Question No. 1: How will you classify the “Ethics of Research”?

What Ethical consideration would you describe

each
category of your classification?

Answer:

Ethics in Research

When most people think of ethics (or morals), they think of

rules for distinguishing between right and wrong, such as the
Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you"), a code of professional conduct like the Hippocratic Oath
("First of all, do no harm"), a religious creed like the Ten
Commandments ("Thou Shall not kill..."), or a wise aphorisms like
the sayings of Confucius. This is the most common way of
defining "ethics": ethics are norms for conduct that distinguish
between or acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
Most people learn ethical norms at home, at school, or in other
social settings. Although most people acquire their sense of right
and wrong during childhood, moral development occurs
throughout life and human beings pass through different stages
of growth as they mature.
One plausible explanation of these disagreements is that all
people recognize some common ethical norms but different
individuals interpret, apply, and balance these norms in different
ways in light of their own values and life experiences.
Most societies also have legal rules that govern behavior, but
ethical norms tend to be broader and more Informal than laws.
Although most societies use laws to enforce widely accepted
moral standards and ethical and legal rules use similar concepts,
it is important to remember that ethics and law are not the
same. An action may be legal but unethical or illegal but ethical.
We can also use ethical concepts and principles to criticize,
evaluate, propose, or interpret laws. Indeed, in the last century,
many social reformers urged citizens to disobey laws in order to
protest what they regarded as immoral or unjust laws. Peaceful
civil disobedience is an ethical way of expressing political
viewpoints.
Another way of defining 'ethics' focuses on the disciplines that
study standards of conduct, such as philosophy, theology, law,
psychology, or sociology. Finally, one may also define ethics as
a method, procedure, or perspective for deciding how to act and
for analyzing complex problems and issues
Many different disciplines, institutions, and professions have
norms for behavior that suit their particular aims and goals.

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These norms also help members of the discipline to coordinate
their actions or activities and to establish the public's trust of the
discipline. For instance, ethical norms govern conduct in
medicine, law, engineering, and business. Ethical norms also
serve the aims or goals of research and apply to people who
conduct scientific research or other scholarly or creative
activities, and there is a specialized discipline, research ethics,
which studies these norms.
There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical
norms in research. First, some of these norms promote the aims
of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error.
For example, prohibitions against fabricating, falsifying, or
misrepresenting research data promote the truth and avoid
error. Second, since research often involves a great deal of
cooperation and coordination among many different people in
different disciplines and institutions, many of these ethical
standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative
work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness.
For example, many ethical norms in research, such as guidelines
for authorship, copyright and patenting policies, data sharing
policies, and confidentiality rules in peer review, are designed to
protect intellectual property interests while encouraging
collaboration. Most researchers want to receive credit for their
contributions and do not want to have their ideas stolen or
disclosed prematurely. Third, many of the ethical norms help to
ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the public.
For instance, federal policies on research misconduct, on
conflicts of interest, on the human subjects protections, and on
animal care and use are necessary in order to make sure that
researchers who are funded by public money can be held
accountable to the public. Fourth, ethical norms in research also
help to build public support for research. People more likely to
fund research project if they can trust the quality and integrity of
research. Finally, many of the norms of research promote a
variety of other important moral and social values, such as social
responsibility, human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the
law, and health and safety. Ethical lapses in research can
significantly harm to human and animal subjects, students, and
the public

Honesty
Strive for honesty in all scientific communications.
Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures,
and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or
misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting
agencies, or the public.

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Objectivity
Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis,
data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant
writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research
where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or
minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or
financial interests that may affect research.

Integrity
Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity;
strive for consistency of thought and action.

Carefulness
Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and
critically examine your own work and the work of your
peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as
data collection, research design, and correspondence with
agencies or journals.

Openness
Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to
criticism and new ideas.

Respect for Intellectual Property

Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual
property. Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results
without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Give
proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to
research. Never plagiarize.

Confidentiality
Protect confidential communications, such as papers or
grants submitted for publication, personnel records, trade
or military secrets, and patient records.

