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What is a Research Instrument?

• By DiscoverPhDs
• October 9, 2020

The term research instrument refers to any tool that you may use to collect or obtain data, measure data and analyse data that is relevant to the subject of your research.

Research instruments are often used in the fields of social sciences and health sciences. These tools can also be found within education that relates to patients, staff, teachers and students.

The format of a research instrument may consist of questionnaires, surveys, interviews, checklists or simple tests. The choice of which specific research instrument tool to use will be decided on the by the researcher. It will also be strongly related to the actual methods that will be used in the specific study.

What Makes a Good Research Instrument?

A good research instrument is one that has been validated and has proven reliability. It should be one that can collect data in a way that’s appropriate to the research question being asked.

The research instrument must be able to assist in answering the research aims , objectives and research questions, as well as prove or disprove the hypothesis of the study.

It should not have any bias in the way that data is collect and it should be clear as to how the research instrument should be used appropriately.

What are the Different Types of Interview Research Instruments?

The general format of an interview is where the interviewer asks the interviewee to answer a set of questions which are normally asked and answered verbally. There are several different types of interview research instruments that may exist.

• A structural interview may be used in which there are a specific number of questions that are formally asked of the interviewee and their responses recorded using a systematic and standard methodology.
• An unstructured interview on the other hand may still be based on the same general theme of questions but here the person asking the questions (the interviewer) may change the order the questions are asked in and the specific way in which they’re asked.
• A focus interview is one in which the interviewer will adapt their line or content of questioning based on the responses from the interviewee.
• A focus group interview is one in which a group of volunteers or interviewees are asked questions to understand their opinion or thoughts on a specific subject.
• A non-directive interview is one in which there are no specific questions agreed upon but instead the format is open-ended and more reactionary in the discussion between interviewer and interviewee.

What are the Different Types of Observation Research Instruments?

An observation research instrument is one in which a researcher makes observations and records of the behaviour of individuals. There are several different types.

Structured observations occur when the study is performed at a predetermined location and time, in which the volunteers or study participants are observed used standardised methods.

Naturalistic observations are focused on volunteers or participants being in more natural environments in which their reactions and behaviour are also more natural or spontaneous.

A participant observation occurs when the person conducting the research actively becomes part of the group of volunteers or participants that he or she is researching.

Final Comments

The types of research instruments will depend on the format of the research study being performed: qualitative, quantitative or a mixed methodology. You may for example utilise questionnaires when a study is more qualitative or use a scoring scale in more quantitative studies.

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Research Methodologies: Research Instruments

• Research Methodology Basics
• Research Instruments
• Types of Research Methodologies

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Types of Research Instruments

A research instrument is a tool you will use to help you collect, measure and analyze the data you use as part of your research.  The choice of research instrument will usually be yours to make as the researcher and will be whichever best suits your methodology. 

There are many different research instruments you can use in collecting data for your research:

• Interviews  (either as a group or one-on-one). You can carry out interviews in many different ways. For example, your interview can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. The difference between them is how formal the set of questions is that is asked of the interviewee. In a group interview, you may choose to ask the interviewees to give you their opinions or perceptions on certain topics.
• Surveys  (online or in-person). In survey research, you are posing questions in which you ask for a response from the person taking the survey. You may wish to have either free-answer questions such as essay style questions, or you may wish to use closed questions such as multiple choice. You may even wish to make the survey a mixture of both.
• Focus Groups.  Similar to the group interview above, you may wish to ask a focus group to discuss a particular topic or opinion while you make a note of the answers given.
• Observations.  This is a good research instrument to use if you are looking into human behaviors. Different ways of researching this include studying the spontaneous behavior of participants in their everyday life, or something more structured. A structured observation is research conducted at a set time and place where researchers observe behavior as planned and agreed upon with participants.

These are the most common ways of carrying out research, but it is really dependent on your needs as a researcher and what approach you think is best to take. It is also possible to combine a number of research instruments if this is necessary and appropriate in answering your research problem.

Data Collection

How to Collect Data for Your Research   This article covers different ways of collecting data in preparation for writing a thesis.

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Educational research results in evidence based practices, put into action by the educational community.

Instruments allow programs to collect relevant data  related to a research problem, designed for  measuring their intended outcomes.  Various types of instruments may include surveys, tests, questionnaires, achievement / aptitude tests, observation forms, tally sheets, etc…

Use these following pages to guide you in locating

• Instrument(s) by name or acronym
• Test reviews and various forms of validity and / or reliability
• Instruments used to test a specific variable

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In the field of research, there are endless possibilities for experiments, all involving unique tools to carry out the work involved to answer the questions. The many requirements of a researcher make it hard for everyone to know every tool available, especially as technology advances at such an exponential rate.

Although every scope of science is different from the next, one thing they all have in common is the need for research instruments to help carry out the experiments to search for knowledge expansion. Tools, equipment, software, and intellectual property are crucial components of every scientist’s daily life. Each of these pieces plays an integral role in filling in the missing gaps and puzzle pieces of solving answers, and research instruments have an essential role above all the rest. Understanding what a research instrument is and what’s available to you helps you as a scholar make informed decisions and keep records that track the usage of the tools so other researchers can emulate your work.

What is the Definition of “Research Instrument”?

It might seem like calling one tool a research instrument and another something else wouldn’t be a big deal, but as a scholar, it can mean the difference between obtaining funding and losing it. When you list the instruments you will be using in your experiment, it must look like you know what you’re doing. Putting one tool in the wrong category is a mistake that can be costly.

The term “research instrument” refers to any tool that is used by a scientist to obtain, measure, and analyze data. The data is sourced from subjects included in the research experiment and focused on the topic. 

The instruments used have various roles. There are different tools that help you conduct quantitative, qualitative, and mixed studies. How you choose the instrument depends on what type of study you’re performing. However, whatever you use has to be described in the Methods section of your research paper. The more thoroughly you explain it, especially if you have created your own instrument, as in a survey, the better likelihood that someone else can repeat your study for authenticity.

In some cases, you may have to request permission to use the instrument, and this should be acknowledged in your paper so other scholars know they’ll have to do the same.

Characteristics of Solid Research Instruments

Whatever equipment you choose to use in your work, it must have consistent characteristics that can stand up under intense scrutiny. Should your final outcome end up having significant impactful consequences, you don’t want the choice of instrument you used to send the whole experiment falling down.

Keep these tips in mind as you determine the research instruments that will get you through your experiment:

• They must be valid and reliable (the same results occur repetitively).
• Use instruments that use a conceptual framework to do the job.
• The tools have to be able to gather the data that pertains to the research topic and they should help you to test the hypothesis or answer the research questions being investigated.
• Ensure all tools withstand scrutiny of bias and are appropriate in the context in which you are using them. Try to include tools that reflect the culture and diversity impacted by the research.
• In your methodology section, include clear, concise directions on how to use any uncommon instruments or instruments that are predominantly used in your field of study.

Choosing the right instrument makes the work easier. Choosing the wrong one, though, can be damaging to the whole project.  

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Research Instruments

• Resources for Identifying Instruments
• Assessing Instruments
• Obtaining the Full Instrument
• Getting Help

What are Research Instruments?

A research instrument is a tool used to collect, measure, and analyze data related to  your subject.

Research instruments can  be tests , surveys , scales ,  questionnaires , or even checklists .

To assure the strength of your study, it is important to use previously validated instruments!

Getting Started

Already know the full name of the instrument you're looking for? 

• Start here!

Finding a research instrument can be very time-consuming!

This process involves three concrete steps:

It is common that sources will not provide the full instrument, but they will provide a citation with the publisher. In some cases, you may have to contact the publisher to obtain the full text.

Research Tip :  Talk to your departmental faculty. Many of them have expertise in working with research instruments and can help you with this process.

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• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2023 9:34 AM
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World Conference on Qualitative Research

WCQR 2019: Computer Supported Qualitative Research pp 33–41 Cite as

The Researcher as an Instrument

• Safary Wa-Mbaleka 17  
• Conference paper
• First Online: 17 September 2019

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Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1068))

In qualitative research, there are many different sources of data. Qualitative research data are collected using many different methods. Interestingly, one of these data collection methods is the researcher himself or herself. This is the reason why most experts consider the researcher as an instrument. The question always asked is “What does it really mean?” This chapter explains what it is and what is expected from the researcher in his or her role as an instrument throughout a qualitative research study. The ethical considerations pertaining to this important role are also discussed. This chapter is meant to bring this important role to everyone’s awareness so that rigor in qualitative research can be fostered.

• Rigor in qualitative research
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Data interpretation
• Research instrument
• Trustworthiness
• Ethical considerations

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António Pedro Costa

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Luís Paulo Reis

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António Moreira

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Wa-Mbaleka, S. (2020). The Researcher as an Instrument. In: Costa, A., Reis, L., Moreira, A. (eds) Computer Supported Qualitative Research. WCQR 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1068. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31787-4_3

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Methodology

• What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples

What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples

Published on June 7, 2021 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023 by Pritha Bhandari.

A research design is a strategy for answering your   research question  using empirical data. Creating a research design means making decisions about:

• Your overall research objectives and approach
• Whether you’ll rely on primary research or secondary research
• Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
• Your data collection methods
• The procedures you’ll follow to collect data
• Your data analysis methods

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research objectives and that you use the right kind of analysis for your data.

