The document outlines a proposed quantitative research study that will investigate the impact of disclosure of private information by private and governmental agencies on threats to individual privacy rights. The study will seek to answer three research questions through surveys and experiments/quasi-experiments. Statistical analyses like correlations, regressions, t-tests, and ANOVAs will be used to analyze the data and determine relationships between disclosure of information and privacy threat levels. It is hoped the study will provide empirical evidence to inform policies around protecting individual privacy rights in the context of increasing information sharing.

1. Week 8: Quantitative Research Design
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Instructions
For this assignment, you will build on your assignment last
week to further explore how you might examine your research
problem using a quantitative methodology. Respond to the
following questions:
· Please restate the research problem, purpose, and research
questions you developed previously and incorporate any faculty
feedback as appropriate. This week, be sure to also include
hypotheses for each of your research questions.
· How might surveys be used to answer your research questions?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using surveys to
collect data?
· How might you use an experiment or quasi-experiment to
answer your research questions? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of using (quasi)experiments to collect your data?
· It is also important to consider how you might analyze the
potential data you collect and factors that could affect those
analyses. Specifically, what are Type I and Type II errors? How
might these impact your study? What is statistical power? How
might this impact your study? What steps can you take ahead of
time to help avoid issues related to Type I & II errors as well as
power?
Be sure to use scholarly sources to support all assertions and
research decisions.
Length: 5 to 7 pages, not including title and reference pages
Grading Rubric
Criteria
Content (4 points)
Points

2. 1
State research problem, purpose, research questions and
hypotheses
2
2
Discussed in detail the advantages and disadvantages of using
surveys to collect data
1
3
Explained how you could use experiments or quasi-experiments
to collect data for your study and the advantages and
disadvantages of these designs
1
Organization (1 point)
4
Organized and presented in a clear manner. Included a minimum
of five scholarly references, with appropriate APA formatting
applied to citations and paraphrasing.
1
Total
5
Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the
ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new
thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your
response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA

3. standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University’s
Academic Integrity Policy.
Upload your document and click the Submit to Dropbox button.
Running head: Numerical Data
Numerical Data
2
Assignment: Numerical Data
Shameka Jester
February 18, 2018
Northcentral University
Violations of individual rights have been a major issue in
today’s society. Numerous stakeholders are fighting for social
justice of persons, as well as protection of their individual
rights. A key and fundamental right that has increasingly been
violated is right to privacy, especially in the wake of the rapid
advancement in technology (Grumbling, 2016). Although

4. legislation has been established to address the issue, numerous
individuals continue to be victimized by violations of their
privacy rights, through disclosure of private information to
private companies and governmental agencies, including law
enforcement and medical practitioners (Sullivan, 2014). This
documentation provides details on a study that investigates the
impact of disclosure of private information to private companies
and governmental agencies as it relates to privacy threat.
Comment by Melody Rawlings: For APA formatting, fully
justified margins should not be used, but rather left
justification.
Research Problem
There is a rapidly increasing rate of violation of individual
privacy rights as a result of disclosure of personal information
to private and governmental agencies, especially in the wake of
the advancement in telecommunication technologies. This e
study aims to answer the question regarding the impact of
disclosure of private information to private and governmental
agencies on the privacy rights violation threats (Eisenhauer,
2015). The increased technological advancements and
integration of the society has led to increased information
sharing, which further worsens the situation. Information that
leaks to media platforms including news stations as well as
social media platforms, may spread dramatically. This in return
may lead to an increased threat of the violation of privacy.
Comment by Melody Rawlings: This needs a supporting
source.
The agencies and companies that access private
information about individuals may disclose to third parties,
including media, friends, and relatives, which increases threats
to violation of individual rights to privacy (Walker, 2016).
Individuals may be compelled to disclose private information
regarding their health status, lifestyles, and mental abilities,
among others, to such parties as employers, law enforcement
agencies, researchers, and medical practitioners. Such
information should be held in confidentiality in order to avoid