Responsible Publication
Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not
to advance just your own career. Avoid wasteful and
duplicative publication.

Responsible Mentoring
Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote
their welfare and allow them to make their own decisions.

Respect for colleagues

Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.

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 Social Responsibility
Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate
social harms through research, public education, and
advocacy.

Non-Discrimination
Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the
basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or other factors that are not
related to their scientific competence and integrity.

Competence
Maintain and improve your own professional competence
and expertise through lifelong education and learning; take
steps to promote competence in science as a whole.

Legality
Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and
governmental policies.

Animal Care
Show proper respect and care for animals when using them
in research. Do not conduct unnecessary or poorly
designed animal experiments.

Human Subjects Protection

When conducting research on human subjects, minimize
harms and risks and maximize benefits; respect human
dignity, privacy, and autonomy; take special precautions
with vulnerable populations; and strive to distribute the
benefits and burdens of research fairly.

Principles of Research Ethics:

The ethical issues are debatable in different cultures, societies,
religious groups and countries and are not accepted uniformly
everywhere. That’s why there is a need of debate and discussion
of ethical issues in research in local context. It is possible that
some issues are acceptable in one society but not in other
society. Despite this diversity, the ethical principles are almost
similar and include;

1. Respect for Persons

This is the most important point in research ethics. It includes
two ethical standards i.e. a) Individuals should be treated as

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 autonomous agents. b) Additional protections should be provided
to persons with diminished autonomy such as children and
mentally incapacitated.

2. Beneficence
It means that the researcher should maximize possible benefits
and minimize possible harm to the study participants. Balancing
risks and benefits is an important consideration.

3. Justice
The question of justice arises out of considerations of risks
versus benefits. This includes selection of study participants, and
should be looked at if the participants are being selected on
basis of their easy availability, their compromised position, their
vulnerability or for the reasons related to the problem being
studied.

4. Risks and benefits

The study subject should get no harm. If there are any risks
involved in the study these should be minimal or should be
minimized as much as possible, if the benefits are more likely.
The risk/benefit ratio should be carefully assessed, and benefit to
study subject must outweigh the expected risks due to
participation in the study. It is the responsibility of researchers to
take care of any injury if it occurs due to participation of study
subjects in the study.

INFORMED CONSENT:
Informed consent is an integral part of research. It has as legal,
regulatory, and ethical aspects. It is based on respect for the
individual, and his autonomy or capacity and right to make
choices in his life. It is a process that involves conveying
accurate and relevant information about the study and its
purpose; disclosing known risks, benefits, alternatives, and
procedures; answering questions; and enabling the potential
participant to make an informed decision about whether to
participate or not. A valid informed consent should be based on
the following important elements.

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1. Language:
The information should be provided in a language
which the participant is able to understand and comprehend
easily. It should be written in easy language avoiding technical
term, understandable by common people, having primary
education.
Exact translation in local language such as Urdu & Sindhi (if
needed) should also be available.

2. Competency of study subjects.

The participant must be competent to make decision to
participate or not to participate in the study. If the participant is
not competent due to his/her age, illness, incapacity, or any
other reason, either the participant should not be included in the
research or some other provisions apply guardian’s or parental
consent etc.

3. Children / mentally incapacitated:

In case of minors, their parental / guardian’s consent and minor’s
accent should be obtained. In case of mentally impaired or
incapacitated subjects, temporarily or permanently, their next of
kin’s or guardian’s consent should be obtained. If the subject
himself gains enough mental capacity to understand and
comprehend, his consent should be obtained. If he declines the
consent, he should be withdrawn from the study.
4 Disclosure of information:
The potential participant must be given sufficient relevant
information in order to decide to participate or not to participate.
The information should include the purpose of the study; nature
of the procedure; reasonable alternatives to the proposed
intervention; and risks, benefits, and uncertainties of each
possible intervention.
5 Comprehension/ Procedure.
Due consideration should be given to potential participant’s
ability to understand the proposed intervention in the study.
Procedure that the subjects would be expected to undergo
should be described in sufficient detail such as withdrawal of
blood, laboratory or radiological investigations, interview time,
intake of medications etc. Any procedures that are experimental/
investigational/ non-therapeutic should be clearly identified

6. Benefits, Risk and discomfort:

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 Any risk or benefit to the subject likely to occur as a result of
study should be clearly described. Benefits to researchers,
funding agency or society at large should also be mentioned.

