How to Research如何开展研究工作

1、How to research?How to choose object: How to obtain reference: How to collect data: How to analyze the data: How to interpret the data: How to conclude: How to write bibliography:编辑课件How to choose objectchoose the topic from your interests, experience, readings, topical issues and etc.specify the re

2、search question: put the objective into a concrete proposition. significant, feasible, neither broad nor narrow编辑课件Possible topicsOn-campus topicsOpinions of both students and staff about the cafeteria/ library etc. service Opinions and suggestions on courses offered in our department and collegeRat

3、e of successful campus love that results in marriageQualities of a most attractive college student编辑课件Off-campus topicsDemand for English tutors in societyWhat qualities are attractive to potential employers?Are interns welcomed?编辑课件Definition of QuestionnaireThe questionnaire is a form that consist

4、s of questions on a topic or group of topics designed to be answered by a number of people.Have you ever been asked to answer a questionnaire? What was it about?编辑课件PurposeTo gather information, e.g., comments or opinions on the service or products of a company.The information gathered will be trans

5、formed into statistical information, graphs and charts.After the careful analysis, the results will become the basis of a report or policy-making. 编辑课件Layout of QuestionnaireTitle IntroductionQuestionsCloseFootnote 编辑课件Process of writing questionnairesIdentify the goal(s) of the QConsider the audien

6、ce, the one who needs the info., and how info. will be most effectively presentedselect the reliable respondents, representative sample of populationMake a rough list of all info. requiredStructure and word the questions logically and appropriatelyType out the form neatlyMake any necessary amendment

7、s. Always consider the layout of your questionnaire. You want to make it attractive, easy to understand and easy to complete.编辑课件Title Help readers see what the questionnaires are about.Questionnaires on the TV ShowSurvey on Hotel Service Quality编辑课件Introduction Show the reason to fill in the questi

8、onnaire. We are currently planning to buy some new furniture for the training school. Could you please give me your opinions or suggestions by answering the following questions? The results of the questionnaires will be presented to the board for further discussion. Thanks for cooperation.编辑课件Ask Qu

9、estions questionnaire questions V. internal questionsThe questions you ask yourself are usually unsuitable for asking respondents directly. This is a problem with a lot of questionnaires written by beginners.The overriding consideration in questionnaire design is to make sure your questions can accu

10、rately tell you what you want to learn.编辑课件Open v. ClosedClosed format questions usually take the form of a multiple-choice question. They are easy for the respondent.Open format questions are those that ask for unprompted opinions. In other words, there are no predetermined set of responses. What d

11、ifferent purposes do these two kinds of questions serve?编辑课件Advantages of each formatClosed formatEasy for respondentsEasy to calculate percentagesSave time and moneyOpen formatInvite subjective dataInvite wider responseTruly reflect the opinions of respondentsProper when the range of responses is n

12、ot tightly defined.编辑课件Disadvantages of Open format:1. There is no way to automatically tabulate or perform statistical analysis on them. This is obviously more costly in both time and money.2. Open format questions require more thought and time on the part of the respondent. 编辑课件3. They are also op

13、en to the influence of the reader, for no two people will interpret an answer in precisely the same way. This conflict can be eliminated by using a single reader (or a single researcher), but a large number of responses can make this impossible.编辑课件Multiple choice questions:About how many days a wee

14、k do you go out on business?_A. 1 dayB. 2 daysC. 3 days编辑课件Yes or No questionsDo you own a color TV? Y/NAre you going to register for the business member this year? Y/N编辑课件Rating or preference questions How do you rate this car: excellent good fair poor 编辑课件 I am a trend-setter: Strongly Agree Stron

15、gly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 编辑课件Tips on scale question:Many surveys use a ten-point scale, but there is considerable evidence to suggest that anything over a five point scale is irrelevant. Another issue on which researchers differ is whether to use a scale with an odd or even number of points. Some like

16、 to force people to give an answer that is clearly positive or negative, even; Others feel it is important to offer a neutral, middle option, odd.编辑课件List questionsWhich of the following have you attended in the past six months? (Check all that apply)Art exhibitionBalletCinemaOperaPlayOther performa

17、nce (please specify):编辑课件Questions must be clear, succinct and unambiguous.Questions must be relevant to goalCarefully select the respondents. Make sure that they are reliable and representative sample of population编辑课件Avoid loaded questions, e.g., “Why do people think that this brand is popular?”Av

18、oid potentially biased questions, e.g., “Dont you think?”编辑课件Formulate questions whose answers can be readily computedAsk open questions as well as closed questionsGive all the possible choices. Where it is feasible, provide some space for the reader to provide his answer. 编辑课件Sequence of questionsA

19、t the beginning, to have some questions that are both interesting and easy to answer. As rapport gradually builds up between interviewer and interviewee, more difficult and personal questions can be asked.In a good questionnaire, the questions will seem to flow in a logical order. 编辑课件The questions

20、should move gradually from the general to the specific; this is called funnelling. The more sensitive a question, the closer it should be to the end of the questionnaire.At the end of a questionnaire, we normally include a very general open-ended question.编辑课件Qualities of a Good Question1. Evokes th

21、e truth. Questions must be non-threatening. 2. Asks for an answer on only one dimension. Do you like the texture and flavor of the snack? 编辑课件3. Can accommodate all possible answers. For example, consider the question: What brand of computer do you own? _ A. IBM B. Apple 4. Has mutually exclusive op

