Are

tools used to generate data needed in the study. Two kinds of Data 1. Direct or Empiricalis generated through the use of research techniques such as questionnaire, interview and observation. It is obtained by the researcher. 2. Documentaryrefers to the data or records obtained from offices, hospitals, agencies and others. This is not obtained by the researcher and are called secondary data.

Validityresearch tools must be valid, specially if they are test. Validity is a description given to a research tool, if it measures, what it intends to measure. It deals with the relationship of the data obtained to the nature of variable being studied. If the instrument is used to determine achievement it should measure the achievement of the subject of the study. Validity can be estimated through: 1. Content validitythe ability of the instrument to measure what it intends to measure. Judgement of content validity rest on face or logical or sampling validity. , usually undertaken by expert who knows about the content.
1.

 Example:
If

the validity of an nursing book is to be determined, this can be done by letting experts make judgements on the necessary areas of the book, or the terms or items in the book are comprehensive enough to cover as much area or ground in the subject matter as possible. a. Criterion-related validity is the established after the instrument has been correlated with one another standardized instrument of the same kind or purpose. Criterion-Related validity may either be predictive or concurrent that is if the instrument is so prepared that it can relate to what is contemporary and current.

b. Construct Validity which refers to the degree to which an instrument measures the theoretical construct trait it was designated to measure. It can also be measured by noting group differences, change of correlations, processes, multi-traits multimethod ways and throu.gh factorial validity. 2. Reliabilityis defined as the consistency of the test. Consistency is just one aspect of reliability precision and accuracy is another. there is a relationship between validity and reliability. It is said that a valid instrument is reliable but not vice versa. It would seem then that validity is more important than reliability but this should not be the case.

 For

instance in order to test for the validity and reliability of the effects of sublingual site and type of thermometer on oral temperature, used an experiment on three sublingual sites with two types of electronic thermometers he compared the thermometers used against a bath of a known temperature to measure their validity. 3. Sensitivity--ability of the instrument to make the discriminations required for the research problem. This is the capacity of the tool to pick up or label positive those who have the disease and those who do not have. 4. Specificity refers to the capacity of the tool to exclude or label negative those who do not have the disease.

5. Objectivity defined as the degree to which the measure is independent of the personal opinions, subjective judgement biases and beliefs of the individual test user. 6. Feasibility is concerned with the aspects of skills, cost and time. There are certain test that require minimum skills in developing them and minimum training in administration. Way in determining the reliability 1. test-retest reliability attained when the instrument is administered two or more successive times over a given period of time produces the same result. 2. Parallel form comparing scores of the different version. 3. Internal consistency using the split half methods

 THIS

THE MOST COMMONLY USED TOOL TO GENERATE DATA GATHERING METHOD BY LETTING THE SUBJECT OR THE RESPONDENT COMPLETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE THE RESEARCHER OR HIS REPRESENTATIVE, OR IT CAN BE MAILED. IT IS AN INVENTORY OF PIECES OF INFORMATION WHICH THE RESEARCHER ANTICIPATES TO GATHER FROM A RESPONDENT. THE TWO KINDS OF QUESTIONNAIRE 1. CLOSE-ENDED 2. OPEN-ENDED

 CLOSED-ENDED--IF

THE QUUESTION IN THE INSTRUMENT HAS ALL THE ANSWERS AND THE RESPONDENT MERELY CHECKS WHICH IS THE BEST ANSWER. IT IS BETTER TO USE FOR STATISTICAL CONVINIENCE. THE ANSWERS ARE ALL THERE AND IT IS EASY TO RECOGNIZE. OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONNAIREWHEN THE RESPONDENT IS FREE TO GIVE ANSWERS. THE ANSWERS VARY TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY CANNOT BE ARRANGED WELL. IN GENERAL THE RESULT WILL BE MULTIPLE RESPONSES, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WILL BE DIFFICULT.

1.

Clarity of LanguageThe language should be clear and appropriate and should lead the respondents to give specific responses. It should not only suit the level of the respondents, but generate the desired information needed in the study. One of the thing the researcher should avoid in questionnaire preparation is the use of language which tends to embarrass the respondent because of its personal implication.

2.

Singleness of Purposeone item in the questionnaire should be elicit in a single piece of information or a single response. The item in the questionnaire should not generate multiple responses, as this will confuse the respondent and also will make the interpretation of data difficult and may lead to inaccurate information.

