The ability to write a good research question is a skill you acquire through practice. Practice now will serve you well as you refine your dissertation ideas over the next few quarters. Using the quantitative portion of a mixed-methods methodology for the research issue you are interested in, write a research question and associated hypotheses that you would test in a study of this subject. Explain how this quantitative research question supports the research study design and gets you to what you want to know.
5. Quantitative Sampling Plan
Practice designing sampling procedures is also important to your success in your dissertation work. Using a quantitative methodology for the research problem you are interested in, apply the sampling terminology listed below. Specifically, note the population, sampling frame, sampling design, sample, unit of analysis, statistic, and parameter. Analyze any significant challenges that you as a researcher would face in using this sampling technique.
Sampling Terminology:
Population:
Sampling Frame:
Sampling Design:
Sample:
Unit of Analysis:
Statistic Average distance:
Parameter:
6. Collecting Data
• Identify two articles from the journals Public Administration Review or Administrative Science Quarterly that document in detail qualitative research projects in the public administration field.
Assessing how others have addressed qualitative sampling dilemmas will help you to design your own sampling plan and contingency procedures in case things do not go smoothly. Using the articles you identified in the study activities, note the following for each article:
• Who was the research population?
• How were the participants contacted?
• What was the response rate?
• How did the researchers handle participants who did not respond on first contact?
• What other follow-up processes did they use?
Analyze and compare the population sampling plans. Provide suggestions on areas that could have been approached differently. Note things that worked particularly well. Identify lessons that you have learned from this for later application in your own study sampling.