1

Descriptive Research
Descriptive

research is also known as

non-experimental research
Asks the basic question: What is?
No manipulation of variables
Measure and record events that would
happen anyway

 Manipulation

of variables may be
impossible or unethical
Effects of megadoses of anabolic steroids on

strength
Deliberately causing injury to study different
types of therapy
No

randomization, therefore less control

and many threats to internal validity
Cause-and-effect is more difficult to
establish
3

Survey

Survey technique of
descriptive research
that seeks to
determine present
practices or opinions
of a specified
population
Types of survey
research include the
questionnaire,
interview, and
normative survey
4

Durell, D. L., Pujol, T. J., & Barnes, J. T. (2003). A

survey of the scientific data and training methods
utilized by collegiate strength and conditioning
coaches. J Strength Cond Res, 17(2), 368-373.

Schick MG, Brown LE, Coburn JW, Beam WC,

Schick EE, Dabbs NC. Physiological profile of
mixed martial artists. Medicina Sportiva.
14(4):182-187, 2010.

Rossi MD, Brown LE, Whitehurst M. Knee extensor

and flexor torque characteristics before and after
unilateral total knee arthroplasty. American
Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
85(9):737-746, 2006.
5

Questionnaire
Questionnaire

type of paper-and-pencil
survey used in descriptive research in
which information is obtained by asking
participants to respond to questions
rather than by observing their behavior
Limitation is that results are simply what
people say they do, believe, like, dislike,
etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOqX
lbWf9Io
6

Questionnaire, contd
Determine

the objectives

What information is wanted?

How will the results be analyzed?
Will comparisons be made between groups

of respondents?

Questionnaire, contd
Delimit

the sample
What is the specific population you wish to
examine?
Adults vs. children
Exercisers vs. nonexercisers (how do you define
exercisers?)
Elite coaches

Questionnaire, contd
Your

sample must be representative of

the population
Sampling error
Many samples may be drawn from a population
Each sample will yield different results
The difference between samples is the sampling
error (amount of error to expect in a single sample)
Sample size
Must be adequate to represent population of
interest
Must be practical from the standpoint of time and
cost
9

Questionnaire, contd
Construct

the questionnaire

Open-ended questions
Category of question in questionnaires and
interviews that allows the respondent
considerable latitude to express feelings and to
expand on ideas
Example: How do you think things went today?
Drawbacks:

Respondents dont like them

They are time-consuming to answer
Limited control over the types of answers given
May be more difficult to analyze
10

Questionnaire, contd
Closed questions
Category of question found in questionnaires
or interviews that requires a specific response
and that often takes the form of rankings,
scaled items, or categorical responses
Ranking type of closed question that forces
the respondent to place responses in a rank
order according to some criterion

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Questionnaire, contd
Example of Ranking: From what sources has
most of your nutrition information come?
Rank top 3

12

Survey Research
Process, contd

Scaled items type of closed question that

requires participants to indicate the strength of
their agreement or disagreement with some
statement or the relative frequency of some
behavior
Example of scaled item: In a required physical
education program, students should be required
to take at least one dance class.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Strongly disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly agree
13

Questionnaire, contd

Likert-type scale consists of 3 to 9 items

Equal intervals between responses, i.e.,
difference between strongly agree, and
agree is considered equivalent

14

Questionnaire, contd

Categorical response
type of closed question
that offers the
participant only two
responses, such as yes
or no
Possible responses
include yes/no,
true/false, female/male,
etc.

15

Questionnaire, cont
Appearance and design
Appearance has been shown to affect response rate
Provide written instructions for completion
First few questions should be easy to answer
Short questionnaires have higher response rates

16

Questionnaire, contd
Conduct

a pilot study

Send questionnaire to colleagues or

acquaintances
Revise and send to sample of population
of interest
Analyze results as part of pilot study
Revise again and use

17

Questionnaire, contd
Write

the cover letter

Be professional and concise

Explain purpose and importance
Assure respondent of their privacy and

anonymity
Use institutional letterhead if applicable
Rewards and incentives may be used,
including money
18

Questionnaire, contd
Send

the questionnaire

Include self-addressed, stamped envelope

E-mail, fax, and the internet may also be used

http://www.surveymonkey.com/?cmpid=us:ps:google&gclid=CPb-u_7WmqAC
FQVaagodQSSdTw

19

Questionnaire, contd
Follow-up
Wait at least 10 days for follow-up
Wait another 10 days then send another

questionnaire
Keep in mind that respondents are selfselected and this biases your results

20

Questionnaire, contd
Analyze

the results

These topics will be discussed later in class

21

Delphi Survey Method

Delphi

survey method survey

technique that uses a series of
questionnaires in such a way that
the respondents (usually experts)
reach a consensus about the subject
Survey is sent to respondents (experts)
Results are sent to respondents and they

are asked to reconsider their answers

22

Personal Interview
Essentially

the same as the

questionnaire except questioning is
done orally instead of in writing
Higher response rate but smaller
samples than questionnaire

23

Personal Interview,
contd
Advantages

of the
personal interview:
More adaptable
Interviewer can

observe the
respondent
Greater rate of
return than
questionnaire
Easier to explain
questions
24

 Normative

survey survey method

that involves establishing norms for
abilities, performances, beliefs, and
attitudes
Similar to questionnaire except that
tests are administered
AAHPERD Youth Fitness Test (1958)
National Children and Youth Fitness
Study (1985, 1987)
25

 http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrc

h/citmanage/apa

26

 Tonight-intro

and

survey
Chapter 16

27