So far we have focused on only one aspect of a study, the research problem. But every study in social sciences has a second aspect, the study population, from whom the required information to find answers to your research questions is obtained. As you narrow the research problem, similarly you need to decide very specifically and clearly who constitutes your study population, in order to select the appropriate respondents.
Suppose you have designed a study to ascertain the needs of young people living in a community. In terms of the study population, one of the first questions you need to answer is: ‘Who do I consider to be a young person?’ You need to decide, in measurable terms, which age group your respondents should come from. Is it those between 15 and 18, 15 and 20 or 15 and 25 years of age? Or you may be interested in some other age group. You need to decide this before undertaking your research journey. Having decided the age group that constitutes your ‘young person’, the next question you need to consider is whether you want to select young people of either gender or confine the study to one only. In addition, there is another dimension to consider: that is, what constitutes the community? Which geographical area(s) or ethnic background should I select my respondents from?
Let us take another example. Suppose you want to find out the settlement process of immigrants. As a part of identifying your study population, you need to decide who would you consider an immigrant. Is it a person who immigrated 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago? You also need to consider the countries from where the immigrants come. Will you select your respondents irrespective of the country of origin or select only those who have come from a specific country(ies)? In a way you need to narrow your definition of the study population as you have done with your research problem. These issues are discussed in greater depth under ‘Establishing operational definitions’ following this section.
In quantitative research, you need to narrow both the research problem and the study population and make them as specific as possible so that you and your readers are clear about them. In qualitative research, reflecting the ‘exploratory’ philosophical base of the approach, both the study population and the research problem should remain loose and flexible to ensure the freedom necessary to obtain varied and rich data if a situation emerges.
Source: Kumar Ranjit (2012), Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, SAGE Publications Ltd; Third edition.
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