Research Onion

Research Philosophy  Research  Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Research Onion

Research Philosophy • Your research philosophy depends on the way that

 you think about knowledge is developed or created, how we gain understanding of things ( epistemology  ). ).  “

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• Your way of thinking will affect the way you go about doing research. • Generally, there are two key research philosophies, the positivism and phenomenology.

Research Philosophy • Your research philosophy depends on the way that

 you think about knowledge is developed or created, how we gain understanding of things ( epistemology  ). ).  “

”  ” 

• Your way of thinking will affect the way you go about doing research. • Generally, there are two key research philosophies, the positivism and phenomenology.

Research Philosophy 

Positivism

Research  Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Phenomenology 

Philosophy - Positivism • You are working with an observable reality. Research can produce laws. Results can be generalised, similar to those produced by  natural scientists. • You are working objectively, with little or no personal interpretation of the data. • You need a structured methodology to gain quantitative data which is replicable and can be analysed using stats.

Philosophy - Phenomenology  •  You are researching human behaviour. This may   be too complex to follow a definite law in the same way as the natural sciences. • Generalisability is not of crucial importance, since we are focussing on a particular problem or situation • Phenomenology highlights the details of the situation to understand a reality working behind them.

Research Philosophy 

Positivism

Research  Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Phenomenology 

The Research Approach Deductive

Inductive

Theory 

Theory 

Hypotheses

Tentative Hypotheses

Data

Patterns Data

Confirmatio n

Data

Deductive approach: testing theory 

Inductive approach:  building theory 

Deductive vs. Inductive Deductive Approach   

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Scientific principles Moving from theory to data The need to explain causal relationships between variables The collection of quantitative data The application of controls to ensure data validity A highly structured approach Researcher independence of what is being researched The necessity to select samples of sufficient size in order to generalise conclusions

Inductive Approach 

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Gaining an understanding of the meaning humans attach to events A close understanding of the research context The collection of qualitative data A more flexible structure to permit changes of research emphasis as the research progresses A realisation that the researcher is part of the research process Less concern with the need to generalise

Research Philosophy 

Positivism Deductive

Research  Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Inductive Phenomenology 

R  e   s   e   a r   c  h   S   t   r   a  t    e   g i    e   s 

Survey Method • The survey method is usually associated with the deductive approach – surveys are “experiments”. • It allows the collection of a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way. • It is often conducted on questionnaire to answer those „What‟ and „How‟ questions. Its data are standardised and so allow easy comparison. • It gives you more control over the research process, however, it takes time to design and pilot a good questionnaire.

Experimental Method The Experimental Method is a classical form of research that comes from the natural science. The process usually  involves: 1.The definition of a theoretical hypothesis. 2.Select a sample of a population. 3.Allocate samples to different experimental conditions. 4.Introduce planned change on one variable (the independent variable). 5.Measure the change of an associated dependent  variable. 6.Control of other variables.  “

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Research Philosophy 

Positivism Deductive

Research  Approach Research Strategies

Experimen t

Time Horizons

Survey 

Grounded Research

Data Collection

Focus Group

Ethnography  Inductive Phenomenology 

Case Study 

Time Horizons • Consider the amount of time you have, do you want  your research to be a „snapshot‟ or a „diary ‟? • The snapshot reflects the cross-sectional studies. • The diary reflects the longitudinal studies

Research Philosophy 

Positivism Deductive

Research  Approach Research Strategies

Experimen t Cross Sectional

Time Horizons Data Collection

Survey  Grounded Research Focus Group

Longitudinal Ethnography  Inductive Phenomenology 

Case Study 

Types of Data • Quantitative • Qualitative

Research Philosophy 

Positivism Deductive

Research  Approach Research Strategies

Experimen t Cross Sectional

Time Horizons Data Collection

Survey 

Quantitative

Grounded Research

Qualitative

Focus Group

Longitudinal Ethnography  Inductive Phenomenology 

Case Study 

Stages in a Research

 Wish to do Research

Literature Review 

Data Collection

Report  Writing

Research Topic, Questions

Design Research  Approaches

Data  Analysis

Report Submitting

Negotiate  Access

Research Proposal  Writing guideline

Title • Give a clear and succinct title, indicating the  problem area around which the research will be undertaken.

 Word guide • Title…………………………10 -20 •  Abstract------------------words guide 50-100 • Key words ........15-20

 Please note following instructions. The proposal should include a list  of references and a timeframe. The word count excluding

Background •  Include a description of the background to your topic.  Explain ▫ Why you have chosen the topic ▫ Why you selected this particular industry for research ▫  Research Gap, mention at least 3 references who suggested this kind of work to be done in future.

• Research Questions Here you should write your research questions as they emerge from the background  and critical literature review. • Research Objectives Here you outline your main objectives of your research? Develop these into 3-5  specific research objectives that begin with “To…” and  use higher level verbs

Word Guide 500-750

Preliminary Review of the Literature • Give a brief critical review of the literature that  you have read in writing the proposal. This should include current sources. Don’t forget to give a list of sources used (a minimum of 20 for  proposal and 100 for thesis) - use the APA style, you are encouraged to use endnote for referencing. Justify the need for the research.

Word Guide 800-1000

Research Plan / Methodology • This is the most important section •  Data Collection Methods •  Have you a conceptual framework?  •  If so, include. Propositions What is the access and  sampling strategy (including sample numbers)?  •  Population, sample, element………….use NQuery  Advisor •  How will the data be analyzed and presented?  • What are the delimitations of your research comment briefly on validity, reliability and  generalizability

Word Guide 500-750

Ethical Considerations •  Plagiarism is acceptable up to only 15 percent  excluding referencing. Before review and   presentation •  Proposal will be tested for plagiarism • Time frame Include a Gantt chart. Time line  for each important task Alert us to any  particular problems you are likely to face.

Word Guide 150-200

• Referencing ▫  5 books and 20 research articles Using endnote software and in APA style

•  Annexure ▫ Questionnaire, web information or any other report.

Note: you can skip any of the options if not applicable.

Categorical

Non-numeric

N

O

Quantitative

Numeric

Numerical

N

I

O

R 

Nominal………category ……… No Order or Rank, just name Eg ; country name ,company name etc.

Ordinal ……..Ranked categories but we don‟t know the difference Eg ; good , bad , excellent SA 3

A 4

Avg 3

D 2

SD 1

Interval ………. We ranked them with fixed distance  between each data category ranked/order/zero is scale if comes in data ..does not nothing exist. Ratio ……….numeric zero mean nothing exists,Ranked F 0

10

10

20

Allow to do ratio

Excel For Research

CHI SQUARE Sample drawn from population Minimum expecting of  five currencies in each category 

 Values must be mutually  exclusive

CHI SQUARE

Do you work ? Y/N

Students: Lot of us work – students are saying

(Alternate Hypothesis)

Professor : Equal people work

(Null Hypothesis)

Descriptive Statics Observed No  

Y

Expected No 16

Residual 10

6

N

14

10

-6

T

20

20

0

Chi square x2

7.2

Df

0.1

Significance

0.007

X2 (1)=7.20, P ≤0.05

  We sampled 20 students and evaluated  whether those of the students who worked  was equal to the students who don‟t work. Data was analyzed choosing Chi Square of fitness test. NULL hypothesis was rejected X2(1)=7.2,P ≤ 0.05 More than half of the students work 

T-Test It detects the defenses between the means of two dependent variables.

 Requirements 1. Sample from population. 2. Two scale measurement per participant. 3. Distribution of differences scores is quality normal. 1. People spend more time on watching movies (AH) 2. People spend more time reading books.(NH) One laid test Test Anova