Research Methodology

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 Research Terminology
Research Terminology 

'research methodology'
    The study of research methods 

'research technique'
    A specific means, approach or tool-and-its-use, whereby data is
gathered and analysed, and inferences are drawn 

'research method'
    The manner in which a particular project is undertaken
    It comprises one or more research techniques

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 Fundamental Goals...

Of Science:
To Understand, To Predict, To Control

Of Scientists:
To communicate discoveries and findings to a
community of peers

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 Coming Up with Creative Thinking

Change your space

Brainstorm
Re-conceptualize the problem
Daydream
Set parameters
Consider the worst case scenario

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 Coming Up with Creative Thinking

Eliminate negativity
Keep your creativity sharp
Change up your routine
Study another industry
Learn new things.

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 Coming Up with Creative Thinking

Surround yourself with creative people.

Pay attention to other people’s ideas
Learn to listen
Remember, you will be presenting ideas that might
be outside of "normal."

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 Designing Research
Dimensions of Analysis

Research Purposes - theoretical or applied?

Research Problems - what questions are asked?
Research Settings - simulated or natural?
Research Investigators - background and training
Research Methods –
 Experimental, Ethnography, Case study, Survey

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 Quantitative and Qualitative
Quantitative research designs strive to identify and
isolate specific variables within the context (seeking
correlation, relationships) of the study.
Qualitative design focuses on a holistic view of what is
being studied (via documents, case histories,
observations and interviews).

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 Quantitative

and Qualitative
Quantitative
The accumulation of facts and causes of behavior
through careful isolation, measurement and evaluation of
variables.
Predictability and Control over time.
Qualitative
Concerned with the changing and dynamic nature of
reality.
Understanding a Point in time

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 Research Methodologies

Qualitative Quantitative
Deals with descriptions Deals with numbers
Data can be observed but Data which can be measured
not measured Length, height, area, volume,
Colors, textures, smells, weight, speed, time,
tastes, appearance, temperature, humidity, sound
beauty levels, cost, members, ages,
Qualitative  Quality etc.
Quantitative  Quantity

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 Example
Academics promoted the use of both quantitative
and qualitative measures to report on “quality”
QUANTITY OF:
 Journal publications, conference presentations, books and book
chapters, awards, grants, budget, and so on…
QUALITY OF:
 Reputation of publication, reputation of granting agency, quality
of conference, peer reviews of research programs,…
 Quality of institutions that hire graduate students
 Societal benefit of research

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 At the same time, quantitative data can be Discrete
(counted) or Continuous (measured). Data is
Discrete when it only takes certain values (e.g. whole
numbers), and data is Continuous when it takes any
value (e.g. within a range). Both qualitative and
quantitative data is also raw material, which means
that data needs some sort of processing and be put into
context to be useful or usable.

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 Discrete Data
 Discrete Data can only take certain values.
 Example: the number of students in a class (you can't have half a student).
 Example: the results of rolling 2 dice:
 can only have the values 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

Continuous Data
 Continuous Data can take any value (within a range)
 Examples:
 A person's height: could be any value (within the range of human heights),
not just certain fixed heights,
 Time in a race: you could even measure it to fractions of a second,
 A dog's weight,
 The length of a leaf,
 Lots more!

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 Research Questions
Qualitative
In qualitative study inquirers state research questions,
not objectives (i.e. specific goals for the research) or
hypotheses (i.e. predictions that involve variables and
statistical tests).
Example: How do students use program development
tools?

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 Evaluating Research

Validity
 A concern for most social scientists is the complex nature of the phenomena
under study: human behavior.
 Multiple perspectives are required in order to adequately reflect the richness
of these complexities.
Reliability
 Consistency, Replicability

Usefulness or Value of Investigation

 Contribution to knowledge
 Advance THEORY and PRACTICE in discipline

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 Validity and Reliability
Both Quantitative and Qualitative research designs
seek reliable and valid results. For example:
Quantitative Reliability: Data that are consistent or
stable as indicated by the researcher's ability to replicate
the findings.
Qualitative: Validity of findings are paramount so that
data are representative of a true and full picture of
constructs under investigation.