7. Alternate procedure or treatment

Alternate procedure or treatment for those should be mentioned
clearly and those subjects who refuse to join the study should
not be denied access to alternate procedure or treatment of their
free choice.

8. Financial liability:
Financial liability, source of funding etc should be clearly
described. Study subjects should not bear any financial burden or
cost of management injuries as a result of participating in the
study and; management of such injuries should be covered by
the funding agencies, or arrangement should be made to
manage such injuries or side effects free of cost to the study
subjects.

9 Agreement:
The participant must agree to the proposed intervention in the
research study.

10. Voluntary participation:

The participant’s agreement must be voluntary and free from
coercion or undue and unjust incentive. S/he should have a right
to refuse to participate in the study without any penalty or loss of
benefits, which s/he is otherwise entitled to.

11. Withdrawal
Participants should have a right to withdraw from the study any
time without any penalty or loss of benefits, which s/he is
otherwise entitled to.

12. Confidentiality:
Procedures to maintain confidentiality should be described.
Study subjects’ identity should never be disclosed at any time
nor their photos should be used in any form without their
consent.

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13. Access to the researchers for additional information
Name and contact numbers of the researcher and/or study
supervisor should be given so that the subject may contact
him/her in case s/he has any question to ask or report any side
effect or injury suspected to happen as a result of his/her
participation in the study.

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 Question No. 2: What is Correlation Research?
When it’s preferred. Elaborate your
answer with
an example.

Answer:

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
The purpose of correlation research is to discover relationships
between two or more variables.
Relationship means that an individuals status on one variable
tends to reflect his or her status on the other.
Helps us understand related events, conditions, and behaviors.
Is there a relationship between educational levels of farmers and
crop yields?
To make predictions of how one variable might predict another
Can high school grades be used to predict college grades?
To examine the possible existence of causation
Does physical exercise cause people to lose weight?

WHERE DOES THE DATA COME FROM FOR

CORRELATIONALRESEARCH?
Surveys
Scores on various tests or rating scales
Demographic information
Judges or expert ratings

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH PROCESS

Variables to be study are identified
Questions and/or hypotheses are stated
A sample is selected (a minimum of 30 is needed)
Data are collected
Correlations are calculated
Results are reported

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 TERMINOLOGY
“Predictor” variable – the variable(s) that are believed to predict
the outcome.
Could be called an independent variable

“Criterion” variable – the variable to be predicted, the outcome

Could be called the dependent variable

Is level of education (predictor variable) related to family income

(criterion variable)?

Do people who eat more eggs (predictor variable) have higher

cholesterol levels (criterion variable)?

WHICH CORRELATION TO USE?

PEARSON PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATION

Used when both the criterion and predictor variable contain
continuous interval data such as test scores, years of experience,
money, etc.

WHEN TO USE THE PEARSON CORRELATION!

A “purse” contains both bills and coins. Both bills and coins are
interval types of data. So when the two variables being correlated
are interval data (like coins and bills) use the “Purse-un”
Correlation.

POINT BISERIAL CORRELATION

When the predictor variable is a natural (real) dichotomy (two
categories) and the criterion variable is interval or continuous, the
point biserial correlation is used.

WHEN TO USE THE POINT BISERIAL CORRELATION!

You have two bowls of cereal (remember bi means two such as in
bicycle). One bowl is a china bowl, the other is not (this is a real
dichotomy). Is there a relationship between the type of bowl and
how many pieces of cereal you can put in the bowl? Since this is a
rather stupid idea, what is the POINT? Thus Point Bi-Cereal.

BISERIAL CORRELATION

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 When the predictor variable is an artificial dichotomy (two
categories) and the criterion variable is interval or continuous ,
the biserial correlation is used.

