Introduction to Research Method

8/3/2019 Introduction to Research Method

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Introduction to Research Methodology

By

Adeel Raja



What is Research?

The word research derives from the French recherche.

Its literal meaning is:

To systematic process of collecting and analyzing information (data) in order to discover of new knowledge

or expand and verify of the existing one (e.g. theory - law)

To do so, it is required a ..

Scientific Method



What is research?

We ask questions all the time

Research is a formal way of going aboutasking questions

Uses methodologies

Many different kinds (e.g. market research,media research and social research)

Basic research methods can be learnedeasily



There are many different kinds of research. For example:

Market research is learning about business markets so thatinvestment or business decisions can be made. The kinds of questions that get asked here include: Who are the potentialcustomers? What do the customers need? Who are the

competitors? And what is the market environment? Economic research has its own way of going about things. For

instance, it may involve specially constructed formulas andequations that facilitate an understanding of the economicenvironment. It may ask questions such as: Are the economicfundamentals in place? What are the economic trends in themanufacturing or mining sectors? Of course, some of the questions

economic research asks may be similar to those market researchasks.



S cientific research may involve a whole range

of sophisticated and specialist research

instruments, such as mathematical or chemical

formulas and very specialized methodologies.

Media research will involve looking at issues

such as media content and audience. Its own

kind of specific instruments ± such as ways of

measuring audience preferences and its

spending power [2] ± have been developed for

this.



S ocial research is quite a broad term and mayinvolve different kinds of research: fromgathering information on the population(d emographics) to the attitudes and behavioursof people in a community or country.

In fact, many of these different kinds of researchmay cross over disciplines. For example, mediaresearch may be conducted as part of social

research or vice versa; social research might beconducted as part of scientific research, and soon.



Scientific Method

Scientific method is the method involves the concepts of :

Ob jectivity - Accepta bility - Inductive Reasoning - Deductive Reasoning

objectivity inductive reasoning

Indicates the

attempt to o bserve

things as they are,

without falsifyingo bservations to

accord with some

preconceived world

view.

Accepta bility is

judged in terms of

the degree to

which o bservations and

experimentations

can be

reproduced.

acceptability deductive reasoning

Reasoning from

specific

o bservations

andexperiments to

more general

hypotheses and

theories

Reasoning

from theories

to account for

specificexperimental

results



Common Research Process

(Chapter wise)

DESIGN AND EXCUTING PHASE

ANALYTICAL PHASE

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Literature review

Chapter 3 ± Methodology

Chapter 4 - Data analysis

Chapter 5- Discussion

Chapter 6- Conclusion

References

FORMULATION PHASE

Appendix

C y c l i c a n d d y n a m i c i t

e r a t i o n



Formulation Phase

Confirm need ± Review literature - Define the problem ± Develop questionsand objectives ± specify hypotheses ± Develop theoretical model

Chapter 1 introduction

1.1 Introduction1.2 Problem background

1.3 Problem statement

1.4 Research questions

1.5 Objective

1.6 Scope

1.7 Significant of the study

Chapter 2 literature review

1.1 introduction

1.2 Definition of the terms (concepts)

1.3 Logical flow of ideas

1.4 Unbiased and comprehensive view of the

previous research on the topic.

1.5 Identify areas of controversy in the

literature

1.6 Identify gaps in the literature

1.7 Development of the theoretical framework

To guiding



The Relationship between Problem statement Research Question, and Hypotheses

A Problem Statement is: a clear concise

description of the issues that need to be

created addressed and presented by

the researcher.

A Research Question is: a statement that

identifies the phenomenon to be

studied. It must define the domain , the

variables, and its relationship

A hypotheses is: a specific statement of

prediction. It describes in concrete (rather

than theoretical) terms what you expect will

happen in your study.

lead to formulate

research question/s

lead To formulateHypotheses



Analytical Phase

Data analysis is the processing of interpretation findings that looking atsummarizing data with the intent to extract useful information and develop

conclusions

Qualitative data analysis

(Interpretation of words and text)

Qualitative data analysis descri bes andsummarizes the mass of words generated by interviews or o bservational data. Itallows researchers to seek relationships between various themes that have been

identified

Qualitative data analysis often contain

content analysis that leads to emerge of

themes and patterns.