3.

Correspond with Objectives of the Studythe questionnaire as a whole should bring out information relevant to the purpose of the study. Question that do not serve the purposes should be eliminated, this should be referred to from time to time from the duration of the questionnaire preparation.

4. Correct

Grammarthe question should be formed according to the rules of correct grammar to avoid embarrassment on the part of the researcher. It is important that prior to the survey at least two things should be done: 1. Have the questionnaire edited by an English teacher for language and grammar 2. Float it to a trial sample who shall be excluded from the final selection of sample. The questionnaire is not only verified from quality but also for validity.

 The

Use of Likert Scale type is regarded as most useful in behavioural research. Aside from the fact that it is easy to develop, it provides for convenient statistical treatment. The Likert scale uses the method of summated ratings statements of opinions are presented to respondents who indicate agreement or disagreement with the statements. Usually the respondents check in a scale of 1 to 5 whether they strongly agree, undecided, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement. Half of the items are worded positively and the other half negatively. The score of the respondent is the sum of all scores for the separate items.

Example of Likert Scale

Direction: Circle the number which best describes your answer. The options with the assigned points are as follows: Strongly Agree5 Disagree2 Agree4 Strongly Disagree1 Not Sure3 The middle response not sure is neutral and is considered the center of gravity or central tendency or the fulcrum of the opinions.

It is observe in the actual practice there is a responses tendency of many respondents to cluster their in the middle to play safe. some researcher remove the middle response, but this might also lead to the respondents not answering many items. But there would be no room for this if the questionnaire is constructed well and the items are clear and specific.

Examples of the use of Likert Scale Direction: Circle the number which best describes your answer. The options with the assigned points are as follows: Strongly Agree5 Disagree2 Agree4 Strongly Disagree1 Not Sure3 1. AIDS information drive in the country is effective as it should be-------------5 4 3 2 1 2. AIDS is the most common among homosexuals---------------------------5 4 3 2 1 3. Sex should be taught among high school students---------------------------------5 4 3 2 1

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It results in expensive mass coverage of potential respondents. It provides for better data gathering when the sample is large, saving time and effort in generating data. It generates uniform responses which makes statistical computation and analysis convenient and easy. It covers as much content as possible which allows more generation of information and facts

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3.

There is difficulty in retrieving the questionnaires, and usually returns are not what is desired. Sometimes the credibility and validity of their assertions are doubtful, specially if the many items are filled up and leaving so many blanks One has not have the means of determining if the assertions made in the questionnaire are true or correct, since the researcher does not usually meet the respondents.

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Read books, journals, theses, and dissertations and gain insights on how their questionnaire were prepared Go over research papers and gain insight on what variables are to be included, measured or manipulated Formulate suitable questions that would measures the variables. More than one question may be used for the variables Decide on the sequence of the results. The sequence must be logical and if possible should start within an easy one

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Prepare a draft for a questionnaire and check its relevance with the purpose of the study. Protest the questionnaire by using it on some individuals under conditions as close as possible to the conditions with which it shall be used eventually. If given to a group of individuals for a trial run, those who participated shall not be included in the final sample. All questionnaire should be distributed at the same time to be compatible with the method of administration and the mood of the respondents.

 Unlike

the questionnaire technique, interview are more personal and deal with face-to-face contact by the researcher and the respondents. The researcher can see the emotions and the reaction of the respondent. The interview question may contain an inventory of items to generate facts or information. Two kinds of Interview 1. Structured Interview is sometimes called focus interview and is one where the question s are asked by an interviewer or researcher based on the questionnaire

which may be given before. It is one way of

ascertaining or confirming the information given by the respondents in the questionnaire previously given. The interview requires at the end that the necessary information has been gathered. This can be exemplified by clinical interviews that may take place between a doctor and a patient which is considered a subtype interview where the doctor asks the patient about the circumstances of a health care problem. Example: An interview between a researcher and a patient regarding the causes of anxiety and stress prior to operation

. Unstructured Interview the

interviewer does not have any guideline and questions are asked at random. The purpose of the unstructured interview is to get the subjects views of the meanings in his world, but the whole of it would end up getting the necessary information. The unstructured interview is more open and flexible.

