Academic Writing and Skills Part II

Introduction

Good research skills are essential in academic writing and it helps in generating dependable data that can be reliably used for decision-making (Cooper et al. 2014). On the other hand, poor academic research skills result in poor data that cannot be used in decision-making. Therefore, the main of this paper is to evaluate and differentiate some of the research skills, including data collection methods, measurement skills, evaluation sample, sample size and various types of sampling methods and different methods of questions.

Observation and experimentation and sources of secondary data information

Observation is a type of market information and data collection, whereby the researcher observes the behaviors of the research participants. In an observational study, the researcher observes the participants or the subjects and measures the variables of interest, but unlike in other approaches, they don't assign treatment to the subjects (Cooper et al. 2014). It includes a full range of monitoring, both the behavioural and non-behavioural conditions and activities, which can be classified into non-behavioural observation and behavioural observation. Besides the visual collection of data, observation also involves touching, smelling, reading, and listening (Gneezy, 2017). An example of observation research is a scientist watching a chemical reaction during experimentation to identify factors such as colour, gas, smell and bubbling, analyze and conclude.

In experimentation, the researcher applies various treatments to the units of experiments and then goes on to observe how the treatment affects the experimental units (Milad, 2017). The researcher intervenes to manipulate at least one dependent variable and one independent variable in a causal relationship and then observes how the subjects under study will be affected (Cooper et al. 2014). For example, when a researcher wants to study the effect of smoking on men, an experimental study would involve finding 100 men age 30 who currently don't smoke. Randomly assign half of the 100 men to smoking treatment and the whole others are subjected to no smoking treatment. The men in the smoking group are allowed to smoke one pack of cigarettes for 5 years, while others don't. Their lung capacity is then measured and analyzed and conclusions are drawn.?

There are different sources of secondary data, which include organization data archives such as reports on previous studies, and published documents (Cooper et al. 2014). Other sources include Publications such as textbooks, magazine articles, encyclopedias, commentaries, book reviews, and almanacks.

Essential differences among nominal, interval, ordinal, and ratio scales

Nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales are the four fundamental or essential levels of the measurement scales used to capture data and information in the form of questionnaires, and surveys whereby each is a multiple question (Cooper et al. 2014).?

The nominal scale usually describes a certain variable with categories that lack a natural order.

On the other hand, in the ordinal scale, the natural order matters but not the difference that exists between the values Gneezy, 2017). In the interval scale, the difference between the two values matters and there is order. Ratio, on the other hand, will have all the properties of the interval variable whereby it has a clear definition of 0.0. in case the variable is equal to 0.0. None of that variable exists (Cooper et al. 2014).

Sample versus Census. Differences between probability sampling and non-probability sampling

Census and sample are methods of collecting data about a population.? A sample refers to a subset of the total units in the population, which is selected to represent the total units in the population (Cooper et al. 2014). On the other hand, a census refers to the study of every unit in the population or a count of all the elements in the population. It is also referred to as complete enumeration.

There are two main methods of sampling i.e., probability sampling and non-probability sampling.

In probability sampling, the concept of random selection is used to ensure that every member of the population has a non-zero chance of selection, while non-probability is subjective and arbitrary, whereby every member of the population doesn't have a known chance of being included (Rahi, 2017). The key difference between probability and non-probability sampling is based on the term random. ??

Distinguish between

Direct and indirect questions

An indirect question is usually designed to hide or conceal the main aim or purpose of the question. In this case, the respondent is not told of the main objective and sponsor of the research study to receive unbiased responses (Cooper et al. 2014). On the other hand, the direct question is a question asked the respondents about their behaviour and actions and may provide biased responses.

Open-ended and closed questions

Open-ended questions refer to unstructured questions that allow the respondents to give a free form of answer as they don't limit responses but only provide a reference frame for the participants' answers (Cooper et al. 2014). Closed questions, on the other hand, are structured whereby the participants are provided with fixed sets of choices such as A, B, and C to choose from. Closed-ended questions are often good for surveys because you get higher response rates when users don't have to type so much.

Research, investigative, and measurement questions

Research questions: This is an answerable inquiry into a certain issue of concern or a fact-based translation of a question which one has to answer to contribute to the management question's solutions (Cooper et al. 2014). It is usually the first step in a research study.

Investigative questions: These are specific questions that research has to find answers to provide enough coverage and details of the research question. ?In this case, the researcher has to answer to answer the research question satisfactorily to arrive at a question (Eifler & Leitg?b, 2019).

Measurement question: a measurement question refers to the questions that a participant in a research study has to answer if they are to gather the required data and information and resolve the question of the management. ?It also refers to observations that must be recorded (Rahi, 2017).

Conclusion

The report has evaluated some of the main key methods of data collection, measurement scales, research questions and sampling methods. When conducting any research, the research skills must be implemented based on their characteristics to have reliable data and findings that can be used in decision-making (Kumar, 2019).

References

Cooper, D. R., Schindler, P. S., & Sun, J. (2014). Business research methods (Vol. 12). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Eifler, S., & Leitg?b, H. (2019). Experiment. In Handbuch Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung (pp. 203-218). Springer VS, Wiesbaden.

Gneezy, A. (2017). Field experimentation in marketing research. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(1), 140-143.

?Kumar, R. (2019). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications Limited.

Milad, M. (2017). Blended Learning Approach: Integrating Reading and Writing Research Skills to Improve Academic Writing. Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(3), 23-55.

Rahi, S. (2017). Research design and methods: A systematic review of research paradigms, sampling issues and instrument development. International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences, 6(2), 1-5.

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