Variety of Designs
There are several designs that can be used to research a topic and meet the goals set during the work. Every research design has its peculiarities and features that have to be taken into consideration before making the final choice (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2012). For example, experimental designs focus on cause and effects with a number of dependent and independent variables and the participants that can be randomly selected (Mitchell & Jolley, 2012). Quasi-experimental designs are similar to the previous one but with an exception that the participants are not randomly chosen (Vogt, Gardner, & Haeffele, 2012). Ex post facto designs are not about the causes and effects but about the possibility to explore a cause as soon as the condition takes place (Creswell, 2013).
Research Topic
An experimental design can be used in different investigations. For example, it is interesting and important to understand the role of information technologies in educations. There are many institutions that have already accepted the iPad initiative and want to promote the use of different mobile devices in an education process. It is possible to investigate the worth of this initiative among the American college students. The experimental research design is as follows: one class is divided into two groups (50 students: 25/25 with an equal number of female and male students in each group); one group is allowed to use iPads to search for material, answer questions, and participate in discussion, and another group is used the available material expect any mobile devices. The experiment is held during one month. In the end, students are examined orally and in a written form to compare the results and define who is able to use the knowledge gained better.
Hypothetical Research Question
The question that has to be answered in this kind of research is: Can mobile devices improve the way of how students accept and understand the material or is it only an easy way to look for material and save time?
Independent and Dependent Variables
There are two groups of variables in this research. Independent variables are the iPads and the students of both genders. A dependent variable is the one that can be manipulated by the two previous variables. That is the results of the tests taken by students at the end of the experiment. Another dependent variable is the time during which students search for material and give answers.
Parametric and Nonparametric Statistics: Differences and Examples
Statistics can be of two types: parametric and nonparametric. To understand the key differences of these statistics, it is necessary to define the essences of both. Macnee and McCabe (2008) define parametric stats as the one that can be based on normally distributed “bell-shaped” numbers with a certain interval, and nonparametric stats is characterized by ordinary numbers that are not “bell-shaped” and without an equal distance. Taking into consideration these two definitions, it is possible to say that the differences between two types of statistics are:
- The relation of facts: parametric stats represents the information that consists of the factors that are closely related or dependent on each other, and the deviation is the essence; the same relation is absent in nonparametric stats that represents only the ordinal position of the facts.
The nature of numbers used in research: parametric stats is the known information about a sample, non-parametric stats is usually got in a result of an experiment.
- The level of importance: as a rule, researchers find parametric stats more credible and applicable for their works because specific assumptions are usually made in regards to a theme for consideration (Kraska-Miller, 2013).
References
Creswell, J.W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Edmonds, W.A. & Kennedy, T.D. (2012). An applied reference guide to research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Kraska-Miller, M. (2013). Nonparametric statistics for social and behavioral sciences. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Macnee, C.L. & McCabe, S. Understanding nursing research: Using research in evidence-based practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Mitchell, M. & Jolley, J. (2012). Research design explained. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Vogt, W.P., Gardner, D.C., & Haeffele, L.M. (2012). When to use what research design. New York, NY: Guilford Press.