Issues for research design Questions to think about as you begin your research (adapted from Hart 1998, page 86)

Ontological issues What exists? What is real? What can be investigated?

Ontological issues - examples  What is the subject matter of my research field?  Is reality singular and objective, existing apart from me and my perceptions and cultural biases?  Or is reality shaped by my prior understanding and assumptions?

Epistemological issues How can we know anything? How can we establish what is real?

Epistemological issues - examples Is my knowledge  wholly gained through senses and thus objectively real?  a matter of how I perceive the world? To make my claims  can I include intuition and personal experience?  must I use only the data?

Methodological issues What research process can ensure valid knowledge?

Methodological issues – examples  How can we have a logic of inquiry that gives us assurance in our knowledge?  Should we use a deductive method that generalises and explain logically?  Or should we use an inductive method with emerging design, categories and theories?  Are we interested in prediction, explanation or understanding?

Axiological issues What is the role of the personal values, morality and ethics of the researcher?

Axiological issues - examples  Whose side should a researcher be on, if any, the underdog or the elite?  Should I aim to ignore the moral issues of the subject matter and my own feeling?  Or should I use these as part of my research?

Data-collection issues Which techniques are the most reliable? Which kinds of data are most accurate?

Data-collection issues - examples  Is the survey questionnaire better than the observational case study?  Shall I use quantitative data rather than qualitative because people see it as more objective?  Or is qualitative evidence better because it will show that all data is dependent on interpretation for its meaning?

Rhetorical issues How do we talk about and write up research?

Rhetorical issues - examples  Is writing in the third person more objective than the first person?  Should I be formal, precise with definitions and aim to quantify?  Or should I use informal language that is clearer and shows how my understanding evolved?

Reference Hart, C 1998, Doing a literature review: releasing the social science research imagination, Sage, London, page 86.