Here’s a simple and clear explanation of the research concepts you asked about: Procedure, Questionnaire, Survey, Experiments, Design of Survey and Experiments, Sampling, Merits and Demerits of Sampling, Control Observations, and Sampling Errors. I’ll break it down step by step with examples to make it easy to understand.
Key Terms Explained
Procedure
What It Is: A procedure is the step-by-step plan you follow to conduct research.
Simple Explanation: Think of it as a recipe for your research—just like cooking, you need clear steps to get it right.
Example: If you’re doing a survey, the procedure might include writing questions, picking people to ask, collecting answers, and analyzing them.
Questionnaire
What It Is: A questionnaire is a set of written questions used to gather information from people.
Simple Explanation: It’s like a form or quiz you give people to find out what they think or know.
Example: A teacher might use a questionnaire asking students, “What’s your favorite subject?” or “How much time do you spend on homework?”
Survey
What It Is: A survey is a method of collecting data by asking a group of people questions, often with a questionnaire.
Simple Explanation: It’s like taking a poll to see what a bunch of people think about something.
Example: A store might survey customers with questions like, “How happy are you with our service?” to improve their business.
Experiments
What It Is: An experiment is a test where you change one thing (called a variable) to see how it affects something else.
Simple Explanation: It’s like playing with cause and effect—change one thing and watch what happens.
Example: A scientist might give one group of plants more sunlight and another group less to see which grows better.
Design of Survey and Experiments
Design of Survey
What It Means: This is the plan for how you’ll conduct a survey, including what questions to ask, who to ask, and how to collect answers.
Simple Explanation: It’s like planning a party—you decide who’s invited, what you’ll ask them, and how you’ll get their replies (e.g., online or in person).
Example: For a survey about favorite foods, you might choose 100 people, ask 5 questions like “What’s your favorite snack?” and send the questionnaire by email.
Design of Experiments
What It Means: This is the plan for setting up an experiment, including what you’ll test, what you’ll keep the same (control), and how you’ll measure results.
Simple Explanation: It’s like setting up a science project—you decide what to change, what to keep normal, and how to check the outcome.
Example: To test if sugar helps plants grow, you’d give one group of plants sugar water (experimental group) and another plain water (control group), then measure their height.
Sampling
What It Is
Definition: Sampling is picking a smaller group (sample) from a bigger group (population) to represent everyone.
Simple Explanation: Instead of asking every single person, you choose a few who can give you a good idea of the whole group.
Example: To find out the favorite movie in your school, you ask 50 students instead of all 500.
Merits (Advantages) of Sampling
Saves Money: It’s cheaper to study a few people than everyone.
Saves Time: It’s faster to collect data from a small group.
Practical: You can’t always study everyone (e.g., all people in a country).
More Detail: With fewer people, you can ask deeper questions or observe more closely.
Demerits (Disadvantages) of Sampling
Errors Possible: If the sample doesn’t match the whole population, your results could be wrong.
Bias Risk: Picking the wrong people (e.g., only your friends) might skew the results.
Misses Rare Cases: A small sample might not catch unusual but important opinions or traits.
Control Observations
What It Is: Control observations are the “normal” group in an experiment that you compare to the group where you change something.
Simple Explanation: It’s like having a baseline to see if your changes make a difference.
Example: In a test of a new medicine, one group gets the medicine (experimental group), and another gets a placebo (control group). You compare them to see if the medicine works.
Procedures (in Research)
What It Is: Procedures are the detailed steps you follow to carry out your research from start to finish.
Simple Explanation: It’s the “how-to” guide that keeps your research organized and consistent.
Example: For an experiment, the procedure might be:
Pick two groups of plants.
Give one group extra water.
Measure growth after two weeks.
Compare the results.
Sampling Errors
What It Is: Sampling errors are mistakes or differences between what your sample shows and what the whole population would show.
Simple Explanation: It’s when your small group doesn’t perfectly match the big group, so your results are off.
Example: If you ask 10 people their favorite color and 7 say red, you might think 70% of everyone likes red. But if you asked 100 people and only 40% say red, that 30% difference is the sampling error.
Putting It All Together
Imagine you’re researching whether kids in your town like video games more than board games:
Questionnaire: You make a list of questions like, “Do you prefer video games or board games?”
Survey: You ask 50 kids (your sample) to fill out the questionnaire.
Sampling: You pick those 50 kids to represent all the kids in town.
Merits: It’s quick and cheap to ask 50 instead of thousands.
Demerits: If you only ask kids who love video games, your results might be biased.
Experiment: You could also test it—let one group play video games and another play board games, then ask which they enjoyed more.
Control Observations: The board game group is your “normal” group to compare with the video game group.
Procedure: Your steps might be: pick kids, give them games, collect their opinions, and analyze the data.
Sampling Errors: If your 50 kids say 80% like video games, but really only 50% of all kids do, that 30% gap is the error.
Summary
Procedure: Steps to do research.
Questionnaire: Questions to get info.
Survey: Asking a group to collect data.
Experiments: Testing by changing something.
Sampling: Using a small group to represent a big one.
Merits of Sampling: Saves time, money, and effort.
Demerits of Sampling: Can lead to errors or bias.
Control Observations: The “normal” group in experiments.
Sampling Errors: When your sample doesn’t match the whole population.
These tools make research easier and faster, but you need to use them carefully to get accurate results