Reference no: EM132552227

CSIT940 Research Methodology - University of Wollongong

Research Methodology Assignment

General knowledge

Question 1. Explain three steps you will consider when starting a research project.

Question 2. When is it appropriate to use the independent group t-test and the correlated group t-test ? Explain your answer with a short example.

Question 3. Explain the concept of sampling error and its components. Use an illustrative example to support your explanation.

Question 4. A researcher is interested in whether students in a certain suburb save more or less than $100 per month towards their holiday trip. Translate this question into a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis.

Question 5. What is the relationship between alpha (α) and the probability of Type I error? What is the reason for this relationship?

Question 6. A researcher administered a test of mathematical ability to a sample of 169 students. The mean of the sample was 74.40. The standard deviation for the population, σ, was known to be 13.00. Compute the 95% and 99% confidence intervals.

Question 7. In a journal paper, a reseacher reported that p < 0.01. What does this mean?

Referencing and reference listing

The following is an excerpt from the report written by a researcher. Read carefully and note the use of English language, in-text referencing and bibliography list. Correctly rewrite all the identified errors. You will need to rewrite the sentences containing the error and the affected reference listing.

Complexity has been extensively studied in the IS literature (Compeau, Meister, & Higgins, 2007). Rogers defines complexity as "the degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use" (Rogers, 2003). The longer it takes to understand and to implement an innovation, the more likely it is that complexity turns into a barrier for adoption of a new technology. This is why complexity usually negatively affects adoption of technologies (Borgman,

Bahli, Heier, & Schewski, 203; Low, Chen, & Wu, 2011; Premkumar, Ramamurthy, & Nilakanta, 1994). However, a study among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) revealed that experts do not consider cloud computing as a very complex technology to implement due to simple administration tools, high usability, as well as a high degree of automation, Stieninger and Nedbal (2014). In technology acceptance model (TAM), Davis describes complexity from a positive point of view and uses the term ease-of-use. he defines it as "the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system would be free of physical and mental effort" (Davis, 1987). even though there are general differences between Rogers' diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory and Davis TAM (i.e., Rogers focuses on the organizational and Davis on the individual perspective, concerning complexity and ease-of-use), they are both discussing the perception of individuals. Several studies suggest that individuals will see greater relative advantage in innovations that are perceived as easy to use (e.g., Compeau et al. (2007), (Karahanna, Agarwal, & Angst, 2006)). Hence, increased complexity probably inhibits the adoption of technological innovations. For that purpose, the factors are negatively correlated in the proposed hypotheses (Borgman et al., 203; Low et al., 2011).
References

Borgman, H. P., Bahli, B., Heier, H., & Schewski, F. (203). Cloudrise: Exploring cloud computing adoption and governance with the TOE framework. In Proceedings, 46th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (p. 4425-4435). Wailea, HI, USA.
Compeau, D. R., Meister, D. B., & Higgins, C. A. (2007). From prediction to explanation: Reconceptualizing
and extending the perceived characteristics of innovating. Journal of the Association for Information Systems(8), 409 -439.
Davis, F. (1987). User acceptance of information systems: The technology acceptance model (TAM) (Tech.
Rep.). Ann Arbor, MI, USA: School of Business Administration, University of Michigan.
Karahanna, E., Agarwal, R., & Angst, C. M. (2006). Reconceptualizing compatibility beliefs in technology acceptance research. MIS Quarterly, 30 (-), 781 -804.
Low, C., Chen, Y., & Wu, M. (2011). Understanding the determinants of cloud computing adoption. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 111 (7), 1006 -1023.
Premkumar, G., Ramamurthy, K., & Nilakanta, S. (1994). Implementation of electronic data interchange: An innovation diffusion perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems(11), 157 -186.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Stieninger, M., & Nedbal, D. (2014). Diffusion and acceptance of cloud computing in smes: Towards a valence model of relevant factors. In Proceedings, 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (p. 3307-3316). Waikoloa, HI, USA.

Numerical problem

The data depicted in Table 1 are the scores on a learning test administered to a group of participants under quiet and noisy environment conditions. A high value indicates good performance. The researcher set α = 0.05

1. What type of research design resulted in this dataset?

Table 1: Participant scores from learning test in two different environment conditions

2. Frame the research question in terms of a non-directional hypothesis test. Write the null and alternative hypotheses.
3. Test for a relationship between the environment condition one is exposed to and learning scores using a non-directional correlated groups t test.
4. Compute the value of eta-squared (η2). Does the observed value represent a weak, moderate or strong effect?
5. Analyse the same data given Table 1 as if the independent variable were between-subjects in nature, to determine the relationship between the environment condition one is exposed to and learning scores. In other words use non-directional independent groups t test. Compute the value of η2. Compare your results with those in (3) and (4) above. How does your result illustrate the advantage of within- subjects research design in this study?

Research design problem

1. Imagine you have been appointed as a Research Fellow in the School of Computing and Informa- tion Technology to work on a project requiring the use of qualitative research methodology. Specifically, your supervisor told you that a Grounded Theory methodology is to be used. In no more than one page explain in some detail why your supervisor might have decided to use this methodology? Additionally, explain how you will analyse data collected in your research in order to complete the project successfully. Use appropriate illustrative examples to demonstrate that you understand the process. Please do not copy and paste from the lecture slides because you will lose marks.

2. You are provided with two journal papers:
Owens, J. M., McLaughlin, S. B.,& Sudweeks, J. (2011). Driver performance while text messaging using handheld and in-vehicle system. Accident Analysis and Prevention 43 (2011), 939-947.

Papadakaki. M., Tzamalouka, G., Gnardellis, C., Lajunen, T. J., & Chliaoutakis, J. (2016). Driving performance while using a mobile phone: A simulation study of Greek professional drivers. Transportation Research Part F 38 (2016), 164-170.

Read the papers carefully and answer the following questions:

(a) What are the main research questions addressed by the authors of these two papers?

(b) What are the research methodologies used by the authors in the two papers and why?

(c) State and fully justify the research designs adopted in the two papers.

(d) State the dependent and independent variables considered in the two papers, including their scales. How are the independent variables manipulated in the two papers?

(e) On page 178, §3.2 of paper by Papadakaki et al. it was stated that, "In particular, according to the statistical tests performed, steering position was significantly affected by text-message reading [t(50) = -5.443; p < 0.0001] and texting [t(50) = -5.442; p < 0.0001] while no significant effect was found regarding the conversation assignment." Write the hypotheses that led to these results. In which cases were the null hypotheses rejected and what test would have led to such decisions? What is the meaning of "significantly" or "significant" in this context?

Attachment:- Research Methodology.rar