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Formulating the research design

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Presentation on theme: "Formulating the research design"— Presentation transcript:

1 Formulating the research design

2 philosophy = question = design
Research design - the general plan of how you will go about answering your research questions Objectives Sources Constraints philosophy = question = design

3 The purpose of your research
Exploratory studies: good means of finding out - what is happening; - to seek new insights; - to ask questions; - to assess phenomena in a new light Useful, if you want to clarify your understanding of a problem Ways to conduct: - a search of the literature; - interviewing “experts” in the subject; - conducting focus group interviews

4 Descriptive studies …to give an accurate profile of persons, events or situations „…so what?“ Mostly should be considered as a means to an end rather than an end in itself

5 Explanatory studies …establish causal relationships between variables

6 Different research strategies
…does the particular strategy enables you to answer your specific research question and meet your objectives …choosinge your strategy according to: your question your existing knowledge the amount of available time/ resources your philosophical views Strategies are not mutually exclusive

7 Experiment study causal links – whether a change in one independent variable produces a change in another dependent variable “how” and “why” questions Experimental vs control group Participants assigned at random to groups Internal vs external validity; constraints of experiments

8 In sum, experiment will involve typically…
Definition of a theoretical hypothesis Selection of samples of individuals from known populations Random allocation of samples to different experimental conditions, the experimental group and the control group Planned intervention or manipulation to one or more of the variables Measurement of a small number of dependent variables Control of all other variables

9 Survey “who”, “what”, “where”, “how much” and “how many” questions
Benefits: large data large population higly economical standardized tools: comparing samples perceived as trustable easy to explain and understand quantitative analysis possible to build models of relationships control over the process representativeness

10 Case study strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real context using multiple sources of evidence .. and once again, context questions “why”, “what” and “how“ techniques: various (interviews, observation, documentary analysis, questionnaires) Triangulation - the use of different data collection techniques within one study -> to ensure that the data are telling you what you think they are telling you

11 Single case v. multiple case
Holistic case v embedded case Looks „unscientific“? :P

12 Action research research in action rather the research about action
collaborative democratic partnership between practitioners and researchers cycle of diagnosing, planning, taking action and evaluating the results should be applicable/ informative in other contexts

13 Grounded theory … to predict and explain behavior
… emphasis upon developing theory data collection starts without the formation of the initial theoretical framework data generated by a series of observations -> the generation of predictions -> predictions tested in further observations -> confirm/ not the predictions

14 Ethnography … to describe and explain the social world the research subjects inhabit in the way they would describe and explain it … researching the phenomenon within the context in which it occurs … not using data collection techniques that oversimplify the complexity of everyday life

15 Archival research … administrative records and documents as the principal source of data questions about the changes

16 - multi-method quantitative study - multi-method qualitative study
Multiple methods choices – combining quantitative and qualitative techniques and procedures Multi-method: - multi-method quantitative study - multi-method qualitative study Mixed methods: mixed method research mixed model research

17 Time horizons Cross-sectional studies - “snapshot”
- often survey strategy is used Longitudinal studies questions related to change control over measured variables possibility to use data collected earlier

18 The credibility of research findings
Reliability Will the measures yield the same results on other occasions? Will similar observations be reached by other observers? Is the transparency in how sense was made from the raw data?

19 Threats to reliability
Participant error Participant bias Observer error Observer bias

20 Validity … is the relationship between two variables a causal relationship The threats of validity: History Testing Mortality Maturation Ambiguity about causal direction Generalizability (external validity)

21 The ethics of research design
The main ethical issues are related to: Privacy of participants Informed consent; voluntarily nature of participation and the right to withdraw from the study Confidentiality of data provided by participants and their anonymity Data collection/using/analysing/reporting methods that may cause negative impacts to the participants, including embarrassment, stress, discomfort, pain, harm

22 Homework Please select the research strategy that would be most appropriate for your own research question; explain, why you choosed that one. Write a short passage (approx 0,5 A4) and it to me on Friday, 29th March. (If some of you feels that you do not want to continue with his/her research question you described in last homework, it is ok if you generate new one )


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