Before planning my experiment, I needed to know:
What will I change - (independent variables)
For my study I changed the conditions of experiment sessions
What I will measure or observe
This was the manner in which children carried out their task under the different experimental conditions and measured how this affected them
What are the things I will keep the same - Dependent variables)
In this case, I kept experimental participants the same
Preparing the questionnaire
I took into account the kind of questions I wanted to ask because it is vital to my research and that the style of questions is suited to the targeted group (aged 5-7). I tried to keep questions short, few, clear and straight forward. I asked 'why' at the end of questions as a way for participants to justify their decisions.
Participants
Having a small number of experiment participants meant that my results would be more qualitative ( Bob mention this in the very beginning). Qualitative data tends to be associated with a holistic perspective. I obtained my qualitative data by using a variety of research methods: these were collecting video data, data from informal interview and data from questionnaire.
The procedure I used for analyzing my qualitative data is by becoming immersed in the data, what I mean is, I looked a the video of the observation many times. I then started my analysis by writing detailed descriptive accounts of the situation or narrative (this is called a thick description). The importance of this narrative is that it provides the information needed in order to make comparison with finding from other research
From this data and from interview transcripts, I attempted to look out for themes or interconnection that occur, recur and relate (as suggested by Andy). I then generalized statement and compared with existing theories or explanations and developed these in line with my findings.
Validity - Ways in which I made checks on the validity of my findings
- My findings have been triangulated - how I triangulated: I used existing research knowledge in the area of my study, I used questionnaires and informal interview.
- I tried not to be a cause of bias and having a one-sided reporting. Therefore I had a second observer state their findings.
- I have explored other possible explanations and did not settle for the first explanations that fits my study; but have looked at various explanations of similar studies.
This leaves the question of reliability of my study; if someone else did the research would they get the same results and arrive at the same conclusions?
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