1. II. How to decide upon a methodology

2. Research Methodology vs Research Method
The philosophy or the general principle which will guide your research. It is the overall approach to studying your topic and includes issues you need to think about such as the constraints, dilemmas and ethical choices within your research.
Research Method
Your research methodology is different to your research methods – these are the tools you use to gather data, such as questionnaires or interviews...

3. Qualitative vs. Quantitative (Methodology)
Attitudes, behavior and experiences through such methods as interviews or focus groups.
Fewer people take part in the research, but the contact with these people tends to last a lot longer.
Under qualitative research methodologies: action research, ethnography, feminist, and grounded theory.
Quantitative
Use statistics through the use of large-scale survey research, using methods such as questionnaires or structured interviews.
If a market researcher has stopped you on the streets, or you have filled in a questionnaire which has arrived through the post, this falls under the umbrella of quantitative research.
This type of research reaches many more people, but the contact with those people is much quicker than it is in qualitative research.

4. Which one is better?
Different methodologies become popular at different social, political, historical and cultural times in our development, all methodologies have their specific strengths and weaknesses, which should be acknowledged by the researcher.
Don’t fall into the trap which many beginning (and experienced) researchers do in thinking that quantitative research is ‘better ’ than qualitative research. Neither is better than the other – they are just different and both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Your instincts probably lean you towards one rather than the other. Listen to these instincts as you will find it more productive to conduct the type of research with which you will feel comfortable, especially if you’re to keep your motivation levels high.

5. How to distinguish?
Certain words help to suggest a leaning towards qualitative research, others towards quantitative research.
For example, if you have written ‘how many’, ‘test’, ‘verify’, ‘how often’ or ‘how satisfied’, this suggests a leaning towards quantitative research.
If you have written words such as ‘discover’, ‘motivation’, ‘experiences’, ‘think/thoughts’, ‘problems’, or ‘behave / behavior’, this suggests a leaning towards qualitative research.
Combining both qualitative and quantitative research is called triangulation. This is a good way of approaching research as it enables you to counteract the weaknesses in both qualitative and quantitative research.

6. Group Work
Action Research
Ethnography
Feminist Research
Grounded theory

7. EXAMPLES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLGIES
Action Research
Collaboration with a group of people to improve a situation in a particular setting.
The researcher does not ‘do’ research ‘on’ people, but instead works with them, acting as a facilitator. This type of research is popular in areas such as organizational management, community development, education and agriculture.
Action research begins with a process of communication and agreement between people who want to change something together.
Action research tends to take place with a small group of dedicated people who are open to new ideas and willing to step back and reflect on these ideas, then moves through four stages of planning, acting, observing and reflecting.
In action research various types of research method may be used, for example: the diagnosing and evaluating stage questionnaires, interviews and focus groups may be used to gauge opinion on the proposed change.

8. Cont.
Ethnography
The emphasis in ethnography is on describing and interpreting cultural behavior.
Ethnographers immerse themselves in the lives and culture of the group being studied, often living with that group for months on end.
These researchers participate in a groups’ activities whilst observing its behavior, taking notes, conducting interviews, analyzing, reflecting and writing reports – this may be called fieldwork or participant observation.
Ethnographers highlight the importance of the written text because this is how they portray the culture they are studying.

9. Cont. Feminist Research
Feminist researchers argue that for too long the lives and experiences of women have been ignored or misrepresented. Often, in the past, research was conducted on male ‘subjects’ and the results generalized to the whole population.
Feminist researchers critique both the research topics and the methods used; especially those which emphasize objective, scientific ‘truth’.
Its emphasis on participative, qualitative inquiry, feminist research has provided a valuable alternative framework for researchers who have felt uncomfortable with treating people as research ‘objects’

10. Cont.
Grounded Theory
Established in 1967 by two researchers named Glaser and Strauss. It was a popular form of inquiry in the areas of education and health research. The emphasis in this methodology is on the generation of theory which is grounded in the data – this means that it has emerged from the data.
In grounded theory, methods such as focus groups and interviews tend to be the preferred data collection method, along with a comprehensive literature review which takes place throughout the data collection process.
In grounded theory studies the number of people to be interviewed is not specified at the beginning of the research. This is because the researcher, at the outset, is unsure of where the research will take her. Instead, she continues with the data collection until ‘saturation’ point is reached, that is, no new information is being provided.

11. Practice
This research aims to find out what people think about television.
This research aims to find out what primary school teachers think about the educational value of ‘The Teletubbies’ television programme.

