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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - Coggle Diagram
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Assignment 1 complete within end of 16 march
Chapter 1
Research design
‘Research methods
can be and are associated
with different kinds of research design’.
Research Designs and Methods
Research Design
provides a framework for the
collection and analysis of data. Choice of research
design reflects decisions about priorities given to the
dimensions of the research process.
Research Method
is simply a procedure for
collecting data. Choice of research method reflects
decisions about the type of instruments or techniques
to be used.
Criteria in Social Research
Reliability –
– are measures consistent?
Replication/replicability –
– is study
repeatable?
Validity
are conclusions wellfounded?
Types of Validity
Measurement (or construct) validity – do
measures reflect concepts?
• Internal validity – are causal relations
between variables real?
1 more item...
• External validity – can results be
generalized beyond the research setting?
• Ecological validity – are findings applicable
to natural settings?
Research Questions
Research questions:
guide your literature search
• guide your decisions about the kind of research
design to employ
• guide your decisions about what data to collect and
from whom
• guide your analysis of your data
• guide your writing up of your data
• stop you from going off in unnecessary directions and
tangents
Sources of Research Questions
Personal interest/experience
• Theory
• The research literature
• Puzzles
• New developments in society
• Social problems
Steps in Selecting Research Questions
Select research area (e.g. TQM)
• Select aspect of research area (e.g. Impact of
TQM on work)
• Generate research questions
• Select research question
Constraints on Research Questions
We cannot answer all the research questions
that occur to us
· We therefore have to select from the possible
research questions that we arrive at
· We should be guided by the principle that the
research questions we choose should be related
to one another
Types of Research Design
Experimental
Cross-sectional
Longitudinal
Case study
Comparative
Experimental Design
Quantitative
Typical form:
Most researchers using
an experimental design
employ quantitative
comparisons between
experimental and
control groups with
regard to the dependent
variable.
Qualitative
No typical form:
The Hawthorne
experiments provide an
example of
experimental research
design that gradually
moved away from the
‘test room method’
towards the use of more
qualitative methods.