Table of contents

Step 1: consider your aims and approach, step 2: choose a type of research design, step 3: identify your population and sampling method, step 4: choose your data collection methods, step 5: plan your data collection procedures, step 6: decide on your data analysis strategies, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research design.

• Introduction

Before you can start designing your research, you should already have a clear idea of the research question you want to investigate.

There are many different ways you could go about answering this question. Your research design choices should be driven by your aims and priorities—start by thinking carefully about what you want to achieve.

The first choice you need to make is whether you’ll take a qualitative or quantitative approach.

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible and inductive , allowing you to adjust your approach based on what you find throughout the research process.

Quantitative research designs tend to be more fixed and deductive , with variables and hypotheses clearly defined in advance of data collection.

It’s also possible to use a mixed-methods design that integrates aspects of both approaches. By combining qualitative and quantitative insights, you can gain a more complete picture of the problem you’re studying and strengthen the credibility of your conclusions.

Practical and ethical considerations when designing research

As well as scientific considerations, you need to think practically when designing your research. If your research involves people or animals, you also need to consider research ethics .

• How much time do you have to collect data and write up the research?
• Will you be able to gain access to the data you need (e.g., by travelling to a specific location or contacting specific people)?
• Do you have the necessary research skills (e.g., statistical analysis or interview techniques)?
• Will you need ethical approval ?

At each stage of the research design process, make sure that your choices are practically feasible.

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Within both qualitative and quantitative approaches, there are several types of research design to choose from. Each type provides a framework for the overall shape of your research.

Types of quantitative research designs

Quantitative designs can be split into four main types.

• Experimental and   quasi-experimental designs allow you to test cause-and-effect relationships
• Descriptive and correlational designs allow you to measure variables and describe relationships between them.

With descriptive and correlational designs, you can get a clear picture of characteristics, trends and relationships as they exist in the real world. However, you can’t draw conclusions about cause and effect (because correlation doesn’t imply causation ).

Experiments are the strongest way to test cause-and-effect relationships without the risk of other variables influencing the results. However, their controlled conditions may not always reflect how things work in the real world. They’re often also more difficult and expensive to implement.

Types of qualitative research designs

Qualitative designs are less strictly defined. This approach is about gaining a rich, detailed understanding of a specific context or phenomenon, and you can often be more creative and flexible in designing your research.

The table below shows some common types of qualitative design. They often have similar approaches in terms of data collection, but focus on different aspects when analyzing the data.

Your research design should clearly define who or what your research will focus on, and how you’ll go about choosing your participants or subjects.

In research, a population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about, while a sample is the smaller group of individuals you’ll actually collect data from.

Defining the population

A population can be made up of anything you want to study—plants, animals, organizations, texts, countries, etc. In the social sciences, it most often refers to a group of people.

For example, will you focus on people from a specific demographic, region or background? Are you interested in people with a certain job or medical condition, or users of a particular product?

The more precisely you define your population, the easier it will be to gather a representative sample.

• Sampling methods

Even with a narrowly defined population, it’s rarely possible to collect data from every individual. Instead, you’ll collect data from a sample.

To select a sample, there are two main approaches: probability sampling and non-probability sampling . The sampling method you use affects how confidently you can generalize your results to the population as a whole.

Probability sampling is the most statistically valid option, but it’s often difficult to achieve unless you’re dealing with a very small and accessible population.

For practical reasons, many studies use non-probability sampling, but it’s important to be aware of the limitations and carefully consider potential biases. You should always make an effort to gather a sample that’s as representative as possible of the population.

Case selection in qualitative research

In some types of qualitative designs, sampling may not be relevant.

For example, in an ethnography or a case study , your aim is to deeply understand a specific context, not to generalize to a population. Instead of sampling, you may simply aim to collect as much data as possible about the context you are studying.

In these types of design, you still have to carefully consider your choice of case or community. You should have a clear rationale for why this particular case is suitable for answering your research question .

For example, you might choose a case study that reveals an unusual or neglected aspect of your research problem, or you might choose several very similar or very different cases in order to compare them.

Data collection methods are ways of directly measuring variables and gathering information. They allow you to gain first-hand knowledge and original insights into your research problem.

You can choose just one data collection method, or use several methods in the same study.

Survey methods

Surveys allow you to collect data about opinions, behaviors, experiences, and characteristics by asking people directly. There are two main survey methods to choose from: questionnaires and interviews .

Observation methods

Observational studies allow you to collect data unobtrusively, observing characteristics, behaviors or social interactions without relying on self-reporting.

Observations may be conducted in real time, taking notes as you observe, or you might make audiovisual recordings for later analysis. They can be qualitative or quantitative.

Other methods of data collection

There are many other ways you might collect data depending on your field and topic.

If you’re not sure which methods will work best for your research design, try reading some papers in your field to see what kinds of data collection methods they used.

Secondary data

If you don’t have the time or resources to collect data from the population you’re interested in, you can also choose to use secondary data that other researchers already collected—for example, datasets from government surveys or previous studies on your topic.

With this raw data, you can do your own analysis to answer new research questions that weren’t addressed by the original study.

Using secondary data can expand the scope of your research, as you may be able to access much larger and more varied samples than you could collect yourself.

However, it also means you don’t have any control over which variables to measure or how to measure them, so the conclusions you can draw may be limited.

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As well as deciding on your methods, you need to plan exactly how you’ll use these methods to collect data that’s consistent, accurate, and unbiased.

Planning systematic procedures is especially important in quantitative research, where you need to precisely define your variables and ensure your measurements are high in reliability and validity.

Operationalization

Some variables, like height or age, are easily measured. But often you’ll be dealing with more abstract concepts, like satisfaction, anxiety, or competence. Operationalization means turning these fuzzy ideas into measurable indicators.

If you’re using observations , which events or actions will you count?

If you’re using surveys , which questions will you ask and what range of responses will be offered?

You may also choose to use or adapt existing materials designed to measure the concept you’re interested in—for example, questionnaires or inventories whose reliability and validity has already been established.

Reliability and validity

Reliability means your results can be consistently reproduced, while validity means that you’re actually measuring the concept you’re interested in.

For valid and reliable results, your measurement materials should be thoroughly researched and carefully designed. Plan your procedures to make sure you carry out the same steps in the same way for each participant.

If you’re developing a new questionnaire or other instrument to measure a specific concept, running a pilot study allows you to check its validity and reliability in advance.

Sampling procedures

As well as choosing an appropriate sampling method , you need a concrete plan for how you’ll actually contact and recruit your selected sample.

That means making decisions about things like:

• How many participants do you need for an adequate sample size?
• What inclusion and exclusion criteria will you use to identify eligible participants?
• How will you contact your sample—by mail, online, by phone, or in person?

If you’re using a probability sampling method , it’s important that everyone who is randomly selected actually participates in the study. How will you ensure a high response rate?

If you’re using a non-probability method , how will you avoid research bias and ensure a representative sample?

Data management

It’s also important to create a data management plan for organizing and storing your data.

Will you need to transcribe interviews or perform data entry for observations? You should anonymize and safeguard any sensitive data, and make sure it’s backed up regularly.

Keeping your data well-organized will save time when it comes to analyzing it. It can also help other researchers validate and add to your findings (high replicability ).

On its own, raw data can’t answer your research question. The last step of designing your research is planning how you’ll analyze the data.

Quantitative data analysis

In quantitative research, you’ll most likely use some form of statistical analysis . With statistics, you can summarize your sample data, make estimates, and test hypotheses.

Using descriptive statistics , you can summarize your sample data in terms of:

• The distribution of the data (e.g., the frequency of each score on a test)
• The central tendency of the data (e.g., the mean to describe the average score)
• The variability of the data (e.g., the standard deviation to describe how spread out the scores are)

The specific calculations you can do depend on the level of measurement of your variables.

Using inferential statistics , you can:

• Make estimates about the population based on your sample data.
• Test hypotheses about a relationship between variables.

Regression and correlation tests look for associations between two or more variables, while comparison tests (such as t tests and ANOVAs ) look for differences in the outcomes of different groups.

Your choice of statistical test depends on various aspects of your research design, including the types of variables you’re dealing with and the distribution of your data.

Qualitative data analysis

In qualitative research, your data will usually be very dense with information and ideas. Instead of summing it up in numbers, you’ll need to comb through the data in detail, interpret its meanings, identify patterns, and extract the parts that are most relevant to your research question.

Two of the most common approaches to doing this are thematic analysis and discourse analysis .

There are many other ways of analyzing qualitative data depending on the aims of your research. To get a sense of potential approaches, try reading some qualitative research papers in your field.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A research design is a strategy for answering your   research question . It defines your overall approach and determines how you will collect and analyze data.

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims, that you collect high-quality data, and that you use the right kind of analysis to answer your questions, utilizing credible sources . This allows you to draw valid , trustworthy conclusions.

Quantitative research designs can be divided into two main categories:

• Correlational and descriptive designs are used to investigate characteristics, averages, trends, and associations between variables.
• Experimental and quasi-experimental designs are used to test causal relationships .

