Summative Assessment
Question 1
There are methods to protect the research information from being accessed by unauthorized persons or getting lost. One of them is the installation of a firewall. It acts as a security grad for the information. They are of two types, the hardware and software firewall. They serve the same purposes of protecting the data in the computer from access by hackers or getting lost (McCorkendale & Sobel, 2013). It creates a barrier between a network and the unauthorized programs which try to come through the internet. When installed permanently, it notifies of any effort trying to access the information.
Additionally, there is the use of anti-virus software. It protects the information in the computer by barring any unauthorized program or code which creates a threat to the system (Shukla, Singh, Shukla, & Tripathi, 2014). Such illegal soft wares include viruses which can lead to the loss of information by deleting files. It might also access personal data or slow down the computer processing speed. The anti-virus software is thus crucial in mitigating such threats.
Furthermore, there is the use of secure and complex passwords. It will e difficult for hackers to find them. They should also be changed regularly, making it hard for the hackers to track them, hence keeping the information safe.
Question 2
There are legal obligations regarding the collection, storage, and use of personal information for research purposes. They are meant to protect the data which has been created by an individual as a sign of property owned (Vincent & Hart, 2011). One of the legal obligations for such purposes is the requirement that one cites the source of information used in research. In this case, there shall be the acknowledgement of the original author and owner of such information with the researcher admitting that the information Is not his or hers. In this way, the ownership of the data will remain with the original author while it is being used by the researcher for the purposes at hand. There shall be a maintained copyright policy which is the legal obligation in the long run, with the information remaining as the sole owner of the original author.
Additionally, there is the legal obligation of non-plagiarism of the pre-produced work belonging to the original author. In this regard, the researcher is required to use the information as references and not to transfer all of them as though he/she is the original producer. In most cases, the author is required to paraphrase the information as the research outcomes are being presented.
Also, the information regarding the privacy of an individual; provided for under the privacy act; should be used with the full consent of the owner as the law requires.
Privacy legislation only allows employers to collect data which is related to work and ensure that the employees are aware during collection and use and use legal methods. Employers must never share this information with third parties. To ensure the privacy of employee records, employers must enact strict database access and allow their employees to be able to access their information anytime they need correction and verification.
The type of information that an organization is prohibited from accessing includes the financial information of the employees, financial information of the employees’ families, and medical record. There is, however, an employer could request to access the medical records in order to help the employee meet the payment of hospital bills or undertake some programs which require prior knowledge.
Personal information can be used to meet the organizational goals and disclose information in reasonable and appropriate circumstances relating to work.
Question 3
There are things which can make the information collected through research to be unreliable.
One such instance is the use of incredible sources (Ilin, Strunitsyn, Fedorov, Nikulchev & Bubnov, 2016). In this case, the information presented in the research sourced from the places not entirely advisable to use can be misled, misinformed or the content distorted, making it unreliable.
Additionally, there is an element of the information collected being from the past times. In this case, there might have been changes such that the information is outdated, making them unreliable in the long run.
Further, there is an element of the information not being related to the topic being discussed. In this way, it might not touch on the essential topical subject matter at hand, hence not being reliable.
Besides, there is an element of the information not providing the sources which support the ideas being presented. In this way, the sources of such information will not be known, thus being unreliable.
Question 4
Qualitative data mainly consists of words, pictures, symbols, and observations. In this case, they are analysed differently. Qualitative data analysis refers to the procedures and processes used in the analysis of data while providing some levels of explanation, comprehension, and interpretation (Dubois & Prade, 2016). It occurs at the same time as the collection of data. Thus, the meaning and understanding develop slowly in a non-linear fashion as the data collection and project progress. The steps followed in the analysis of qualitative data are;
a). Being familiar with the data; there is a need to read and re-read the data while putting down impressions, looking for their meanings, and determining the pieces of data with value.
b). Focusing on the analysis; here, critical questions are identified and answered through analysis. It leads to a better understanding of the patterns, concepts, and behaviours within the data.
c). Categorization of data and creation of framework; it is referred to as data indexing. Codes are assigned to the identified pieces of data in the run to label them and make it easier to organize and finally retrieve them.
d). Identification of patterns and making of connections; It is guided by the identification of the themes and their relationships while attempting to find their explanations from the data.
e). Interpretation of the data and explanation of the findings; meaning is attached to the findings, hence leading to a good analysis of the qualitative data.
Question 5
Objective reasoning refers to reasoning according to a particular set of logical standards. It refers to the reasoning that is free from the influence of the personal characteristic, opinions of any subjects, or even the feelings. It also refers to the reasoning which is not conditioned by the subject that is stating it, and it expresses reality without being subjectively modified. It implies a balanced and impartial inquiry {Pal, Dillon & Yeung, (Eds.). (2012) in reasoning, one has to define what is relevant and of value which brings about the assigning of weight to various factors which are involved. In this case, the attributing of significance to multiple factors involved will then define more of the context which the following process of reasoning as well as its outcomes. An overemphasis will then be placed on some factors while others are left out, depending on the nature of the person doing the reasoning. The questions to ask when making objective reason are; what are the involved guiding factors? What is the expected result of the thinking?
There are ways in which organisations can skew information to meet their requirements. One of them is the use of data-driven decision making. In this way, the data can be biased leading to skewed results. Also, the people collecting the information can be biased hence collecting prejudiced data as a source of information customized to meet the requirements of the organisations in decision making.
Further, the data teams are in the know of different types of bias as well as their effects on the results of analytics and conclusions. The business leaders will be less likely to know the details of particular preferences, but they can have experienced the impact of some types of bias leading to the failure to meet the expected results, hence the skewed nature of organizational information.
Question 6
There are things to be done to make surveys and questionnaires more effective and efficient. They are as outlined subsequently (Lyberg, Biemer, Collins, De Leeuw, Dippo, Schwarz & Trewin, (Eds.). 2012);
Preliminary research should be done. It will enable the study’s research questionnaires to be as targeted as possible. To achieve such, the target population are asked about the topics and questions that they are most interested in. The questionnaires and survey shall then be prepared according to the customized preferences of the target population. They will be more willing to answer them hence efficiency is achieved in the long run.
Secondly, the questions are drafted. For the best results, no more than ten or five items are included in the surveys. It is because the resource people usually have short attention spans during which they are willing to answer the questions. Thus, giving them many items will make the completion rates drop.
Thirdly, an incentive should be offered for completing the questions. It will encourage the respondents to participate and answer the questions to the best of their abilities, thus making it a productive exercise.
Fourthly, the survey is set up. It is the program which will help in recording answers. The effective mechanisms for collecting the survey answers are set up.
Fifth, the survey is publicized to the readers. In this case, they will be made aware of what is to be done and they will get ready to answer the questions, hence ensuring the effectiveness of the surveys and the conducted questionnaires.
The 5 things that one should do for efficient and effective surveys or questionnaires are; using simple and direct language which avoids too much jargon as well as complex sentences. The individuals should consider scaling questions using more intervals for example asking questions that are scaled on strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. One should attempt at all costs to shun double-barred questions by asking one thing per question for example avoid confusing the participants but also, similar questions should be arranged in a sequence. The questions should be framed neutrally to give participants options so that they can answer the questions honestly without having to know the goal of the questionnaire. The answers that are provided in choices should expect all possibilities and thus there should be included an “others” and “specify” category.