A key issue in quantitative methods is ‘How many participants is enough…” Debates on validity and reliability often hang on concepts such as ‘effect size’ and ‘power’. Linked to this is the issue of participant numbers. This can be perplexing and confusing, but there are handy online calculators which can be helpful. They also give you Standard deviation and helps you understand Confidence Levels.

What is a sample size?

The number of completed responses your survey receives is your sample size. It’s called a sample because it only represents part of the group of people (or population) whose opinions or behavior you care about. As an example, one way of sampling is to use a so-called “Random Sample,” where respondents are chosen entirely by chance from the population at large.

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This is a great site that takes the reader to either the teacher or student versions of research methods information. The site is very comprehensive and covers a wealth of different topics.

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This is an online App which is very powerful. It allows you to ‘clip’ websites, add photographs and then organise your research notes around topics. You can create to-do lists and timelines. All hyperlinks in web clips are maintained and text in photographs is even recognised – you can take a photograph of a text book cover and Evernote will be able to find it again through a text search. It will synch with all your devices enabling you organise your research anywhere at anytime.

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A very popular way to think your way around a project which is not based on linear flow charts and ‘lists’ is mind- mapping. There are a lot of Apps out there for this but ‘xmind’ is very popular and flexible. Integrates with Microsoft Office.

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