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible. Common types of qualitative design include case study , ethnography , and grounded theory designs.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

• Your research questions and/or hypotheses
• Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
• The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
• Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population . Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research. For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

In statistics, sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population.

Operationalization means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations.

For example, the concept of social anxiety isn’t directly observable, but it can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioral avoidance of crowded places, or physical anxiety symptoms in social situations.

Before collecting data , it’s important to consider how you will operationalize the variables that you want to measure.

A research project is an academic, scientific, or professional undertaking to answer a research question . Research projects can take many forms, such as qualitative or quantitative , descriptive , longitudinal , experimental , or correlational . What kind of research approach you choose will depend on your topic.

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NASA to Launch Sounding Rockets into Moon’s Shadow During Solar Eclipse

NASA will launch three sounding rockets during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, to study how Earth’s upper atmosphere is affected when sunlight momentarily dims over a portion of the planet.

The Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) sounding rockets will launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study the disturbances in the ionosphere created when the Moon eclipses the Sun. The sounding rockets had been previously launched and successfully recovered from White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse . They have been refurbished with new instrumentation and will be relaunched in April 2024. The mission is led by Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, where he directs the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab.

The sounding rockets will launch at three different times: 45 minutes before, during, and 45 minutes after the peak local eclipse. These intervals are important to collect data on how the Sun’s sudden disappearance affects the ionosphere, creating disturbances that have the potential to interfere with our communications.

The ionosphere is a region of Earth’s atmosphere that is between 55 to 310 miles (90 to 500 kilometers) above the ground. “It’s an electrified region that reflects and refracts radio signals, and also impacts satellite communications as the signals pass through,” said Barjatya. “Understanding the ionosphere and developing models to help us predict disturbances is crucial to making sure our increasingly communication-dependent world operates smoothly.”

The ionosphere forms the boundary between Earth's lower atmosphere – where we live and breathe – and the vacuum of space. It is made up of a sea of particles that become ionized, or electrically charged, from the Sun’s energy, or solar radiation. When night falls, the ionosphere thins out as previously ionized particles relax and recombine back into neutral particles. However, Earth’s terrestrial weather and space weather can impact these particles, making it a dynamic region and difficult to know what the ionosphere will be like at a given time. 

It’s often difficult to study short-term changes in the ionosphere during an eclipse with satellites because they may not be at the right place or time to cross the eclipse path. Since the exact date and times of the total solar eclipse are known, NASA can launch targeted sounding rockets to study the effects of the eclipse at the right time and at all altitudes of the ionosphere.

As the eclipse shadow races through the atmosphere, it creates a rapid, localized sunset that triggers large-scale atmospheric waves and small-scale disturbances, or perturbations. These perturbations affect different radio communication frequencies. Gathering the data on these perturbations will help scientists validate and improve current models that help predict potential disturbances to our communications, especially high frequency communication. 

The APEP rockets are expected to reach a maximum altitude of 260 miles (420 kilometers). Each rocket will measure charged and neutral particle density and surrounding electric and magnetic fields. “Each rocket will eject four secondary instruments the size of a two-liter soda bottle that also measure the same data points, so it's similar to results from fifteen rockets, while only launching three,” explained Barjatya. Three secondary instruments on each rocket were built by Embry-Riddle, and the fourth one was built at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

In addition to the rockets, several teams across the U.S. will also be taking measurements of the ionosphere by various means. A team of students from Embry-Riddle will deploy a series of high-altitude balloons. Co-investigators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory in Massachusetts, and the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, will operate a variety of ground-based radars taking measurements. Using this data, a team of scientists from Embry-Riddle and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory are refining existing models. Together, these various investigations will help provide the puzzle pieces needed to see the bigger picture of ionospheric dynamics.

When the APEP sounding rockets launched during the 2023 annular solar eclipse, scientists saw a sharp reduction in the density of charged particles as the annular eclipse shadow passed over the atmosphere. “We saw the perturbations capable of affecting radio communications in the second and third rockets, but not during the first rocket that was before peak local eclipse” said Barjatya. “We are super excited to relaunch them during the total eclipse, to see if the perturbations start at the same altitude and if their magnitude and scale remain the same.”

The next total solar eclipse over the contiguous U.S. is not until 2044, so these experiments are a rare opportunity for scientists to collect crucial data.

The APEP launches will be live streamed via NASA’s Wallops’ official YouTube page and featured in NASA’s official broadcast of the total solar eclipse. The public can also watch the launches in person from 1-4 p.m. at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center .

By Desiree Apodaca NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Related Terms

• 2024 Solar Eclipse
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Heliophysics
• Heliophysics Division
• Heliophysics Research Program
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• Sounding Rockets Program
• Wallops Flight Facility

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Research Instruments: Definition, Functions, Types, and Examples

Research Instruments – When writing scientific papers, research instruments are a part that cannot be missed. You will not be able to do research without determining the instrument first. For this reason, understanding research instruments is very important in the process of writing scientific papers such as theses, theses, dissertations, or research reports.

Table of Contents

Given the importance of research instruments, you should study them too. The reason is, as a student or researcher you will often write scientific papers. Automatically, you will also do research. Well, when researching something, you have to make instruments. In order for the process of writing scientific papers and determining instruments to run well, you should first pay attention to the following reviews.

Definition of Research Instruments

In general, research instruments are tools used to obtain research data. Without instruments, you will not be able to collect the data needed in research. If the data is not available, the research will not be carried out.

It should not be arbitrary, there is a separate way when determining the research instrument. As is known, research is scientific in nature, so the instrument must be measured and tested scientifically. If not, the research can be questioned and simply broken.

Basically, qualitative and quantitative research instruments are different. However, before discussing the differences between the two, it is better to look at the meaning of the instrument according to the experts below. The definitions below will give you an idea of ​​the research instrument.

1. Suharsimi Arikunto

Research instruments are tools used by researchers when collecting data. The goal is to make research more systematic and easy.

2. Ibn Hajar

The research instrument is a measuring tool used to obtain quantitative information that contains objective and character variables. The data or information in question includes:

• Quantitative data, namely the type of data related to the amount or quantity in the form of numbers, so that the data is counted and symbolized in the form of certain measurements.
• Qualitative data, namely the type of data related to quality values, for example very good, good, moderate, good, sufficient, lacking, and so on.
• Nominal data, ordinal data, and interval or ratio data.
• Primary data or secondary data.

3. Suryabrata

The research instrument is a tool used to record the state or activity of psychological attributes. The term psychological attribute is indeed less familiar to the layman. These attributes are divided into two, namely cognitive attributes and non-cognitive attributes. Cognitive attributes are associated with questions, while non-cognitive attributes are associated with statements.

4. Notoatmodjo

Research instruments are the tools used to obtain or collect data. This can be done by using questionnaires, observation forms, other forms related to data recording, and others.

Instruments in research are tools used by researchers to measure social and natural phenomena as they exist in research variables.

6. Sukmadinata

The instrument in the research is a test that has the characteristics of being able to measure informants through a number of questions in the research.

Instruments in research are tools used in data collection activities and research information. According to him, research activities are measurement activities, so they must use valid and good measuring instruments.

Some of the experts above do have different views. However, from the various definitions according to these experts you can find similarities. The various meanings and definitions are expected to make you able to better understand the meaning and function.

Well, how about you guys? After seeing some of these definitions, you can take the general definition right? In simple terms, instruments in research can be interpreted as tools or methods used in data collection.

As previously mentioned, quantitative research instruments and qualitative research instruments are not the same. In qualitative research, the data collection instrument is the researcher himself. That is, researchers who observe, ask, hear, and retrieve research data.

Researchers are required to obtain valid data, so that the data obtained is not arbitrary or can be accounted for. For this reason, the condition of the information must be clear and in accordance with the needs. This needs to be done so that the data collected can be recognized as true.

Meanwhile, the data obtained in quantitative research is usually by using a questionnaire or questionnaire. The data is quantified so that it can be processed statistically. If the data obtained deviates from statistical provisions, it can be ignored. Broadly speaking, the difference between the two lies in the type of data obtained. Qualitative data is in the nature of statements, while quantitative data is in the form of numbers or symbols that can be processed statistically.

Functions of Research Instruments

Research instruments have a very important function in the research process, which is used as a tool in collecting data needed in a study. With the existence of research instruments, it will know the data resources to be examined and the types of data, data collection techniques, data collection instruments, the steps for preparing the research instruments and knowing the validity, reliability, level of difficulty of differentiating power, and distractors of data in research. .

A good instrument has certain criteria in research, so as to produce good quality research data as well. Vice versa, instruments that do not have good criteria in research will produce poor research data quality as well.

It is often found that research data do not match the expected results. This is caused by a discrepancy between the theory used as a basis and the instruments used to measure variable characteristics. In order for the research instrument to carry out its functions properly, the instrument must be prepared according to the theory used in the research.

The research instrument is derived from the theories raised in the research. Therefore, the selection of the theoretical basis is to really consider the characteristics of the research variable data to be studied. Instruments derived from the theory used will produce data in accordance with the basic concepts outlined in the theory.

