Chapter 5 Collecting Quantitative Data

Chapter 5
Collecting Quantitative Data

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Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson Education, Inc.
Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 4e All rights reserved.
By the end of this chapter,
you should be able to:
 State the five steps in the process of quantitative data
collection
 Identify how to select participants for a study
 Identify the permissions needed for a study
 List different options for collecting information
 Locate, select, and assess an instrument(s) for use in
data collection
 Describe procedures for administering quantitative data
collection
Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, Fourth Edition – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 5-2
Steps in the Process of
Quantitative Data Collection
 Determining participants to study
 Obtaining permissions needed
 Considering what types of information to
collect
 Locating and selecting instruments
 Administering the data collection

ISBN: 0132755912 5-3
Who Will Be Studied:
Identifying the Unit of Analysis
 Unit of analysis is the level (e.g.,
individual, family, school, school district)
from which the data will be gathered.
 There may be different units of analysis:
 One for the dependent variable
 One for the independent variable

ISBN: 0132755912 5-4
Population and Sample
 A population is a group of individuals that have
the same characteristic(s).
 A sample is a subgroup of the target population
that the researcher plans to study for the purpose
of making generalizations about the target
population.
 Samples are only estimates.
 The difference between the sample estimate
and the true population is the “sampling error.”

ISBN: 0132755912 5-5
Populations and Samples
Target
Population
Sample Sample
Population Sample
- All teachers in high schools in one city - All high school biology teachers
- College students in all community - Students in one community
colleges college
- Adult educators in all schools - Adult educators in five schools of
of education education in the Midwest
ISBN: 0132755912 5-6
Probability and Nonprobability
Sampling
 Probability sampling is the selection of individuals
from the population so that they are representative of
the population.
 Nonprobability sampling is the selection of
participants because they are available, convenient,
or represent some characteristic the investigator
wants to study.

ISBN: 0132755912 5-7
Types of Quantitative
Sampling
Quantitative Sampling Strategies
Probability Sampling Nonprobability Sampling
Simple Systematic Stratified Multistage Convenience Snowball

Random Sampling Sampling Cluster Sampling Sampling
Sampling Sampling

ISBN: 0132755912 5-8
Types of Probability Samples
 Simple random: Selecting a sample
from the population so all in the
population have an equal chance of
being selected
 Systematic: Choosing every “nth”
individual or site in the population until
the desired sample size is achieved

ISBN: 0132755912 5-9
Types of Probability Samples
(cont’d)
 Multistage cluster sampling: A sample
chosen in one or two stages because the
population is not easily identified or is
large
 Stratified sampling: Stratifying the
population on a characteristic (e.g.,
gender) then sampling from each stratum

ISBN: 0132755912 5-10
Proportional Stratification
Sampling Approach
Population
(N=9000)
Boys
.66 of pop. 200
N=6000
Girls
.33 of pop. 100
N=3000
Sample = 300

ISBN: 0132755912 5-11
Types of Nonprobability
Samples
 Convenience sampling: Participants
are selected because they are willing
and available to be studied.
 Snowball sampling: The researcher
asks participants to identify other
participants to become members of the
sample.

ISBN: 0132755912 5-12
What Permissions Are Needed:
Obtaining Permission
 Institutional or organizational (e.g., school
district)
 Site-specific (e.g., secondary school)
 Individual participants
 Parents of participants who are not
considered adults
 Campus approval (e.g., university or college)
and Institutional Review Board (IRB)

ISBN: 0132755912 5-13
Linking Data Collection
to Variables and Questions
Flow of Activities Example
Identify the variable Self-efficacy for learning from
others
Operationally define the variable Level of confidence that an

individual can learn something by
being taught by others
Locate data (measures,
observations, documents with 13 items on a self-efficacy
questions and scales) attitudinal scale from Bergin (1989)
Collect data on instruments Scores of each item ranged from

yielding numeric scores 0-10 with 10 being “completely
confident”
ISBN: 0132755912 5-14
Information to Collect:
Types of Data Measures
 An instrument is a tool for measuring, observing, or
documenting quantitative data.
 Types of instruments
 Performance measures (e.g., test performance)
 Attitudinal measures (measures feelings toward
educational topics)
 Behavioral measures (observations of behavior)
 Factual measures (documents, records)

ISBN: 0132755912 5-15
Locating or Developing an
Instrument for Data Collection
 Look in published journal articles
 Run an ERIC search and a descriptor for the instrument
you want in an online search to see if there are articles
that contain instruments
 Check Tests in Print
 Check Mental Measurements Yearbook published by the
Buros Center at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
(http:unl.edu/Buros)
 Develop your own instrument

ISBN: 0132755912 5-16
Criteria for Choosing a Good
Instrument
 Have authors developed the instrument recently?
 Is the instrument widely cited by other authors?
 Are reviews available for the instrument?
 Does the procedure for recording data fit the research
questions/hypotheses in your study?
 Does the instrument contain accepted scales of
measurement?
 Is there information about the reliability and validity of
scores from past uses of the instrument?

ISBN: 0132755912 5-17
Reliability
 Reliability: Scores from measuring variables that are stable and
consistent
 Example: Bathroom scale
 Types of reliability
 Test-retest (scores are stable over time)
 Alternate forms (equivalence of two instruments)
 Alternate forms and test-retest
 Inter-rater reliability (similarity in observation of a behavior
by two or more individuals)

 Internal consistency (consistent scores across the
instrument)

ISBN: 0132755912 5-18
Validity
 Validity: Evidence to demonstrate that the test
interpretation of scores matches its proposed use
 Types of validity
 Evidence based on test content
 Evidence based on response processes
 Evidence based on internal structure
 Evidence based on relations to other variables
 Evidence based on the consequences of testing

ISBN: 0132755912 5-19
Scales of Measurement
 Nominal (categorical): Categories that describe
traits or characteristics participants can check
 Ordinal (categorical): Participants rank order a
characteristic, trait, or attribute
 Interval (continuous): Provides “continuous”
response possibilities to questions with assumed
equal distance
 Ratio (continuous): A scale with a true zero and
equal distances among units

ISBN: 0132755912 5-20
Procedures for Administering
the Data Collection
 Develop standard written procedures for
administering an instrument
 Train researchers to collect observational data
 Obtain permission to collect and use public
documents
 Respect individuals and sites during data
gathering (ethics)

ISBN: 0132755912 5-21

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Chapter 5

Collecting Quantitative Data

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

 One for the independent variable

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

 The difference between the sample estimate

and the true population is the “sampling error.”

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Probability Sampling Nonprobability Sampling

Simple Systematic Stratified Multistage Convenience Snowball

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Operationally define the variable Level of confidence that an

Collect data on instruments Scores of each item ranged from

 Attitudinal measures (measures feelings toward

 Factual measures (documents, records)

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

 Alternate forms (equivalence of two instruments)

 Alternate forms and test-retest

 Inter-rater reliability (similarity in observation of a behavior

by two or more individuals)

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting an © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

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