HEEDX4A

Lesson 1

EDUCATION 4A
Research Methods
Presented by
Dr. RS (Solly) Lebelo 2022/03/15
 Course Overview

• What is research?
• Paradigms in Research
• Types of research methods
- Qualitative Research
- Quantitative Research
- Mixed Research

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 What is Research?
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/research.html

Generally, a research involves any formal gathering of data, information and

facts to advance knowledge in a particular field.

Research can be defined as a systematic investigative process, whose purpose

is to increase or revise current knowledge by discovering new facts.

Research can be categorised into:

1. Basic research: An inquiry aimed at increasing scientific knowledge.
2. Applied research: An effort aimed at using basic research for solving
problems or developing new processes, products, or techniques.

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 What is Research?
• Research is a cyclical process of steps that typically begins
with identifying the problem or issue of the study.

• It then consists of reviewing the literature, specifying a

purpose for the study and forming an interpretation of the
information.

• This process culminates in a report disseminated to the

audience that is evaluated and used in the educational
community.

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 The Research Process

SITUATION

RESEARCH
CONCLUSION TOPIC

RESEARCH
DATA
METHODS

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 Decide on a Question you want to Study
• The research question is one of the most important pieces of
your research design.

• It determines what you want to learn or understand, and it also

helps to focus the study, since we cannot investigate everything
at once.

• The research question will also shape how we conduct our

study since different questions require different methods of
inquiry.

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 Most Studies fit within Qualitative and
Quantitative Research

Exploratory research involves qualitative studies

(observation, interviews, and content analysis)

Explanatory research involves quantitative studies and

hypothesis testing.

Descriptive studies most often involve quantitative research

techniques or a combination of qualitative and quantitative
method (mixed methods).

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 Qualitative Research

• Questions: What? How?

• Often qualitative research is especially useful for

answering "how" or "what" questions.

• Qualitative methods are useful when a question

cannot be answer by a simple 'yes' or no' hypothesis.

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Qualitative Research

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 Quantitative Research

• What is the relationship between study time and exam scores

amongst university students?

• Studies that are based on a quantitative research design attempt to

answer at least one quantitative research question.

• In some cases, these quantitative research questions will be followed

by either research hypotheses or null hypotheses.

• There are different types of quantitative research questions: (i)

descriptive research questions; (ii) comparative research questions
and (iii) relationship-based research questions).

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 Paradigms

A paradigm is “the set of common beliefs and agreements shared

between scientists about how problems should be understood
and addressed” (Kuhn, 1962).
Or

A paradigm is simply a belief system (or theory) that guides the

way we do things, or more formally establishes a set of practices.

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 Three most Common Paradigms

• Positivism: a believe that there is a single reality, which can be

measured and known, and therefore they are more likely to use
quantitative methods to measure this reality.

• Constructivism: a believe that there is no single reality or truth, and

therefore reality needs to be interpreted, and therefore they are
more likely to use qualitative methods to get those multiple
realities.

• Pragmatism: a believe that reality is constantly renegotiated,

debated, interpreted, and therefore the best method to use is the
one that solves the problem

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 The importance of paradigms for research
1. Across disciplines (and within) there are varying views of what
research is and how this relates to the kind of knowledge being
developed. (Education & Management Sciences).
2. Paradigms guide how we make decisions and carry out
research(Guba 1990).
3. Your own discipline is also guided by a paradigm and through the
research papers you read in your subject, you will begin to identify,
through the methodology the kind of paradigm that is used
(quantitative and qualitative approaches).
4. As a researcher, it is important to know where your discipline
belongs, that there are different ways of viewing the world and
that your approach to knowledge is one of many.

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 The importance of paradigms for research

According to Guba (1990) paradigms are about:

1. Ontology: What is reality?

2. Epistemology: What and how do you know something
(reality/knowledge)?
3. Theoretical perspective: What approach can you use to get
knowledge?
4. Methodology: How do you go about finding it (procedure)?
5. Methods: What tools can we use to acquire knowledge?
6. Sources: What data can we collect (Guba 1990)?

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 Ontology and Epistemology in Research

• Ontology and epistemology are two different ways of viewing

the research philosophy.