Types of Research Instruments

There are several types of research instruments that are usually used by researchers. This instrument can be used for research and writing scientific papers such as theses, theses, dissertations, reports, and so on. Research instruments are also used for qualitative research and quantitative research.

The following are some of the research instruments:

1. Questionnaire

What is a questionnaire? Questionnaire is an instrument that contains a list of questions. Usually used to collect research data from respondents. The questionnaire contains a series of questions that are structured and not. If the questionnaire is wrong, the research results will also be wrong. For this reason, the questionnaire must be formed and designed in a valid, reliable, and not fake. This is done so that the data obtained can be validated.

According to Popoola, a good questionnaire has criteria, namely:

• Questions should not be ambiguous and should have one interpretation.
• Questions should be easy to understand.
• Questions must be able to have a precise answer.
• Questions should not contain words that are not clear in meaning.
• Questions should not require strict calculations.
• The questions do not require the respondent to decide on a classification.
• Questions should not trigger biased answers.
• Questionnaires should not be too long.
• Questions are not too wordy.
• The questionnaire must include the right object.

When compared with other types of instruments, the questionnaire has the advantage of hiding the personal data of the respondent; so the respondent can be anonymous. The data collected can be large in a relatively short time.

It’s just that, kueseiner was not free from weaknesses. Sometimes some of the questions in the questionnaire are confusing and cannot be classified. This is because the researcher is not in place to explain questions that are difficult for the respondent.

2. Interview

Interviews are one of the research instruments that are often used for qualitative research. In interviews, researchers collect information from respondents through verbal interaction. Previously the researcher prepared a list of structured questions related to research. The researcher then met with the resource persons and asked questions.

Tools and equipment that can be used during the interview period are tape recorders, paper, pens, laptops, and others. Interviews can be conducted in person or by telephone or electronic mail system (e-mail).

The main advantage of the interview method is that it produces a high response rate. In addition, the interviews were more representative of the entire study population. In addition, the personal contact between the researcher and the respondent allows the researcher to explain confusing and ambiguous questions in detail.

Just like the questionnaire, the interview was not without its weaknesses. This instrument has a weakness, namely the number of sources reached is not large due to limited time and research staff.

3. Observation

The next type of instrument is observation. This method is used by a researcher to observe individual behavior or situation. So far, there are two types of observation, namely participant observation and non-participant observation. In participant observation, the researcher is a member of the group to be observed.

Accurate and timely results will be obtained by researchers, but sometimes have problems with bias. Whereas in non-participant observation, the researcher is not a member of the group to be observed. So the results are more feasible because they are free from bias but have problems with imprecision and delayed results.

The advantages of the observation method are that it is more flexible and cheaper to run. This method requires less active cooperation than observed and the results can be relied upon for research activities. However, Akinade & Owolabi emphasized that the observation method is a popular tool in research, especially in the behavioral and social sciences.

This method requires specific skills to make and evaluate behavioral observations in research. When observing behavior, the first thing you should do is develop a category of behavior (coding scheme). This method involves identifying specific attributes that will provide clues to the problem at hand.

4. Focus Group Discussion (Focus Group Discussion)

Have you ever had an FGD? Yes, the research instrument in the form of this discussion can also be used to obtain data. This data collection instrument allows the researcher to obtain data from a large group of people at the same time. This method is different from the interview method.

If in the interview method the researcher focuses on one person at a time, then in the focus group discussion method, the researcher obtains data from a large number of people for his research activities. Usually the focus group discussion method is very popular when conducting research related to behavioral (behaviour), library and information science, archival science, records and information technology.

In the FGD, a researcher must identify key informants who can be contacted. The goal is to obtain proper information about the variables studied in the study. This approach is used to produce qualitative research data in explaining a phenomenon that is being researched or investigated.

Another condition, FDG membership may not be more than 10 people. It is like a mini-conference, where group members can gather in a conducive location. Before carrying out the FGD, the researcher must first obtain consent from the participants. In addition, the researcher must design an FGD guide which usually contains an outline to capture the variables of interest.

The main advantage of this method is that it adds credibility and originality to research activities. Meanwhile, the challenges of the FGD method include too much cost to do, too much time to do, and some respondents may not be free to contribute.

5. Experiment or Trial

The next type of data collection is experimentation. This method takes place in both pure and applied science research. So the researchers conducted several experiments in a laboratory setting to test some of the reactions that might occur in the object of study.

The advantage of the experimental method is that it produces direct data, the results are persistent and error-free if it is carried out properly under normal conditions or circumstances. The downside is that it is quite expensive. When in laboratory studies the chemicals used can cause permanent damage if they are handled carelessly.

Tests can be in the form of a series of questions, exercises, worksheets and so on which have the purpose of measuring skills, intelligence, abilities and talents possessed by an individual or group that is the subject of research.

The test can later be in the form of standardized questions that require research subjects to answer them in order to obtain certain results. Examples include personality tests, talent interest tests, academic potential tests, achievement tests, and so on.

7. Multilevel Scale

A multilevel scale is also called a rating, which is an objective measure that is made scalable or multilevel. This instrument makes it easy for researchers to provide an overview of appearance which can then indicate the frequency of appearance of certain traits.

This instrument is also useful for obtaining a quantitative description of certain aspects of an item in the form of an ordinal scale such as very good, good, moderate, not good, and very bad.

8 . Documentation of Research Instruments

Documentation refers to written items. This instrument allows researchers to obtain data through research on written objects, such as books, magazines, diaries, artifacts, videos and so on. This instrument was developed in research with a content analysis approach. Therefore, it is usually used in research such as historical evidence, the legal basis for a regulation, and so on.

Examples of Research Instruments

This example is in the form of an interview method. Before collecting data, researchers must prepare a list of questions as below.

Appendix 1. Interview Draft (Research Instrument)

Researchers have a role as an instrument of data collection. In collecting the data, assistive devices were also used. The tool used is an interview guide (interview guide). In this case, the researcher conducted interviews with Mr. H. Abu Bakar as the manager of the Manba’ul ‘Ulum Islamic Boarding School Cooperative and Nina Zuliani as bookkeeper. The interview draft used is as follows:

Draft Interview for Mr H. Abu Bakar

• Regarding the financing products available at the Manba’ul ‘Ulum Islamic Boarding School Cooperative, which profit-sharing financing can dominate all existing financing?
• What is the process of doing mudharabah financing at the Manba’ul ‘Ulum Islamic Boarding School Cooperative?
• What is the intent and purpose of applying the concept of mudharabah ?
• What is the target market for mudharabah distribution ?
• What type of financing (business) is financed by mudharabah financing ?
• What policies are taken to avoid the risk of mudharabah financing ?
• What is the profit sharing system for mudharabah financing ? Is it different for each type of business, and will the financing period also affect the profit sharing of the business?
• When calculating margin distribution, is it in percentage or nominal form?
• What is the system and procedure for payment and settlement of mudharabah financing ?
• During the implementation of the mudharabah concept , what obstacles were sufficient to impede the implementation process?

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Home » Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Questionnaire – Definition, Types, and Examples

Table of Contents

Questionnaire

Definition:

A Questionnaire is a research tool or survey instrument that consists of a set of questions or prompts designed to gather information from individuals or groups of people.

It is a standardized way of collecting data from a large number of people by asking them a series of questions related to a specific topic or research objective. The questions may be open-ended or closed-ended, and the responses can be quantitative or qualitative. Questionnaires are widely used in research, marketing, social sciences, healthcare, and many other fields to collect data and insights from a target population.

History of Questionnaire

The history of questionnaires can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who used questionnaires as a means of assessing public opinion. However, the modern history of questionnaires began in the late 19th century with the rise of social surveys.

The first social survey was conducted in the United States in 1874 by Francis A. Walker, who used a questionnaire to collect data on labor conditions. In the early 20th century, questionnaires became a popular tool for conducting social research, particularly in the fields of sociology and psychology.

One of the most influential figures in the development of the questionnaire was the psychologist Raymond Cattell, who in the 1940s and 1950s developed the personality questionnaire, a standardized instrument for measuring personality traits. Cattell’s work helped establish the questionnaire as a key tool in personality research.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the use of questionnaires expanded into other fields, including market research, public opinion polling, and health surveys. With the rise of computer technology, questionnaires became easier and more cost-effective to administer, leading to their widespread use in research and business settings.

Today, questionnaires are used in a wide range of settings, including academic research, business, healthcare, and government. They continue to evolve as a research tool, with advances in computer technology and data analysis techniques making it easier to collect and analyze data from large numbers of participants.

Types of Questionnaire

Types of Questionnaires are as follows:

Structured Questionnaire

This type of questionnaire has a fixed format with predetermined questions that the respondent must answer. The questions are usually closed-ended, which means that the respondent must select a response from a list of options.

Unstructured Questionnaire

An unstructured questionnaire does not have a fixed format or predetermined questions. Instead, the interviewer or researcher can ask open-ended questions to the respondent and let them provide their own answers.

Open-ended Questionnaire

An open-ended questionnaire allows the respondent to answer the question in their own words, without any pre-determined response options. The questions usually start with phrases like “how,” “why,” or “what,” and encourage the respondent to provide more detailed and personalized answers.

