Materials shared here are adapted from W231 Canvas materials written by Julie Freeman and from the W231 Applied Research Project Booklet by Gail Bennett: Chapters 1-3 and Chapters 4-6

 

 

7.1 Local Study, Observation, Data Analysis:

Choosing your Primary Research Tool

Your team will complete a local study as part of the W231 experience. The team will first consider what information you haven't found yet that you need to know. You'll create your local study tool to generate that information.

 

• First, you'll determine your purpose: What data do we need?

• Then, you'll contemplate who can provide you with this material, and how you can get access to those people.

• Next, you'll find the best information-gathering tool to share with your target audience.

• After deciding on a tool, like Survey Monkey or Qualtrics, you'll each contribute questions or help shape the tool to gather data you need for your section of the analysis.

• One team member will build the tool, then duplicate it with a title that clarifies: test survey or prototype.

• All other team members will visit and complete the survey.

• The team will talk about revisions needed in the survey to get the data you need.

• Finally, the revised survey is ready to be disseminated to your target audience.

• After that, you'll each examine the results. Every team member will build at least one chart that analyzes (breaks down) what a dataset means in relation to your recommendation.

 

Do not proceed with the primary research until we have completed the library/electronic research phase of the project. All team members must be involved in the local study, primary research process. You must receive permission from an appropriate authority within your target audience and approval from your instructor before beginning primary research. I.e., the instructor [or teaching assistant] will review your survey (or other research instruments) and approve it before you proceed.

 

•    Be sure to read TEXTBOOK chapters on preparing for, structuring, and doing a study

•    View this short W231 PowerPoint: “Choosing Your Local Study Research Methods”  https://iu.box.com/s/lzxh0606fndp4obeav8yzbw5jw9cbfzp

•    As a team, complete the Engineering Process for Primary Research worksheet here https://iu.box.com/s/4x4nchi9d0xaci7qycxmic9eme0pn11f

•   Carefully read 7.2 [below] on research strategies before proceeding. Remember, in a hybrid class, you must take responsibility for some of your learning!

 

Choosing and Designing an Effective Research Tool

In this phase of the Applied Research Project/Recommendation Report, your team will choose and design a client-oriented, data collection research tool. After it is approved, you will conduct the research and tabulate the results. Your findings will help you develop recommendations for your target audience, and will, therefore, be an integral part of your team's recommendation report. W231 offers you an opportunity to learn and practice primary research skills in a limited way in order to lay a foundation for later work. Your data will not be (and is not expected to be) as statistically reliable as or commensurate with graduate level or professional research. The W231 primary research experience does, however, provide a framework to prepare you for future research experiences in your field.

 

QUICK ASIDE: Be Recommendation Oriented

 

Remember, your purpose is not to convince your client/target audience that there is a problem. Your purpose is to make specific recommendations that help the client address the problem. Do you hope to use the results of the survey to make recommendations on how to improve "the challenge" in general? Or to make recommendations to improve specific aspects of the challenge? Make your research tool goal oriented by being recommendation oriented.

 

Student Responsibilities for Ethical Research

University requirements and restrictions govern the conduct of primary research at all academic levels because research involves ethical and legal responsibilities. The rights of respondents must be respected at all times when gathering information. Research among populations that represent special risks are not acceptable for W231.

 

This means you should not conduct primary research among minors, prisoners, patients, or other at-risk individuals.

 

You are responsible for all information collected as a result of your projects.

 

Choosing a Tool: Four Choices

The goal of the primary research is to gather information to help your team develop recommendations, not just to confirm that the problem exists. Therefore, your choice of tool must arise directly from your research question and the type of information you need, so that your solutions address the needs of your target audience. It must also be quantitative since you need to be able to tabulate your results and show these results via meaningful charts and graphs. Your team will choose from one of these tools:

 

•    Survey by questionnaire

•    Controlled observation

•    Multiple interviews/focus groups

•    Collecting scattered data into a single report format & analyzing the data          

Your primary research tool must be used according to the criteria below. The tool should be achievable, which means that you need to be able to devise, conduct, tabulate, analyze, and graph the data within a short period of time—about 3 weeks.