5. violation of privacy rights (Bernal 2015). Disclosure of this
information to third parties amounts to a considerable violation
of privacy rights of the individuals.
As noted in my feedback last week, you will need to write a
sentence or two for each study that:
i. briefly discusses the author(s)’ work, what they studied, and
ii. state their recommendation for further research about the
problem
Also, briefly tell what will happen if the problem is not
addressed.
Review the Problem Statement Template (required in the
dissertation phase) and Help With the Problem Statement
attached with the Welcome Letter in NCUOne.
Quantitative Methodology
The quantitative research methodology will enable the
researcher to collect quantitative data, whose analysis will
establish objective evidence to support the research findings.
The methodology provides for application of structured data
collection tools and instruments, which minimizes personal
biases of the researcher in data collection. The minimum
researcher biases in data collection, analysis, and interpretation
enhances objectivity, which in turn improves credibility,
reliability, and validity of the research results. The research
method will enhance the objectivity of research findings, which
will enable the researcher to advance the existing knowledge on
the research topic. Comment by Melody Rawlings: Avoid
anthropomorphisms. Anthropomorphism is defined as giving
human characteristics to inanimate objects. Incorrect: The
research study investigated: note studies should not have human
qualities Correct: The researchers investigated xxxx. Please
review the entire document for issues of anthropomorphism. See
APA p. 69. See APA page 69, section 3.09 to learn more.
Comment by Melody Rawlings: Minimizing researcher bias
is not the only step needed to increase reliability and validity.
What other steps can you take?

6. Triangulation of the data is one way to increase reliability and
validity. Other ways include randomly selecting participants,
ensuring the results are transferrable, and having another
qualified coder analyze the data. Also, having a large sample
size.
Purpose
The purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate the
impact of information sharing and disclosure activities by
private and governmental agencies on the violation of privacy
rights of individuals. Private companies and governmental
agencies access private information about individuals, which
may lead to threats on violation of privacy rights if not managed
effectively (Koltay, 2015). Although the issues has been
addressed through legislation including Civil Rights Act,
numerous individuals continue to face increased threats for
violation of privacy rights, as a result of the information that
private organizations and governmental agencies access and
share with third parties (Downes, 2014). A key instance
involves information that individuals disclose to law
enforcement agencies, including police officers, some of which
may be disclosed to media platforms and other parties.
The study will establish advanced knowledge on the relationship
between disclosure of private information by third parties and
the level of threat to violation of privacy rights of individuals.
The information will facilitate establishment of effective
policies and strategies to protect the privacy rights of
individuals. It will inform policy makers, law enforcement
agencies, and individuals on how to better improve their
privacy, especially in the wake of the advanced technological
advancements (Grant, 2017). Consequently, the study is crucial
in establishing the relationship between disclosure of
information by private and governmental agencies and threats
on violation of individual privacy rights, which will enforce
decisions on improvement of strategies to enhance protection of
privacy rights. As noted in my feedback last week, all of the

7. required components in the purpose statement are not here. The
Purpose Statement section should include a brief discussion of
the following: method of Study, variables, specific Population,
and setting .
Research Questions
The study will seek to answer three 3 questions, which will
enable the researcher to address the research problem. The
following research questions will be addressed in the study:
Comment by Melody Rawlings: Spell numbers less than
ten.
1. How does disclosure of private information to private and
governmental agencies affect the level of threat to violation of
individual privacy rights?
2. What is the relationship between leakages of private
information to media platforms and the level of threat to
violation of individual privacy rights?
3. What is the degree of disclosure of private information to
third parties by private companies and governmental agencies?
Research Design
The research study will apply a quantitative data, which will be
analyzed to answer the research questions. Quantitative research
will enable the researcher to establish objective evidence to
support the results of the study, which will in turn enhance
objectivity, reliability, generalizability, and validity of the
research results. The study will adopt a quantitative descriptive
research design, which will provide an opportunity to establish
empirical evidence on the relevance of disclosure of private
information by private companies and governmental agencies on
the level of privacy threat. The quantitative data that will be
collected will be guided by the research questions (Boräng,
2014). Data collection will involve structured interviews and
structured questionnaires. Comment by Melody Rawlings:
You cannot apply a quantitative data. You can utilize a
quantitative methodology to obtain data. Comment by Melody
Rawlings: Again, quantitative data only is not what increases
reliability, generalizability, and validity. Comment by Melody

