2 Methodology, Research Questions, Research Designs

Question 1

3 main points

Answer 1

• methodology, research questions, and research designs are interconnected
• research design reflects methodological preferences
• the same research question can be answered using diff research designs

Question 2

research question

Answer 2

• simply the question that your study is trying to answer

Question 3

types of research questions

Answer 3

• questions that make you curious and intrigued
• questions that nobody seems to have an answer to
• questions that doubt conventional wisdom on a certain topic

Question 4

research design

Answer 4

strategy used by the researcher to answer their research question; how to get from Point A of ‘no knowledge’ to Point B of ‘(some) knowledge’

Question 5

components of a (positivist) research design

Answer 5

• literature review
• theory or statement that you have no theory
• plan to collect scholarly evidence
• budget and timelines
• plan to analyze data collected
• dissemination plan
• methodological approach

Question 6

literature review

Answer 6

appraisal of existing research on the topic before jumping into research; can be extensive or cursory (if there’s not enough research or if topic demands only short review)

Question 7

theory or statement that you have no theory

Answer 7

based upon intuition and appraisal of existing literature on topic

Question 8

plan to collect scholarly evidence

Answer 8

determine what kind of data is necessary and how to gather it; can be more quantitative or qualitative

Question 9

budget and timelines

Answer 9

determine costs of research and how long it will take

Question 10

plan to analyze the evidence collected

Answer 10

have some sense of how you will analyze and categorize the data

Question 11

dissemination plan

Answer 11

where you will publish the research, how this will happen, and how it will be shared

Question 12

methodological approach

Answer 12

understanding of your methodological approach (positivist vs interpretivist); better to explicitly state it

Question 13

connections between the three

Answer 13

• methodology and research design are connected bc the choices you make in design are determined by methodology
• research questions can stay the same across methodologies but methodology influences components of research design
• maybe some research questions are answered better by certain methodologies, but there’s a multiplicity of research designs