Research Instruments
Your school is starting a new after-school snack program, and you want to find out what kind of snacks students are most excited to try. You want to ask a lot of students quickly and get their thoughts.
Options: Questionnaire, Observation, Interview, Case Study
Questionnaire - A questionnaire allows you to gather responses from many students quickly and efficiently.
Research Question: "How does eating spicy food influence people’s mood?"
Experimental - You’re manipulating the type of food people eat (spicy vs. non-spicy) to observe changes in mood, making this an experimental design.
You’re hired by a theme park to study how visitors react when they see a new roller coaster. You stand nearby, watching their expressions and body language as they approach the ride.
Options: Questionnaire, Observation, Interview, Case Study
Observation - Observation lets you capture real-time reactions without influencing the visitors’ behavior.
Research Question: "Do people who sleep with their phones next to them sleep less deeply than those who don’t?"
Correlational - You’re looking for a relationship between sleeping with a phone and sleep quality, but not manipulating any variables.
Scenario: You’ve been hired to research the adventures of a daredevil who skydives from planes for a living. You want to know everything about their journey, from the moment they decide to jump until they land safely.
Options: Questionnaire, Observation, Interview, Case Study
Case Study - A case study allows you to dive deep into the daredevil’s personal experience and story over time.
Research Question: "What are the effects of daily yoga on flexibility over three months?"
Research Design Options: Descriptive, Correlational, Experimental, Case Study
Experimental - You’re actively testing the effect of yoga (an independent variable) on flexibility (a dependent variable) through a controlled experiment.
Scenario: You’re researching why people choose certain types of pizza toppings. You want to ask them in-depth about their preferences, from the first time they tried pizza to their current favorites.
Options: Questionnaire, Observation, Interview, Case Study
Interview- Interviews allow you to dig into personal preferences and get detailed answers.
Case Study - You’re focusing on a specific individual and their unique experience, making it a case study.
You’ve been tasked with researching how pets react when their owners come home after a long day. You plan to sit quietly and observe the pets’ behaviors when they see their owners walk through the door.
Options: Questionnaire, Observation, Interview, Case Study
Observation- Observation allows you to capture natural behavior without influencing it.
Descriptive - You’re simply describing the students' activities without manipulating any factors, so it’s a descriptive design.