Research Design Quantitative Data Collection PADMN 6289// WEEK 8

Survey questions 03 Levels of meaurement 02 Quant definition & examples 01 This Videocast

Quantitative Research 01

Quantitative Data Information that is systematically collected and communicated in numerical form; Data that can be analyzed with mathematical (usually statistical) techniques

E.g. Number of clients, number of policies, time (number of hours), number of pages (in a document), etc. Counts Quantitative Data Examples E.g. Geographic area, distance, size of a building, etc. Measurement of Physical Objects E.g. Likert-scale style survey questions Quantification of Qualitative Info

Levels of Measurement 02

Levels of Measurement Nominal (aka Categorical) Ordinal Interval Ratio Descriptive labels/ categories; no meaningful order to values Depict the order of a measurement, but not the difference between integers Depict the order and difference between integers (“interval” = distance between entities); No “true” zero Depict the order and difference between integers; “True” zero ✓ Genders ✓ Countries ✓ Cities ✓ Occupations

Nominal/ Categorical Data 4 2 1 3

Levels of Measurement Nominal (aka Categorical) Ordinal Descriptive labels/ categories; no meaningful order to values Depict the order of a measurement, but not the difference between integers ✓ Genders ✓ Countries ✓ Cities ✓ Occupations ✓ Likert-scale survey responses ✓ “Star” ratings ✓ Interval/ratio data expressed as categories

Ordinal Data Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree 4 2 1 3 5

Levels of Measurement Nominal (aka Categorical) Ordinal Interval Ratio Descriptive labels/ categories; no meaningful order to values Depict the order of a measurement, but not the difference between integers Depict the order and difference between integers (“interval” = distance between entities); No “true” zero Depict the order and difference between integers; “True” zero ✓ Genders ✓ Countries ✓ Cities ✓ Occupations ✓ Likert-scale survey responses ✓ “Star” ratings ✓ Interval/ratio data expressed as categories ✓ IQ Scores ✓ Temperature ✓ Age ✓ Income ✓ Budgets

Interval & Ratio Data Years Years Years Years Years Years Years Years Years Years 13 15 16 14 12 8 10 11 9 7

Over 65 years old 56-65 years old 46-55 years old 36-45 years old 26-35 years old Under 26 years old 3 5 6 4 2 1 Interval & Ratio Data …as Ordinal Data

Survey Questions 03

Open vs. Closed-Ended Questions Open-ended questions… • Most often used to generate qualitative data • Con add valuable details or info beyond closed-ended questions • Open to differing interpretations (incompatible findings) • Burden for respondent

Open vs. Closed-Ended Questions Closed-ended questions… • Most often used to generate quantitative data • Ensure consistent data • Less burden for respondent (and often in data analysis)

Example Single-Response Question Which of the following best reflects your gender? ❑ Female ❑ Male ❑ Non-binary ❑ Prefer to self-describe:__________________________ 4 3 2 1

Example Multiple-Response Question How are you feeling about your class project at this point in the class? Select all that apply: ❑ Excited ❑ Nervous ❑ Board ❑ Other (please describe):_____________________ 4 3 2 1

Example Scale Response Question How confident are you feeling about completing your project in the class? ❑ Very confident ❑ Confident ❑ Somewhat confident ❑ A little confident ❑ Not at all confident 5 4 3 2 1

How confident are you feeling about the following elements of your project in the class? 5 Example Matrix Scale Response Question Very confident Confident Somewhat confident A little confident Not at all confident Research design ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Data analysis ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Writing ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ 4 3 2 1

…writing closed-ended questions is harder than it appears—it is as much an art as a science…There are many possible questions and many shades of meaning based on wording choice. The English language can be problematic because the same words can mean different things. — Gail Johnson

Research Design Quantitative Data Collection PADMN 6289// WEEK 8