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 Data Collection
Quantitative
Emphasis on numerical data, measurable variables
Data is collected under controlled conditions in order to
rule out the possibility that variables other than the one
under study can account for the relationships identified
Qualitative
Emphasis on observation and interpretation.
Data are collected within the context of their natural
occurrence.

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 Range of Research Methods

Experimental design
Ethnography
Case study
Survey

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 Research Methods
Interviews
Focusgroups
Participant observation (field notes)
Video
Text and Image analysis (documents, media data)

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 Experimental Design
Hypothesis testing
Independent and Dependent Variables
 For example - Predictor: method of instruction, Resulting
differences: math performance
Sampling of Population
Experimental and Controlled Conditions
Random assignment

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 Experimental Research
The researcher does something to the subjects or
objects or research, and then attempts to determine
the effects of these actions
Reporting
Careful description of sampling procedure
Inferential statistics, effect size, and so on.

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 Ethnography
 Defined: a picture of the “way of life” of some identifiable
group of people
 Anthropology - “doing fieldwork”, “going native”
 Preoccupied with culture, and how people interact with
each other
 Qualitative Methodology - Both a research process and a
product
Outcome: an ethnographic account

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 Ethnographic Process

 One year or more in the field setting

long enough to see a full cycle of activity
For example, a full school year

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 Field Research Techniques
An Inquiry Process of multiple methods:
Participant observation
 privileged, active participant
 passive observer
Interviewing
 key informants, structured, unstructured
 groups, surveys and questionnaires
Making and using records
 historical documents, archives, written records

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 Case Study

Understanding the intricate complexity, idiosyncrasy

of one particular case
investigation of a “bounded system”
Some entity deemed worthy of close watch
 a single child, a single classroom, a single school, a single national
program…
Goals
Understand and report the uniqueness of individual cases
(both commonalities and differences)
Usually no attempt to represent case by single or multiple
“scores”

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 Case Study Methods
Similar to ethnographic field methods
ASKING - Interviews
 Gather narrative and testimony
WATCHING - Observations
SEARCHING - Written records and artifacts
Reporting
Develop a conceptual structure, look for patterns,
consistencies, repetitions, and manifestations pertinent to
your research question(s)

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 Validity and Reliability
There are many different stories to be told
Different researchers have different questions to answer,
different conceptualizations of the situation, and set
different boundaries for the case
Generalizability: What is true of one case is often
true about other cases
Consistencies can be found - predictability
How many cases are needed before patterns emerge? It
depends...

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 Survey Research Methods
Purpose and Goal
Describe specific characteristics of a large group of
persons, objects, or institutions
Understand present conditions, rather than the effects of
particular intervention (as in experimental research)
Sample of Population
Groups of interest are well defined and chosen using
well defined rules
Representativeness

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 Survey Methods
Mail
 postage and printing costs, participation rate

Telephone
 sampling, wage and time costs, participation rates

Face-to-Face
 wage and time costs, participation rates, like structured interview

Web-based
 anytime, anywhere, cost effective

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 Issues in Survey Construction
 Item (question) and scale construction
 Pilot Testing and revision
 Sampling procedures
 Analysis and reporting of results
 Generalizability
Drawing conclusions about the conditions, attitudes,
opinions, or status of a population of persons, objects,
institutions, or other entities.

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 Data Analysis
Organize and prepare the data for analysis
Read all data, get a sense of the whole
Begin detailed analysis with coding process
Generate a description of the setting/people as well
as categories or themes for analysis
Represent themes (writing, visual, etc.)
Interpret and make meaning out of data
iterative, non-linear process

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 Inventory of Questions
Inventory means a list compiled for some formal
purpose

Questions inventory:
made up for keeping records of questions in your
research proposal

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 Brain Storming (Creative Thinking)

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