It is important when conducting descriptive research that you are able to plan well. First you must determine your objective in conducting the survey in the first place. What are you really trying to figure out through your research? Make sure when you create your questions that you review them carefully to make sure the answers will give the information you are looking for. It is imperative provide an introduction to your catchy title. The introduction should explain the purpose of the survey, how confidentiality will be maintained, and how long it should take the participant to complete the survey. I know from personal experience when completing surveys, it is easier to take the time to complete a survey that looks nice, well organized, and easy to understand. Another detail you must keep in mind when planning for your survey is how you will analyze your survey. This should be thought of before you create your survey, not after!
It is important you think carefully about who you want to sample. Think about your objective, and then think about where you can go, and who you can survey to get the results you are looking for. Stratified random sampling is a great strategy to use when conducting surveys. There are multiple types of questions you can use when conducting a survey. These types of questions include, open-ended questions, closed questions, and categorical questions. There are positives and negatives to each different types of questions. The important thing is that you think about the question you want to ask and fit the question to the best format for getting valuable feedback.
Lastly, when conducting a survey it is recommended to conduct a pilot study. Doing so when give you the feedback and/or critique you will need to make your survey ready to be given to your sample. The feedback should let you know if any of your questions were confusing, worded weirdly, lack discrimination, as well as many other helpful tips.
An article I read about hazing that used descriptive research is, “Defining High School Hazing: Control Through Clarity.” This article explained in detail how they conducted a survey to gather their information. I liked that the first sentence of this article explained their purpose, “The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of hazing that had existed in former high school athletes who were enrolled in introduction to coaching classes in a Northern Rocky Mountain state” (Tokar, Stewart, 2010). The survey that was conducted in the research was a nationally accepted survey and was given to 189 college students in which most had been sport participants in high school. The article stated, “Results were interpreted to determine the extent these students had been hazed in their athletic careers and specifically what those behaviors were. Implications were made for future definition and clarification of hazing to ensure proper enforcement and eliminations of all negative behaviors” (Tokar, Stewart, 2010).
There is quite a bit of controversy over what is truly hazing. Some think that only the result of injury is hazing while others feel that having to carry the ball bag as a freshman is considered hazing. This article was trying to find the perception of these students and what they considered hazing. Organizations such as Character Counts, and Mothers Against School Hazing have tried to define hazing and put a stop to it. A website I have spent some time reviewing is StopHazing.org which defines hazing as, “any activity expected of someone joining a group (or to maintain full status in a group) that humiliates, degrades or risks emotional and/or physical harm, regardless of the person's willingness to participate. In years past, hazing practices were typically considered harmless pranks or comical antics associated with young men in college fraternities” (StopHazing.org).
The article also discusses some research that was completed by Alfred University where over 1500 high school students were asked to engage in a national survey. Through this research they discovered that the understanding of what hazing is was not clear. It states, “the researchers found that although only 14 percent of the subjects said they were hazed, 48 percent said they participated in activities that were defined as hazing, and 29 percent said they did things that were potentially illegal in order to join a group (http://www.alfred.edu/hs%5hazing/exectuive_summary.html.)” (Tokar, Stewart, 2010). I found this interesting because the descriptive statistics show that many students did not believed they were hazed, however, several more said they participated in hazing activities.
The method of the original article I have been discussing was over the span of two years with 189 participants, which included 96 females and 93 males. The survey was both voluntary and anonymous. The article explains, “The close-ended questions/phrases were divided into three categories according to the intensity of potential hazing incidents.” (Tokar, Stewart, 2010). The first section, which included eight questions, described positive team activities. The second were focused on more negative hazing behaviors, and the third was the most extreme. There was a final response question that was open ended where participants were able to add any additional information.
The results indicated that 89% of the females and 91% of males were expected to maintain a specific grade point average. The same percentages were found when participants were asked if they were expected to dress up for team functions. Both of the above percentages were from category number one. The second category of questions found 68% males and 42% females admitted they had been yelled, cursed, or sworn at by others along with 20% females and 16% males were required to complete calisthenics that were unrelated to their sport. The article goes on to explain that this is a little bias because participants may not have realized that the calisthenics would be beneficial to their sport if not explained why they were important. The last category, category number 3 showed 12% males said they have been “tied up, taped, or confined, in small space, while 18% being paddled, whipped, beaten, kicked, or beating others” (Tokar, Stewart, 2010).
In conclusion, I hope the explanation of descriptive stats has enhanced you knowledge of why and how they are used. The article I discussed is a good example of the type of results you will be able to gather should you choose to use descriptive research. Although at times descriptive research can be limiting, it also has many advantages. The information is fairly easy to interpret, and if you complete online surveys they can be cost efficient. I hope after reading this post you understand a little more about descriptive statistics!
References:
http://www.stophazing.org/athletic_hazing/index.htm
Thomas, J., Nelson, J., Silverman, S. (2011). Research Methods in Physical Education (6th Edition). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics/Thomson-Shore, Inc.
Tokar, K., & Stewart, C. (2010). Defining High School Hazing: Control Through Clarity. Physical Educator, 67(4), 204-208. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
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