12. Practice
My project is to do some research into Alzheimer’s disease, to find out what people do when their relatives have it and what support they can get and how nurses deal with it.
The aim of this research is to find out how many relatives of Alzheimer’s patients use the Maple Day Centre, and to ascertain whether the service is meeting their needs.

13. Practice
We want to find out how many of the local residents are interested in a play scheme for children during the summer holiday.
This research aims to find out how many people from our estate are interested in, and would use, a children’s play scheme in the school summer holiday.

14. Thanks, Q&A

15. III. How to Choose Your Research Methods

16. INTERVIEW
Unstructured interview: in-depth interview, life history interview - favorable interview approach to research about life history, holistic understanding of a situation, life, experience, opinions...
The participant is free to talk about what he or she deems important, with little directional influence from the researcher.
This type of interview can only be used for qualitative research.
Researchers have to be able to establish rapport with the participant – they have to be trusted if someone is to reveal intimate life information.
Researchers need to remain alert, recognizing important information and probing for more detail. They need to know how to tactfully steer someone back from totally irrelevant digressions.

17. Example
Life in a war flame: a study of child soldiers under the Lon Nol regime.
Experiences of mobile child groups under the Khmer Rouge regime in region 2.
Effects of HIV-AIDS positive parents on daughters: Case studies in Ou Cha commune, Battambang province
Women in garment factories: A study of factory workers’ attitude toward education for their daughter in Poy Pet, Banteay Meanchey

18. SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
It is the most common type of interview used in qualitative social research. The researcher wants to know specific information which can be compared and contrasted with information gained in other interviews.
The same questions need to be asked in each interview. However, the researcher also wants the interview to remain flexible so that other important information can still arise.
The researcher produces an interview schedule or list of questionnaire to ensure continuity. In some research, such as a grounded theory study, the schedule is updated and revised after each interview to include more topics which have arisen as a result of the previous interview.
Semi-structured interview is used in qualitative research approach or a combined one

19. STRUCUTURED INTERVIEW
The interviewer asks you a series of questions and ticks boxes with your response. This research method is highly structured. Structured interviews are used in quantitative research and can be conducted face-to-face or over the telephone, sometimes with the aid of lap-top computers
Are used frequently in market research No
Structured interview questions about attitude toward girls in entertainment sector 1
Do you think that it is acceptable for a girl to work in entertainment sector?
1-Acceptable, 2) Unacceptable, 3) it is their choices, 4) No idea 2
People believe that it is normal for a girl to work in entrainment sector nowadays. Do you agree with this statement?
1) Agree, 2) Disagree, 3) So-so, 3
Entertainment worker is a girl’s job where every appreciated. What do you think?
1) Don’t think so, 2) I think so, 3) hard to believe

20. FOCUS GROUPS
Focus groups may be called discussion groups or group interviews.
A number of people are asked to come together in a group to discuss a certain issue. For example, in market research this could be a discussion centered on new packaging for a breakfast cereal, or in social research this could be to discuss adults’ experiences of school.
Researcher is moderator or facilitator who introduces
the topic, asks specific questions, controls digressions
and stops break-away conversations. She makes sure that no one person dominates the discussion whilst trying to ensure that each of the participants makes a contribution.

21. Cont.
Advantages
Can receive a wide range of responses during one meeting.
Participants can ask questions of each other, lessening impact of researcher bias.
Helps people to remember issues they might otherwise have forgotten.
Helps participants to overcome exaggeration, hiding, especially if they know other people in the group.
The group effect is a useful resource in data analysis.
Participant interaction is useful to analyze.
Disadvantages
Some people may be uncomfortable in a group setting and nervous about speaking in front of others.
Not everyone may contribute.
Other people may contaminate an individual’s views.
Some researchers may find it difficult or intimidating to moderate a focus group.
Venues and equipment can be expensive.
Difficult to extract individual views during the analysis.

22. Closed-ended questionnaires Open-ended questionnaires
This type of questionnaire is used to generate statistics in quantitative research. As these questionnaires follow a set format, and as most can be scanned straight into a computer for ease of analysis, greater numbers can be produced.
Are you married (Yes/No)
Are you satisfied (Yes/No)
Do you think you will use it (Yes/No)
Quality of education in your school is good (Yes/No)
Open-ended questionnaires
Are used in qualitative research, although some researchers will quantify the answers
during the analysis stage. The questionnaire does not contain boxes to tick, but instead leaves a blank section for the respondent to write in an answer.
Combination:
Some researchers used both open and close-ended questions to do research with open-ended to verify the close-ended one….
What do you think is the main reasons behind this change of education system?
Do you believe education can make one country safer than the others? Why….