WHEN TO USE THE BISERIAL CORRELATION?

Think about a two people, a male who dresses like a male and a
male who likes to dress like a female. One male is an artificial
female. Some people might call the male bisexual (which rhymes
with biserial.) You are going to see if there is a relationship
between sex role portrayal and self esteem scores.

PHI CORRELATION
When the both the predictor and criterion variables are natural
dichotomies (two categories), the phi correlation is used.
If the dichotomies are artificial, the tetrachoric correlation is used.
This is rarely the case in educational research

WHEN TO USE THE PHI CORRELATION!

When data used in Phi Correlations are visually depicted, it looks
somewhat like a tic tac toe game. Phi is a 3 letter word just like tic
tac and toe are.
Spearman rho and Kendall tau
When the both the predictor and criterion variables are rankings,
use either the Spearman rho or Kendall tau correlation.
More than 20 cases – Spearman rho
Less than 20 cases – Kendall tau

WHEN TO USE THE SPEARMAN RHO OR KENDALL TAU

CORRELATION!
Spearman rho reminds me of Spearmint gum because it sounds
similar. Spearmint gum is made from a mint plant. To me a mint
plant smells somewhat rank. And they sell Spearmint gum in big
packages of 20 or more sticks.

WHEN TO USE KENDALL TAU

Kendall tau reminds me of a bull (tau is the first part of taurus,
which is the zodiac sign of the bull). Some bulls are really rank.
When you ride a bull in a rodeo you have to stay on for 8 seconds,
which is a small amount of time.

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 OTHER CORRELATIONS
You can perform multiple correlations using such approaches as
partial correlation, multiple regression, discriminant analysis, and
factor analysis.

These are outside the scope of this class.

For each individual in the research, there must be at least two

measures, or it will be impossible to calculate a correlation.

A correlation may be statistically significant (it didn’t happen by

chance) but be weak or low which means it is nothing to get excited
about. It has no practical significance.

A correlation is reported as r such as r=.36.

The statistical probability is reported as p.

Some researchers report the probability of the correlation
happening by chance was p>.05 (more than 5 out of 100) or
p<.05 (less than 5 out of 100) – we hope for the later as
researchers
Other researchers report the actual probability; p=.03
The first approach was used before the age of computers
Either approach is acceptable.
In reporting correlations in research reports you report both the r
value and the p.

Correlations can range from –1.00 to 1.00

A 1.00 is a perfect positive correlation
As one variable increases, so does the other
A -1.00 is a perfect negative correlation
As one variable increases, the other variable decreases
A .00 correlation indicates no correlation
There is no relationship between one variable and another

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Interpretation of the Strength of Correlations
.00 - .20 – Very Weak
.21 - .40 – Weak
.41 - .60 – Moderate
.61 - .80 – Strong
.81 – 1.00 - Very Strong

Scatter plots are often used to depict correlations

Scatter plots are often used to depict correlations
Scatter plots are often used to depict correlations
How to calculate correlations?
Excel has a statistical function. It calculates Pearson Product Moment
correlations.
SPSS (a statistical software program for personal computers used by
graduate students) calculates correlations.

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 Question No. 3: What are essential segments of Research
Report?
What rules should be observed to write it?

Answer:

A scientific research article or paper is a technical

document that describes a significant experimental, theoretical or
observational extension of current knowledge, or advances in the
practical application of known principles. It is important to emphasize
that a research article should report on research findings that are not
only sound and previously unpublished (original), but also add some
new understanding, observation, proofs, i.e. potentially important
information. Unlike a novel, newspaper article or an essay has a
required structure and style, which is by international consensus
known a “Introduction Methods Results and Discussion”. However,
research article is not only a technically rigid document, but also a
subjective intellectual product that unavoidably reflects personal
opinions and beliefs. Therefore, it requires good skills in both
structuring and phrasing the discoveries and thoughts. These skills are
acquired through experience, but can also be taught.
Segments of the research report, their main functions, preferred
style and rules for them are mentioned below.