Close-ended Questionnaire

In a closed-ended questionnaire, the respondent is given a set of predetermined response options to choose from. This type of questionnaire is easier to analyze and summarize, but may not provide as much insight into the respondent’s opinions or attitudes.

Mixed Questionnaire

A mixed questionnaire is a combination of open-ended and closed-ended questions. This type of questionnaire allows for more flexibility in terms of the questions that can be asked, and can provide both quantitative and qualitative data.

Pictorial Questionnaire:

In a pictorial questionnaire, instead of using words to ask questions, the questions are presented in the form of pictures, diagrams or images. This can be particularly useful for respondents who have low literacy skills, or for situations where language barriers exist. Pictorial questionnaires can also be useful in cross-cultural research where respondents may come from different language backgrounds.

Types of Questions in Questionnaire

The types of Questions in Questionnaire are as follows:

Multiple Choice Questions

These questions have several options for participants to choose from. They are useful for getting quantitative data and can be used to collect demographic information.

• a. Red b . Blue c. Green d . Yellow

Rating Scale Questions

These questions ask participants to rate something on a scale (e.g. from 1 to 10). They are useful for measuring attitudes and opinions.

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?

Open-Ended Questions

These questions allow participants to answer in their own words and provide more in-depth and detailed responses. They are useful for getting qualitative data.

• What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your community?

Likert Scale Questions

These questions ask participants to rate how much they agree or disagree with a statement. They are useful for measuring attitudes and opinions.

How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

“I enjoy exercising regularly.”

• a . Strongly Agree
• c . Neither Agree nor Disagree
• d . Disagree
• e . Strongly Disagree

Demographic Questions

These questions ask about the participant’s personal information such as age, gender, ethnicity, education level, etc. They are useful for segmenting the data and analyzing results by demographic groups.

• What is your age?

Yes/No Questions

These questions only have two options: Yes or No. They are useful for getting simple, straightforward answers to a specific question.

Have you ever traveled outside of your home country?

Ranking Questions

These questions ask participants to rank several items in order of preference or importance. They are useful for measuring priorities or preferences.

Please rank the following factors in order of importance when choosing a restaurant:

• a. Quality of Food
• c. Ambiance
• d. Location

Matrix Questions

These questions present a matrix or grid of options that participants can choose from. They are useful for getting data on multiple variables at once.

Dichotomous Questions

These questions present two options that are opposite or contradictory. They are useful for measuring binary or polarized attitudes.

Do you support the death penalty?

How to Make a Questionnaire

Step-by-Step Guide for Making a Questionnaire:

• Define your research objectives: Before you start creating questions, you need to define the purpose of your questionnaire and what you hope to achieve from the data you collect.
• Choose the appropriate question types: Based on your research objectives, choose the appropriate question types to collect the data you need. Refer to the types of questions mentioned earlier for guidance.
• Develop questions: Develop clear and concise questions that are easy for participants to understand. Avoid leading or biased questions that might influence the responses.
• Organize questions: Organize questions in a logical and coherent order, starting with demographic questions followed by general questions, and ending with specific or sensitive questions.
• Pilot the questionnaire : Test your questionnaire on a small group of participants to identify any flaws or issues with the questions or the format.
• Refine the questionnaire : Based on feedback from the pilot, refine and revise the questionnaire as necessary to ensure that it is valid and reliable.
• Distribute the questionnaire: Distribute the questionnaire to your target audience using a method that is appropriate for your research objectives, such as online surveys, email, or paper surveys.
• Collect and analyze data: Collect the completed questionnaires and analyze the data using appropriate statistical methods. Draw conclusions from the data and use them to inform decision-making or further research.
• Report findings: Present your findings in a clear and concise report, including a summary of the research objectives, methodology, key findings, and recommendations.

Questionnaire Administration Modes

There are several modes of questionnaire administration. The choice of mode depends on the research objectives, sample size, and available resources. Some common modes of administration include:

• Self-administered paper questionnaires: Participants complete the questionnaire on paper, either in person or by mail. This mode is relatively low cost and easy to administer, but it may result in lower response rates and greater potential for errors in data entry.
• Online questionnaires: Participants complete the questionnaire on a website or through email. This mode is convenient for both researchers and participants, as it allows for fast and easy data collection. However, it may be subject to issues such as low response rates, lack of internet access, and potential for fraudulent responses.
• Telephone surveys: Trained interviewers administer the questionnaire over the phone. This mode allows for a large sample size and can result in higher response rates, but it is also more expensive and time-consuming than other modes.
• Face-to-face interviews : Trained interviewers administer the questionnaire in person. This mode allows for a high degree of control over the survey environment and can result in higher response rates, but it is also more expensive and time-consuming than other modes.
• Mixed-mode surveys: Researchers use a combination of two or more modes to administer the questionnaire, such as using online questionnaires for initial screening and following up with telephone interviews for more detailed information. This mode can help overcome some of the limitations of individual modes, but it requires careful planning and coordination.

Example of Questionnaire

Title of the Survey: Customer Satisfaction Survey

Introduction:

We appreciate your business and would like to ensure that we are meeting your needs. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey so that we can better understand your experience with our products and services. Your feedback is important to us and will help us improve our offerings.

Instructions:

Please read each question carefully and select the response that best reflects your experience. If you have any additional comments or suggestions, please feel free to include them in the space provided at the end of the survey.

1. How satisfied are you with our product quality?

• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

2. How satisfied are you with our customer service?

3. How satisfied are you with the price of our products?

4. How likely are you to recommend our products to others?

• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Somewhat unlikely
• Very unlikely

5. How easy was it to find the information you were looking for on our website?

• Somewhat easy
• Somewhat difficult
• Very difficult

6. How satisfied are you with the overall experience of using our products and services?

7. Is there anything that you would like to see us improve upon or change in the future?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion:

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your feedback is valuable to us and will help us improve our products and services. If you have any further comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Applications of Questionnaire

Some common applications of questionnaires include:

• Research : Questionnaires are commonly used in research to gather information from participants about their attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and experiences. This information can then be analyzed and used to draw conclusions and make inferences.
• Healthcare : In healthcare, questionnaires can be used to gather information about patients’ medical history, symptoms, and lifestyle habits. This information can help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat medical conditions more effectively.
• Marketing : Questionnaires are commonly used in marketing to gather information about consumers’ preferences, buying habits, and opinions on products and services. This information can help businesses develop and market products more effectively.
• Human Resources: Questionnaires are used in human resources to gather information from job applicants, employees, and managers about job satisfaction, performance, and workplace culture. This information can help organizations improve their hiring practices, employee retention, and organizational culture.
• Education : Questionnaires are used in education to gather information from students, teachers, and parents about their perceptions of the educational experience. This information can help educators identify areas for improvement and develop more effective teaching strategies.

Purpose of Questionnaire

Some common purposes of questionnaires include:

• To collect information on attitudes, opinions, and beliefs: Questionnaires can be used to gather information on people’s attitudes, opinions, and beliefs on a particular topic. For example, a questionnaire can be used to gather information on people’s opinions about a particular political issue.
• To collect demographic information: Questionnaires can be used to collect demographic information such as age, gender, income, education level, and occupation. This information can be used to analyze trends and patterns in the data.
• To measure behaviors or experiences: Questionnaires can be used to gather information on behaviors or experiences such as health-related behaviors or experiences, job satisfaction, or customer satisfaction.
• To evaluate programs or interventions: Questionnaires can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of programs or interventions by gathering information on participants’ experiences, opinions, and behaviors.
• To gather information for research: Questionnaires can be used to gather data for research purposes on a variety of topics.

When to use Questionnaire

Here are some situations when questionnaires might be used:

• When you want to collect data from a large number of people: Questionnaires are useful when you want to collect data from a large number of people. They can be distributed to a wide audience and can be completed at the respondent’s convenience.
• When you want to collect data on specific topics: Questionnaires are useful when you want to collect data on specific topics or research questions. They can be designed to ask specific questions and can be used to gather quantitative data that can be analyzed statistically.
• When you want to compare responses across groups: Questionnaires are useful when you want to compare responses across different groups of people. For example, you might want to compare responses from men and women, or from people of different ages or educational backgrounds.
• When you want to collect data anonymously: Questionnaires can be useful when you want to collect data anonymously. Respondents can complete the questionnaire without fear of judgment or repercussions, which can lead to more honest and accurate responses.
• When you want to save time and resources: Questionnaires can be more efficient and cost-effective than other methods of data collection such as interviews or focus groups. They can be completed quickly and easily, and can be analyzed using software to save time and resources.

Characteristics of Questionnaire

Here are some of the characteristics of questionnaires:

• Standardization : Questionnaires are standardized tools that ask the same questions in the same order to all respondents. This ensures that all respondents are answering the same questions and that the responses can be compared and analyzed.
• Objectivity : Questionnaires are designed to be objective, meaning that they do not contain leading questions or bias that could influence the respondent’s answers.
• Predefined responses: Questionnaires typically provide predefined response options for the respondents to choose from, which helps to standardize the responses and make them easier to analyze.
• Quantitative data: Questionnaires are designed to collect quantitative data, meaning that they provide numerical or categorical data that can be analyzed using statistical methods.
• Convenience : Questionnaires are convenient for both the researcher and the respondents. They can be distributed and completed at the respondent’s convenience and can be easily administered to a large number of people.
• Anonymity : Questionnaires can be anonymous, which can encourage respondents to answer more honestly and provide more accurate data.
• Reliability : Questionnaires are designed to be reliable, meaning that they produce consistent results when administered multiple times to the same group of people.
• Validity : Questionnaires are designed to be valid, meaning that they measure what they are intended to measure and are not influenced by other factors.