22、tions. An obvious example is: Where did you grow up? _ A. country B. farm C. city 编辑课件5. Produce variability of responses. What do you think about your looks? _ A. Its the worst B. Its somewhere between the worst and best C. Its the best Since almost all responses would be choice B, very little info

23、rmation is learned. Design your questions so they are sensitive to differences between respondents. As another example: Are you against murdering? (circle: Yes or No)Again, there would be very little variability in responses and wed be left wondering why we asked the question in the first place.编辑课件

24、6. Follows comfortably from the previous question. Transitions between questions should be smooth. 7. Does not presuppose a certain state of affairs. Are you satisfied with your current auto insurance? (Yes or No) 8. Does not imply a desired answer. Dont you think the Congress is spending too much m

25、oney? 编辑课件9. Does not use emotionally loaded or vaguely defined words. Quantifying adjectives (e.g., most, least, majority) mean different things to different people.10. Do not use unfamiliar words or abbreviations.11. Do not depend on responses to previous questions. An example of branching is:1. D

26、o you currently have a life insurance policy ? 2. How much is your annual life insurance premium ? _编辑课件12. Do not ask the respondent to order or rank a series of more than five items. This becomes increasingly difficult as the number of items increases, and the answers become less reliable. 编辑课件13.

27、 Non-specific questions Do you like orange juice? Do I like what? Taste, texture, nutritional content, Vitamin C, the current price? 14. Non-directed questions What suggestions do you have for improving tomato juice? The respondent may offer suggestions about texture, the type of can or bottle, mixi

28、ng juices, or something related to use as a mixer or in recipes. It gives respondents excessive latitude.编辑课件15. Questions on future intentions Making predictions is difficult, especially when they are about the future. Predictions are rarely accurate more than a few weeks or in some case months ahe

29、ad. 16. Prestige Bias Prestige bias is the tendency for respondents to answer in a way that make them feel better. People may not lie directly, but may try to put a better light on themselves. For example: Will you smoke in public?编辑课件17. Be aware of cultural and educational factors. Respondents of

30、low educational level have a strong tendency to exaggerate answers.18. Researchers may be perceived as being government agents, with the power to punish or reward according to the answer given. Accordingly they often give correct answers rather than what they really believe.编辑课件Language:Use simple l

31、anguage Too complex: How ingenuous are you when the instructor asks if you have understood material presented during a lecture?“Better: How honest are you when the instructor asks if you have understood material presented during a lecture?“ 编辑课件Write clearly Unclear: How would you rate your particip

32、ation during class?Clearer: Compared to others in the course, how often do you ask questions during lectures?“编辑课件Avoid universal words and double negatives Because respondents may avoid choosing extremes, do not use universal words such as all, always, none, and never. Universals: I always study ha

33、rd for exams.“Better: I study hard for exams.“ It is also best to avoid words such as only, just, and merely, which may lead respondents to answer in a particular way and bias the results. 编辑课件Negatively worded questions are often confusing because responding no creates a double negative.Negatively

34、worded: Should the instructor not schedule an exam the same week a paper is due?Better: Should the instructor schedule an exam the same week a paper is due?“Write short questions Questions should be short and simple, rarely exceeding 20 words. 编辑课件Close & FootnoteClose: Give thanks and good wishes.

35、Thank you very much!Footnote: necessary information of the respondent or designer. Name: _ Tel: _ Address: _ Date:_ 编辑课件How to analyze the data (with Excel)A. To generate diagramstable: numeric valuepie chart: proportion line graph: trend; contrast; correlation bar graph: contrast tree diagram: proc

36、ess, organization 编辑课件Table 1997199819992000Grain11%47%46.5%45%Milk10%11%11%12%Meat17%20%22.5%23%Fruit&veg24%22%20%20%编辑课件Function: store the data look up the data introduction to data (in the report) Requirement: classified into dimensions numerical value 编辑课件Pie chart Function: Proportion between

37、variables contrast in proportion 编辑课件Single Line graph编辑课件Function:Trendup and down maximum & minimumcorrelation: positive negative non-correlation编辑课件positiveIncome34677999113148Happiness index132435475765编辑课件Negative success 677999113148pressure 16514412210989编辑课件Non-correlationWeight3467799911314

38、8Strength53211397867452213编辑课件Multi-line graph编辑课件Function:trendmaximum & minimumup and down correlationContrast 编辑课件bar graphFunction: Contrast between variables maximum & minimum编辑课件Tree diagramFunction: sequence, succession, classification, organization, etc.编辑课件 central tendency (集中): average, m

39、edian(中数), mode(众数), etc. dispersion (离中): range(两极差), mean average(平均差), variance(方差), etc. B. To take statistics编辑课件Average class 1 class 2class 1798286849184.4class 2478789959883.2编辑课件Median Class1: 84 Class 2: 89 Class 2 class 1class 1798284869184.4class 2478789959883.2编辑课件ModeI am a trend-sette

40、r: Strongly disagree Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 12345boy1829643girl55102713编辑课件 RangeIncome￥averagerangegroup 1279282284290283.7511group 2227287295318281.7591Economic situation: Group 1 group 2编辑课件So, different diagrams and statistic methods reflect different aspects of the object, we can make full use of the data by analyzing it by various means. 编辑课件How to interpret the dataCause & effectTrend Suggestion 编辑课件Organization of researchResearch on X 1. Introduction a. the reason/significance of your research b. the objectives: the concrete questions to be answered by this resea