THE UNIT OF ANALYSIS IN-FIELD RESEARCH - ISSUES AND APPROACHES TO DESIGN AND DATA-ANALYSIS

This paper addresses the appropriate unit of analysis in field researc h. We first discuss the issues related to this topic: (a) unit of meas urement versus unit of analysis, (b) treatments and random assignment, (c) independence of observations, (d) moderating and control variable s, and (e) correlational versus experimental research. We then present a model for determining the correct unit of analysis. In many instanc es, researchers should use class means or subgroup means, and this has implications for research design. In the third section, we discuss th e related issues of (a) the burden of proof, (b) asking the right ques tions and getting the right answers, and (c) completing statistical an alyses, How data are analyzed can affect the results, and researchers should consider these issues when planning their research.