The Sampling Issues in Quantitative Research.

Abstract

Abstract A concern for generalization dominates quantitative research. For generalizability and repeatability, identification of sample size is essential. The present study investigates 90 qualitative master's theses submitted for the Primary and Secondary School Science and Mathematics Education Departments, Mathematic Education Discipline in 10 universities in Turkey between 1996 and 2007, in terms of Population and using document analysis. Coding is used to analyze the data and results are presented by using descriptive statistics. Most of the theses were found to include a few lines of information on population and sample, and a few presented the characteristics of the sample in detailed tables, though without any information on the selection criteria were given. Randomization in random sampling, which is frequently used, was usually limited to unbiased assignment of two classes out of four within a school. No attention was paid to the appropriateness of the sample size and to the analysis techniques employed. Effect size was calculated in only one dissertation, but was not taken into account in the identification of the sample size. Normality tests also indicated some challenges. The effects of sample size on reliability assessment were not taken into account. Key Words Sampling Technique, Sample Size, Effect Size, Mathematics Education, Examining Dissertations. Quantitative research predominantly assumes a positivist world view (Henn, Weinstein & Foard, 2006, p. 27) which are called paradigms and tied to research techniques firmly (Hughes, 1990, s. 11). Moreover, Guba and Lincoln (1994, s. 105) think that paradigms are superior to methods of enquiry in research. Quantitative research paradigm emphasizes the importance of generalizability and reliability (Henn et al., 2006, p. 16). The aim is to apply the relationship obtained among variables to the general, i.e. the population. That is why the selection of a sample representative of the population is essential (Karasar, 1999). Master thesis is one of the first places where scientific studies conducted by provisional academicians. Therefore, analyzing these theses may reveal weak parts and also develop conducting research by definite principles such as defining research techniques and population and sampling. The research studies on Turkish theses are usually about their structures. Aksoy and Dilek (2005) investigated the dissertations/theses with respect to the order given in contents of the theses and found that title is not reflecting the chapters/sections. Turer (2005) highlights the scientific quality of theses and the responsibility of the supervisors for their students to be a researcher. Ozdemir and Ari (2005) examined 20 theses which are randomly chosen with respect to their topics, contents, and methodologies to reveal what is studied most and what is not. Ramazan, Oztuna and Dibek (2005) examined 91 dissertations/theses in terms of sections and their titles whether there is any coherency or not and they found that no criteria used to define population and sampling of the study. Moreover, they also revealed that researchers misused reliability and validity in their dissertations. Demirel, Ayvaz and Koksal (2005) investigated all doctoral dissertations finished between 1995 and 2005 in terms of their topic and methodologies. They found that researchers prefer to use quantitative rather than qualitative approaches in their studies. The reliability of research is closely related to its repeatability (Altunisik, Coskun, Bayraktaroglu & Yildirim, 2004). When writing up, the researcher should pay special attention to present information about the characteristics of the sample including details on sampling strategies which would enable others to repeat the research (Henn et al., 2006, p. 238). Based on the research findings of Ugurlu, Delice and Korkmaz (2007) and Ugurlu and Delice (2008) this study qualitatively examines quantitative master's theses in mathematics education in terms of the appropriateness of (1) the characteristics of the population, (2) the sampling technique used, (3) the size of the sample and selection criteria, and (4) the characteristics of the population and data analysis techniques used. …

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 197 citations exist upstream.