S.NO RESEARCH MAIN PREFERRED RULES TO WRITE

. ARTICLE FUNCTION STYLE IT
SEGMENT

01 TITLE - Indicates - Short and -Avoid complex

content simple (7 – 10 grammar,
and main words).
discoveries -Make it catchy!

- Attracts the -Avoid redundancy

reader’s (“An investigation
attraction. of …”,
“The analysis of
…”,
“Effect of …”,
“Influence of …”,
“New method…)

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S.NO RESEARCH MAIN PREFERRED RULES TO WRITE
. ARTICLE FUNCTION STYLE IT
SEGMENT

02 ABSTRACT -Reflects the -Past (Perfect) -Avoid introducing

main “story of tense and passive the topic;
the research voice(!)
article.” -Explain: what was
-Short and done, what was
-Calls attention concise found and what
but avoids extra sentences; are the main
explanations. conclusions;
-No citations,
tables, equations, -bring summary
graphs etc. “numbers”

03 INTRODUCTION -Introduces the -Simple tense for -Use the state-of-

topic and defines referring to art references;
the terminology; established
knowledge or -Follow the logical
-Relates to the past tense for moves;
existing literature review
research; -Define your
terminology to
Indicated the avoid confusion.
focus of the
paper and
research
objectives;

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S.NO RESEARCH MAIN PREFERRED RULES TO WRITE
. ARTICLE FUNCTION STYLE IT
SEGMENT

04 METHODOLOGY -Provides enough -Past tense but -Mention

detail for active voice(!); everything you did
competent that can make
researchers to -Correct and importance to the
repeat the internationally results;
experiment; recognized style
and format (units, -Don’t cover your
-Who, what, variables, traces (“some
when, where, materials etc:); data was ignored”)
how and why? establish an
authors voice (“
we decided to
ignored this
data”);

-If a technique is
familiar, only use
its name (don’t re-
explain);
-Use simple(st)
example to
explain complex
methodology;

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S.NO RESEARCH MAIN PREFERRED RULES TO WRITE
. ARTICLE FUNCTION STYLE IT
SEGMENT

05 RESULTS -Give summary -Past tense; -Present summary

results in data related to the
graphics and -Use tables and research article
numbers; graphs and other objectives and not
illustrations; all research
-Compares results;
different
treatments; -Give more
emphasize on
-Gives quantified what should be
proofs (statistical emphasized;
tests);
- Call attention to
the most
significant
findings;

-Make clear
separation
between yours
and others work;

06 Conclusions -Answers -Simple or -Do not

and Discussion research present tense recapitulate
questions/ (past tense if it is results but make
objectives: related to statements;
-Explains results);
discrepancies - Make strong
and unexpected -Allows scientific statements
findings; speculations (if (avoid”it may be
necessary); concluded…”
-States style);
importance of
discoveries and -Do not hide
future unexpected
implications; results.

-They can be the

most important;

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S.NO RESEARCH MAIN PREFERRED RULES TO WRITE
. ARTICLE FUNCTION STYLE IT
SEGMENT

07 REFERENCE -Gives list of -Depends on -Always cite the

related literature journal but most accessible
and information authors / editors, references;
sources; year and title
must be included; -Cite primary
source rather than
review papers;

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Question No. 4: How Descriptive Research is different from
Applied
Research?

Answer:

APPLIED RESEARCH
Definition: Refers to scientific study and research that seeks to solve
practical problems. Applied research is used to find solutions to
everyday problems, cure illness, and develop innovative technologies.
Psychologists working in human factors or industrial/organizational
fields often do this type of research.

Or

Applied research is research accessing and using some part of the

research communities' (the academy's) accumulated theories,
knowledge, methods, and techniques, for a specific,
often state, commercial, or client driven purpose. Applied research is
often opposed to pure research in debates about research ideals,
programs, and projects.

