Research Methods and Design Essays

Research can be used in many methods, for example: questionnaires, television, leaflets, books etc. it allows us to keep up to date on the new findings or discoveries e.g. a new type of cancer or a new vaccination. Research is the investigation into

Within this assignment there will be a clear demonstration and understanding of the concept of research in relation to the acquisition of underpinning knowledge appropriate to my programme of study. I will also be undertaking a comparative analysis of the nature and validity of quantitative and qualitative research methods. I will also be demonstrating skills in critical analysis of methods of data collection and selection of appropriate methods to informing future working practice. I will also be analyse the ethical considerations in relation to the development and undertaking of research.

The vital methodological approach for this study is on qualitative intrinsic case study research. It is imperative to note that even though all parts of the research design are connected, the connections are not inflexible. The rubber band analogy, as put forward by Maxwell, tries to expound vividly a qualitative design as something that is considerably flexible but there are constraints caused by different parts one onto another. If these constrains are in anyway compromised, they may result in the design being ineffective (Maxwell, 2005, p.6).

Research methodology and methodological approaches that is, the structured process of conducting research and the overall concepts and theories which underpin research respectively (Bryman, 2008), occupy a central position in the research process as they are both shaped by and translate the researcher’s epistemological position. Epistemology then refers to a researcher’s philosophical stance about the nature, derivation and scope of knowledge (Gilbert, 2008). These positions are seldom ‘spelt out’ but rather understood in the matter of research methodology and approach (Sarantakos, 2005).

The method of qualitative research become key method in the human and social science and also in the education and health science. The definition of qualitative research is a research using methods such as participant observation or case studies which result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting or practice. Sociologists using these methods typically reject positivism and adopt a form of interpretive sociology (Parkinson & Drislane,2011). It involves the research using data that do not indicate ordinal values. Furthermore, qualitative research includes the different kinds of data collection, techniques of analysis and diversity of theoretical frameworks (Guest; Namey & Mitchell, 2013). According to Creswell(2013) ‘’the final written report or presentation includes the voices of participants, the reflexivity of the researcher, a complex description and interpretation of the problem, and its contribution to the literature or a call for change.

The intentions from the articles chosen to lead to the importance of educational research. In the context of the research article presented there is a correlation between educational research and policy research. The correlation is the educational aspect of research ranging from rigorous to systematic. However, there is less agreement about specific standards, criteria, and research procedures. Therefore, educational researchers may draw upon a variety of disciplines. These disciplines include psychology ,sociology, and anthropology, and the philosophical views of a researcher’s perspective. So, to understand the concept of research, we the reader must understand how information is obtain through evidence -based

Extending human knowledge in research can be challenging when an individual don’t have no systems to go by. In planning a research's design, sociologists use various of different formulas to help students analyze and understand the steps they will need to collect data. Studies have shown when investigating scientific merits, it is critical to think about bias. Even though, the quality of research topics or questions that can be asked are researchable, many of them can be endless. However, unless you grasp how to frame your question properly, by following the first stage in the student's guide to research, you will master the formula of how to proceed.

The approach of this study will take the epistemological position and a qualitative research design. Humphries (2008) asserts that qualitative research focusses on the subjective and recognises that the researcher will affect the data that is produced and therefore the outcome of the research. Denzin & Lincoln (2005:3) state that “Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them”. Quantitative research on the other hand, claims to be objective, removing the researcher’s views and values from the study. While traditionally quantitative data has been deemed to produce more reliable or valid data, it does not suffice to capture the complexities of the human experience as it assumes a positivist epistemology.

Quantitative and Qualitative are said to be systematic in different design. Both design have to follow a process system that involved defining a principle of research.

In particular, qualitative researchers tend to focus more on the social-constructed reality and the contextual influence, interaction and constraints between the researcher(s) and the participants. They are interested in finding answers to questions that focus on the “social construction of experience and how meaning is created” (Cooper & White, 2012, p. 15). However, quantitative researchers “emphasize measurement and analysis, and focus on product rather than process” (Cooper & White, 2012, p. 15). Quantitative researchers perceive reality as observable and external so that they are interested in conducting research which is based on measurement or calculation. Therefore, it is the ontological and epistemological beliefs that usually drive the methodological preferences, but what helps the researchers make their final decisions about research methods is the guiding research question(s). Sechrest and Sidani (1995) point out the commonality that both methodologies “describe their data, construct explanatory arguments form their data, and speculate about why the outcomes they observed happened as they did (p. 78)”. Both research methodologies need to address issues of either validity or credibility, make the data unbiased and the research design as rigorous as possible.

This template directs you to portions of the course text, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (Creswell, 2008). Each table includes chapter numbers

It is worth stating that to assess the quality of social science research; four criteria of evaluation can be applied: validity, reliability, comprehensiveness (generalization) and coherence (objectivity) (Hugh 2001:49). These criteria have been found to be more applicable to quantitative. However,

There are two types of research methods, which are qualitative, and quantitative each of which is focused towards diverse aspect. It is noticed that qualitative research method is used for the studies that are dependent on the use of theoretical data or content instead of collecting statistical or empirical evidence to support the discussion. The aim of this method is to consider the use of general data or theories to make sure that research aim and objectives are evaluated specifically (Taylor et al., 2015). While on the other hand, quantitative research method is used by the studies that are reliant on the utilisation of facts and figures in the numerical or statistical format in order to support the arguments or discussion. In this considered, the quantitative research method is emphasised as it will consider using numerical or empirical evidence to support the discussion. This depicts the fact that nature of the study is quantitative (Scruggs & Mastropieri, 2006).

The study for this thesis will be exploratory research using secondary data collected by the communication agency, MESH Planning. The agency developed an innovative approach called ‘real-time experience tracking’, which involves three stages of data collection. And both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected and used in this context in order to get an insight of critical incidents.

There is no doubt that most of social researches are always really in a need of using theory, leading to a requirement on using approach methods rationally. There have three types of research approaches including deduction, induction and abduction. Each possess their own logical approaching basing on characteristic so that researchers are highly advised to consider literature review careful before choosing an approach to maximise outcomes of researches (Saunders et al, 2012a)