23. Group Works
Group 1: Read participation observation and explain the class.
Group 2: Devise 15 close-ended questionnaire to ask about experiences of children living in slumps.
Group 3: Devise 15 open-ended questionnaire to ask about experiences of children living in slumps.
Group 4: Describe what to observe in the research about the experiences of children living in slumps. (10 points)

24. How to Conduct Background Research
Background research: primary research & secondary research.
Primary Research:
Observation
Interview
Reading
Firsthand info
Secondary Research:
Secondhand info, published docs, published works

25. Look for official institution
Cont
Website:
Look for official institution
Logo, info about the institution, library,
records
Primary:
Relevant people, observation, experience, records, historical texts, organization records, personal docs, literature, film, arts, lab experiment,
Secondary: research books, report, journal articles, online docs, analysis of historical event,

26. Week 5: How to Choose Your Participants
Sampling: the procedures to choose smaller and more manageable number of people to take part in their research. It is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest so that by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from which they were chosen.
For quantitative researchers, sampling will enable its finding to generalize.
For many qualitative researchers, however, the ability to generalize their work to the whole research population is not the goals. Instead, they seeks to describe and/or explain the phenomenon.

27. Cont.
Probability sample: in probability samples, all people within the research population have a specifiable chance of being selected. (Simple Random Sampling, Cluster Random Sampling, Quasi-random Sample or Systematic Sampling, and Stratified Random Sampling)
Purposive sample: in this type of sample it is not possible to specify the possibility of one person being included in the sample.

28. Simple Random Sampling
An example of a simple random sample would be the names of 25 employees being chosen out of a hat from a company of 250 employees. In this case, the population is all 250 employees, and the sample is random because each employee has an equal chance of being chosen.

29. Cluster Sampling
Cluster sampling is a sampling technique used when "natural" but relatively heterogeneous groupings are evident in a statistical population. It is often used in marketing research. In this technique, the total population is divided into these groups (or clusters) and a simple random sample of the groups is selected.

30. Quasi-random sampling or systematic sampling
Systematic sampling is a type of probability sampling method in which sample members from a larger population are selected according to a random starting point and a fixed periodic interval.

31. Cont.
Stratified random sampling is a method of sampling that involves the division of a population into smaller groups known as strata. In stratified random sampling, the strata are formed based on members' shared attributes or characteristics.

32. Purposive sample:

33. Cont

34. Cont

36. Cont.

37. Week 7: How to Prepare Research Proposal
Title: short, explanatory, objectively, succinctly.
Factors That Influence a Child’s Decisions to Read Outside-of-School
Students’ Perception on School Environment
Academic Success Among Minority Students
Effects of Parental Divorce on Children

38. Cont. Background: Rationale Why are you doing the research?
Why it is needed?
It is should be placed in the existing research, your own experience or observations.
You need to know what you are talking about? (existing literature)
But if you can’t find ones, you need to say so to justify your proposed research.
If existing literature deal with it, your research must be able to build on and extend the literature.

39. Objectives: the means to achieve the aims.
Cont.
Aims: The main purpose/objective: the driving forces of the research. What to do in the research?
To identify, describe, and produce an analysis of the interacting factors which influence the learning choices of adult returners…
Objectives: the means to achieve the aims.
To determine:
the nature, effect, and extent of psychological influence…
the nature, effect, and extent of sociological influence…

40. Cont.
Methodology/Methods:
Justify your proposed methodology/methods for the research.
Why a particular method is appropriate, not the others?
This section also needs sampling, numbers of participants, who are they, why choosing them, methods of data collection, methods of data analysis, and ethical challenges…
Methodological details are needed.

41. Cont
Timetable: page 59
Budget: page 60

42. Cont.
Good Proposal:
Relevance to funding source or student’s course.
Unique, offer new knowledge or development.
Clear title, aims, objectives.
Comprehensive and thorough background research and literature.
Match between issues to be addressed and methods used.
Researchers show relevant knowledge/experience…
Clear timetable, budget and eventualities

43. Less than good proposal:
Cont.
Less than good proposal:
Aims & objectives are unclear or vague.
Mismatch between approaches proposed and issues to be addressed.
Plan is too ambitious, difficult to achieve with time and resources.
No enough in-depth background research,
Research problem is less important
Data collection and analysis methods are not detailed.
Timescales are not realistic,
Resources are not properly planned, and the topic has been much research—indicate a researcher lack of background research..

44. Example
Writing A Research Proposal.pdf
Writing_a_research_proposal_Science_Engineering_Update_ pdf
Anderson-Karen-EdD.pdf,
McDonald-Jasmine-PhD.pdf,
School Dropout in Ek Phnom.docx