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
This research is the most commonly used and the basic reason for
carrying out descriptive research is to identify the cause of something
that is happening. For instance, this research could be used in order to
find out what age group is buying a particular brand of cola, whether a
company’s market share differs between geographical regions or to
discover how many competitors a company has in their marketplace.
However, if the research is to return useful results, whoever is
conducting the research must comply with strict research
requirements in order to obtain the most accurate figures/results
possible.

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Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes
data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being
studied. Descriptive research answers the
questions who, what, where, when and how.

Although the data description is factual, accurate and

systematic, the research cannot describe what caused a situation.
Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal
relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words,
descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal
validity.
The description is used for frequencies, averages and other
statistical calculations. Often the best approach, prior to writing
descriptive research, is to conduct a survey investigation. Qualitative
research often has the aim of description and researchers may follow-
up with examinations of why the observations exist and what the
implications of the findings are.
In short descriptive research deals with everything that can be
counted and studied. But there are always restrictions to that. Your
research must have an impact to the lives of the people around you.
For example, finding the most frequent disease that affects the
children of a town. The reader of the research will know what to do to
prevent that disease thus; more people will live a healthy life.

TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

a) SURVEY STUDIES
According to Carter V.Good (1959), the purpose of a
descriptive survey study may be:
• To secure evidence concerning and existing situation
or current conditions.
• To identify standards or norms with which to
compare present conditions.
• To determine how to made the next step (having
determined where we are and where we wish to go.)
This means that researchers who are trying to solve
problem in educational organizations by conducting
surveys collect detailed descriptions of existing
phenomena with intent of employing the data to justify
current conditions and practices or to make plans for
improving them.

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 Types of survey studies:
i) College /universities surveys.
ii) Public opinion surveys.
iii) Community surveys.
iv) Documentary surveys.
v) Job analysis.
vi) Follow – up studies.

b) INTER – RELATIONSHIP STUDIES.

Educationists collect facts to obtain an accurate description
of existing status as they make and effort to trace
interrelationship between facts that will provide a deeper
insight into the phenomena. According to Van Dalen, three
types of studies are includes in these types of studies:
i) Case studies
ii) Casual comparative studies
iii) Correction studies.

c) DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES
The concept of development is essentially biological and
has been most commonly associated with living structures
and life processes. However, the concept has come to be
applied to physical system as well as to social institutions
cultural and systems of ideas. The purpose of
developmental studies is to discover origin, direction,
trend, pattern, rate and pattern of growth with somewhat
more recent interest in causes and inter relationships
affecting growth (Good 1959)
The two types of developmental studies that can be used
in the field of education (educational planning and
management) are:
i) Growth studies.
ii) Trend –projection studies.

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STEPS IN DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
• Examine the Problematic situation.
• Define the problem and sometimes state
the hypotheses.
• List the assumptions upon which the
hypotheses and procedures and based.
• Select or construct techniques for collecting
data.
• Establish categories and classify the data
that are unambiguous, appropriate for the
purpose of the study and capable of
bringing about significant likeness,
difference or relationships.
• Validate the data gathering techniques.
• Make discrimination and objective
observation.
• Describe analyze and interpret their findings
in clear and precise terms.

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Question No. 5: (a) Research Synthesis and Meta Analysis.

Answer:

RESEARCH SYNTHESIS

Research synthesis is the process through which two or more

research studies are assessed with the objective of summarizing the
evidence relating to a particular question.

WHY DO NEED RESEARCH SYNTHESIS?

To make sense of current research (Science is cumulative)

• Volume of research is overwhelming.
• Access to reports of research is haphazard and often biased.
• The quality of research is very variable.
• Most studies are too small.

RESEARCH SYNTHESIS IS REQUIRED FOR WHICH TYPE OF RESEARCH.