8. Rawlings: This is redundant; it has already been stated in the
sentences above. Comment by Melody Rawlings: There is
another author listed for this source on the references page.
Both authors should have been listed in your in-text citation.
The data collection techniques and tools will enable the
researcher to collect relevant data, which will answer the
research questions. Structured interviews and structured
questionnaires enable a researcher to reduce personal biases in
the collection of data, which in turn enhances objectivity of
research results. A quantitative approach research enables thea
researcher to establish empirical evidence to support the
research results, which in turn enhances credibility, reliability,
and validity of research results. The study will apply strategic
random sampling, in order to ensure perfect representation of
the overall population. Comment by Melody Rawlings: This
is also redundant – it has already been stated. Comment by
Melody Rawlings: You need a supporting source to support your
reasoning.
The analysis of the data collected will aim at answering the
research questions. It will apply a spectrum of statistics,
including measures of descriptive and inferential statistics.
Descriptive statistics will include measures of central tendency
and measures of variance. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and
regression analysis will be used to determine correlation
between the predictor and dependent variables, including threat
level and disclosure of private information. Additionally, t test
will be used to determine the variance between the results
between varying groups, in order to determine their relevance
(Mrzel, 2017). ANOVA will also be used to determine the
significance of the variance between the groups, in order to
answer the study questions. Comment by Melody Rawlings:
This is redundant and a forgone conclusion. Comment by
Melody Rawlings: What are your variables? The dependent and
independent variables should have been stated in the purpose
section as well as here. Without knowing the variables, how can
you know what statistical tests to run?

9. Conclusion
The study will be crucial in explaining the impact of disclosure
of private information on the level of threat on violation of
privacy rights of individuals. The rapid advancements in
telecommunication technologies have led to a rise in violation
of privacy rights of individuals, owing to disclosure of personal
information by private companies and governmental
organizations. The study establishes empirical evidence on the
relationship between the level of privacy threat and disclosure
of private information to governmental agencies and private
information. The advancements of technologies in
communication have led to rapid integration of the society,
which has in turn led to a rise in privacy threat (Melanson,
2015). The society should wake up to the potential threat to
violation of one of the fundamental human rights, in order to
protect the rule of law.
References
Top of Form Comment by Melody Rawlings: I could not
locate an in-text citation for this source.
Bottom of Form
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Bernal, P. (2015). Internet Privacy Rights: Rights to Protect
Autonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boräng, F., & Rozbicka, P. (January 01, 2014). Identifying
frames: A comparison of research methods. Interest Groups &
Advocacy, 3, 2, 188-201.
Grant, L. E., & University of California, Santa Barbara.
(2017). Three essays on information and the private provision
of public goods. Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California,
Santa Barbara.

10. Grumbling, E., National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine (U.S.)., & United States. (2016). Privacy research
and best practices: Summary of a workshop for the intelligence
community. Full source information is missing.
Hlebec, V., & Mrzel, M. (January 01, 2017). Explanatory mixed
methods research design and secondary quantitative data:
Methodological problems and solutions in participant selection
model. Slovenija V Času Negotovosti. Comment by Melody
Rawlings: I could not locate an in-text citation for this source.
Bottom of Form Comment by Melody Rawlings: This is not
in APA format. Follow APA section 6.17, p. 178 and use
secondary sources sparingly and only when out of print and
unavailable. In most cases, you should read the original source
and avoid secondary sources.
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In Koltay, A. (2015). Comparative perspectives on the
fundamental freedom of expression.
Institute on Privacy Law, Eisenhauer, M. P., & Practising Law
Institute. (2015). 6th annual institute on privacy law: Data
protection - the convergence of privacy & security. New York,
NY: Practising Law Institute.
Bottom of Form Comment by Melody Rawlings: I could not
locate an in-text citation for this source.
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Sherrin, C., & Downes, P. (2014). The criminal lawyers' guide
to disclosure and production. Aurora, Ont: Canada Law Book.
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Melanson, P. H. (2015). Secrecy wars: National security,
privacy, and the public's right to know. Washington, D.C:
Brassey's.
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11. Top of Form
Walker, D. M., United States., & United States. (2016). Privacy:
Preventing and responding to improper disclosures of personal
information : testimony Committee on Government Reform,
House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Accountability Office.
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Sullivan, J. M., & American Bar Association. (2014). HIPAA: A
practical guide to the privacy and security of health data.
Chicago, Ill: American Bar Association, Health Law Section.
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