Research Methods Collecting and Analysing Primary Data in

Research Methods Collecting and Analysing Primary Data in Geographical Research Collated by Dr Christina Jarvis (2018). This Power. Point is sourced from information provided on this website: http: //owl. english. purdue. edu/owlprint/559/

Why Conduct Research ? It’s a chance to think and learn about something YOU are interested in. To find sustainable solutions to geographic problems. Conducting research gives us a better understanding of the world. Most professional jobs involve research skills Some jobs involve conducting primary research

Primary and Secondary Research Geographers conduct both primary and secondary research. By Year 10, it’s likely you have done a lot of secondary research. Sometimes though, if we want to understand a current issue, we conduct primary research. In this way we can add to the body of knowledge that already exists in an area. Primary research can really work well to supplement secondary research.

What’s the difference again? Primary Research: conducted first hand by a researcher. They go out and about to find answers for something they are interested in. Secondary Research: this is where you use pre- existing sources that other people have created to find the answers you want

What are some examples of sources in research ? Primary Sources Anything made at the time of the event such as a diary, aa artifact, a photograph. Secondary Sources Anything created after the event such as a book, a government report, an online article.

What Are Some Examples of Primary Research? Typically, when a geographer is collecting primary data, they will conduct surveys with people, interview people in-depth, take photographs and record GPS points, make field sketches design maps, take measurements and so on. The method they use depends on what they are trying to find out. Example: to find out about the plant biodiversity in a specific location, a useful method is a vegetation transect. To find out what most people in a city think about a certain issue, a survey would be applicable.

What Types Of Primary Research Methods Can We Use? 1. Interviews (qualitative method = you interview less people, in depth ie quality) 2. Surveys (quantitative method = you survey more people, less depth ie quantity)

1. INTERVIEWS One-on-one or small group Mainly open-ended questions Used to obtain a lot of in depth information from a small amount of people Use this when you want to get an expert’s opinion or a really knowledgeable opinion Eg. Can you describe to me what it is like to be a Big Issue seller in Adelaide in winter?

Types of Interviewing Face to face interviews – you sit down and ask questions to an expert on your topic. You get a lot of in-depth information from a small number of people. Best to record this but always ask permission first. Phone Interviews – use this when the person is too far away or too busy to meet. Try and record it, with permission. Email interview – less personal than the above, but convenient for people. You’ll get less information than face-to-face interaction and you can’t add in casual follow up questions.

In an interview … DO DO NOT Be punctual and well-organised ie. have questions pre-prepared Hassle the interviewer. If they don’t want to talk about something, move on. Ask questions that can not be answered by other sources Feel you have to stick to your questions too closely. IF a relevant issue arises you hadn’t thought of, follow up that path. Follow-up the interview by writing and thanking the interviewee for their time and help Let the interviewee to get too off track or you may run out of time. Ask follow up questions to try and redirect them to your topic.

2. SURVEYS Survey questions are usually shorter than interview questions They are often more numerous than interview questions Gain a small amount of information from a large number of people Often a range of responses is supplied and people choose one Eg. Do you think Big Issue sellers in Adelaide in winter find selling a. really hard b. quite hard

Types of Surveys WHO? Which group of people will you survey based on who you have access to and what your research is focused on HOW MANY? How many people will you survey (enough to have a meaningful answer but not so many that you’ll drown in data) HOW? How will you survey people? In person (walk up to them), on paper (hand out a survey and ask people to send it to you), via the web LENGTH? How long is the survey? Typically, aim for no more than five questions.

