a descriptive study is one in which information is collected without changing the environment

8/17/2019 A Descriptive Study is One in Which Information is Collected Without Changing the Environment

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A descriptive study is one in which information is collected without changing the

environment (i.e., nothing is manipulated). Sometimes these are referred to as “

correlational ” or “ observational ” studies. The !ce of "uman #esearch

$rotections ("#$) de%nes a descriptive study as “Any study that is not truly

e&perimental.” 'n human research, a descriptive study can provide information

about the naturally occurring health status, behavior, attitudes or other

characteristics of a particular group. escriptive studies are also conducted to

demonstrate associations or relationships between things in the world around

you.

https://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/sdsu/res_des1.htm

escriptive studies, primarily concerned with %nding out what is, might be

applied to investigate the following *uestions+ o teachers hold favorable

attitudes toward using computers in schools -hat inds of activities thatinvolve technology occur in si&th/grade classrooms and how fre*uently do they

occur

escriptive research can be either *uantitative or *ualitative. 't can involve

collections of *uantitative information that can be tabulated along a continuum

in numerical form, such as scores on a test or the number of times a person

chooses to use a/certain feature of a multimedia program, or it can describe

categories of information such as gender or patterns of interaction when using

technology in a group situation. escriptive research involves gathering data

that describe events and then organi0es, tabulates, depicts, and describes thedata collection (Glass & Hopkins, 198!.

escriptive studies report summary data such as measures of central tendency

including the mean, median, mode, deviance from the mean, variation,

percentage, and correlation between variables. Survey research commonly

includes that type of measurement, but often goes beyond the descriptive

statistics in order to draw inferences.

The Nature of Descriptive Study

• 't is the best methods for collecting information to demonstrate

relationships and describe the world as it e&ists and are often done before

an e&periment to now what speci%c things to manipulate and include in

an e&periment ("ickman, #., & $og, %.. (1998!. Hand'ook o

)pplied *ocial $esearch +ethods. e-'ur ark, 0).!

• because it can answer “what is” and “what was” the nature of a situation

as it e&ists at the time of the study and to e&plore the causes of particular

phenomena through the collection of census data. ravers $. (1928!

3ntroduction to 4ducational $esearch. (th ed.!. +c+illan. #ondon


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• useful when it is impossible to test and measure the large population

which is the sub1ect of *uantitative types of e&perimentation.

• descriptive research may be more analytic. 't often focuses on a particular

variable or factor.

• low on the control or manipulation of research conte&t scale. 't is non/

intrusive and deals with naturally occurring phenomena.

http://linguistics.'u.edu/acult/henrichsenl/$esearch+ethods/$

+_5_67.html

• The answer in a descriptive research can no way be de%nitive.

https://eplora'le.com/descriptiveresearchdesign

Aims of a Descriptive Study

• provides a nowledge base which can be a springboard for other types of

*uantitative research methods because it maps the terrain of a speci%c

phenomenon.

• contribute in the formation of principles and generali0ation in behavioral

sciences contribute in the establishment of standard norms of conduct,

behavior, or performance.

reveal problems or abnormal conditions 2 and if correctly interpreted, the

data gathered can provide useful insight which may lead to hypothesis 3

formation. ravers $. (1928! 3ntroduction to 4ducational $esearch.(th ed.!. +c+illan. #ondon

types of descriptive research:

observational methods, case-study methods and survey methods.

Observational Method

-ith the observational method (sometimes referred to as %eld

observation) animal and human behavior is closely observed. There are two

main categories of the observational method 4 naturalistic observation and

laboratory observation.

The biggest advantage of the naturalistic method of research is that

researchers view participants in their natural environments. This leads to

greater ecological validity than laboratory observation, proponents say.

5cological validity refers to the e&tent to which research can be used in

real/life situations. $roponents of laboratory observation often suggest that dueto more control in the laboratory, the results found when using laboratory


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observation are more meaningful than those obtained with naturalistic

observation.

6aboratory observations are usually less time/consuming and cheaper

than naturalistic observations. f course, both naturalistic and laboratory

observation are important in regard to the advancement of scienti%c nowledge.

ase Study Method

7ase study research involves an in/depth study of an individual or group of

indviduals. 7ase studies often lead to testable hypotheses and allow us to study

rare phenomena. 7ase studies should not be used to determine cause and

e8ect, and they have limited use for maing accurate predictions.

There are two serious problems with case studies 4 e&pectancy e8ects

and atypical individuals. 5&pectancy e8ects include the e&perimenter9s

underlying biases that might a8ect the actions taen while conducting research.

These biases can lead to misrepresenting participants9 descriptions. escribing

atypical individuals may lead to poor generali0ations and detract from e&ternal

validity.

Survey Method

'n survey method research, participants answer *uestions administered

through interviews or *uestionnaires. After participants answer the *uestions,

researchers describe the responses given. 'n order for the survey to be both

reliable and valid it is important that the *uestions are constructed properly.

:uestions should be written so they are clear and easy to comprehend.

ackson, *.#. (5669!. $esearch +ethods and *tatistics: ) 0ritical

hinking )pproach rd edition. "elmont, 0): ;ads-orth.

orrelational !esearch

7orrelational research describes what e&ists at the moment (conditions,

practices, processes, structures, etc.) and is, therefore, classi%ed as a type of

descriptive method. ;evertheless, these conditions, practices, processes or

structures described are maredly di8erent from the way they are usually

described in a survey or an observational study. 7orrelational research comprises

of collecting data to determine whether, and to what e&tent, a relationship e&ists

between two or more *uanti%able variables. 7orrelational research is aimed at

determining the nature, degree and direction of relationships between variables


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or using these relationships to mae predictions. 7orrelational study does not

specify cause/and/e8ect relationships between variables under consideration. 't

merely speci%es concomitant variations in the scores on the variables. Steps of a

7orrelational #esearch+ Selection of a $roblem2 Selection of the Sample and the

Tools2 esign and $rocedure2 'nterpretation of the


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>. Analytical ?ethod. 't involves the identi%cation and interpretation of data

already e&isting in documents, pictures and art facts. 't is a form of research in

which events, ideas, concepts or artefacts are e&amined through analysis of

documents, records, recordings or other media. "ere, conte&tual information is

very essential for an accurate interpretation of data. "istorical research

comprises of systematic collection and analysis of documents, records and

artefacts with the ob1ective of providing a description and interpretation of past

events or persons.

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Advanta#es

• ata 7ollection / @sing a descriptive research design re*uires the use of

speci%c forms of data collection. This can include case studies, observation

or surveys. These data collection techni*ues present several advantages

as they provide a multifaceted approach for data collection.


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researcher what they thin the researcher wants to hear. This is

particularly di!cult during interviews. $articipants may also refuse to

provide answers to *uestions they view to be too personal.

a descriptive study is one in which information is collected without changing the environment

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