Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2.1.8 Selection of Sample
information and subsequently derail the entire
research program from its ultimate objective.
So, before taking up any information or record-
ing data from any instruments, a researcher
should be very careful about the authenticity
and usefulness of the data in the light of the
objective of a research program.
In fact, most of the empirical or applied studies
and, to some extent, some basic studies for their
effective outcome heavily depend on the type of
sample being used for the purpose. Any research
program is directed towards enriching the life-
style of the human being. Population can be
studied by examining its individual unit. Because
of constraints like time, resource, and feasibility, it
may not be possible to study each and every indi-
vidual unit of a targeted population. So a represen-
tative part of the populations—“sample”—is
taken; studies or researches are conducted on the
sample, using statistical techniques; it is verified
whether the sample behavior would be taken as the
population behavior or not. Information can be
obtained from experimental fields/social field
depending upon the nature of the research pro-
gram. There are different methods of drawing
samples (probability sampling, non-probability
sampling) depending upon the nature of the popu-
lation. Certainly not all the methods are equally
welcome in all situations. Thus, the technique of
drawing samples and the nature of the samples
plays a vital role in analyzing the sample
characteristics, namely, drawing inference about
the population characteristics towards fulfilling the
objective of a research program.
2.1.10 Collection of Data
Whatever may be the research type, qualitative
or quantitative, information are required to be
collected or collated in a most scientific manner
to fulfill the objective of a study. It may emphat-
ically be noted that though there exists no clear-
cut silver lining in differentiating between infor-
mation and data, by and large, by information we
mean both qualitative and quantitative; on the
other hand, by data one has an instinct to catego-
rize them under quantitative form. But, quite
frequently in a general sense, these two are used
synonymously. There are different methods of
collection of information/data depending upon
the source, nature, etc. According to the source
of information, data may be
primary
or
second-
ary
. Primary data are those data collected by the
user from the field of investigations with specific
objectives in mind. Secondary data, on the other
hand, are collated from different sources by the
user for his/her purpose. Thus, meteorological
information is the primary data to the department
of meteorology, but to a researcher who uses the
information from the meteorological department,
these are secondary data. There are different
methods of collections of data: observation
method, survey method, contact method, experi-
mental method, etc.
2.1.9 Operationalization of Concepts
and Optimization/
Standardization of the Research
Instruments
Nowadays most of the research programs are
characterized by the use of high-end sophisti-
cated modern instruments/equipments. Instru-
mentation centers have become an integrated
component of any research organization. Starting
from a simple pH meter to the modern-day elec-
tronic scanning microscopes or other sophisti-
cated equipments required to be standardized,
depending upon the nature of the experiments
and types of the instruments. A faulty or unstan-
dardized instrument may lead to erroneous
2.1.11 Processing, Tabulation,
and Analysis of Information
Having fixed the objective of a study and col-
lected the required information, the first thing a
researcher should attempt is to scrutinize or cross
verify the information. Once the information is
passed through the above process, processing