Quantitative Data analysis

(Interpretation of numerical data)

Quantitative data analysis often containdescriptive statistics and inferentialstatistics

1) Descriptive statistics include

measures of central tendency

2) Inferential statistics is a set of measurements can be regarded asmeasurements on a sample of items from a population Thus, it make inferences a boutthe population from the sample.



Analytical Phase

Discussion of findings

- Discussion in relating to literature

- Discussion in relating to research objectives

- Discussion in relating to research questions

-



Analytical Phase

Conclusion

Conclusions are often the most difficult part to write conclusion is oftenwhat a reader remem bers best

Elements of conclusion

Answer the question "So what?" (important of your thesis)

Synthesize, don't summarize (Don't simply repeat things that

were in your thesis)

Create a new meaning (Create a new picture )



Some important concepts



Variable

VariableIs a term ascribed to the characteristic being

investigated, and can take any value in a reasonablerange. For example, blood group, blood pressure, age of

patients being studied.

Independent variable

The variable which is

assumed to determine thevalues of the dependent (response) variable. For example, blood pressure

could be deemed to respond to changes in age.

Dependent variable

The variable which is

assumed to respond to thevalues of the independent

(explanatory) variable. For example, blood pressure

could be deemed to respond to changes in age.



Unit of Analysis

Unit of Analysis

Units of analysis are the persons,things, or events under study--the

entities that we want to say somethinga bout. Frequently, the appropriateunits of analysis are easy to select.



Triangulation

Triangulation

A research design that includestwo or more approaches to data

collection or analysis



Introduction toResearch Methods



Scientific Method

The scientific method is popularly attributed to Galileowho, in 1590, dropped iron balls of two different weightsoff the Leaning Tower of Pizza.

He wanted to test his hypothesis that the forces acting

on a falling object were independent of the object'sweight. He was correct and so refuted previously heldbelief that heavier objects would fall faster than lightobjects. The steps he took: ± Observation,

± Hypothesis generation, ± Testing of the hypothesis

± and refutation or acceptance of the original hypothesis



Scientific Method

1. Observation of phenomena;

2. Development of hypothesis to explain observation;

3. Development of predictions based on hypothesis;4. Experiments conducted to test predictions;

5. Data collection and analysis (data can be numerical,graphical, visual observations, case studies, etc.);

6. Modify hypothesis until it is consistent with the

observations; and7. Derive conclusion.



Laws of Logic

The Law of Identity

The Law of Non-C

ontradiction The Law of Rational Inference

The Law of the Excluded Middle

plus Occam¶s Razor



Laws of Logic (1/5)

The Law of Identity

This states that if something is true, itis always true. That which is, is, for

example, men are men, women are

women and small furry creatures from

Alpha Centauri are small furry

creatures from Alpha Centauri;



Laws of Logic (2/5)

The Law of Non-Contradiction

This states that two statements whichare antithetical (opposite) cannot both

be true. For example, Aristotle cannot

be both alive and dead at the same

time;



Laws of Logic (3/5)

The Law of Rational Inference

This states that if statement A is equalto statement B and if statement B is

equal to statement C, then statement A

is equal to statement C.



Laws of Logic (4/5)

The Law of the Excluded Middle

This states that if a statement is not true, then theopposite of that statement is taken to be true. For example, if Aristotle is not alive, he must be dead

Or, the disjunctive proposition "Either it is rainingor it is not raining" must be true. Also, if it is truethat it is raining, then the proposition "Either it israining, or I own a car" must also be true. It reallydoesn't matter what the second phrase is.



Laws of Logic (5/5)

Finally we have Occam¶s Razor , which in

its original form states "Entities should not

be multiplied unnecessarily" {"Pluralitas nonest ponenda sine neccesitate"}, taken to

mean in this case that if two theories

present themselves that are both equallylikely to be true, pick the one that makes the

fewest assumptions.



Logic Puzzle

Aristotle said that there is a different

between the following two statements;

³T he wood is not white´

³I t is not white wood´

Can you see the difference?



Logic Puzzle - Solution

³T he wood is not white´

This statement means that the thing under discussion IS

wood BUT isn¶t white, so, from example, it could be

green wood, yellow wood or black wood ³I t is not white wood´

This statement means that it is anything other that white

wood, so, for example, it could be blue wood, green

metal, or white plastic.



