Quantitative Research I

Siriwan Siriboon Researcher College of Population Studies Chualalongkorn University siriwan.si@chula.ac.th Dec 18, 2009

Topics to be discussed
1.Overview of Quantitative Research Data Measurement: - Concept - Definition - Index - Indicator

Topics to be discussed
2. Survey - What is a survey - Why do we need survey 3. How to conduct a survey 4. Questionnaire Construct

Quantitative Research

involves measuring quantities of things, usually numerical quantities.

Output

Statistical Tables

Processing

Calculating Computing

Statistics (SPSS)

Statistical Package for the Social Science

Input

Data File

Research Methodology

QUANTITATIVE
- Structured Interview with questionnaire - Self-administration - Secondary data analysis

QUALITATIVE
- Observation -Non-participant -Participant - In-depth Interview - Group Interview - Group Discussion - Focus Group Discussion - Content Analysis of written material

DATA
Source of Data

1. Primary Data 2. Secondary Data

DATA

Methods of Collecting Data

1. Enumeration or Counting 2. Measuring

DATA
Attribution 1. Qualitative Data 2. Quantitative Data

1. Qualitative Data
Qualitative data result from the observation of characteristics Qualitative data refer to categorical variables The categorization may be the presence or absence of a given quality Example: Gender male, female Work status employed, unemployed Occupation agriculture, non-agriculture, service, commerce etc.

2. Quantitative Data
The characteristics of interest may be expressed by a number We distinguish between a number that is obtained simply by counting and a number that requires measurement. Discrete Variables VS Continuous Variables

Discrete Variables
A discrete variable is a variable whose possible values are some or all of the ordinary counting number 1, 2, 3or the integers. A variable is discrete > if it has only a countable number of distinct possible values > if it can assume only a finite number of values or as many values as there are integers. Example: age, number of children

Continuous Variables
Quantities such as length, weight or temperature can in principle be measured arbitrarily accurately. There is no indivisible unit Weight may be measured to the nearest ounce, but it could be measured more accurately, say to the tenth an ounce; the ounce is divisible, as is the tenth of an ounce. EXAMPLE: LENGTH Kilometers, meters, centimeters, decimeters, millimeters

Type of data: 1. Factual data 2. Behavioral data 3.Non-factual data

Factual data
- relatively permanent attributes
Example: gender, date of birth, blood group, race, ethnic group, height of adults???, education of adults???

- variable characteristics
Example: marital status, work status, occupation, Socio-economic status, income

Factual data
1.How many people regularly live in this house? 2.How many people regularly live in this household?

House VS Household

House:
v A living quarter is defined as the housing unit v occupied by a household v including the following types v detached house

v row-house v apartment, rooms v boats v any mobile unit v any other types of structure

Household
There are 2 types of household: 1. Private household 2. Collective household

Household:
1. Private household
v includes one person living alone or two or more persons v related or unrelated v residing in the same house v makes common provision for food or other essential of living

Household:
2. Collective household
v includes household composed of members who live together under certain rules or regulations v those who are living together for their own benefit. v The members of collective households may not take their meals together

Household:
Two types of collective household
1. Institutions include temple, penal institutions, welfare homes, hospitals, domitories and hotels 2. Special households include boarding houses and living quarters of workers with at least 6 workers who have meal provided by the management

Factual data
3.Within this last year, what was the approximate combined income of every one in this family? 4.Within this last year, what was the approximate combined income of every one in this household?

Family VS Household Income

Family:
v relatives v family of orientation (by birth) v family of proceation (by marriage, law, ceremony)

Factual data

- Factual quantitative data depends at all points on definition - facts do not exist until someone has put a definition around them

Behavioral data

What do researchers want to know about behavior?

1. 2. 3.
4.

What sorts of things do people do? How much of it do they do? (quantification) How often do they do it? On what occasions do they do it? Where do they do it? Who do they do it with? How much money do they spend on doing it?

5. 6.
7.

Behavioral data
Exercise: Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

Behavioral data
1.What sorts of things do people do?

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

What sorts/kinds of drink? water, milk, juice, beer, wine, alcohol etc. Alcohol: wiskey, fermented palm sugar, beer, fermented herbal medicine, any alcoholic substance.

Behavioral data
2. How much of it do they do? (quantification)

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

How many....of (drink) at a time? glasses, bottles etc. ???

Behavioral data
3. How often do they do it

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

How often do you drink ...? - everyday, once a week, occasionally... etc.

Behavioral data
4. On what occasions do they do it?

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

When do you drink ...? - Daily, having a meeting, party weekend, special occasion... etc.

Behavioral data
5. Where do they do it ?

