Stages of Statistical Investigation: Planning, Research Design, and Data Collection
Stages of a Statistical Investigation
1. Planning
In research, thorough planning is crucial. Launching an investigation without preparation can lead to delays and hinder scientific progress. Problem formulation is the first step, followed by a series of steps to find a valid solution. Each problem requires a specific formulation, involving defining the research field and setting time and space limits, as all phenomena and events occur within these boundaries.
2. Exploratory Phase
No research starts from scratch. Reviewing existing reports and bibliographies is essential for understanding the problem. This exploratory phase allows researchers to familiarize themselves with existing knowledge. Consulting and selecting relevant documents is crucial, as they provide information, data, and figures vital for social research.
Types of Documents:
- Historical sources
- Statistical sources (local, regional, national, provincial, internal)
- Study reports, yearbooks, and official documents
3. Research Design
After defining the research subject, the next step is designing the research process. This involves creating a structured plan with the following steps:
- Forming the research team
- Coordinating tasks
- Choosing methodological tools
- Organizing research materials
- Selecting the sample
- Creating a budget and administrative scheme
Choosing Methodological Tools:
The choice of methods and techniques depends on several factors:
- The nature of the phenomenon being studied
- The research objective
- Financial resources
- The research team
- Expected public engagement
Organizing Reference Material:
This involves two tasks:
- Classifying materials
- Managing materials
Report Writing
The final step is preparing a report presenting the research results. This report should include information on the methods and techniques used, as well as the theoretical background that guided the research.
Data Collection
After defining the research design and hypothesis, the next step is data collection. Numerous data collection techniques exist, including:
- Observation
- Interviews
- Questionnaires
- Tests
- Document collection
- Sociometry
- Content analysis
Data collection involves three interconnected activities:
- Selecting a valid and reliable measuring instrument.
- Applying the instrument to the variables of interest.
- Coding the data.
Classes of Data:
primary and secondary according to its origin.
The primary data obtained from reality itself, without prior preparation is what we take ourselves or our agents of reality itself, while the secondary are written records also come from a contact in reality but who have obtained or collected other people and researchers.
VARIABLES
Variable call quality or quantity that is the subject of study in all individuals of a population that we studied, and the variable can be quantitative and qualitative, quantitative can be discrete or continuous.
– Qualitative whether the values of the observations are expressed or qualities, attributes such as: sex age the level of study …. variable is ordered as for example when we approach the order following a fixed level of education, while the unordered, is when it makes no sense what we ordered.
– The variable is quantitative when the values of the observations can be expressed numerically quantifiable, and therefore can be ordered either as increasing, decreasing, so can be sorted into discrete values that take concrete and have no margin for error, and continued when they can take any value in a certain range, for example when we say the height, the monthly … etc..
When it comes to quantitative traits is not possible to consider the values of their minor differences and it is then necessary to pool the data and this work is called, constitution class.