Advantage of Questionnaire

Some Advantage of Questionnaire are as follows:

• Standardization: Questionnaires allow researchers to ask the same questions to all participants in a standardized manner. This helps ensure consistency in the data collected and eliminates potential bias that might arise if questions were asked differently to different participants.
• Efficiency: Questionnaires can be administered to a large number of people at once, making them an efficient way to collect data from a large sample.
• Anonymity: Participants can remain anonymous when completing a questionnaire, which may make them more likely to answer honestly and openly.
• Cost-effective: Questionnaires can be relatively inexpensive to administer compared to other research methods, such as interviews or focus groups.
• Objectivity: Because questionnaires are typically designed to collect quantitative data, they can be analyzed objectively without the influence of the researcher’s subjective interpretation.
• Flexibility: Questionnaires can be adapted to a wide range of research questions and can be used in various settings, including online surveys, mail surveys, or in-person interviews.

Limitations of Questionnaire

Limitations of Questionnaire are as follows:

• Limited depth: Questionnaires are typically designed to collect quantitative data, which may not provide a complete understanding of the topic being studied. Questionnaires may miss important details and nuances that could be captured through other research methods, such as interviews or observations.
• R esponse bias: Participants may not always answer questions truthfully or accurately, either because they do not remember or because they want to present themselves in a particular way. This can lead to response bias, which can affect the validity and reliability of the data collected.
• Limited flexibility: While questionnaires can be adapted to a wide range of research questions, they may not be suitable for all types of research. For example, they may not be appropriate for studying complex phenomena or for exploring participants’ experiences and perceptions in-depth.
• Limited context: Questionnaires typically do not provide a rich contextual understanding of the topic being studied. They may not capture the broader social, cultural, or historical factors that may influence participants’ responses.
• Limited control : Researchers may not have control over how participants complete the questionnaire, which can lead to variations in response quality or consistency.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Estuarine Research Society celebrates 50 years; technology has made the difference

Last month, the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society met in Savannah to celebrate 50 years as an organization.

This is an organization that I have been a member of for nearly its entire 50 years. It is a nonprofit educational organization that allows and promotes informal exchange of interdisciplinary information related to estuaries of the Southeastern United States and specifically encourages participation of student colleagues.

It is an affiliate society of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, which, in turn, has a network of other regional associations. With the estuarine aspects of the St. Johns River, the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society has been an important organization to keep us informed about ongoing research.

It is the student aspect of the society that I have always enjoyed. I have taken literally dozens of students to the meetings over the years, and often they are giving their first scientific paper to someone other than their classmates. This year was no exception. In addition to the students, this year two former students, now professional estuarine scientists in their own right, also attended.

As part of the program, I was asked to give a talk about the past 50 years of the organization and also to reflect on the past 50 years of marine science. For good or bad, I have reached that point in my career that I can look back and see the significant changes that have occurred.

The Southeastern Estuarine Research Society was started in 1974 with a meeting in Savannah. I had enrolled in my doctoral program at the University of South Carolina in 1972, having completed my master's degree at the University of Virginia earlier that year. And while I did not attend the first meeting, I did attend the second one in 1975. So hence the nearly 50 years of my affiliation.

As I reflected on the past five decades, the greatest change has been in the area of technology. I actually started my talk with a reference to 1947 when the first transistors were invented, and then to 1958 when the first computer chip appeared. It wasn’t until the 1970s that large mainframe computers became available. And we entered data using punch cards. Yes, those same punch cards of the 2000 Bush-Gore election fame. I happened to have my own hanging chad story. But that is for another column.

In the mid-'70s, we were doing what was termed “ground-truthing,” or taking concurrent measurements of temperature , dissolved oxygen, salinity and chlorophyll-a, while NASA flew planes overhead equipped with remote sensors to detect the same data. That would lead us to where we are today with satellites gathering the same information.

Even the way we gather data for such variables as dissolved oxygen and salinity has changed dramatically. Today, we use a multi-function handheld instrument that can measure dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and Chlorophyll-a, along with an array of other parameters in just seconds. In the '70s, we used chemical titration with complex solutions that had to be prepared to exact standards. It took hours to get just a few data points. Today, we can produce volumes of data in seconds. If it were not for computers, we would not be able to process or analyze the vast amount of information we gather.

I had already arrived at Jacksonville University in 1976 before the first desktop computers were introduced. Does anyone remember the Apple IIe, or Radio Shack’s Commodore or the Tandy? We were so happy when we got the Apple IIe in biology. Little did we know what was ahead for us.

Cellphones appeared in 1983, first as a car phone, then in bulky cases you carried with a strap on your shoulder. Today, you have more computing capacity in your hand-held mobile phone than I did on the mainframe computer at USC when I did my doctoral research.

As I have told my students many times, and repeated the message at last month's meeting, the future is bright and exciting. We can only imagine, and certainly not know, what the future holds. Artificial intelligence is the tip of the iceberg of the future. Hang on, the outlook is promising. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Glad you asked River Life

Why does Northeast Florida have such rapidly changing weather patterns?

With apologies to my meteorologist friends, Northeast Florida is at a unique latitude climate-wise and heavily influenced by water. We are located between the “trade winds” and the “westerlies.” The westerlies are the dominant winds in the winter as cold fronts make it into the area from the north or northwest, whereas the” trade winds” are more dominant in the summer, making Florida subtropical.

Trade winds are why hurricanes come in from the east or southeast. Our prevailing wind pattern in the summer is east to southeast. We don’t typically get fronts in the summer, so the daily sea breeze drives our storm pattern. In the spring, the changing seasons makes the variation more pronounced with potentially rapid daily shifts in temperature as the relative position of the sun to the earth changes. It’s reversed in the fall with nor’easters blowing in with wind and rain.

River Life runs the first Tuesday of each month in The Times-Union. Email Quinton White, executive director of Jacksonville University’s Marine Science Research Institute, with questions about our waterways at [email protected]. For more on the MSRI, visit ju.edu/msri .

UNCW Among Universities Receiving Instruments for PFAS Research

• NC Collaboratory and UNCW Office of University Relations
• March 27, 2024

North Carolina Collaboratory’s $3 million investment in mass spectrometry instruments from Thermo Fisher Scientific will strengthen PFAS research capacity in service to the state

UNC Wilmington faculty have been equipped with a cutting-edge instrument from the North Carolina Collaboratory and Thermo Fisher Scientific to advance research on the impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination on the environment and public health.     The North Carolina Collaboratory —an organization dedicated to advancing scientific research for policymaking within North Carolina—announced its partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific to support PFAS research on March 27 during a press conference at the UNCW Center for Marine Science. This new partnership will build on the groundbreaking university research that has provided real-time results to communities across North Carolina and helped identify and implement solutions to address PFAS contamination.    Critical appropriations from the North Carolina General Assembly supported the Collaboratory's purchase of five state-of-the-art mass spectrometers from Thermo Fisher Scientific, which continue to position North Carolina at the forefront of academic PFAS research nationally.     The Collaboratory purchased instruments for five researchers within the PFAS Testing Network, one of which will be received by Dr. Ralph Mead’s lab. Mead, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UNCW and the Center for Marine Science , will receive an Orbitrap Exploris 240 Isotope Solutions system. This system will enable source-tracing and high-resolution forensic analysis of PFAS in the environment.     "We are very grateful for this investment in our research, university and community," said UNCW Chancellor Aswani Volety. "Public-private partnerships like this one harness the power of collaborative research to inform policy decisions and enhance the lives of communities across North Carolina."       As a nationally recognized leader in marine and environmental sciences, UNCW’s Center for Marine Science and Dr. Ralph Mead’s research is at the forefront of increasing the understanding of the composition, distribution and concentrations of toxins and hazards, such as PFAS, said Dr. Kenneth Halanych, executive director of the UNCW Center for Marine Science.    "UNCW's Center for Marine Science is honored to be part of the partnership that Dr. Mead helped build with Thermo-Fisher and the NC Collaboratory,” Dr. Halanych added. “This partnership enabled the purchase of critical analytical equipment to help the citizens of North Carolina and beyond understand the devastating impacts that PFAS chemicals can have on all aspects of the environment.”     PFAS constitute a class of synthetic chemicals ubiquitous in modern society due to their widespread use in industrial, commercial and consumer products. Their persistence, which has earned them the moniker "forever chemicals," has led to their widespread contamination of water sources, soil and air. There is growing global concern over the presence of PFAS in the environment and their potentially adverse impacts on human health.     To address this potential risk, the Water Safety Act included in the state's 2018 budget provided the Collaboratory with its first appropriation of $5 million to establish the NC PFAS Testing Network (PFAST Network) to comprehensively document PFAS contamination across the state and better understand its impacts on the environment and public health. The PFAST Network project management team, led by Dr. Mead, is housed at UNCW.    Currently, the network includes researchers from eight campuses—ECU, FSU, NCA&T, NCCU, NCSU, UNC-CH, UNCC, UNCW and Duke—who study PFAS toxicology, their occurrence in drinking water, atmospheric transformations and occurrence, and removal technologies. As of July 1, 2024, PFAS funding from the NCGA will eclipse $50 million (which includes additional Water Safety Act appropriations in subsequent NCGA budgets). This investment represents the largest legislative funding commitment for PFAS academic research in the nation.    “Through generous recurring appropriations from the General Assembly, we have secured forever funding for ‘forever chemicals.’ The next step is continuing to learn about and research these compounds, such that new, innovative solutions can be developed to safeguard communities and ecosystems in our state and across the country,” said Jeff Warren, executive director of the NC Collaboratory. “In addition, researchers are continuing to provide robust datasets and analyses to inform policymakers and state agencies to better understand this extremely complicated issue.”