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

Normally, where do you drink ...? - At home, pub, party... etc.

Behavioral data
6. Who do they do it with?

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

Who do you drink ... with? - alone, relatives, neighbors, friends, colleagues... etc.

Behavioral data
7. How much money do they spend on doing it?

Asking a respondent about his/her drinking behavior

On average, how much money do you spend on drinking at a time? - answer in actual number

What do researchers want to know about behavior?

1. 2. 3.
4.

What sorts of things do people do? How much of it do they do? (quantification) How often do they do it? On what occasions do they do it? Where do they do it? Who do they do it with? How much money do they spend on doing it?

5. 6.
7.

Important General Thoughts about behavioral data:

1. 2. 3.

Definition of behavior Quantification of behavior

How to obtain averages of amounts of behavior done over time (i.e, Reference Period)

Quantification of behavior
Option 1- Actual numbers
- Actual number of times

Option 2- Vague Quantifiers

- Always - Often - Sometimes - Rarely - Seldom - Occasionally - Never

Quantification of behavior
Option 3 Approximate ranges
- More than once a day - Almost everyday - A few times a week - About once a week - Two or three times a month - About once a month - Less than once a month - A few times a year - Once a year or less

The Significance of Reference Period: - is a standardized, random sample of individual s behavior over time - We compare individuals and groups in terms of the behavior they have done during the standard unit of time - Reference periods are crucial to quantification and standardization

What should be the criteria for choosing a reference period?

- Random sample of a person s behavior
- Needs to be unbiased time sample - Needs to be large enough to capture variation in behavior

- Practical constraints on reference periods

- Respondent s memory recall ability - Respondent s willingness to make effort - Respondent s tolerance

Non-factual data

3.Non-factual data
Types of Non-factual data - knowledge - opinions - beliefs - intentions - attitudes - values - satisfaction

Example: Knowledge
Could you name some countries which are members of ASEAN?

Intentions
If there was a general election tomorrow, for which party do you think you would vote?

Beliefs
Do you believe that smoking cigarettes can cause lung cancer?

Measuring Things VS Counting Things

Table 1

Example of measuring economic status by using 2 methods: Index-value and Scale-vale methods Index-value Scale-value (counting) (scoring) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 20 5 5 1

Household possession 1. TV 2. VIDEO 3. Motorcycle 4. Car/truck 5. Refrigerator 6. Air-conditioner 7. Telephone

Measuring Things
How things are measured is one of the most important parts of planning research Learning the various levels of measurement is essential for analyzing data

Measuring something involves 2 concepts:

1. Things you are measuring
- some property of an object or event e.g. its size, strength, duration, pleasantness or any of a number of other properties

2. The measurement you produce

- come up with some kind of labels, often a number, that relate somehow to one of these properties of the object or even

Measurement means
a relationship between a system of labels and a property of an empirical object or event

note that not all the properties of object or event are presented by numbers. Some of the labels are simply words for properties. (shape, color)

To measure something does not necessary mean to give it a number. It just means to give it some sort of label that relates to a property.

Measurement:
Very often the particular property that we wish to measure is something we cannot observe directly Our idea toward objects or events that we want to measure are constructed out of things we have been taught and things we have seen. Constructs are abstract properties of things that cannot be directly observed. Constructs are sometimes called conceptual variable or theoretical variables because they deal with concepts and theories, not with concrete observation

Concepts:
- Concepts are not real and do not exist except as an idea. Conceptual can differ across people and cultures
-

Concepts:
- A mental image of something. - A concept is an idea, a general mental formulation summarizing specific occurrences e.g. gender (masculinity, femininity) age summarizing specific idea of time (youth, middle age, elderly)

Concepts:
When things needed to be measured, conceptualization must occur for research to begin Two types of definition are needed in measurement: 1. Conceptual definition 2. Operational definition

Conceptual definition What we mean by the ideas and terms used in our study should be explicitly stated or defined and referred to some characteristics that can be observed and measured. Operational definition A specification of exactly what steps, or operations, are conducted to arrive at a particular measurement.

