good workability 4. The volume of exercise and good physical fitness is significantly liked to lower muscle pains and ill health 5. Physically active people are healthier than those who do not exercise regularly References References Hucker, K.(2001). Research methods in health, care and early years. UK: Heinemann. Wellington, J., & Szczerbinksi, M.(2007). Research methods for social sciences. UK: A & C Black. Read More