Descriptive Research Study
What are the factors that influence a college student’s performance in a continuous assessment test?
The independent research variable in the above question is the factors affecting student performance while the dependent variable is the student’s performance in the continuous assessment test. Some of the independent variables are continuous (such as the amount of time spent studying) while others are discrete (access to extra course materials). The dependent variable is discrete. The level of measurement for the independent variables depends on the exact variable. The factors affecting student performance may include the amount of time spent studying and access to extra course materials. The level of measurement of the time spent studying is ratio level while access to course materials is nominal. The level of measurement for the dependent variable (performance) is the ratio level.
The above research question falls under descriptive studies because it points towards the different factors that may contribute to the performance of a student in a continuous assessment test. The answers to descriptive research questions try to describe the phenomenon under study. The independent variable is the attribute that is controlled by the investigator or nature while the response variable is manipulated by the independent variable (Lane, 2007).
Ratio levels of measurement possess all three attributes of measurement systems: magnitude, intervals, and rational zero (Trochim, 2006a). The amount of time spent studying is at the ratio level because some students may not study at all, some may study for one hour daily while others may study for two hours and so on. In this case, the interval used is study time in hours. Access to extra course material may be scored as yes or no, which are nominal levels. Nominal scales do not have the three attributes of magnitude, interval, and rational zero (Stockburger, 2007). They may also be nominal-categorical when objects are placed into subgroups and assigned numbers. The subgroups must be mutually exclusive (Reis & Judd, 2014). For example, the answer regarding access to extra course materials cannot be yes and no simultaneously, and it can only assume one value at a given time. The student’s performance regarding scores in the continuous assessment test may take on different values from a score of 0 to 100. On the other hand, the factors affecting the performance of a student may not necessarily be assigned numerical values. Being aware of the level of measurement is beneficial in deciding the interpretation of statistics obtained from a certain variable. For example, knowing that a measure is nominal implies that the assigned numerical values are simply brief codes. The understanding of the level of measurement also helps to pick out the most suitable method of statistical evaluation.
Correlational Research Study
What is the relationship between school attendance and students’ performance in the final exam?
The independent variable is school attendance while the dependent variable is the performance in the final exam. The dependent variable (performance in the exam) and the independent variable (school attendance) are discrete variables. The dependent variable (performance in the exam) may be at ratio or interval levels depending on the chosen measure. If the performance is measured in terms of grade, the dependent variable will be interval level. However, if measured in terms of student score, then the dependent variable will be at the ratio level. School attendance falls under the ratio level of measurement because it can be recorded as the number of school days that the student showed up. This variable can also be calculated as a percentage of the total school days.
The above question falls under correlational research because it tries to establish a positive or negative correlation between school attendance and students’ grades in the final exam. Correlational research questions are a distinctive type of questions that seek to find the relationship between two inherent happenings that occur within a given timeframe, in a similar setting to the same subjects (Trochim, 2006b). Therefore, the suggested study aims to find the link between school attendance and the educational performance of students. Also, the study aims to find the type of relationship between the two events as well as the statistical degree of this relationship (Mitchell & Jolley, 2012). As a result, numerical facts are required to explain the type of relationship as well as the strength of the relationship.
A continuous variable is an element whose estimate is found by measuring while a discrete variable is an element whose estimate is attained by adding up (Polit & Beck, 2014). The performance of students in the final examination is a discrete variable as a student can have any score ranging from 0 to 100 or have a grade ranging from an A to F. Similarly, the school attendance of students can be obtained by counting the number of days that the student attended school.
Causal Research Study
What is the impact of cigarette smoking on the development of respiratory complications?
The independent variable is the smoking of cigarettes while the dependent variable is the development of respiratory complications. Cigarette smoking is a continuous variable while the development of respiratory complications is a discrete variable. The independent and dependent variables are ratio level measurements.
The essence of a causal research question is the focus on the recognition of cause-and-effect relationships (Trochim, 2006b). Proper causal research questions should be structured in a way that explicitly denotes the existence of two variables, which are dependent and independent. Causal research questions imply positive or negative causation (StatSoft, Inc., 2010). When the independent variable has a direct effect on the dependent variable, then positive causality is implied and vice versa. The determination of actual causality needs to be backed up by evidence in the form of statistically significant data. In the above scenario, the research question attempts to link cigarette smoking to the development of respiratory complications.
The development of respiratory complications is a discrete variable because it may or may not be present. Additionally, it is possible to develop more than one complication such as lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a result of cigarette smoking (Jha & Peto, 2014). The number of respiratory complications is most often proportional to the extent of smoking. Therefore, the number of lung complications can be counted. On the other hand, cigarette smoking is a continuous variable because it is impossible to count cigarette smoking. Rather, the amount of smoking can be measured as the number of cigarettes smoked. Cigarette smoking is a ratio level measurement because it possesses the three attributes of magnitude, interval, and rational zero. The magnitude of smoking can be determined by the number of cigarettes smoked while the standard of measurement can be the actual number of packets of cigarettes. The rational zero can be attained in non-smokers.
References
- Jha, P., & Peto, R. (2014). Global effects of smoking, of quitting, and of taxing tobacco. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(1), 60-68.
- Lane, D. (2007). HyperStats online statistics textbook. Introduction. Web.
- Mitchell, M. L., & Jolley, J. M. (2012). Research design explained. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
- Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2014). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice. Philadelphia, PA: Walter Kluwer.
- Reis, H. T., & Judd, C. M. (2014). Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- StatSoft, Inc. (2010). Elementary concepts. Electronic statistics textbook. Web.
- Stockburger, D. L. (2007). Measurement. Introductory statistics: Concepts, models, and applications.
- Trochim, W. (2006a). Levels of measurement.Research methods knowledge base. Web.
- Trochim, W. (2006b). Types of questions. Research methods knowledge base.