Concepts VS Characteristics
Concept:
- A mental image of something. - Concepts are not real and do not exist except as an idea. - Conceptual can differ across people and cultures

Characteristics:
- Something that can be measured. It has an agreed upon definition and can be operationalized

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Example: Suppose that an investigator wants to study health condition of Thai elderly Two concepts needed to be defined 1.What is health condition 2.Who is elderly

Who is eldery?
An elderly in Thailand is a person whose age is 60 and over In western countries, elderly people are a person who reach age 65 and over

Process of Operationalizing a Concept Elderly a person whose age is 60 Concept and over
Conceptual definition

Measure/ Characteristics

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Measuring Health of Individuals Definition: WHO: Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity Health involves 3 dimensions: Medical: Absence of disease Social: Ability to function with one s environment Subjective: Personal assessment about health

Process of Operationalizing a Concept Health

Concept

Health in 3 dimensions
Dimensions

Conceptual definition

Definition of WHO

Measure/ Characteristics

Common Ways of Measuring the Medical Dimension of Health

1. Death 2. Major conditions, e.g.heart disease,diabetes,cancer. 3. Symtomatology e.g. dizziness, sleeplessness 4. Mental impairment e.g. mini-mental, confusion 5. Days in bed, hospital 6. Visit to medical doctros, health personnal 7. Physical deformities e.g. loss of limb 8. Chronic, non-fatal ailment, e.g. arthritis, back pain 9. Depression scale 10. Biomarkers, e.g. cholesterol, blood pressure

Two Models of Social Health

1. WHO
DISEASE injury or physical malformati on 2. Nagi IMPAIRM ENT Anatomic Deficit DISABILIT Y Difficulty Performin g task HANDIC AP Social role disadva ntage

PATHOLO GY Disease or

IMPAIRME NT Anatomical mental Emotional

LIMITATION DISABILIT Cannot perform Y a task Cannot conduct a social

Some Common Measures

1. ADL (Activity of Daily Living) - Barthel Index - Chula Index 2. IADL (Instrumental Activity of Daily Living) 3. Clinical tests 4. Emotional tests 5. Quality of life tests

3. Subjective Dimension of Health

- A person s ill health is indicated by feeling of pain and discomfort or perceptions of change in usual functioning or feeling - Illness can be the result of pathological abnormality, but not necessarily so - A person can feel ill without medical science being able to detect disease

- A healthy state is defined by an individual based on their own expectations. - Expectation can differ by gender, age, culture - Common question: How would you rate your health?

Common question asking about health: How do you feel about your health in general? very healthy.1 rather healthy..2 moderate..3 rather weak..4 weak.5

Process of Operationalizing a Concept Health

Concept

Health in 3 dimensions
Dimensions

Conceptual definition

Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Definition of WHO

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Measuring Non-factual Data Attitudes

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Example: Measuring attitude towards abortion Conceptual definition: Abortion means induced expulsion of foetus from the womb before 28th week of pregnancy Induced Abortion VS Spontaneous Abortion (Miscarriage)
#

Process of Operationalizing a Concept Abortion

Concept

Meaning of abortion
Conceptual definition

Measure/ Characteristics

Can one question be used for measuring attitude (towards abortion) ? Do you agree if a woman have some abortion? Very agree.1 Agree.2 Moderate/not sure.3 Disagree...4 Very disagree..5

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Example of questions used:

Do you agree if a woman have some abortion in any of these cases? 1. Ever-married women, using family planning method were pregnant 2. Ever-married women, not using family planning method were pregnant Dimension 1: Wanted VS Unwanted pregnancy
#

Example of questions used:

Do you agree if a woman have some abortion in any of these cases? 3. Unmarried-women, pregnant may cause the problems to their education, jobs 4. The women just divorced or separated, were pregnant 5. The raped-women were pregnant. 6. Prostitute or partner were pregnant Dimension 2: Socio-economic reasons
#

Example of questions used:

Do you agree if a woman have some abortion in any of these cases? 7. Pregnancy can be dangerous to the maternal and child health 8. Heredity problem may cause effects the maternal and her child such as epilepsy, diabetes mellitus 9. Mentally illness women and handicap, cannot bring up her children, were pregnant Dimension 3: Health aspects
#

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Items (Series) of questions in matrix form

Items 1.......................... 2.......................... 3.......................... 4......................... 5......................... 6......................... 7......................... 8......................... 9......................... Very Agree Not Disagree Very disagree agree sure .......... ......... ....... ............... ........... .......... ......... ....... .............. ..........

......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ........

......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........

....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

.............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

#

Items (Series) of questions in matrix form

Items 1.......................... 2.......................... 3.......................... 4......................... 5......................... 6......................... 7......................... 8......................... 9......................... Very agree 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Agree Not Disagree Very disagree sure 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 #

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Index VS Scale

will be discussed later

Levels of Measurement

Variables

What is a variable?
l Data

set l Individual (Case) l Characteristics that can be varied and measured l Variable characteristics

Variable

Data Structure

For this data set: Do you think that SEX is a variable? Why?

