TL;DR — Quick Answer A cross-sectional study collects data from a population at a single point in time — a snapshot. A longitudinal study collects data from the same subjects repeatedly over a period — a film. Cross-sectional designs are faster, cheaper, and ideal for measuring prevalence and associations at one moment, but they cannot […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer A Likert scale is a rating scale used to measure attitudes, opinions, and perceptions by asking respondents how strongly they agree or disagree with a series of statements — most commonly on a 5-point scale from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree.” Strictly, a single statement is a Likert item; the Likert […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer In research, the population is the entire group of people or items a researcher wants to study and draw conclusions about. The sample is the smaller subset of that population actually studied. Because studying an entire population is usually impractical, researchers study a sample and generalise the findings to the population. […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer A survey is a research method for collecting data from a sample of people through a structured set of questions, in order to describe characteristics, attitudes, behaviours, or opinions of a larger population. Surveys can be conducted online, by phone, by mail, or in person, and use questionnaires with closed or […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer Data collection methods are the techniques researchers use to gather information for their study. The main quantitative methods are surveys and questionnaires, experiments, and structured observation. The main qualitative methods are interviews, focus groups, observation, and document analysis. The right method depends on your research question, approach, and the type of […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer Primary data is original data collected first-hand by the researcher specifically for their research — through surveys, experiments, interviews, or observations. Secondary data is existing data collected by someone else for a different purpose — such as published studies, government statistics, company records, and datasets. Primary data is tailored to the […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer Reliability and validity are two essential criteria for evaluating the quality of research measurement. Reliability refers to consistency — whether a measure produces the same results under consistent conditions. Validity refers to accuracy — whether a measure actually measures what it claims to measure. A measure can be reliable without being […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer Sampling in research is the process of selecting a subset of individuals or items (a sample) from a larger group (the population) to study, when studying the entire population is impractical. The two main categories are probability sampling (random selection, where every member has a known chance of being chosen — […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer To design a research questionnaire: start from your research objectives, write clear and unbiased questions, choose appropriate question types (closed or open-ended), use established scales like the Likert scale where suitable, organise questions logically, keep it as short as possible, and always pilot test before full distribution. A good questionnaire collects […]
Read More →TL;DR — Quick Answer Quantitative research is a research approach that collects and analyses numerical data to measure relationships between variables, test hypotheses, and produce findings that can be generalised to a wider population. It asks how many, how much, and whether a measurable relationship exists. Common methods include surveys, questionnaires, and experiments. It is […]
Read More →