Techniques of research control
Research control eliminates the influences of extraneous variables in the study so that true relationship between the independent and dependent variables can be understood. It excludes the contaminating factors that might affect the relationship between the variables. For example, the researcher wants to study depression among post partum women; the dependent variable is level of depression and independent variable is past partum women. There are other possibilities which affect the level of depression among post partum women such as age, socio economic status and marital status. If a researcher wants to study true relationship between independent and dependent variable, the extraneous variable has to be controlled. The extraneous factors can be divided into two;
Research control eliminates the influences of extraneous variables in the study so that true relationship between the independent and dependent variables can be understood. It excludes the contaminating factors that might affect the relationship between the variables. For example, the researcher wants to study depression among post partum women; the dependent variable is level of depression and independent variable is past partum women. There are other possibilities which affect the level of depression among post partum women such as age, socio economic status and marital status. If a researcher wants to study true relationship between independent and dependent variable, the extraneous variable has to be controlled. The extraneous factors can be divided into two;
- External factors
- Internal factors
Control of external factors
The external factors to be controlled in research are environment, time, culture and so on. To control the environmental influence on data collection, the researcher has to select the environment in natural or artificial setting according to the problem to be studied. Depending on the research topic, the relationship between dependent and independent variable may be influenced by the time of day, month and year. In these cases, the researcher should ensure the constancy of time during data collection.
Control of internal factors
Controlling internal factors such as gender, hereditary is doubtful in research. There are a few methods formulated o control subject characteristics to protect the research topic from the contamination of extraneous variables.
Methods are;
The external factors to be controlled in research are environment, time, culture and so on. To control the environmental influence on data collection, the researcher has to select the environment in natural or artificial setting according to the problem to be studied. Depending on the research topic, the relationship between dependent and independent variable may be influenced by the time of day, month and year. In these cases, the researcher should ensure the constancy of time during data collection.
Control of internal factors
Controlling internal factors such as gender, hereditary is doubtful in research. There are a few methods formulated o control subject characteristics to protect the research topic from the contamination of extraneous variables.
Methods are;
- Randomization
- Homogeneity
- Matching
Randomization
It means the selection of participants randomly, without any conscious decisions by the researcher. Randomization of study participants controls all possible sources of extraneous variables. For example, random assignment of subjects to experimental and control group would equalize the distribution of variables such as age, gender and neutralizes the influences of extraneous variables.
Homogeneity
When randomization is not feasible, the researcher can select the subjects who are homogenous with respect to extraneous variables are included in the study. Homogeneity means the researcher selects the study participants based on important extraneous variables such as specific age group, gender, education and so on. The main limitation of the homogeneity is that results of the study can be generalized only to the type of subjects participated.
Matching
During case control study, the researcher selects the study participants based on relevant extraneous variables and randomly divided into case control groups. This technique used to form comparable groups in case control design.
It means the selection of participants randomly, without any conscious decisions by the researcher. Randomization of study participants controls all possible sources of extraneous variables. For example, random assignment of subjects to experimental and control group would equalize the distribution of variables such as age, gender and neutralizes the influences of extraneous variables.
Homogeneity
When randomization is not feasible, the researcher can select the subjects who are homogenous with respect to extraneous variables are included in the study. Homogeneity means the researcher selects the study participants based on important extraneous variables such as specific age group, gender, education and so on. The main limitation of the homogeneity is that results of the study can be generalized only to the type of subjects participated.
Matching
During case control study, the researcher selects the study participants based on relevant extraneous variables and randomly divided into case control groups. This technique used to form comparable groups in case control design.
No comments:
Post a Comment