AGE SE CASENUM X 25 01 32 2 2 02 49 2 03 2 27 04 42 05 2
CELL is a location of value Column represents variable

Row represents case

1. Nominal Scale 2. Ordinal Scale 3. Interval Scale 4. Ratio Sale

1. Nominal Scale
- the categories/values of variables differ one from the other in name only

- one category of a variable is not necessary

higher or lower or greater or smaller than another category. It is just different in name, or it is the same

- Mutually exclusive and exhaustive - Homogeneous within group, heterogeneous among groups - Symmetry - Trasitivity A=B, B=C A=C

2. Ordinal Scale
- there is an ordered relationship among the categories or values in a variable - a category that is assigned the number 1 might be considered higher (or lower) than a category assigned the number 2, which would be higher (or lower) than the category assigned the number 3 -there number assigned to the categories not only distinguish whether things are in the same category or different category but they also indicate an ordered ranking - the distance or interval between the categories, however, is not known. - Asymmetry - Transitivity A > B, B > C A > C

3. Interval Scale
- the categories are ordered by the amount of a property they have - the intervals between the categories are equal everywhere - the scale, however, has no true zero point so the actual number are arbitrary

4. Ratio Sale
- is an equal interval measurement that also has a true zero value - a true zero value (absolute zero): the number zero means that you have absolutely none of the property and cannot have possibly have any less

- Note that any ratio measurement is also an equal interval measurement. If the interval are unequal, then the measurement is ordinal, and it cannot be ratio

DATA

Nominal

Ordinal

Interval

Ratio

Categorical Variable

Numerical Variable

Scale Measurement VS Statistics

Dependent Independent Statistics

Categorical variable Numerical variable Categorical variable Percent Chi-square test

Categorical Means variable t-test,ANOVA

MCA

(Multiple Classification Analysis)

Numerical variable Dichotomous (0,1) Categorical variable

Numerical variable Numerical variable

Simple or Multiple Regression Analysis Logistic Regression

Interval/ Multinomial Logistic variable Regression

Example
Hypothesis: The average duration of hospitalization of female elderly tends to be longer than male elderly. Example: 1) How many days were you hospitalized the last time? Amountdays 2) How many days were you hospitalized the last time? One day1 2-3 days..2 4-7 days..3 more than 7 days..4

Index VS Scale

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Index VS Scale
- To measure a complex
concept, researchers often construct scales and indexes (or indices)

- Scales and indexes are often used interchangeable

Indexes
An index is a set of items that measure some underlying and shared concept e.g quality of life, depression, stress, prejudice attitude towards abortion

Indexes
Creating an index is developing a set of items that together serve as indicators of the underlying concept you are trying to measure

Indexes
v An index is a combination of items into a single numerical score v Various components or subparts of a construct are each measured, then combined into one measure.

Indexes

Example:

Consumer Price Index (CPI) v CPI is a measure of inflation v CPI is created by totaling the
cost of buying a list of goods and services (e.g.,food, rent and utilities) and comparing the total to the cost of buying the same list in the previous year

Indexes
Example:

Good occupation Index

1. Does it pay a good salary? 2. Is the job secure from layoffs or unemployment? 3. Is the work interesting and challenging? 4. Are its working conditions (e.g.,hours,safety) good? 5. Are there opportunity for career advancement and promotion? 6. Is it prestigious or looked up to by others? 7. Does it permit self-direction and the freedom to make decision?

Note: Score each answer 1 for yes and 0 for no

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Indexes
Inter-item correlations are mathematically calculated to determine how well the individual items in the set relate to each other and to the overall concept being measured

Attitude towards abortion

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Ever-married women, not using family planning method were pregnant Ever-married women, using family planning method were pregnant The women just divorced or separated, were pregnant Prostitute or partner were pregnant Unmarried-women, pregnant may cause the problems to their education, jobs The raped-women were pregnant. Heredity problem may cause effects the maternal and her child such as epilepsy, diabetes mellitus Pregnancy can be dangerous to the maternal and child health Mentally illness women and handicap, cannot bring up her children, were pregnant
The items are ranked from most liberal attitude to least liberal attitude

Indexes
Researchers would calculate an overall total index score by summing together the responses on each item into a single score Indexes are often measured at the interval or ratio level

Scales
A scale is a measure in which a researcher captures the intensity, direction, level, or potency of a variable construct Scale arrange responses or observations on a continuum

Subjective Continuum Scale

Extremely positive Extremely negative

Two-category Scale (Bipolar opposites)

GOOD NOT GOOD

Three-category Scale
GOOD FAIR POOR

Four-category Scale
VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR

Five-category Scale
EXCELLENCE VERY GOOD GOOD
FAIR POOR

Scales
A scale can use a single indicator or multiple indicators Most scales are at the ordinal level of measurement e.g Likert scale, Guttman scale