 

All team members must be involved in the research process.

 

You must receive permission from an appropriate authority within your target audience and your instructor before beginning primary research. Please consult me on a regular basis and keep me updated on your progress.

 

Primary Research Steps:

Select and compose a primary research tool

 

REMINDER: Read the TEXTBOOK chapter/s on Research. Knowing best-practices for primary research is central to your team’s success.

 

Track down your textbook, blow off the dust, and read the chapters on doing a local study/primary research. Then, carefully read this TAB to learn more about your local study for the Recommendation Report. [This information is also available on Canvas]

 

1) As a team, decide what information is missing that you need to generate to support your recommendations.

2)  Choose your primary research method and collaborate using Google docs to draft and revise the tool. Drafting will take time and will require organization, input from others, and revision.

3)  Test the tool with a practice audience of peers, friends, or family.

4)  Get the tool approved by me before conducting the research. Do not begin research until your instructor approves your tool.

5)  After you have approval, conduct the research, using the tool, and tabulate the results.  

6)  Analyze, interpret, and apply the data to your research problem.

7)  Write the primary research findings analysis section of the recommendation report.

8)  Create several visuals (2 or more) that represent your most important conclusions.

 

(We'll go over "creating visual" in class after you gather information.)

 

Completing the tasks above will require a level of collaboration that may be difficult to achieve online. I encourage your team to schedule a face-to-face team meeting to work together on these important parts of the recommendation report. To help your team choose a primary research tool, respond to the questions below:

 

•    What kind of information does your team still need in order to be able to create recommendations for your target audience?

•    What types of strategies did the literature suggest that might be workable for your specific organization or business? What strategies do you think your team should “test out” through primary research? What sorts of recommendations would you anticipate being able to make as a result of these questions? (Focus mainly on the section you wrote.)

•    Who could provide the information described in #1 and #2 above? (Employees? Students? Organization members? Managers/supervisors at similar types of organizations or businesses in the Indianapolis area? Other?) Why do you think this would be a good group to survey/interview/etc.?

•    Which tool do you think would be most likely to help your team gather the information it needs through primary research? Why?

 

Primary Research Options

 

Survey by Questionnaire

 

Why choose this tool?

If you need information about a group of people so you can measure their opinions and describe them statistically, you should administer a questionnaire to a sample group that represents them. All but one or two of the questions must be closed-end questions. Be sure to read Showm on building questionnaires and types of questions/responses.

 

How do I use this tool?

Students typically "experiment" with the primary research tool in class with other teams, or with friends outside of class. Once the team verifies that the tool will provide the information they want in a format that is quantifiable, it's time to use it with your target audience.

 

Most teams distribute their questionnaires to a sample group of fifty or more people and collect them at the time of distribution; Wisdom Tooth did they when they attended a theatre production and handed out the survey, then collected them at intermission.  Teams that do not engage the target audiences in person often use Google Forms or Survey Monkey. Standard: 50 responses required.

 

STANDARD RESPONSE EXPECTATIONS: 50 Respondents, minimum.

The number of respondents depends on the size of the organization and/or the size of the survey population. Talk to me if you anticipate a problem with obtaining a sufficient number of completed questionnaires.

 

Building Your Questionaire

QUESTIONS MATTER/ Shape them carefully:

The way you shape your questions and responses will maximize your time and data collection, particularly since Survey Monkey will limit the number of questions you can ask.

 

EXAMPLE:

A team working with the Pacers wants to know about the fan base.

