Research Instrument

Research Instrument Examples

There are many examples of research instruments. The most common ones are interviews, surveys, observations, and focus groups. Let's break them down one by one.

Research Instrument: Interviews

Interview as a research instrument, Unsplash

The interview is a qualitative research method that collects data by asking questions. It includes three main types: structured, unstructured, and semi-structured interviews.

• Structured interviews include an ordered list of questions. These questions are often closed-ended and draw a yes, no or a short answer from the respondents. Structured interviews are easy to execute but leave little room for spontaneity.

• Unstructured interviews are the opposite of structured interviews. Questions are mostly open-ended and are not arranged in order. The participants can express themselves more freely and elaborate on their answers.

• Semi-structured interviews are a blend of structured and unstructured interviews. They are more organised than unstructured interviews, though not as rigid as structured interviews.

Compared to other research instruments, interviews provide more reliable results and allow the interviewers to engage and connect with the participants. However, it requires experienced interviewers to drive the best response from the interviewees.

Tools used in interviews may include:

• Audio recorder (face-to-face interview)

• Cam recorder & video conferencing tools (online interview)

Research Instrument: Surveys

Survey research is another primary data collection method that involves asking a group of people for their opinions on a topic. However, surveys are often given out in paper form or online instead of meeting the respondents face-to-face.

The most common form of a survey is a questionnaire. It is a list of questions to collect opinions from a group. These questions can be close-ended, open-ended, pre-selected answers, or scale ratings. Participants can receive the same or alternate questions.

The main benefit of a survey is that it is a cheap way to collect data from a large group. Most surveys are also anonymous, making people more comfortable sharing honest opinions. However, this approach does not always guarantee a response since people tend to ignore surveys in their email inboxes or in-store.

There are many types of surveys, including paper and online surveys.

Research Instrument: Observations

Observation is another research instrument for marketers to collect data. It involves an observer watching people interacting in a controlled or uncontrolled environment.

Observation is easy to execute and also provides highly accurate results. However, these results might be subjected to observer bias (the observers' opinions and prejudice) which lowers their fairness and objectivity. Also, some types of observations are not cheap.

Tools for observations can vary based on the research purpose and business resources.

Simple observations can be carried out without any tool. An example might be an observer "shopping along" with a customer to see how they choose products and which store section catches their eyes.

More complex observations can require special equipment such as eye-tracking and brain-scanning devices. Websites may also use heat maps to see which areas are most clicked by page visitors.

Research Instrument: Focus groups

Focus group as a research instrument, Unsplash

Focus groups are similar to interviews but include more than one participant. It is also a qualitative research method which aims to understand customers' opinions on a topic.

Focus groups often consist of one moderator and a group of participants. Sometimes, there are two moderators, one directing the conversation and the other observing.

Conducting focus groups are quick, cheap, and efficient. However, the data analysis can be time-consuming. Engaging a large group of people is tricky, and many participants may be shy or unwilling to give their opinions.

If focus groups are conducted online, tools like Zoom or Google Meeting are often used.

Research Instrument: Existing data

Unlike the others, existing or secondary data is an instrument for secondary research. Secondary research means using data that another researcher has collected.

Secondary data can save a lot of research time and budget. Sources are also numerous, including internal (within the company) and external (outside the company) sources.

Collecting from existing data is pretty simple, though the sources need validating before use.

Research Instrument Design

Research instrument design means creating research instruments to obtain the most quality, reliable, and actionable results. It is an intricate process that requires a lot of time and effort from the researchers.

A few things to keep in mind when designing research instrument¹ :

• Validity means how well the participants' answers match those outside the study.

• Reliability means whether the research method will produce similar results multiple times.

• Replicability means whether the research results can be used for other research purposes.

• Generalizability means whether the research data can be generalised or applied to the whole population.

Research instrument design best practices

Here are some good practices for creating research instruments:

Define the research objective

Good research always starts with a hypothesis. This is the proposed explanation based on the evidence that the business currently has. Further research will be needed to prove this explanation is true.

Based on the hypothesis, the researchers can determine the research objectives:

• What is the research's purpose?

• What result does it try to measure?

• What questions to ask?

• How to know the results are reliable/actionable?

Prepare carefully

"To be prepared is half the victory". Preparation means designing how researchers will carry out the research. This may include creating questions and deciding on what tools to use.

Create a guideline

The person carrying out the research may not be the same as who designs it. To ensure smooth implementation, an important step is to create a guideline.

Avoid interviewer bias

Interviewer bias happens when the researcher/observer/interviewer interacts directly with the participants. Interviewer bias means letting the interviewers' viewpoints and attitudes affect the research outcome. For example, the interviewer reacts differently around different interviewees or asks leading questions.

When designing research instruments, researchers should keep this in mind and leave out questions that might lead the respondent to their favourable responses.

Test and implement

To avoid mistakes, the researcher can first test it in a small sample before applying it to a large group. This is extremely important, especially in large-scale data collection methods like questionnaires. A minor error can make the whole process futile. A good practice is to ask a team member proofread the survey questions to spot any errors or inaccuracies.

After testing, the next task is to apply it to the target group. The response rate is a crucial KPI to determine the research's reliability. The higher the response rate, the more reliable the results are. However, other factors like the depth of answers are also important.

Research Instrument in quantitative research

Quantitative research means collecting and analysing numerical data. This kind of research helps spot patterns and trends to make predictions or generalise results to the whole population. Research instruments in quantitative research include surveys, questionnaires, telephone, and interviews.

Research Instrument: Surveys

The main component of surveys is questionnaires. These are lists of questions to collect data from a large group. In survey research, the questions are primarily closed-ended or include rating scales to collect data in a unified fashion.

The reliability of survey results greatly depends on the sample size. The larger the sample size, the higher validity it will have, though not cheap to execute.

There is limited interviewer bias and errors in surveys. However, the refusal rate is high as few people are willing to write down their answers.

Research Instrument: Telephone

The telephone is another research instrument for quantitative research. It is based on random sampling and also has low interviewer bias. However, phone calls tend to be short (less than 15 minutes), giving interviewers little time to collect in-depth information. Customers can also hang up when they are distracted by something else.

Research Instrument: Interviews

Most interviews are qualitative in nature, but some are quantitative, especially those carried out in a structured manner. An example is structured interviews which include closed-ended questions arranged in a specific order.