Kuhn¶s Paradigm

In his book ³T he Structure of Scientific

Revolutions´ Thomas Kuhn transformed the

world¶s view on the way science is done. His

opinion was that science with not, in fact, acumulative process, but in reality, a cyclical

process whereby a particular research

perspective (paradigm) dominates for a period of

time, until a new one is developed whichsupersedes it.



Popper¶s Falsifiability

Karl Popper made falsifiability the key to hisphilosophy of science. It has become the mostcommonly invoked "criterion of demarcation" of

science from non-science. Falsifiability is thelogical possibility that an assertion can be shown

false by an observation or a physicalexperiment. That something is "falsifiable" doesnot mean it is false; rather, that if it is false, then

this can be shown by observation or experiment.







Finding the Topic

Selecting a topic for your research is the singlemost important decision that you will make for your post-graduate tenure. To sustain your

interest over a number of years it is veryimportant that you find a topic that not onlyinterests you but engages your imagination. If you have a passion for a particular area of research, this passion will give you the

determination you need to reach your goal.



TYPES

OF RES

EARCH



Types of research

Theoretical orientation Investigation of field

Identifying strengths & weakness

Acknowledging areas for further development and investigation

Usually involves some type of literature search or review

Development project Software systems

Hardware systems

Process models

Methods and algorithms

Evaluation project Compare and contrasting programming languages

Judge different user interfaces Industry-based project Finding a solution that benefits a real world problem

Problem solving The development of a new technique

Improve existing practice



Types of research

Theoretical

Investigation of field

Identifying strengths & weakness

Acknowledging areas for further development and investigation

Descriptive

Reviewing existing theories

Describing the state-of -the-art Testing existing theories

Exploratory

Seeking new information

Good for researching wide areas

Literature search ± questionnaire

Explanatory

Clarify phenomena Identify relationship

Causal

Assessing effects of independent variables on dependent ones

Problem solving

Developing/constructing



Basic research methods

Quantitative research (e.g. survey)

Qualitative research (e.g. face-to-face

interviews; focus groups; site visits) Case studies

Participatory research





Overview

Quantitative research (the word µquantitative¶comes from the word µquantity¶) involves

information or data in the form of numbers. Thisallows us to measure or to quantify a wholerange of things. For example: the number of people who live below the poverty line; thenumber of children between specific ages whoattend school; the average spending power in acommunity; or the number of adults who haveaccess to computers in a village or town.



A common way of conducting quantitativeresearch is using a survey . Surveys usuallyinvolve filling in a questionnaire. The usefulness

of a survey is that the information you get isstandardized because each respond ent ± theperson who fills out the questionnaire ± isanswering the exact same questions. Once youhave enough responses to your questionnaire,

you can then put the data together and analyseit in a way that answers your research question

± or what it is you want to know.



It is important to realize that quantitative research doesnot necessarily mean that respondents will give numbersfor their answers to your questions. Sometimes they mayanswer a µyes¶ or µno¶ question, as in: ¶Do you have a

computer?¶ Sometimes they might write down ananswer, a word, a sentence, or a paragraph to describesomething, as in answers to: ¶What is the brand or makeof your computer?¶ and ¶Please describe in detail whatyou use your computer for.¶ Other answers may involve

numbers, as in: ¶How many computers do you have inyour business or organization?¶



How these varied responses become numbers

is in the way they are analysed. From the

example questions above, one might be able to

say: 20 out of the 30 (66%) respondents use aparticular brand of computer, while 5 (16%) use

another. The remaining five respondents all

used different brands of computers which you

would list. You might then want to provide someexamples of how the computers are used.





R esearch tip: Su rveys

Surveys can be conducted in a number of ways. The most important thing is to think

clearly through the kind of questions youwant to ask, and to make sure that theresponses will answer your researchquestion. When you get your responses,you need to be sure of exactly what theyare (and aren¶t) telling you.



