Research Methodology Summary PDF

A Summary of 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅RANJIT KUMAR’S RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ Research - literature review - Any gathering of data, information, and - Methodology facts for the advanc...

A Summary of 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅RANJIT KUMAR’S RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ Research - literature review - Any gathering of data, information, and - Methodology facts for the advancement of knowledge - Results and discussion - Process of steps used to collect and - Summary, conclusion, and analyze information to increase our recommendations understanding of a topic or issue Characteristics of research Basic Research 1. Realistic - Theoretical and general understanding - Undertaking must result to discovery of new phenomena empirical data 2. Logical Applied Research - Follows valid, definite principles, - Contributes to the solution of a specific frameworks and procedures problem often done by organizations 3. Cyclical - Starts with a problem and ends Science with another - “Scientia” = knowledge 4. Analytical - Systematic and organized body of - Empirical data is analyzed to elicit knowledge in any area of inquiry desired meaning from the - Scientific research contributes to a body obtained information without bias of science and follows the scientific 5. Critical method - Careful and precise in processing - Observation, questions, hypothesis, of ideas and judgment experimentation, analysis, reject/approve 6. Replicable hypothesis - Being able to repeat the procedure for verification Steps in conducting scientific research (cyclical 7. Accurate process) - Gives exact and factual data, - Select a topic properly documented or - Review literature acknowledged - Formulate research question and 8. Objective hypothesis - Includes only factual evidence, - Design research method and not opinions of the - Collect data researchers - Analyze and interpret data 9. Relevant - Communicate research findings and - Instrumental to improving and results solving problems of the present society Parts of a research paper 10. Clear - Intro or background of the study Page 1  - Succeeds in expressing its central - Information expressed not in findings and discoveries terms of numbers, but rather by 11. Systematic means of a natural language - Takes place in an organized or description; involved qualities orderly manner - Scientific method used to collect 12. Ethical non numerical data to determine - Follows ethical rules and gears and understand attributes and towards beneficence behavior of a problem - More focused on qualitative Characteristics of a researcher aspects of research rather than - Open minded quantitative aspects - Curious - Can be found in many academic - Efficient disciplines - Independent - Active - Practical - Effective - Collaborative - Systematic - Objective - Inventive - Logical - Team player - Honest - Analytic - High integrity Types of Data 1. Quantitative data - Information that can be measured or written down with numbers; involved quantities - An inquiry into social or human problem based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers and analyzed with statistical procedures in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of theory hold true - Objective and value-free 2. Qualitative Data Page 2  Very little research in the field is pure in Lesson Outline nature. Most research is applied; uses 1. Research: A Way of Thinking methods and procedures to increase 2. Research Process: A Quick Glance understanding in their own profession and 3. Reviweing the Literature advance the professional knowledge base. 4. Formulating a Research Problem This can be viewed from four different perspectives: 1. The Service Provider C1 Research: A Way of Thinking 2. The Service Administrator 3. The Service Consumer 4. The Professional An Integral Part of Your Practice Research is undertaken within most What Does it Mean? professions. More than a set of skills, it is a Undertaking a research study means that the way of thinking applied in many disciplines ⭐ Field of Health - “How many patients process being applied is: 1. Being undertaken within a framework do I see every day?” ⭐ Business Studies - “What’s the best or a set of philosophies; 2. Uses procedures, methods, and promotion strategy?” ⭐ Psychology - “What are my clients’ techniques that have been tested for their validity and reliability; most common presenting problems?” ⭐ Management - “How can I improve 3. Designed to be unbiased and objective this service for my clients?” ⭐ Theoretical Questions - “What causes Definition of Terms: ⭐ X or what are the effects of Y?” Consumerism - “How well trained are ⭐ Validity - Correct procedures have been applied to find answers to a the service providers?” question Research is one of the ways to help you ⭐ Reliability - Quality of a measurement procedure that provides repeatability answer such questions objectively. and accuracy ⭐ Unbiased and Objective -Taking each Way to Gather Evidence for Your Practice step in an unbiased manner and Evidence-based Practice (EBP) drawing each conclusion to the best of ⭐ Delivery of services based on research your ability and without introducing your own vested interest evidence about their effectiveness ⭐ Fast becoming a service delivery norm Subjectivity and bias are different: among many professions ⭐ Important part of many professions ⭐ Acceptable and scientific method for policy formulation and practice Subjectivity Bias assessment Way of thinking Deliberate