• A research philosophy is a belief about the way in which data

about a phenomenon should be gathered, analysed and used.

• The term epistemology (what is known to be true) as opposed

to doxology (what is believed to be true) encompasses the
various philosophies of research approach.

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 Epistemology

• Epistemology is our perceived relationship with the

knowledge we are un/dis/covering.
• Are we part of that knowledge or are we external to it?

• Your approach, for example, will be objective (deductive) if

you see knowledge governed by the laws of nature or
subjective (abductive) if you see knowledge as something
interpreted by individuals.

• This in turn affects your methodology.

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 Research Philosophy

• At the Bachelor’s level, you are not expected to discuss

research philosophy in a great level of depth, and about one
page in methodology chapter devoted to research philosophy
usually suffices.

• At Master’s level you may need to provide more discussion of

the philosophy of your study, but even there, about two pages
of discussions has to be accepted as sufficient by your
supervisor.

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 Research Philosophy

• Discussion of research philosophy in your project should

include the following:
• You need to specify the research philosophy of your study.
Your research philosophy can
be , positivism or interpretivism as discussed below.
• The reasons behind philosophical classifications of the study
need to be provided.
• You need to discuss the implications of your research
philosophy on the research strategy in general and the choice
of primary data collection methods in particular.

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 Research Philosophy

• Research philosophy deals with the source, nature and

development of knowledge.

• In simple terms, a research philosophy is belief about the ways in

which data about a phenomenon should be collected, analysed and
used.

• Although the idea of knowledge creation may appear to be

profound, you are engaged in knowledge creation as part of
completing your project. You will collect secondary and primary
data and engage in data analysis to answer the research question
and this answer marks the creation of new knowledge.

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 Research Philosophy

• Addressing research philosophy in your study involves being

aware and formulating your beliefs and assumptions.

• As it is illustrated in figure below, the identification of the

research philosophy is positioned at the outer layer of the
‘research onion.

• Accordingly it is the first topic to be clarified in research

methodology chapter of your dissertation.

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Research Onion

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 The importance of Philosophy

Your ontology and epistemology create a holistic view

of how:

– knowledge is viewed;
– how we can see ourselves in relation to this knowledge;
– and the methodological strategies we use to un/discover
it.

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 Types of Research Methods
1. Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is generally more explorative. It is an
investigation that:
-seeks answers to a question
-systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question
-collects evidence
-produces findings that were not determined in advance
-produces findings that are applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of the study

It is especially effective in obtaining culturally specific

information about the values, opinions, behaviours, and social
contexts of particular populations.
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 1. Qualitative Research
The are three most common qualitative methods:

N.B. Each method is particularly suited for obtaining a specific type of data.

Participant observation: appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring

behaviours in their usual contexts.

In-depth interviews: optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories,

perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored.

Focus groups: effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in
generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups
represented.

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 1. Qualitative Research
Some Advantages
1. Use of open-ended questions - participants can respond in their own words, rather than
forcing them to choose from fixed responses, as quantitative methods do. Open-ended questions
have the ability to evoke responses that are:
• meaningful and culturally salient to the participant
• not anticipated by the researcher
• rich and explanatory in nature
2. Allows the researcher the flexibility to probe initial participant responses, that is, to ask why or
how. The researcher must listen carefully to what participants say, engage with them according to
their individual personalities and styles, and use “probes” to encourage them to elaborate on
their answers.
3. Not necessary to collect data from everyone in a community for valid findings. Only a sample
(that is, a subset) of a population is selected for a study. Direct interaction with individuals on a
one to one basis, or direct interaction with individuals in a group setting. Data collected through:
Individual interviews; Focus groups; Observations; Action Research (used to solve an immediate
problem or a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with
others in teams; or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues
and solve problems (T., Stringer, Ernest. Action research (Fourth ed.). Thousand Oaks, California.
ISBN 9781452205083. OCLC 842322985)

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 2. Quantitative Research
Involves:
- collecting and analysing data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, i.e.
from different sources.
- the use of computational, statistical, and mathematical tools to derive results.

It quantifies the problem and is generally applied to a larger population.