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It is inexpensive in terms of the number of questionnaire to prepared, since the researcher or his representative has to meet the respondent himself. The researcher has to witness for himself the reactions or the emotions portrayed are more open and flexible. More information is generated, when in doubt the researcher can verify for himself right away the issue in question

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It is a necessary technique for some respondents, especially where information on persons feeling are needed. They gather better insight into the opinions, attitudes feeling or perceptions from the subjects. Interviews are sometimes necessary for some particular samples, such as patients suffering from stroke, paralysis, or those who are immobilized due to some medical equipment attached to them Interviews can gather better information or can clarify some points personally which are not found in the questionnaire.

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Respondents feeling that they are not participants of research, result in their expectations for some sort of return or direct help or reward for participating. It is uncomfortable for some person to the point of instilling fears of what will be asked Information gathered through interviews are difficult to quantify Interview are time-consuming and more expensive when commuting from one place to another to meet respondents. Interviewers need training to be able to do the art of questioning. Interviewing can not be done by any ordinary person but is done by persons with specialized skills.

 As

a whole is a process whereby the researcher or observer watches the situation, the setting and the respondents or subjects. Kinds of Observations 1. Direct participant when a researcher undertakes a research where he is a direct participants, he becomes a respondents of the study. This is exemplified by anthropologist who live with the people they are writing about and they even marry a member of the group 2. Indirect participant when one deicide to be an indirect participant, he merely observes what the subjects or respondents are doing.

Structured observations are guided by some rigid rules and focus on a particular activity or set activities. It focuses on important and relevant information and is also based on a given information guidelines which delimits the observation activities. In some information the researcher records the information through: a. Methodological notes (MN) b. Personal notes (PN) Personal notes (PN) are those referrals to ones reaction or opinions, reflections and experiences about the observed situation. There are also other sources of data aside from these research tools. Some of these are documents, hospitals, clinical records, diaries, letters, nursing notes etc.

 Measurements

involve the process of assigning numerical value to concept under investigation or responses that have been made or events, characteristic responses according to some scale. 1. Nominal Scale refers to the meaning of categories or classifications of things, persons or phenomena arbitrarily by some number assigned to represent the classification of categories except that they are used as a convenient code especially for computerization.

 Example

of nominal scale: Assigning numbers to gender 1) male1 2) female2 Assigning numbers to civil status such as: 1) married1 2) single2 3) separated3 4) widow/er4 Ordinal Scale it is used to ordinate data and is also called ranking scale a number is assigned to a variable corresponding to the ordinality of the number like arranging them from largest to smallest and ranking them.

Example of ordinal scale and ranking scale The frequency and percentage of responses of the group in which are the major sources of stress: Area Number of Percentage Ranking Respondent Work 87 87.00 2 Environment Career Improvement 99 99.00 1 Relationship with Superior 69 69.00 3 Problem at Home 50 50.00 4 This responses from 100 subjects. Note that there are relationship between the size of the category and the use of ordinal number according to the size of the number of respondents.

 Example

persons: 1) A-1 the tallest 2) A-2 the second tallest (less in height than the first one, but taller than the third one) 3) A-3 the third tallest (less than the second one or the shortest of the three) Example 3: Ranking of academic performance of 4 students Grades (%) Rank 1. 92.34 1 2. 86.99 3 3. 89.26 2 4. 80.73 4

2: Ranking of the height of

Interval data are measurement similar to the ordinal scale, but interval are equidistant from one another. Sometimes this is referred to as ratio scale since data are arranged along a continuum or scale. Examples: a. Temperature from 0 to 100C in the Celsius scale b. Blood pressure readings like 130/70 or 140/90 A final point in the interval scale does not have an absolute zero point, because it is important for such scale to determine the statistical methods or techniques used for data analyses.

 The

ratio scale has order, distance, and can be expressed as fractions Examples: a. Height b. Grades c. Weight d. Temperature

 Data

can be described qualitatively or quantitatively depending on what are generated. Data can be quantitatively analyzed through the use of descriptive or inferential statistic. When data cannot be expressed in quantitative form they are qualitative terms such as greater than, more stable, better, best or the use of qualitative descriptions as more reliable, or valued statements of good or bad.

1.

a. b.
2.

Exploratory description of data. Qualitative description are used to give exploratory information or description of data. It can be done in two ways: Using categorization or by straight description Analytical description Explanation The purpose in discovery and explanation is to show the relationship of variables contained in the hypothesis. However, qualitative data may be transformed to quantitative form by assigning them numbers and making them dummy variables.