Selecting suitable sample populations and understanding the process of data collection are important elements of research. Let us discuss sampling and data collection that will be used to answer the following question:
Is it better to give students the homework or complete all of the tasks in the class?
In order to answer the aforesaid question it is necessary to organize the process of our research in a proper way. First of all, it is required to select a suitable quantitative methodology that will be used to conduct a study that will answer the above-stated research question. Then, we have to choose a sample population to whom we will generalize the results of our study and we need to select data collection strategies.
The Quantitative Methodology
Statistics methods such as t-tests and ANOVA can be used to measure all necessary characteristics and analyze all the study results (Delorme, n. d.).
The Sample Population
A sample population can be described as a certain smaller number of individuals chosen from “a larger population for the purpose of a survey (Fridah, 2002).” As we need to answer the question if it is better to give students the homework or complete all of the tasks in the class, we should consider school students as our population of interest in the study. A sample population must be of an appropriate size to provide reliable information as an outcome of research. If it is a pilot study that is a first step to the main bigger study, “a pilot study should be large enough to provide useful information about the aspects that are being assessed for feasibility (Thabane et al., 2010, p. 5).” Therefore, in order to organize a successful pilot study that will answer the above-mentioned question correctly, we may involve two different groups of school students of the same age in the experiment. This sample of school students will represent the entire population of school students to whom the results of the study will be generalized. It is possible to involve two different groups from the same school or different schools; but it is better to take simple random samples, for the reason that randomness will help to avoid sampling errors and bias in sampling and it will guarantee more reliable results (Fridah, 2002). Accordingly, the technique of probability sampling (that guarantees that all people have the same chances of being chosen) with its simple random sampling method (Salkind, 2003; Crossman, n. d.) will be most appropriate for the research in question. The number of students in each group that will take part in the experiment and that will be assigned a questionnaire can be equal to the number of students in an average school class. The experiment will offer more valuable and reliable data if the research involves more students of different ages and schools, thus making the process of generalization of results more effective.
Data Collection Strategies
We can apply such data collection strategies as an experiment and …