Example: Constructing scale from

single indicator Do you agree if a woman have some abortion? Very agree.1 Agree.2 Moderate/not sure..3 Disagree...4 Very disagree..5

Likert Scale
A Likert scale reflects a level of preference or opinion, typically measured on a five-point ordinal scale, such as strongly agree somewhat agree neither agree nor disagree somewhat disagree strongly disagree
Rensis Likert, 1932

Likert Scale
Likert items or rating scales are often combined to form an index The combinations of measures are sometimes called summated scales This is the reason why many people used the words index and scale interchangeable

Scales
A scale is a set of items that are ordered in some sequence and that have been designed to measure a unidimensional or multidimensional concept Usually, a pattern is sought from the responses to a set of items, rather than a simple summation of the individual items scores, as with indexes e.g. Guttman Scale

Guttman pattern
Petitions Demonstra tion N N Y Y Y Y Y N N Y N

Political protest
Boycotts Strike N N N Y Y Y N Y Y Y N N N N N Y Y Y Y N N Y Sit-in N N N N N Y N N N N Y

Guttman pattern

N Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y N Y

Other pattern
(example only)

The pattern of publics acceptance ranked from modest forms to intense forms

Guttman scales
v agreement with a particular item indicates agreement with all the items that come earlier in the ordered set. v Items are merely ordered in terms of their difficulty levels

Guttman scales
v No assumptions are made about their exact location on the dimension v Only an ordinal, not an interval scale is implied v No assumption that the distances between items are of equal magnitude

Guttman scales
v If 1 signifies the acceptance of an item
by a respondent, and 0 signifies rejection. v In Guttman scale, score of 4 does not mean that the person get 4 questions right but it implies that the person who endorses 4 items will have endorsed exactly the same items as person with score of three, plus one more

Guttman pattern
Petitions Demonstra tion N N Y Y Y Y Y N N Y N

Political protest
Boycotts Strike N N N Y Y Y N Y Y Y N N N N N Y Y Y Y N N Y Sit-in N N N N N Y N N N N Y

Guttman pattern

N Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y N Y

Other pattern
(example only)

The pattern of publics acceptance ranked from modest forms to intense forms

Guttman scales
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Ever-married women, not using family planning method were pregnant Ever-married women, using family planning method were pregnant The women just divorced or separated, were pregnant Prostitute or partner were pregnant Unmarried-women, pregnant may cause the problems to their education, jobs The raped-women were pregnant. Heredity problem may cause effects the maternal and her child such as epilepsy, diabetes mellitus Pregnancy can be dangerous to the maternal and child health Mentally illness women and handicap, cannot bring up her children, were pregnant
The items are ranked from most liberal attitude to least liberal attitude

Indicators

Process of Operationalizing a Concept

Concept Dimensions Items

Index/Scale Conceptual definition Indicators Measure/ Characteristics

Indicators
A pointer or an index

A measurable variable/ characteristic that can be used to determine the degree of adherence to a standard or level of quality achievement

Indicators
KPI (Key Performance Indicators) KPI are quantifiable measurements
that reflect the critical success factors of an organization measure of progress
business annual sales volume colleges - number of students graduating per year social service organization - number of people helped out

Indicators
Natural phenomena
e.g., temperature, wind/wave velocity, humidity, earthquake

Social phenomena
e.g., quality of life, basic minimum need, economic growth, inflation

Indicators
Types
1. 2. 3. 4.

of Indicators:

Direct and by-product indicators Input and output indicators Objective and subjective indicators System and aggregate indicators

Types of Indicators:
1. Direct and by-product indicators
statistics by collecting data directly or utilizing existing data v e.g., Statistical Year Book (Economic, Health) v GNP, GDP, Literacy rates, maternal mortality, infant and child mortality, life expectation etc.

v Indicators are constructed from official

Types of Indicators:
2. Input and output indicators dealing with resources of the organization
budget, finance, human resources, organization activities input indicators are used for input process and output indicators will be used for output process

Types of Indicators:
3. Objective and subjective indicators
v Developed by using survey data v Objective indicators related to individual behavior towards political, economic, social, environmental activities (i.e. behavioral data) v Subjective indicators relate to emotional, opinion, attitude, satisfaction etc. (i.e. non-factual data)

Types of Indicators:
4. System and aggregate indicators
Global indicators Developed by international organization UN, UNICEF, WHO, US Bureau of Census, National Institute of Health (NIH) e.g. Unemployment rates, literacy rate, ratio of health personnel to people

Thank you