CHAPTER THREE
3.0. METHODOLOGY
This chapter highlights the study design, study site, study population, inclusion and exclusion criteria,
sample size and sampling method, materials and method, data processing and analysis, and ethical
considerations.
3.1. Study Design
The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different
components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring you will effectively
address the research problem.
It constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data.
Examples of the designs are Case Study Design, Action Research Design, Causal Design,
Cohort Design, Cross-Sectional Design, Descriptive Design, Experimental Design, Exploratory
Design, Historical Design, Longitudinal Design, Observational Design, Philosophical Design,
Sequential Design, and others.
NOTE: Also state whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed approach was/were used.
3.2. Study Site/Area
Provide information about the area where the study was conducted.
3.3. Study Population
Provide information on the background characteristics of the population. Give the estimated size of the
population. Clarify/justify how the sample reflects the characteristics of the target population and any
limitations thereof.
3.4. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
This subsection highlighted the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study.
3.4.1. Inclusion criteria
The following were the inclusion criteria;
Text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Text text text text text text text text text text text text text
3.4.2. Exclusion criteria
The following were the exclusion criteria;
Text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Text text text text text text text text text text text text text
3.5. Sample Size and Sampling Techniques
Clarify the basis for sample size determination. How did you arrive at your sample size? Which sample
size calculator did you use? Justify the sampling method. Thoroughly explain the sampling techniques
used and summarise the composition of the sample selected. Examples of sampling techniques are:
Simple random sampling, Systematic sampling, Stratified sampling, Clustered sampling, Convenience
sampling, Consecutive sampling, Quota sampling, Purposive or Judgmental sampling, Snowball
sampling.
3.6. Data Collection Instrument
Describe the research instrument(s) (whether questionnaire, check list, interview guide, or data
collection sheet) you used and justify their appropriateness in terms of your research objectives,
questions, or hypotheses.
[Example for For Questionnaire-based Studies]
“The questionnaire contained both open-ended and closed-ended questions. It was divided into four
sections: Section A, B, C and D. Section A was on the background of respondents such as age, gender,
educational background, and their employment status. Section B sought to assess the…. In Section C,
the participants were given several statements……… The last section solicited for participants’ view
on the …..”
For Studies that used Questionnaires, Interview Guides, or Observational Checklist, the following
subsections 3.7 and 3.8 must be included;
3.7. Validity of the Instrument
State how the instrument used was able to solicit the responses from the respondents as expected by the
researcher in order to address the stated research objectives.
[Example for For Questionnaire-based Studies]
Validity is the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure. With specific
reference to this study, validity refers to how precisely the questionnaire was able to solicit the responses
from the respondents as expected by the researcher in order to address the stated research objectives.
Internal validity assessment was done to test the ability of the instrument to measure what it was
expected to measure and also to detect any errors that could shroud the meaning of the instrument and
hinder them from gathering false responses. With regard to content validity, the researcher ensured that
the items on the instruments cover the scope that the instrument is projected to measure. This was
determined by supervisors and other experts in the field. The researcher took note of comments to modify
and delete materials found to be inaccurate or items that could have compromised on the confidentiality
of the respondents in any form.
3.8. Pilot Study
The questionnaire must be pretested on a different population that shares similar characteristics with
the study population. State where the research instrument was pretested and the number of participants
used for the pretesting. The pilot test must be done to improve the reliability of instruments. Changes
should be made to questions when deemed inappropriate after the pilot test. The result of the pilot test
must be statistically analysed. Take into account the suggestions from the respondents regarding the
instruments to be used, and remove irrelevant items, lengthy items must be shortened and many unclear
items be made clear.
3.9. Data Collection Procedures
Provide details on when data (dates, times of day) were collected, for how long, and by whom. Point
out any problems encountered in collecting the data.
3.10. Data Analysis
Describe your data editing, data coding, and data entry procedures. Describe measures taken to
minimize errors in data entry and other aspects of data processing. Clearly state your units of analysis.
Explain in detail how data analysis was done for each research question or hypothesis. Justify the
statistical tools used for each hypothesis or research question.
Example: Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version
25 software and Microsoft Excel 2016. The creation of codes for the data acquired as well as a broad
grasp of the information gathered was the first step in this process. Data coding made it easier to carry
out the analysis. Statistical analysis of data involved both descriptive and inferential statistics.
Descriptive statistics quantitatively describes features from a collective data set. Data were presented
in percentages and graphs; after being run by Statistical Package for Social Sciences.
3.11. Ethical Consideration