This article has the following tags: myUNCW Research & Innovation Academics College of Science & Engineering

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Nasa selects first lunar instruments for artemis astronaut deployment.

Tiernan P. Doyle

Nasa headquarters.

NASA has chosen the first science instruments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during Artemis III. Once installed near the lunar South Pole, the three instruments will collect valuable scientific data about the lunar environment, the lunar interior, and how to sustain a long-duration human presence on the Moon, which will help prepare NASA to send astronauts to Mars.

“Artemis marks a bold new era of exploration, where human presence amplifies scientific discovery. With these innovative instruments stationed on the Moon’s surface, we’re embarking on a transformative journey that will kick-start the ability to conduct human-machine teaming – an entirely new way of doing science,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “These three deployed instruments were chosen to begin scientific investigations that will address key Moon to Mars science objectives.”

The instruments will address three Artemis science objectives: understanding planetary processes, understanding the character and origin of lunar polar volatiles, and investigating and mitigating exploration risks. They were specifically chosen because of their unique installation requirements that necessitate deployment by humans during moonwalks. All three payloads were selected for further development to fly on Artemis III that’s targeted to launch in 2026, however, final manifesting decisions about the mission will be determined at a later date. Members of these payload teams will become members of NASA’s Artemis III science team.

The Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) is a compact, autonomous seismometer suite designed to carry out continuous, long-term monitoring of the seismic environment, namely ground motion from moonquakes, in the lunar south polar region. The instrument will characterize the regional structure of the Moon’s crust and mantle, which will add valuable information to lunar formation and evolution models. LEMS previously received four years of NASA’s Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation funding for engineering development and risk reduction. It is intended to operate on the lunar surface from three months up to two years and may become a key station in a future global lunar geophysical network. LEMS is led by Dr. Mehdi Benna, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora (LEAF) will investigate the lunar surface environment’s effects on space crops. LEAF will be the first experiment to observe plant photosynthesis, growth, and systemic stress responses in space-radiation and partial gravity.  Plant growth and development data, along with environmental parameters measured by LEAF, will help scientists understand the use of plants grown on the Moon for both human nutrition and life support on the Moon and beyond. LEAF is led by Christine Escobar of Space Lab Technologies, LLC, in Boulder, Colorado.

The Lunar Dielectric Analyzer (LDA) will measure the regolith’s ability to propagate an electric field, which is a key parameter in the search for lunar volatiles, especially ice. It will gather essential information about the structure of the Moon’s subsurface, monitor dielectric changes caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon rotates, and look for possible frost formation or ice deposits. LDA, an internationally contributed payload, is led by Dr. Hideaki Miyamoto of the University of Tokyo and supported by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

“These three scientific instruments will be our first opportunity since Apollo to leverage the unique capabilities of human explorers to conduct transformative lunar science,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “These payloads mark our first steps toward implementing the recommendations for the high-priority science outlined in the Artemis III Science Definition Team report .”

Artemis III, the first mission to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in more than 50 years, will explore the south polar region of the Moon, within 6 degrees of latitude from the South Pole. Several proposed landing regions for the mission are located among some of the oldest parts of the Moon. Together with the permanently shadowed regions, they provide the opportunity to learn about the history of the Moon through previously unstudied lunar materials.

With the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon, and establish long-term exploration for scientific discovery and preparation for human missions to Mars for the benefit of all.

For more information on Artemis science, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science

Karen Fox / Erin Morton Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1257 / 202-805-9393 [email protected]  /  [email protected]  

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Office of the Vice President for Research

Ovpr announces recipients of 2024 discovery and innovation awards.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is honoring 11 faculty and staff for their exceptional contributions to research, scholarship, and creative activity as part of the 2024 Discovery and Innovation Awards .

“ The winners represent the best and the brightest of our University of Iowa faculty and staff, who are making an impact across a range of disciplines,”  said Marty Scholtz, vice president for research. “Their research and scholarship enhance undergraduate and graduate education on campus, and their efforts to expand the frontiers of discovery betters our community, state, and world.”

The OVPR solicited nominations from across campus for the awards, which include: Scholar of the Year, Early Career Scholar of the Year, Leadership in Research, and awards that recognize achievement in communicating scholarship with public audiences, community engagement, arts and humanities, mentorship, research administration and safety. A campuswide event on April 30 will celebrate the winners.

Faculty Awards

Jun Wang , James E. Ashton Professor and interim departmental executive officer in the College of Engineering’s

 Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, is the 2024 Scholar of the Year . The award celebrates nationally recognized recent achievement in outstanding research, scholarship, and/or creative activities. 

Wang’s research centers on the development of novel remote sensing techniques to characterize aerosols and fires from space. He serves as the University of Iowa’s lead investigator on NASA’s TEMPO, Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution, which Time magazine named one of its best inventions of 2023. 

“Professor Wang's scholarly endeavors over the past two years stand out as a paradigm of excellence, serving as an exemplary model for both emerging and seasoned faculty members to aspire toward,” said Karim Abdel-Malek, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Iowa Technology Institute.

James Byrne , assistant professor of radiation oncology in the Carver College of Medicine ( CCOM ), is the 2024 Early Career Scholar of the Year . The award honors assistant professors who are currently involved in research, scholarship, and/or creative activity and show promise of making a significant contribution to their field. 

As a physician scientist, Byrne continues to care for patients while developing novel biomedical therapies for cancer, finding inspiration in everything from latte foam to tardigrades. In his first two years as faculty at the UI, he has earned more that $2.5M in external research funding, including a K08 award from the NIH.

“Dr. Byrne’s scientific creativity stems from both an active and curious mind as well as his ability to bridge diverse fields from engineering to biology to medicine,” said Michael Henry, professor and interim director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These interdisciplinary boundaries are where some of the most interesting and important work is happening today.”

Donna Santillan , research professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Science Research in the CCOM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, received the Leadership in Research Award , which recognizes research and scholarly accomplishments throughout a career. 

While Santillan’s research has spanned across the field of reproductive science, she has a particular interest in the deadly diseases of pregnancy, including preeclampsia and its intergenerational effects. She designed and directs the Women’s Health Tissue Repository. Santillan’s work has been cited more than 2,700 times, and she has mentored 114 early career scientists and students, a testament to her expansive impact.

“Dr. Santillan has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to fostering the professional and personal development of trainees in research, including myself,” said Banu Gumusoglu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “Her mentorship extends beyond the confines of traditional academic settings, touching the lives of many aspiring trainees from high school through residency, clinical fellowship, and faculty levels.”

Stephen Warren , professor of history and American studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), received the Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Research Award . The award recognizes an individual faculty member who has put addressing public needs and direct engagement with the public, in the service of improving quality of life through research, at the forefront of his or her academic activities.

A prolific scholar of Native American culture, Warren’s research has centered on the Shawnee people of Oklahoma for the past two decades. He has published four books and co-authored the most recent one , Replanting Cultures: Community-Engaged Scholarship in Indian Country, with Chief Benjamin Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe. 

“Over the last two decades, Professor Warren has established himself as a leading community-engaged scholar, and his achievements in research and publishing demonstrate that community engagement and strong scholarship are not mutually exclusive,” said Nick Benson, director of the Office of Community Engagement. “Professor Warren’s work serves as an inspiration for researchers at Iowa and nationally who seek not only to make a difference in academia, but also in our communities.”

Kaveh Akbar , associate professor of English in CLAS, received the Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Humanities Research Award . This award honors distinguished achievement in humanities scholarship and work in the creative, visual and performing arts. 

Akbar joined Iowa in 2022 to serve as the director of the English and creative writing major. In January, his new novel, Martyr!, was published to critical acclaim. Akbar previously published two prize-winning poetry collections and has served as poetry editor for The Nation  since 2021. 

“Akbar’s leadership in the profession and on campus continues: his transformative work in our department not only enriches the academic experiences of 700+ English and creative writing majors, but also enhances the profile of UI as ‘The Writing University,’” said Blaine Greteman, professor and departmental executive officer of the Department of English.

Cara Hamann , associate professor of epidemiology, received the Faculty Communicating ideas Award . This award recognizes excellence in communication about research and scholarship in the sciences and humanities and the study of creative, visual, and performing arts to a general audience directly or via print and electronic media.