 

First Draft of two Questions:

Are you a Pacers fan?   ___ Yes   ___ No

How would you describe your fandom? ___ Hard Core Fan ___ Casual Fan ___ Not a Fan

 

Revised Question that combines these two data sets: (responses were collected at a Pacers game/ respondents could select more than one answer)

 

How would you describe your connection to the Pacers:

___ Hard Core Pacer Fan/ Season Ticket Holder

___ Every Game Pacer Fan/ I watch almost every game on TV or in person

___ Committed Pacer Fan/ I may not watch every game, but I love the Pacers, watch more than 5 games a season and have Pacer gear

___ NBA Fan/ I love pro basketball and enjoy watching the Pacers

___ Fan of the Fun/ I watch the Pacers sometimes and go to some games for the fun and excitement

___ Not a Fan/ attending the game on business or with friends

 

NOTICE that the team can learn much more about the fans and commitment levels by developing the questions and responses more strategically. In fact, adding descriptive moments beside "Hard Core Fan" and other options further clarifies what the team means by "Hard Core".

 

Also, in this case, there is no middle ground. Because there are six rather than seven responses, people are forced to see themselves as something other than "average" or in the middle. In some cases, this is exactly what you need to know.

 

In other cases, having an "average" can be helpful. The way you shape questions and responses, as well as the rationale behind the number of options you provide, are all important parts of designing survey questions.

 

Designing a Questionnaire

 

On occasion, your team needs information from a highly, select group. In these cases, you will follow the guidelines for using a questionnaire in W231, but the data pool expectation is reduced to 25 respondents.

 

Observation

 

Why choose this tool?

If you want to observe behavior or activity as it occurs naturally (and without interference from yourselves as researchers), you should use the observation method. How do I use this tool? You need to decide what events or activities to observe, and what specific behaviors or actions to assess. You will prepare an observation form to record the data observed. The data gathered can then be quantified and analyzed statistically.

 

Standard: A minimum of four hours of observation.

 

Interviews or Focus Groups

 

Why choose this tool?

Interviews allow you to gather in-depth information from key actors in a particular situation. This tool is usually not as representative as a survey, but it may be more detailed.

 

How do I use this tool?

Devise interview guides and conduct interviews with several people, asking them the same questions. Interviewees are typically members of the organization or workplace the project targets. While fewer interviews than questionnaires are required, this method is usually much more time-consuming than a survey.

 

You can interview people individually (which means you will conduct at least 6 interviews), or you can conduct an interview with a focus group.

 

If you decide to conduct an interview with a focus group, you will need to plan a meeting with a group of involved individuals, record the group’s session, and transcribe it to obtain factual information.

 

It can be difficult to obtain statistical data with this tool.

 

Standard: A minimum of ten interviews.

 

All team members must be involved in the research process. You must receive permission from an appropriate authority within your target audience and your instructor before beginning primary research. Please consult me on a regular basis to keep me updated on this process.

 

Collecting Data Into a Single/User-Friendly Format

 

Why choose this tool?

This tool will help you consolidate material for your client. In some instances, the client needs data that exists online, but there is no centralized way to access and evaluate that data. In this case, the team can create a graph or chart that puts a world of data into an easily understood, highly informative format.

 

How do I use this tool?

You can use this tool to show your client options, resources, or data sets. Think of this as organizing a world of data for the client—it’s the data version of spring cleaning.

For example, a local sheriff department wanted to know what non-lethal devices they could use. Students contacted five vendors/producers of non-lethal devices, sorted these by weapon class, then created a chart that compared attributes and prices.

A team working with a local veterinarian compiled a chart of online pet pharmaceutical companies who work with veterinarians to provide online prescription sales. The chart included opportunities to personalize web sales, comments on price variances (wholesale versus retail percentages), and mail options.

 

Standard: This is a very unique research approach. It is labor intensive in a very different way than surveys and observations.

 

The nature of the project will influence your outcomes. As a rule of thumb, you’ll review/collect a minimum of 100 "artifacts" of data to share. This does not mean 100 different original sources. It does mean a thorough sampling of original sources, then analysis of what each provides or has to offer the client.