The data collection tools are SURVEYS and EXPERIMENTS.
SURVEYS or questionnaires can include interviews, which can be carried out using several
different methodologies including face-to-face, telephone, online or computer assisted
interviews.
EXPERIMENTS can provide specific results regarding the cause-and-effect relationship of
several independent or interdependent factors related to a particular problem.

After data collection, another step is the data analysis process. The analysis of statistical data requires
systematic tools and processes to be conducted. Many analytical tools exist such as independent
sample t-tests, correlated t-tests, variance calculations, and regression analysis that can be used to
derive results from the data.

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 2. Quantitative Research
The main characteristics:
• The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.
• The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population.
• The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability.
• Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are
sought.
• All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.
• Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures,
or other non-textual forms.
• Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or
investigate causal relationships.
• Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to collect
numerical data.
• The outstanding aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features, count them,
and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

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 2. Quantitative Research
Things to keep in mind when reporting the results of a study using quantitative methods:

1. Explain the data collected and their statistical treatment as well as all relevant results in relation to the
research problem you are investigating. N.B. The interpretation of results is not appropriate in this
section.
2. Report unanticipated events that occurred during your data collection. Explain how the actual
analysis differs from the planned analysis. Explain your handling of missing data and why any missing
data does not undermine the validity of your analysis.
3. Explain the techniques you used to "clean" your data set.
4. Choose a minimally sufficient statistical procedure; provide a rationale for its use and a reference
for it. Specify any computer programs used.
5. Describe the assumptions for each procedure and the steps you took to ensure that they were not
violated.
6. When using inferential statistics, provide the descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, and sample
sizes for each variable as well as the value of the test statistic, its direction, the degrees of freedom,
and the significance level [report the actual p value].
7. Avoid inferring causality, particularly in nonrandomized designs or without further experimentation.
8. Use tables to provide exact values; use figures to convey global effects. Keep figures small in size;
include graphic representations of confidence intervals whenever possible.
9. Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figures.

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 Qualitative versus Quantitative

Qualitative Research Quantitative Research

Objective / purpose  To gain an understanding of underlying  To quantify data and generalize results from a
reasons and motivations sample to the population of interest
 To provide insights into the setting of a  To measure the incidence of various views and
problem, generating ideas and/or hypotheses opinions in a chosen sample
for later quantitative research
 Sometimes followed by qualitative research
 To uncover prevalent trends in thought and which is used to explore some findings further
opinion

Sample Usually a small number of non-representative Usually, a large number of cases representing the
cases. Respondents selected to fulfil a given quota. population of interest. Randomly selected
respondents.

Data collection Unstructured or semi-structured techniques e.g. Structured techniques such as online
individual depth interviews or group discussions. questionnaires, on-street or telephone interviews.

Data analysis Non-statistical. Statistical data is usually in the form of tabulations.

Findings are conclusive and usually descriptive in
nature.

Outcome Exploratory and/or investigative. Findings are not

conclusive and cannot be used to make
generalizations about the population of interest. Used to recommend a final course of action.
Develop an initial understanding and sound base for
further decision making.
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 3. Mixed Research

Basic Characteristics

• Design can be based on either or both perspectives.

• Research problems can become research questions and/or hypotheses based on prior
literature, knowledge, experience, or the research process.
• Sample sizes vary based on methods used.
• Data collection can involve any technique available to researchers.
• Interpretation is continual and can influence stages in the research process.

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 3.Mixed Research
Why Use Mixed Methods?

The simple answer is to overcome the limitations of a single design. A detailed

answer involves:

•To explain and interpret the findings.

•To explore a phenomenon.
•To develop and test a new instrument.
•To serve a theoretical perspective.
•To complement the strengths of a single design.
•To overcome the weaknesses of a single design.
•To address a question at different levels.
•To address a theoretical perspective at different levels.

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 3. Mixed Research
What are some strengths?

•Can be easy to describe and to report.

•Can be useful when unexpected results arise from a prior study.
•Can help generalize, to a degree, qualitative data.
•Helpful in designing and validating an instrument.
•Can position research in a transformative framework.

What are some weaknesses?

•Time required.
•Resolving discrepancies between different types of data.
•Some designs generate unequal evidence.
•Can be difficult to decide when to proceed in sequential designs.
•Little guidance on transformative methods.

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