• Basic science research.
• Screening / diagnostic test.
• Prevalence / incidence studies
• Prognosis studies
• Effect of practices

THE SCIENCE OF RESEARCH SYNTHESIS

• Systemic review
o Protocol development
o Critical appraisal
o Mata – analysis
• Updating / electronic publication

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 META-ANALYSIS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
• Meta-analysis is a statistical technique for amalgamating,
summarizing, and reviewing previous quantitative research. By
using meta-analysis, a wide variety of questions can be
investigated, as long as a reasonable body of primary research
studies exist. Selected parts of the reported results of primary
studies are entered into a database, and this "meta-data" is
"meta-analyzed", in similar ways to working with other data -
descriptively and then inferentially to test certain hypotheses.
• Meta analysis can be used as a guide to answer the question
'does what we are doing make a difference to X?', even if 'X' has
been measured using different instruments across a range of
different people. Meta-analysis provides a systematic overview
of quantitative research which has examined a particular
question.
• The appeal of meta analysis is that it in effect combines all the
research on one topic into one large study with many
participants. The danger is that in amalgamating a large set of
different studies the construct definitions can become imprecise
and the results difficult to interpret meaningfully.
• Not surprisingly, as with any research technique, meta-analysis
has its advantages and disadvantages. An advantage is its
objectivity, and yet like any research, ultimately its value
depends on making some qualitative-type conceptualizations
and understandings of the objective data.
• Meta-analysis has been used to give helpful insight into:
o the overall effectiveness of interventions (e.g.,
psychotherapy, outdoor education),
o the relative impact of independent variables (e.g., the
effect of different types of therapy), and
o the strength of relationship between variables.

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Question No.5: (b) Research Hypothesis.

Answer:

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

A research hypothesis is the statement created by a researcher

when they speculate upon the outcome of a research or experiment.
Every true experimental design must have this statement at the core
of its structure, as the ultimate aim of any experiment.
The hypothesis is generated via a number of means, but is
usually the result of a process of inductive reasoning where
observations lead to the formation of a theory. Scientists then use a
large battery of deductive methods to arrive at a hypothesis that
is testable, falsifiable and realistic.
The precursor to a hypothesis is a problem, usually framed as a
question. It might ask what, or why, something is happening.
Too broad a statement is not testable by any reasonable scientific
means. It is merely a tentative question arising from literature reviews
and intuition. Many people would think that instinct and intuition are
unscientific, but many of the greatest scientific leaps were a result of
‘hunches’.
The research hypothesis is a paring down of the problem into
something testable and falsifiable. In the aforementioned example, a
researcher might speculate that the decline in the fish stocks is due to
prolonged over fishing. They must generate a realistic and testable
hypothesis around which they can build the experiment.
This might be a question, a statement or an ‘If/Or’ statement. Some
examples could be:

• Is over-fishing causing a decline in the stocks?

• Over-fishing affects the stocks.
• If over-fishing is causing a decline in the numbers of reducing the
amount of trawlers will increase stocks.

These are all acceptable statements and they all give the researcher a
focus for constructing a research experiment. Science tends to
formalize things and use the ‘If’ statement, measuring the effect that
manipulating one variable has upon another, but the other forms are
perfectly acceptable. An ideal research hypothesis should contain a
prediction, which is why the more formal ones are favored.
A hypothesis must be testable but must also be falsifiable for it’s
acceptance as true science. Whilst gut instinct and logic tells us that
fish stocks are affected by over fishing, it is not necessarily true and
the researcher must consider that outcome. Perhaps environmental
factors or pollution are causal effects influencing fish stocks. A scientist

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who becomes fixated on proving a research hypothesis loses their
impartiality and credibility. Statistical tests often uncover trends, but
rarely give a clear-cut answer, with other factors often affecting the
outcome and influencing the results.
A hypothesis must be testable, taking into account current knowledge
and techniques, and be realistic. If the researcher does not have a
multi-million dollar budget then there is no point in generating
complicated hypotheses. A hypothesis must be verifiable by statistical
and analytical means, to allow a verification or falsification.
In fact, a hypothesis is never proved, and it is better practice to use
the terms ‘supported’ or ‘verified’. This means that the research
showed that the evidence supported the hypothesis and further
research is built upon that.
A research hypothesis, which stands the test of time, eventually
becomes a theory, such as Einstein’s General Relativity. Even then, as
with Newton’s Laws, they can still be falsified or adapted.

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