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TOP SURVEY TOOLS

There are amazing, simple to use survey building tools. Search the internet to learn more, or click on this hyperlink to great options for 2022

https://surveysparrow.com/blog/online-survey-tools-and-apps/

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NUTS AND BOLTS: BUILDING THE SURVEY

TITLE-INTRODUCTION-QUESTIONS 

It is important to have contextualizing information for people you want to complete the survey. This context usually occurs in a paragraph below a clear title that comments on PURPOSE + CALL TO ACTION.

 

EVERY SURVEY needs a great title + a concise introductory paragraph.

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SURVEYS TO A GENERAL POPULATION

Most team surveys target audiences through digital tools like Facebook or email platforms. In these cases, do not name the client/or organization

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SURVEY FORMAT SUGGESTIONS: Clear Title, Who/Why, Options to not take, Time it will take

At the top of your survey, be sure you have a clear title that is specific to your team-- IUPUI students. You don't have to get more specific than that, but you can if you want to name the class: Professional Writing Skills or the nature of the project--partnership with a community client.

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DO NOT NAME YOUR CLIENT -- only your team and/or IUPUI.

 

TELL THEM WHO/WHY

Let the audience know why they are being contacted. Use you attitude. Be concise.

We're contacting you because---why this person is your target audience--without using formal terms like target audience.

EXAMPLE: "We're contacting you because you are listed as a STEM major at IUPUI."

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GIVE YOUR AUDIENCE AN OPT-OUT USING YOU ATTITUDE & AVOIDING NEGATIVE TERMS

Let the person know they can opt out of the survey: participation is optional.  No need to get too wordy here. This isn't part of a triangulated study. We're collecting data in a general way to inform team recommendations--this is dangling your toes in the world of research waters: the research you'll do in Junior and Senior level course should delve much, much deeper.

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STATE HOW LONG THIS WILL TAKE: Only one minute?

Let your target audience know how long it will take to complete the survey.

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ASK NICELY AND PROVIDE CONTEXT:

Let the targeted demographic know "why" they should use their time to complete the survey:

        Your feedback can help STEM employers hire qualified graduates--The survey takes less than two minutes.

Some folks will open the link on Instagram without much context. Still, it's better to provide a little commentary, much like you would if you circulated an email requesting data. Think you attitude. Don't emphasize how they're helping you or helping others; find a way to show how this could benefit them.

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IF YOUR COMMUNITY CLIENT IS CIRCULATING THE SURVEY FOR YOU

If the client is circulating the survey on your behalf, WRITE THE EMAIL [complete with a great subject line] for you client to send to their email list.

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**In these cases, it is okay to mention IUPUI AND your organization because the community client is helping circulate the EMAIL and SURVEY LINK.

**The SURVEY should still follow the guidelines for a survey to the general population, which includes a clear introductory paragraph: context, who[you]/why, optional comment, time it'll take, gratitude, and possibility of seeing results [if this is an option].

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The EMAIL should also have a GREAT SUBJECT LINE that say  only 45 second to finish the survey--or--one minute. If it takes two minutes, be honest and say that.

USE YOU you you: be very audience oriented with you attitude.

Thank them + tell them IF there's a way to see the findings. [i.e. if your team has opened a WIX and has a Local Study TAB, you can add that url at the bottom of the survey and say that they can see results there December 4.] Folks like the idea that they can see survey results, so this will be appealing ti them

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BE SUCCINCT.

You want them to take the survey. If you take too much time commenting on the process, they'll skip it. Be specific. Be concise. Be direct. Be warm. Be done. It's okay if the email and paragraph-introduction to the survey repeat some of the same ideas.

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IF YOU ARE USING A SURVEY TOOL TO ANALYZE/COLLECT DATA on your own, you do not have to develop an email or the fore matter in the same way. You should still have a clear title and provide an overview so that you client will know the context/purpose when you share the survey link and results in the Appendix of your Recommendation Report.