There are several avenues of research available to students in a Capstone. These include government documents, books, scholarly articles, primary sources, and survey research. Survey research also known as descriptive survey or normative survey is a research process that entails the learning of a large population through the study of a carefully selected cross sectional sample. It is akin to the throwing of a virtual quadrant into a population then seeking to learn the whole population through the sample so picked. This research paper adopts the view that survey research is impractical for the Capstones and seeks to substantiate it.
The Biology and Life Sciences Perspective
Among the basic contentions behind the impracticability of survey research in the Capstones lies in the nature of research relating to the subject of biology and life sciences. This entails research about public health, which falls under the ambit of Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB gives precise rules and regulations relating to any and all research that involves human health issues with no wide laying exceptions. These rules and regulations are so stringent that even the well-established with vast resources will struggle when it comes to achieving their minimum requirements. A student who endeavors to undertake a survey research in a human health issues will have the option of either absolutely adhering to these rules of having to break them. The former is almost unattainable for the average student while the latter is criminal in nature. This supports the notions of the unsuitability of survey research for the Capstones.
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The Complexity of the Process
There are two major complexities relating to conducting of a survey research towards the accuracy of the research itself. The first is the selection of the right sample within the populace being researched on while the second entails the capacity and ability to select and frame the right questions so as to be understood in the right way and elicit the right answers. The two processes correlate as the nature, form, and format of the questions will be determined by the sample picked. Further, the framing of the questions may vary within the same sample due to demographical differences, age, and cultural differences. A nutritional question in a culturally mixed population for example, can be a major challenge as some popular foods in some American cultures are taboo to other cultures that are also American. The capacity to undertake all these processes is clearly impractical for the ordinary college student.
The Magnitude of the Process
There are two major ways of carrying out a survey research. These are the interview and the use of questionnaires. The questionnaire process is infinitely easier than the interview process but extremely unreliable. Indeed, it is possible for the average student to circulate thousands of questionnaires online and not get even a singular response. This becomes more complicated since survey process is about a carefully selected sample. These challenges make interview the only reliable process available for a student. The interview process in any form comes with a high magnitude of work to be undertaken accurately. Even if a student is to be accurate in picking a sample and reduce it to 100 people, reaching them, even on phone is a daunting task.
Rigidity of the Process
Among the few disadvantages of survey research is its rigidity. There are a lot of variables available to the student at the onset of the process. However, once the practical aspects of the research begin, it is impossible for the student to make alterations of the dimensions that the research has taken. Being inexperienced in research, it is common for a student to realize that the research hypothesis was all wrong well into the research itself. It would, therefore, be impractical for the student to result to a research model that is rigid in nature.
Conclusion
Many of the research processes available to Capstone students lack the challenges and complexities outlined herein as relates with survey research. Further, at the Capstone level, a student is not only learning, but also getting a glimpse of the real world that the student is just about to endeavor into. It is, therefore, important for the student to select a procedure that is capable of being handled practically. From the foregoing, survey research, a field that falls under IRB rules is nearly impracticable, yet there are other options available for the student.
