How can you generalize findings to a population

Unlike generalizability, transferability does not involve broad claims, but invites readers of research to make connections between elements of a study and their own experience. For instance, teachers at the high school level might selectively apply to their own classrooms results from a study demonstrating that heuristic writing exercises help students at the college level.

Generalizability and transferability are important elements of any research methodology, but they are not mutually exclusive: generalizability, to varying degrees, rests on the transferability of research findings. It is important for researchers to understand the implications of these twin aspects of research before designing a study. Researchers who intend to make a generalizable claim must carefully examine the variables involved in the study.

Among these are the sample of the population used and the mechanisms behind formulating a causal model. Furthermore, if researchers desire to make the results of their study transferable to another context, they must keep a detailed account of the environment surrounding their research, and include a rich description of that environment in their final report. Armed with the knowledge that the sample population was large and varied, as well as with detailed information about the study itself, readers of research can more confidently generalize and transfer the findings to other situations.

My Page. Writing Center. Home Writing Guides Generalizability and Transferability. The choice of which approach to use may reflect the interests of those conducting or benefitting from the research and the purposes for which the findings will be applied. Decisions about which kind of research method to use may also be based on the researcher's own experience and preference, the population being researched, the proposed audience for findings, time, money, and other resources available Hathaway, Some researchers believe that qualitative and quantitative methodologies cannot be combined because the assumptions underlying each tradition are so vastly different.

Other researchers think they can be used in combination only by alternating between methods: qualitative research is appropriate to answer certain kinds of questions in certain conditions and quantitative is right for others. And some researchers think that both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used simultaneously to answer a research question.

To a certain extent, researchers on all sides of the debate are correct: each approach has its drawbacks. Quantitative research often "forces" responses or people into categories that might not "fit" in order to make meaning. Qualitative research, on the other hand, sometimes focuses too closely on individual results and fails to make connections to larger situations or possible causes of the results.

Rather than discounting either approach for its drawbacks, though, researchers should find the most effective ways to incorporate elements of both to ensure that their studies are as accurate and thorough as possible. It is important for researchers to realize that qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in conjunction with each other. In a study of computer-assisted writing classrooms, Snyder employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study was constructed according to guidelines for quantitative studies: the computer classroom was the "treatment" group and the traditional pen and paper classroom was the "control" group.

Both classes contained subjects with the same characteristics from the population sampled. Both classes followed the same lesson plan and were taught by the same teacher in the same semester. The only variable used was the computers. Although Snyder set this study up as an "experiment," she used many qualitative approaches to supplement her findings.

She observed both classrooms on a regular basis as a participant-observer and conducted several interviews with the teacher both during and after the semester. However, there were several problems in using this approach: the strict adherence to the same syllabus and lesson plans for both classes and the restricted access of the control group to the computers may have put some students at a disadvantage.

Snyder also notes that in retrospect she should have used case studies of the students to further develop her findings. Although her study had certain flaws, Snyder insists that researchers can simultaneously employ qualitative and quantitative methods if studies are planned carefully and carried out conscientiously. Babbie, Earl R. The practice of social research. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc.

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Interpreting qualitative data: A methodological inquiry. Norris, Stephen P. The generalizability of critical thinking: multiple perspectives on an education ideal. New York: Teachers College Press. A set of essays from a variety of disciplines presenting different perspectives on the topic of the generalizability of critical thinking. In its simplest form, generalizability can be described as making predictions based on past observations.

In other words, if something has often happened in the past, it will likely occur in the future. In studies, once researchers have collected enough data to support a hypothesis, they can develop a premise to predict the outcome in similar circumstances with a certain degree of accuracy.

Generalizing to a population. Sometimes when scientists talk about generalizability, they are applying results from a study sample to the larger population from which the sample was selected.

Therefore they must ensure that the survey respondents include relevant groups from the larger population in the correct proportions. Examples of relevant groups could be based on race, gender or age group. Generalizing to a theory. More broadly, the concept of generalizability deals with moving from observations to scientific theories or hypotheses.

This type of generalization amounts to taking time- and place-specific observations to create a universal hypothesis or theory. For instance, in the s and s, British researchers Richard Doll and Bradford Hill found that out of lung cancer patients in London hospitals were smokers. This led to many more research studies, with increasing sample sizes, with differing groups of people, with differing amounts of smoking and so on.