U sing the I nternet for su rveys

A good way to conduct a survey is through an online questionnaire. TheInternet is useful for giving your survey geographic reach. Using theInternet, you can survey many different people from all sorts of countries ±something that would not have been possible before or else too expensive.To do this, you can either distribute a questionnaire via e-mail or create a

simple online form. An easy way is to use SurveyMonkey.com(http://www.surveymonkey.com). SurveyMonkey is an excellent online toolthat helps you create and manage your own online survey easily.

With the online form, the responses will be e-mailed straight back to you.Many people don¶t have a lot of time to answer surveys, and online formsare often quicker for them to complete. However, keep in mind who youwant to reach. Do they have reasonably fast access to the Internet? Do theyhave access to the Internet? You may want to provide a fax number for faxed responses, an e-mail address for e-mail responses and an onlineform to cover all of your bases.



Don¶t forget that you can even post a surveyquestionnaire using snail mail ± although this is likely tobe quite costly, and you may not get that manyresponses (this often depends on how persistent youare, how well the people you are surveying know you, or

if you are offering them prizes or money for completingthe survey).

Using the Internet to conduct a survey may not be usefulwhen surveying a specific community. Here you maywant to send a team of researchers into the street to

collect responses or conduct a focus group

]



Participatory research

One of the key problems with some kinds of research is that thewrong kinds of questions get asked, despite the researcher¶s bestintentions. This doesn¶t necessarily mean that the researcher hasn¶tthought long and hard about his or her questions, or that they arenot appropriate. However, sometimes questions are biased towardscertain perspectives and are based on certain assumptions. Theremight be a whole other way of looking at a situation that theresearcher, because of his or her background, does not realize.Unless the researcher is able to understand this different way of looking at things, the research results might simply confirm thepresumptions and prejudices of his or her perspective.



Anthropologists, for example, often encounter

these kinds of problems when they¶re doing fiel d

work and are living in or visiting a community

they are researching. Good anthropologists arealways conscious of their roles as outsiders, and

how their mere presence can affect the research

results. People sometimes behave differently

when they know there is a researcher around.(See Site visits and observation above.)

]



Concrete examples of how research can

reinforce prejudices are dotted throughout

the history of anthropology. In their early

encounters with native tribes, colonial

anthropologists often described the

customs and beliefs they observed as

backwards and savage ± quite theopposite of their grand vision of European

culture!



One way around these sorts of dilemmas is participatory research. Participatory research allows communitymembers, or a particular group being researched, toparticipate in developing research questions, designing

the methodologies to be used in the research, andanalysing the research findings. The usefulness of thisapproach is that perspectives that might otherwise beignored by a researcher are incorporated into theresearch from the start. The analysis of the research

findings shifts from being µresearcher -centric¶ (or biasedtowards the assumptions of the researcher) towardsbeing µcommunity-centric¶, or incorporating theperspectives of the community.



Participatory research is a very good

methodology to raise awareness around

issues that a community or group might

face, and it also helps in developing

appropriate action plans in response to the

research findings.



P lanning you r research

Journalists often use a basic formula for writing a straightforwardnews story. It¶s called the 5 Ws and an H structure: Who? What?Where? When? Why? and How? By answering all of thesequestions, you will get to the nuts and bolts of a story in a fewsentences or paragraphs. The point of this is that all the mostessential information is at the top of the story, making a newspaper easy to scan for a reader.

The 5 Ws and an H formula is a useful tool to apply to manysituations, and helps you to remember to ask the most essentialquestions.

Thinking about these questions will help you plan your research,

although you might want to consider them in a different order.



Step one: What?

You need to ask: What do I want to know?

Deciding on a research q u estion

The first and most important thing to do when planning research is toproperly understand and clarify what it is you want to know.

By understanding what it is you want to know ± some people call thisthe research question ± you will be able to answer all of the other questions that are necessary to plan your research properly, such as:

How do I find out what I want to know?

Where can I get the information I need, or who do I need to ask?

When will my research be done by?

And why? (or finding the right answers to the research question).

When you are formulating your research question, you need to bear in mind the purpose of your research. You need to ask yourself:

Who will be reading and acting on your research? (e.g. is it thecommunity, a donor, or a business?)

What do they need to know to inform their decisions?

What decisions does the research need to inform?



You might, for instance, want to use it

when designing your survey questionnaire

or developing your interview and focus

group questions.



