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Unit of Analysis

The document discusses different types of units of analysis that can be used in research including individuals, organizations, and groups. Individual analysis looks at each person separately. Organizational analysis examines organizations as a whole unit. Group analysis considers groups collectively rather than individuals within the group.

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Devyang Bothra
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50 views3 pages

Unit of Analysis

The document discusses different types of units of analysis that can be used in research including individuals, organizations, and groups. Individual analysis looks at each person separately. Organizational analysis examines organizations as a whole unit. Group analysis considers groups collectively rather than individuals within the group.

Uploaded by

Devyang Bothra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4.1.

INT RO DUC TIO N


At' the time of~e signi ng a resea rch project, we have to consider
the unit of obse rvati on or the unit of analysis. _The unit of analy sis
is the major factor whic h is being analys~d in the study of a project.
It is that parti cular source from which the requi red infor matio n
or data is collected. In fact, it is the· entit y which the resea rcher
· inten ds to be com pete nt enou gh to expl ain at the ~nd of his
research work, prob ably what he· considers to be the main focus of
bis study. The resea rche r must specify, in the prob lem state ment
itself, the indiv idua ls from whom the resea rch infor mati on/d
ata has to be colle cted and on whom _the resea rch resu lts are
· · applicable. It is know ~ as the ·' unit of analysis' and not some thing else
like, the unit of samp ling because of the fact that it is the ~nalysis .
:the resea rcher s do· in their study which deter mine s the · choice of
u·nit unde r study .
.-

4.2 TYPES OF UNI TS


The Unit s of Anal ysis on the basis of facto rs can be bifur cated
into the followjng categ ories :
(a) Indiv idual s
(b) Orga nisat ions
• I (c) Groups
42
• -I Individual d for collection of
Wh is con~acte h "Individual
.· en an individual person . : ·sknown as t ~
. inforrnation/d t . . earchproJect, 1t1 . d' 'd11al views of each
U . a amany1es h the 1n 1v1
ntt of Analysis. "Under this approac the respondents are
and every person gathered/observe d from · - "pose of fulfill'ing t h e
ta~ulated, conside~ed and analysed for t~e_P~:ng of the study. "For
obJectives of the study and placed in_ the Fi~ dents/children in two

class~ooms 011 achievement test scores, the um .


ts
example, if one researcher is comparing the s. 1 the individual child
t· ,
b . • d . cons1dera ion. ·
ecause the SC0J.".e (or ea.ch cliild 1s un er

4.2.2 Organizations .
t 1·al unit of analysis
The Organizations are .a nother poten h .. CY bout. Th
that social scientists might wish to say som~t in., ~l ~
organizations include entities like corporations, co eges an
universities, and different clubs. At the organization level,~ ~tutly of
students' el~ctronic gadget addictions ~ight ask, "H~w _do i~ffere~t
colleges address the problem of electronic gadge~ a~d~ction · In this
case, .o ur inter.est lies not in the experience of 1nd1v1dual students
but instead in the campus-to-campus differences in confronting
gadget addictions. A research,er, ·Gonductjng a study of this type,
might examine schools' written policie.s and Pl:"Ocedures, so his unit
of observation would be documents ..Ho,vever, because he ultimately
wishes to describe differences across campuses, the college ,vould be ·
· ··rus unit .o fanalysis. This is known as Organisational Unit of.Ar1alysis.
I

4.2.3 -G roups
Another common unit of analysis in sociological inquiry or
research studies is groups. The groups vary in size, and almost
n·o group is too small or too large to be of interest to sociologists/
researchers. Families, friendship groups, and street gangs make up
some of the more common micro level groups, examined by sociologists.
Employees in an organization, professionals in a particular domain
(e.g., chefs, lawyers, doctors, engineers, sociologists) and members
of clubs, e.g., Girl Scouts, Rotary, Red Hat Society etc. are all groups
Unit of i-\11alysis I 35

t.}lat sociolo_g ists ~i.g bt st_udy. Finally, at the 1nacro level, sociologists
sometimes .exami11e citi?ieiis o{ieq.,tire r1~j_o1}s .or.residents of different
co11.tiiielilts o;r other ftegiol}s for t.h.e ir study.
Viid.~i." "GJ..o~ps Uniit~f ~lfsis" the views of ,g r.o:u ps as ·a whole
are.t.a,.·gete<t i~ J~ld ~nsiclere<i ;a;s·t0~e i1nit. Many grotips .~ rle contacted
and, t~u· wtiews ~ {Qiie e;a€1ht €att· ievery gr.o:up a.r.e ,~.o ~sidered i1l the
,-~ae~r1c b p1·0,ee,ss. TiQ.iis t~ k~own -a s G;ro~tp Unit of An.alys~s. ·For
te:x:a,nple~ if,u1 the ab ov,e men.tiiolie.d sit-litQ.¥, io ne is \c omp.ai;il1g the
1

. -tw.o ,c lass_e.s .o f·st:tiden.ts ~Ji.the basis ,o f classr.Gom iClliJnatte., the itlnit of


ap.alysis will be the g1.~_o up. 4s the .~.eoire ,o f the climate of the classroom
as a whole is ~ader .c onsider.~ tion ~nd not the score ~o feach i11di:vidual
student, this will he treated .q1.s '·'Gr.oup Study." Ther.e ,G.a n be diffe1~ent
units of a.nalrs.e s 111 the sam..e research pit~oj.ect. If the i~esearcher
deci~l.es to basfe .~ n.analysis on the st~1dent's sc.o res, the individual is
the unit. But, in .c ~se h.e .de\cide.s to .c.o mpare the average ·classroom
performance, the unit of Gln.alys~s ·w ill he the grot1p.

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