attempt conditioned by your to either conceal or Applications of Research educational highlight something background, Page 3  discipline, ⭐ Valid and Verifiable - Conclusions are drawn based upon hard evidence philosophy, skills, and experiences ⭐ Critical - Process of investigation must be foolproof and free from any drawbacks Research varies from discipline to discipline and its meaning differs. It is not all technical, complex, statistics, and computers. The word research is composed of two syllables: re and search. ⭐ Dictionary - Careful, systematic, and patient investigation in some field of knowledge; undertaken to establish facts or principles ⭐ Grinell - Structured inquiry that Types of Research utilizes acceptable scientific Types of research can be looked at from methodology to solve problems and three different perspectives that is not creates new knowledge that is mutually exclusive: generally applicable ⭐ Lundberg - Draws a parallel between 1. Applications of the findings of the research study; the scientific method and the process 2. Objectives of the study; used in our daily lives in terms of 3. Mode of enquiry used in conducting formality, rigorousness, veridiability, the study and general validity ⭐ Burns - Systematic investigation to find answers to a problem ToR: Application Perspective ⭐ Kerlinger - Systematic, controlled According to Bailey, there are two broad empiricial and critical investigation of categories of a research endeavour from the propositions about the presumed perspective of its application: relationships about various phenomena ⭐ Bulmer - Committed to establishing Pure Research Applied Research systematic, reliable and valid Development, Pure research is knowledge about the social world examination, and applied to the verification, of collection of research methods, information about Characteristics and Requirements procedures, and various aspects ⭐ Controlled - Set up your study in a tools way that minimizes the effects of Used to add to the Used for policy other factors affecting the relationship ⭐ Rigorous - Procedures followed to find existing body of formulation, knowledge administration, and answers are relevant, appropriate, enhancement of and justified understanding ⭐ Systematic - Procedures follow a certain logical sequence Page 4  1. Systematic, scientific, or positivist ToR: Objectives Perspective ⭐ Descriptive - Attempts to describe approach rooted in physical sciences 2. Qualitative, ethnographic, systematically a situation ⭐ Correlational - Discovers the ecological or naturalistic approach existence of a relationship between The crucial question that divides the two is two or more aspects ⭐ Explanatory - Attempts to clarify why whether the methodology of the physical sciences can be applied to social sciences. and how there is a relationship The author believes that no matter which between two aspects; explains ⭐ Exploratory - Explores an area where paradigm one uses, they should adhere to the values that make research valid. little is known; A.K.A. feasibility study or a pilot study if used to determine C2 Research Process: A Quick Glance feasibility We follow the eight-step model for carrying out research. ToR: Enquiry Perspective This concerns the process you adopt to find Phase I: Deciding What to Research answers to your research questions: 1. The Structured Approach ⭐ Step 1 - Formulating a research problem 2. The Unstructured Approach Phase II: Planning a Research Study Structured Unstructured ⭐ Step 2 - Conceptualizing a research design Quantitative Qualitative ⭐ Step 3 - Constructing an instrument for data collection Predetermined Allows flexibility ⭐ Step 4 - Selecting a sample Determines extent Explores nature ⭐ Step 5 - Writing a research proposal Quantifies the Describes a Phase III: Conducting a Research Study variation and situation using ⭐ Step 6 - Collecting data geared to ascertain its magnitude nominal scales without quantifying ⭐ Step 7 - Processing and displaying data The choice on approach should depend on: ⭐ Step 8 - Writing a research report 1. Aim of your enquiry 2. Use of the findings An Eight-Step Model The research process is similar to It is recommended that you do not “lock” undertaking a journey where there are two yourself into becoming a solely qualitative or important decisions to make: Research quantitative researcher as both approaches Questions/Research Problems (What you have their strengths and weaknesses. want to find out about) and Research Methodology (How to go about finding their Paradigms of Research There are two main paradigms that form the basis of research: Page 5 answers). ⭐ The strength of what you find largely rests on how it was found ⭐ Main function of a research design is to explain how you will find answers to your research questions ⭐ Includes the study design, logistical arrangements, measurement procedures, sampling strategy, frame of analysis, and time frame. ⭐ Note that study design is part of the research design. ⭐ A faulty design leads to misleading findings and waste of resources Step 3 - Constructing an Instrument for Data Collection ⭐ Research Instrument/Tool - Anything that becomes a means of collecting information for your study (e.g. interview schedules, questionnaires, and interview guides) ⭐ The first “practical” step in carrying out a study ⭐ When dealing with primary data, you need to either construct a research instrument or select one that has already been constructed ⭐ When dealing with secondary data, you will need to identify what information is required and develop a form to extract it. Phase I: Deciding What to Research ⭐ Field testing/Pre-testing - Integral part of instrument construction; should Step 1 - Formulating a Research Problem ⭐ not be carried out on the sample, but First and most important step ⭐ on a similar population Identifies your destination; what you intend to research ⭐ Step 4 - Selecting a Sample Should be evaluated in light of ⭐ The accuracy of your findings largely financial resources, time available, depends upon the way you select and personal expertise ⭐ your sample Identify any gaps in your knowledge ⭐ Basic objective is to minimize, within of relevant disciplines, such as the limitation of cost, the gap between statistics required for analysis the values obtained from your sample and those in the study population Phase II: Planning a Research Study Step 2 - Conceptualizing Research Design Page 6  ⭐ Samples selected in a manner that inferences and conclusions for your genuinely represent the study study population fairly reflects them ⭐ In this phase, you actually collect the ⭐ In selecting a sample, you should: data depending on your plans 1. Avoid bias 2. Attain maximum precision for a Step 7: Processing and Displaying Data given outlay of resources ⭐ The way you analyze the information ⭐ There are three categories of sampling you collected largely depends upon design: two things: 1. Random/Probability Sampling 1. The type of information 2. Non-random/Non-probability 2. The way you want to Sampling communicate your findings 3. Mixed Sampling ⭐ It is also important to consider whether the daya is to be analyzed Step 5 - Writing a Research Proposal manually or by a computer ⭐ Research Proposal - Tells a reader about your research and how you’re Qualitative Quantitative planning to investigate ⭐ Details the operational plan for You can write your report on the basis Frequency distribution, obtaining answers ⭐ A research proposal must tell you the of your field notes, manually analyze cross-tabulations, or other statistical following information about your the contents, or use procedures, such as study: a computer regression analysis 1. What you are proposing to do; program and variance 2. How you plan to proceed; 3. Why you selected the proposed Step 8 - Writing a Research Report ⭐ strategy Therefore, it should contain the ⭐ The last and perhaps the most difficult step of the research process following information: 1. Objectives ⭐ This report informs the world what you have done and discovered 2. Hypotheses 3. Study Design ⭐ Should be written in an academic style and can be divided into different 4. Setting chapters/sections 5. Research Instruments 6. Sample Size 7. Data Processing Procedures 8. Proposed Chapters 9. Problems and Limitations 10. Proposed Time-frame Phase III: Conducting a Research Study Step 6: Collecting Data ⭐ After the previous step, you then collect data from which you will draw Page 7  Observation broader - Conclusion - Based on facts and not opinions generalizations follows logically - Quantitative: precise numerical and theories from premises observations - Conclusion is - Theory > - Qualitative: descriptive observations likely based from hypothesis > - Ex: The color of the liquid is purple. premises observation > Inference - Observation > confirmation - Reasonable conclusion drawn from pattern > tentative observation; possible explanation for the hypothesis > observation theory - May or may not know the answer to the question even by the end of the story Common in descriptive Used in - Ex: All my socks are blue. All my socks science hypothesis-based have holes in them. Therefore, all blue science socks have holes in them. Form of logical thinking Form of logical thinking Prediction that uses related that uses a general - Educated guess about a future that can observations to arrive at principle or law to be drawn from inferences general conclusions forecast specific results - Making a guess about what a character have done/will do; how a character feels - Ex: If a person eats fatty food, then the Involves formulating The pattern of thinking person will have a skin outbreak. generalizations inferred moves in the opposite from careful observation direction as compared Scientific Reasoning and the analysis of a to inductive reasoning Methods of logical thinking: large amount of data Inductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Ex: Harold is a Ex: All bald men are From a number of From a general grandfather. Harold is grandfathers. Harold is observations, a general premise, specific results bald. Therefore, all bald. Therefore, Harold conclusion is drawn are predicted grandfathers are bald. is grandfather. Infers theoretical Tests concepts & Ex: Black cats purr. White Ex: Since all humans concepts & patterns from patterns known from cats purr. Therefore, are mortal, and I am a observed data theory using new every cat must purr. human, then I am a empirical data mortal. Ex: All the rivers studied Ex: Freshwater Theory-building Theory Testing in Metro Manila are ecosystems has an considered as eutrophic. average ppt of 0.5. “Bottom Up Approach” “Top Down Approach” Therefore, eutrophic Lakes have a ppt of 0.5. - Moving from - From more rivers are found in the Therefore, Lake is an specific general to more city. example of freshwater observations to specific ecosystem. Page 8 Variables and Controls in Experiments Variable - something that varies per setup Independent Variable - the one thing you change Dependent Variable - the change that happens because of the independent variable Controlled variable - everything you want to remain constant and unchanging Page 9