Taylor Shargay

GEN 2240: Intro to Research

Methods/Methodology

For my study, I had only a few, but very important, requirements for those who I
wanted to target. For my surveys, I wanted to target people who have a drivers license,
and who are familiar with PBA cards and how they work. It was important to only study
people who came into contact with, or had the ability to possess PBA cards. Someone who
does not drive has no knowledge of, need for, or interest in the topic. Furthermore, I did not
specify for age, race or gender, as I wanted a broad variety of responses. I did not have any
need to collect those demographics from respondents though, as they did not contribute to
the study. The ideal respondent was one possessing a drivers license, with a decent
familiarity with PBA cards and the way they are used. For my interview, I wanted to target
a Law Enforcement Officer to get a one-on-one detailed description of the way they handle
the subject of PBA cards. I targeted my uncle, as he is a Sergeant with 25 years experience.
For this study, I wrote up my surveys and interview questions in advance and
submitted them to receive IRB approval. Once approval for my questions was received, I
also completed 15 training modules in the ethics of conducting research. For my topic of
study there wasnt a significant chance of facing any ethical challenges. My topic is not a
sensitive one; therefore the risk for harm or discomfort was slim to none. I did however
expect to encounter some cop-hating respondents who would become heated and offended
at the mention of the topic. Otherwise, the ethical concerns were almost nonexistent.
As for the creation of my survey questions, I started with the main idea of: Public
Opinions on PBA Cards, and branched off into smaller ideas I wanted to inquire about. I
first wanted to know if any respondents possessed one, as well as if theyve ever used and
then benefitted or not from it. After finding this out, I went into the general questions that
even people who dont possess one could respond to. I wanted to get a general consensus
on the fairness of the cards, as well as if they found PBA cards to be a positive thing or
not. There is a difference between if you approve and if you find it fair and I wanted to
explore that. I followed up this questions with a Why? inquiry to find out specifically each
persons reasoning. From there I asked questions about the ethics of purchasing cards

illegally. I also asked if peoples opinions on the cards are affected by their possession, or
lack thereof, of one. I also wanted to hear any other interesting comments respondents
would have so I asked them to leave open feedback at the end. After designing the survey I
had to implement it, here is how that was carried out.
First, I compiled my survey questions and input them into Google Forms as a
complete survey. Then, I shared the link for the survey via Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, and
word-of-mouth distribution. By doing this I received 119 responses to the survey. On top of
the survey, I created my interview questions for Sgt. Natoli. I asked questions regarding
what PBA cards are and how they work. I inquired how officers distribute PBA cards, when
they decide to give them to friends and family, and how and when they decide to accept
them as compensation for a lesser consequence. I wanted to know police officers typical
responses to how the cards are handled and used. I also asked if the officer considers them
fair, and how he would feel if he was not an officer. I also asked for Sgt. Natoli to write
down his response to those who find PBA cards unfair or even illegal as some people
believe. After this design I implemented it by first emailing Sgt. Natoli an invitation to
participate in my interview. Once he accepted, I then emailed him my interview questions
and he emailed me full and detailed responses. I conducted the interview via E-mail rather
than face-to-face because it is easier to quote him when I have his word-for-word written
responses.
Analyzing my data will occur in multiple different ways. I will want to make charts
mapping out the percentages of peoples responses. I will not be calculating mean, median,
or mode to analyze my data because none of it is quantitative. As for the qualitative data, as
stated before I will make charts, and I will determine which responses were given most or
least often. I will determine this for the questions with provided responses, such as Yes or
No questions, or questions using scales. These scales were used to determine an interval of
positive to negative feelings. For the questions that are open ended, I will use specific
opinions to represent opposing point-of-views, as well as come to a general consensus
about peoples reasoning behind their responses. For the questions that have these preset
responses, I will be able to draw percentages and most/least common responses from
them, which makes these descriptive statistics. As for the open-ended responses, and the

conclusions I draw from them, these are inferential statistics. I will have interpretations
under both these types of classifications.