Step two: How? Where? Who?

You need to ask:

How do I find out what I want to know?

Where can I get the information I need, or whodo I need to ask?

By constructing your research question or questions, you will have decided quitespecifically what it is you want to know. You will

also have decided the kinds of information thatwill be necessary for the research results toinform a decision or a number of decisions.



H ow do I find ou t what I want to know?

Now that you are clear on what kind of information you are looking

for, you need to decide on a methodology by asking: Do I need quantitative or numbers information?

Or do I need qualitative or explanatory-type information?

Or do I need a combination of both?

Will case studies be helpful in properly understanding and presentingthe research findings?

If I need quantitative data, will I conduct a survey or develop aquestionnaire?

If qualitative information is needed, will I interview people or conductfocus groups?

Will I conduct site visits or observation?

Given the research topic, will I conduct participatory research?



Step three: When?

You need to ask:

When do all the different parts of the research need to be done?

Proper planning means a more efficient research process, less time andmoney required to conduct the research, and a happier research team!

Now that you have a good idea of what your research is all about, you needto plan it so that everyone in your research team knows what¶s expected

from them and when. It is also important to plan so that things that need tobe done first - which other parts of the research are dependent on - aredone in time. One way to do this is to develop a research work plan.

There are many ways to develop a work plan, but the simplest is to use atable.

1. Begin by listing all of the work areas in your research. Be specific;

2. Put them in order of priority: Which ones need to be done first?

3. Try to estimate the time that you will need to accomplish each researchactivity;

4. Build a calendar , cross-referencing your work areas with the dates, as inthe example below. Depending how specific you want to be, you calendar might work in days, weeks, months or even hours!





R et u rning to you r research q u estion

The most important way of getting your research answer or answers is to return to your research question. Whatdid you begin by asking? The research question will be a

good guide in helping you arrange your research results. At the same time, you need to keep in mind who you are

doing the research for, and what they want to do with it.For example, if the government commissioned theresearch, wanting to know how best to inform a

community about conserving water, you might want tobegin by discussing the demographics of the community.





Research tips: Analysing



R esearch tips: Analysing

q u antitative data

Save your document/s with your original data in a separate folder on your computer. If you are working with paper documents, consider whether it isnecessary to make photocopies of your results so that the originals can befiled away securely. Work off the copies, not the master documents. This isa good thing to do with any of your research results;

Tabulate the information. For instance, add up the number of responses you

received for your survey and categorize them in an appropriate way byreferring to your research question (e.g. the number of yes and no answersfor each question; male and female responses or racial categories);

Work out what your tabulated answers are saying. For instance, convertsome of your sums into percentages. Say 30% of the respondents said X,while 25% said Y. These are easier to internalize for those reading your report;

Try to be creative. Once you have tabulated and calculated your results,there may be some interesting and unexpected interpretations of the datathat can be made;

Double-check all your calculations.

Research tips: Analysing



R esearch tips: Analysing

q u alitative data

Read through all the data, making notes of associations or ideas that occur to you;

Organize the data into similar categories (e.g. responses to particular questions; or categories of informants, such as government representatives, members of the community or newspaper editors);

Attempt to identify patterns or associations and causal relationships in the themes (e.g. responsesfrom people in the same geographic area, from the same income group or the media preferencesof people who don¶t have electricity at home). Be creative and analytical;

If you have done quantitative research at the same time, try to match some of your qualitativeresults to your quantitative results. Where are the links? How do the results µspeak to¶ or explaineach other? What conclusions can be reached that aren¶t obvious at first glance?

Be methodical. Think step by step, and explain your assumptions if you have to. Remember, your research results might not tell you everything you want to know but don¶t be afraid to say whatthey d o tell you. Be careful with your words, and be specific.

Remember to file your research results away in a safe place. You may want to refer to themsometime in the future. You have now made an important contribution to how we understand

ourselves. Even if it¶s a small step, it all contributes towards the µbigger picture¶.









Planning your research:

Key questions

What do you want to know?

How do you find out what you want to know? Where can you get the information?

Who do you need to ask?

When does your research need to be done?

Why? (Getting the answer)





Good Website

www.knowledgemedia.org is a scientific

thingy since 1994



Introduction to Research Method

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