Survey and Interview Questions to Avoid a. Biased questions b. Double-barreled questions c. Confusing questions d. Irrelevant questions

a. Biased Questions that assume what they ask Biased : “Don’t you agree that high school students shouldn’t wear a uniform? ” Revised : “Do you think high school students should wear a uniform? ” Biased: “Many people think high school students should wear a uniform. Are you one of them? ” Revised: “Do you agree or disagree that high school students should wear a uniform? ”

b. Double Barreled Questions One that has more than one question embedded in it Double Barreled: Do you agree that high school students should wear uniforms and that teachers should enforce the rules strictly? Revised : Should high school students wear a uniform? (If participant responds with yes) : Should teachers enforce the uniform rules strictly? ”

c. Confusing Questions where meaning is unclear and response required not evident If your questions aren’t clear, the participants will not be able to give you a clear response. You’ll get USELESS DATA. Eg Confusing “What do you think about uniforms in schools? ” (does this mean are they nice or ugly? Does it mean primary or secondary schools? Does it mean to wear one or not? ? ? ) Eg Revised: What is your opinion about how the Summer Bay High School uniform looks on senior boys

d. Irrelevant Questions These are a waste of your and the interviewee’s time Keep your research question in the forefront of your mind Ask a friend to check the questions for you before you conduct the interview

Should animals have personhood? Generic Research Your Quantitative Research On Personhood Your Qualitative Research On Personhood What do you want to find out? “What do members of my community think about giving personhood status to animals? Does this opinion change after they have watched an informative video? ” How do you plan to discover it? (methodology) I will survey ten people using Survey Monkey I will interview two people in-depth Who will you interview/survey/observe? (participants) I will survey a range of friends of different ages and genders from both within and outside of my school and to some relatives. I will interview my sports coach and my grand mother. How will you be able to gain access to these people? Or this location? Via email I will phone my coach and visit my grand mother What are our biases about this topic? Eg. ‘I live on a farm and we grow sheep’, OR ‘I am a vegan’. What do we expect to Differing levels of understanding about

Once We Have the Data … Then What? Interview data (qualitative) needs to be collated into categories eg if you have interviewed two people you need to collate their answers under headings to help you analyze their ideas and write a conclusion which you can present to the class. Survey data (quantitative) needs to be collated based on the number of people who answered similarly on each question. eg if you have surveyed ten people you need to collate their answers under headings to help you draw a conclusion. (Online software often does this for you). Once you have added up the numbers of people who responded in the same way to each question, you can present your results as a %, in tables, charts, pie graphs etc With both methods, you will need to look for trends, patterns, anomalies in the data you have collected in order to analyze it.

What About Our Secondary Research? It is a real skill to be able to collate various types of information from a range of sources, both primary and secondary The trick is to see where your PRIMARY DATA supports or contrasts with your SECONDARY DATA. For this task, your secondary sources include the Voiceless Video and Fact Sheet on Personhood. Eg. In a paragraph on water security you may something like “Following a decade of drought, Adelaide was suffering from many dead trees and people were concerned about the future (add a secondary ref here). The State Government moved towards making the CBD drought proof. One idea was to educate people about water saving techniques. The SA Water building was one way of doing this. As the CEO of SA Water, Dr. Drip told us, “we had to put our money where our mouths were. We had to show Adelaide it was possible to buildings with

Research Ethics You are representing your school. Act well. It is a privilege to conduct research into people’s opinions. You can not take people's photos or record conversations without permission. Surveys of large numbers of people are usually done on the basis that they are anonymous. If you identify an individual through an interview, you must have their permission to do so.

A Task To Practice On! Work in pairs One person is to write five SURVEY questions to ask another person. The Research Topic is, “What can Schools do to make learning relevant for students? ” So a question may be something like: 1. Do you feel that the curriculum is relevant for you ? yes no don’t know 2. What subject is most relevant for you? a. Geography b. Maths. c English d. Other e. None of them

A Task To Practice Skills On! One person is to write five INTERVIEW questions to ask another person. The Research Topic is: “What can Schools do to make learning relevant for students? ” So a question may be something like: 1. Can you tell me a bit about your positive academic experiences at School?

A Task To Practice Skills On! Once you have both finished writing your questions, check them for one another and make sure that you have followed all the rules we discussed. THEN join up with another pair and swap your survey questions and your research questions with them. Answer each others questions and then return the survey / interviews to the other pair Check your results. Did you get the data you were after? If not, how might you re-word the question so you get the data you can use?

How To Conduct An Interview The following link includes useful tip on how to conduct a successful interview. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=4 e. Oynr. I 2 e. TM