Topic 4 : Making research instruments
Meaning and significance of research instruments
In doing the research, it is necessary to collect data usage and analysis to find the answer. The research instrument is important in collecting data about the subject the researcher wants to study. There are many instruments that can be used in research and all the instruments have the same goal that is to get the fact and data in order to make research becomes reliable and beneficial. The types of instruments that are mostly used are in form of questionnaire, interview and observation.
Constructing Questionnaires
Questionnaire is an instrument that is mostly used, it uses for collecting quantitative data like survey and descriptive researches. There are two types of questionnaires, close and open-ended questionnaire.
Close questionnaire is a questionnaire that already specifies the number, individuals who involve just have to choose the answer or fill the words in.
Example: What is your career?
⬜️ Teacher
⬜️ Nurse
⬜️ Soldier
⬜️ Farmer
⬜️ Others__________________
open-ended questionnaire is questionnaires on which individuals involve are not given the answer but write their opinion or give free expression.
Example: Open-ended questionnaire
Which learning sources that students like to search for data? Why?
What do the students do in free time?
What problems in learning do the students have?
Creating questionnaire steps
Study the data that is involved in the research that we want to do and the sample that we want to study in order to draft questionnaires.
Take them and information to check and give advice.
Correct according to the suggestion given.
Take them to experiment
Take them to collect data with the specific group
Creating interviewing form
Interviewing is a research instrument that can be used in collecting all types of research data but quantitative research is still the favorite.
Interviewing is collecting data face to face between the interviewer and the participants where the interviewer asks questions and the participants answer and give the data.
The non-structured questionnaire is when the interviewer uses an openended question and lets the participants give an opinion. In a structured questionnaire, on the other hand, the interviewer already prepares a set of specific questions in order before the interview or the interviewer specifies a specific issue for the participants.
✦ An example of non-structure interviewing is such as a teacher interviewing a student about a problem in studying and learning; how the teacher set the questions in order to have students give their opinion on the things the teacher wants to know.
✦ An example of structured interviewing is such as the board of committee interviewing students entering the university. The board of committees has to prepare a set of the structured questionnaire before the interview.
Creating investigating form
Investigating form is the instrument used for collecting data that can be used with every type of research especially qualitative research and experimental research. Investigating form is classified into non-structured and structured forms. Non-structured investigative form does not have a structure for investigation and does not specify the events, behavior, or situation that needed to be investigated. A structured investigate form is a form that specifies what to investigate, how to investigate, when and how to record.
✦ An example of a non-structured investigative form is such as investigating behavior in groups of students in Upper Secondary School in Wat Jang Community Learning Centre. The investigator will record the student’s behavior.
✦ An example of a structured investigative form is such as investigating the behavior in the meeting groups of students in Upper Secondary School in Wat Jang Community Learning Centre.
Example: Structured Investigative Form
Direction: Have investigator mark the student’s behavior