Hamann has frequently shared her work on transportation issues, including teen driving, bike and scooter safety, and pedestrian safety, through peer-reviewed journals and extensive media outreach. Her recent op-ed, “The most deadly traffic policy you’ve never heard of leaves you vulnerable, too,” drew widespread attention to a legal loophole in crosswalk laws and appeared in more than 50 news outlets nationwide, including USA Today .

“Dr. Hamann’s work is not only academically rigorous but also accessible and impactful to a

wide audience,” said Diane Rohlman, associate dean for research in the College of Public Health. “Her ability to communicate with clarity, creativity, and passion coupled with her extensive media outreach, exemplifies how she utilizes multiple approaches to address transportation challenges impacting society.”

Bob McMurray , F. Wendell Miller Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Caroline Clay , assistant professor of acting in the Department of Theatre Arts, were recipients of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Distinguished Mentor Awards . The awards honors mentors’ dedication to making their students research experiences successful.

“I can’t imagine my research journey without Bob’s welcoming kindness, thriving lab community, and confident mentorship, and I am so deeply grateful for his impact on me,” said Hannah Franke, a psychology and linguistics major mentored by McMurray.

“I know I am far from the only student whose life has been impacted by Caroline Clay,” said Isabella Hohenadel, a second-year theatre arts major. “She deserves to be recognized of all of the wonderful work she does and how much she cares about us as students. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of recognition than her.”

Staff Awards

Angie Robertson , department administrator for CCOM’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, received the Distinguished Research Administrator Award . The award recognizes staff members who performed exceptional service in support of research at the UI by exploring funding opportunities, assisting in grant proposal preparation, submission, post-award administration, and operational support. 

In addition to overseeing every aspect of daily operations for the department, Robertson manages nearly 100 research grants for the department and three longstanding NIH T32 training grants. 

“Angie plays a leading role in our department office, inspiring us to achieve all aspects of our missions ,” said Li Wu, professor and department chair. “She is innovative, collaborative, accountable, and respectful  in her daily work. She exceeds any expectations and sets a great example for staff members in the department.”

Min Zhu , research specialist in the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research (IIOHR) within the College of Dentistry, received the Distinguished Research Professional Award . The award recognizes staff members who performed exceptional service in support of research at the UI by conducting experiments, collecting, and analyzing results and performing operational duties associated with a laboratory or research program. 

Zhu has worked as a lab bench scientist in the College of Dentistry since 2006, executing experimental work for grants and other research, working closely with IIOHR faculty members, overseeing lab maintenance and environmental health and safety efforts. 

“Beyond her research skills, Dr. Zhu has been an exceptional mentor and educator for my students and other junior researchers,” said Liu Hong, professor of prosthodontics. “Her kindness and willingness to share her knowledge have made her a beloved figure among them.”

Curtis Iberg , manager of sterilization services in the College of Dentistry, received the Innovation in Safety Award, which celebrates exceptional and ground-breaking innovations that advance safety at the UI. Iberg led a major renovation of the College of Dentistry’s instrument processing and sterilization area, with the aim of encouraging better workflow and support for future growth. 

“His innovations in workspace are a valuable asset to the greater University and demonstrates that the most important people to be involved in a space renovation are those that use the area because they can see how the facility can better function and how it can be designed for future needs,” said Kecia Leary, associate dean of clinics.

• Envision News

2024 Buick Envision debuts with family styling, massive interior screen

Awd is made standard, and buick ramps up the tech big time.

Buick showed us the 2024 Envision in a single image nearly a year ago , and while the wait’s been a long one, we now have all the details on this crossover ’s thorough refresh. And yes, even though we’re already rather deep into 2024, this refresh is indeed for the 2024 model year Envision.

The big changes outside are plenty visible at first glance as you see the Wildcat EV-inspired front end that’s been splashed across Buick’s SUV lineup . The Envision looks largely similar to before around back, though Buick notes it’s using new badging on the rear fascia. Plus, new 20-inch wheels are standard on both the ST and Avenir trims, while the base Preferred trim makes do with 18s.

Its powertrain is all carryover, which means the only engine option is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that sends 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque through a nine-speed automatic transmission. One difference for 2024, though, is that all-wheel drive is made standard, eliminating the cheaper FWD versions.

Buick’s most substantial changes are inside the 2024 Envision. It features a standard 30-inch display that stretches across the dash encompassing the instrument cluster and the infotainment screen. This also means it has a new center stack and center console design that better fits this massive display. Many of the hard climate control buttons are eliminated from the center stack, but some key, often-used toggles remain for easy use. The button-operated “shifter” layout on the center console is gone, too, replaced by GM ’s column shifter slowly making its way across the entire General Motors lineup. In its place is a massive, shiny volume knob and additional storage capacity.

As for luxuries and styling, the Envision adds new red/black and gray/blue interior color combos, and the front seats themselves are new to be more comfortable than before. Ambient lighting is added to the cabin, and Buick says it’s upped the trim quality on the center console. If you opt for the ST, you get a flat-bottom steering wheel for a sportier appearance, too.

More driver assistance features are being made standard for 2024, though Super Cruise is not one of them despite it being initially touted as one of the new technology items coming to the Envision this year. When queried about its absence, a Buick spokesperson told us this: “The 24MY Envision will no longer debut with Super Cruise, but we plan to bring it to Buick vehicles soon. As timelines shifted, so too did our launch of new Super Cruise-equipped vehicles, but we remain dedicated to bringing the technology to Buick vehicles in the future.”

Pricing is also out for the updated Envision, with the entry-level Preferred starting at $37,295. The ST (pictured in red) starts at $37,795, and the top-shelf Avenir (in silver) at $48,395. Buick says the refreshed Envision will hit dealerships this summer.

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More From Forbes

Scientists tend to inflate how ethical they are in doing their research.

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We have known for a long time that people tend to paint a rosy picture of how good they are. Now we know that scientists are no exception, at least when it comes to conducting their own research. This is especially surprising since scientists are regularly thought to be objective.

Research and Ethics - clinical trial law and rules, Medical compliance.

This new discovery emerged from a massive survey of 11,050 scientific researchers in Sweden, conducted by Amanda M. Lindkvist, Lina Koppel, and Gustav Tinghög at Linköping University and published in the journal Scientific Reports. The survey was very simple, with only two questions. Here was the first:

Question One : In your role as a researcher, to what extent do you perceive yourself as following good research practices—compared to other researchers in your field?

Rather than allowing the survey participants to each define what ‘good research practice’ is, the researchers gave them these criteria:

(1) Tell the truth about one’s research.

(2) Consciously review and report the basic premises of one’s studies.

(3) Openly account for one’s methods and results.

(4) Openly account for one’s commercial interests and other associations.

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(5) Not make unauthorized use of the research results of others.

(6) Keep one’s research organized, for example through documentation and filing.

(7) Stive to conduct one’s research without doing harm to people, animals or the environment.

(8) Be fair in one’s judgement of others’ research.

Note that many of these criteria have to do with honesty, but there are also ones on conscientiousness, non-malevolence, and fairness.

What were the results? Participants used a scale to rate themselves from 1 to 7, with 1 = Much less than other researchers, 4 = As much as other researchers, and 7 = Much more than other researchers. This is what the responses revealed:

44% rated themselves as more ethical in their research practices than other researchers in their field.

55% rated themselves as the same as their peers.

Not even 1% rated themselves as less ethical than their peers.

Of course these results can’t reflect real life, since mathematically there have to be more than 1% of scientists who are less than average in this area of their lives.

The other question that Lindkvist and his colleagues asked these scientific researchers was this:

Question Two : To what extent do you perceive researchers within your field as following good research practices–compared to researchers within other fields?

Here too the results were very skewed. 29% said their field followed good research practices to a greater extent than did scientists in other fields. Only 8% said it was the other way around.

These results should surprise us for a couple of reasons. One is that they go against the popular narrative of scientists as objective and neutral. When it comes to their own ethical behavior in conducting their research, they appear as a whole to be biased and overconfident. Another reason these results are surprising is that many scientists are likely aware of the existence of scientific research on how people in general tend to have an inflated view of their own virtue . So you’d expect that they would be on guard against such a tendency in their own case.

There are dangers that come with scientists having an overly positive view of their own research ethics. Lindkvist helpfully explains one of them: it “may lead researchers to underestimate the ethical implications of the decisions they make and to sometimes be blind to their own ethical failures. For example, researchers may downplay their own questionable practices but exaggerate those of other researchers, perhaps especially researchers outside their field.” Another danger that Lindkvist notes is a greater tendency to ignore warnings and ethical safeguards, if they are dismissed by a scientist as applying to others but not to her since she thinks she is above average.

It would be interesting in future work to see if similar patterns emerge with researchers in other countries besides Sweden. It would also be interesting to look at researchers anonymously rating the research ethics of their colleagues in their own departments and schools.

If these results hold up, it will be important to find ways to encourage scientific researchers to correct their inflated perceptions. As Lindkvist urges, “To restore science’s credibility, we need to create incentive structures, institutions, and communities that foster ethical humility and encourage us to be our most ethical selves in an academic system that otherwise incentivizes us to be bad.”

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