Research Methodologies Flashcards
Research fundamental
▪ the purpose of research
Includes:
- Educate others
The information gathered is used to educate and improve practice in that area. - Increase understanding
Gain an awareness of how the world works - Advance knowledge
people enhance their knowledge and understanding of specific issues or topics - Inform practise
Aids in making decisions towards future plans or intentions
▪ the focus of research, eg question/ hypothesis
The point of research is to find something out, by answering the hypothesis.
Researchers often develop a hypothesis by exploring a research question and problem statement first.
Research questions - the specific unidentified predicament that the research is studying to resolve
Problem statement - A declaration stating the problem that is occurring and will be the focus of the research
Hypothesis - A theory or statement that research is based on. Research is conducted to prove or disprove the hypothesis.
▪ Sampling
a selection of a number of people to represent a group being researched
Summary of sampling:
Choosing a number of people to represent a ‘population’, based on their characteristics
E.g. Surveying 10,000 people in Australia, instead of all 26,000,000
If done right, it can be more efficient and cheaper, while still returning usable data
▪ Sample size
Number of people in the sample
- Depends on the scale of the study/research
- Larger/more diverse/more representative samples usually lead to more accurate results.
▪ Population
All the people in a defined group
(e.g. all elderly Australians, or all citizens of Willoughby, or all females over 18)
▪ Sample group
Depend on the nature of the research
Ideally a diverse group with different demographics, but this depends on the research
Should be chosen in a way that leads to most unbiased results, so the sample’s responses are the truest indication of how the population would respond
Recall the sampling methods
refers to how the sample group is chosen.
Sampling methods include: ‘random’, ‘systematic’, ‘clustered’, ‘convenience’, ‘quota’, ‘snowball’ and ‘stratified’.
Systematic Sampling
Definition: Choosing one number at random and then every nth unit after this random start.
Method: A researcher chooses candidates systematically:
For example, choosing every 5th name of a list
Advantages: Evenly spread across the population
Can be easier to apply than simple random sampling
Disadvantages: A pattern may be present in the population making the sample biased
Random sampling
Definition: The researcher doesn’t discriminate when choosing the sample. Each person in the population has an equal chance of being chosen
Method: A researcher chooses candidates randomly:
Make a list of all individuals in the population
Randomly select participants
Advantage: Simple, Fair
Disadvantage: Requires ‘access’ to the whole population in order to be truly random
Can be very expensive and time consuming, especially when participants are geographically dispersed.
Clustered sampling
Definition: Dividing a population into clusters and random selection is made within these clusters.
Method: Subgroups are chosen for the sample (with commonalities):
Divide the population into clusters
Apply random sampling to select a subset of clusters and use them as the sample.
Advantages: Cheaper and more efficient to apply when dealing with a geographically dispersed population.
Disadvantages: The sample will be biased if the clusters do not represent the population.
Convenience Sampling
Definition: When a researcher selects people because they are easily located. These results have the lowest credibility.
Method: Candidates are chosen because they are easily accessible:
Example: Interviewing your own friends
Disadvantages: Cheap, time-saving, and simple to implement
Advantages: This often leads to selection bias, meaning the study results may not truly represent the population
Quota Sampling
Definition: the researcher selects participants based on specific characteristics, ensuring they represent certain attributes in proportion to their prevalence in the population
Method: Candidates are chosen based on prerequisites
Choosing 10 students from each school year
Advantages: Cheaper, faster, and easier than stratified sampling because it does not require random sampling
Minority groups are represented
Disadvantages: Can lead to selection bias and may not truly represent the population
Snowball Sampling
Definition: research participants are asked to assist researchers in identifying other potential subjects.
Method: A group of respondents are chosen, then they refer other respondents on to the researcher:
Identify few initial participants to be included in your study.
Ask these participants to refer enough others to be included in the study.
Advantage: Useful if the population is difficult to identify
Disadvantage: Selection bias is possible since the sample is not selected at random.
May be slow because it relies on the referral of existing participants
Stratified Sampling
Definition: A process in which a population is divided into strata groups and the researcher can ensure that there is a more balanced reputation in each of the strata groups and that the groups can be compared with each other in similar proportions to the whole population.
Method: The researcher categorises the population into groups and randomly chooses a sample from each group:
Divide the population into subgroups
Calculate the number of individuals to match that, then random sample
Advantages: Characteristics may influence results
Mostly useful when we want to make sure that minority groups are represented in the sample
Disadvantages: Sometimes the population cannot be divided into stratified data
Purposive Sampling
Definition: matching of the sample to the aims and objectives of the research
Method: A researcher relies on their own judgement when choosing members of the population to participate in the study
Advantage: One of the most cost-effective and time-effective methods available
Maybe the only appropriate method available if there are a limited number of primary data sources
Can be effective in exploring situations where the discovery of meaning can benefit from an intuitive approach (anthropological)
Disadvantage: Vulnerability to errors in judgement by the researcher
Low level of reliability and high levels of bias
Inability to generalise research findings
Types of data (1
Primary data -Data collected by the researcher first hand for the use in their own research e.g. an observation or surveys and their results and reports.
The researcher knows the data is valid and knows where it came from, the characteristics of any individuals involved etc.
Observations, Interviews, Questionnaires,
Secondary data - Data collected by another that can be reapplied to a new person’s work.
It is less time consuming to use someone else’s’ valid data than to go out and collect your own, and you can ensure validity or bring up interesting research points by cross referencing.
literature reviews, Case Studies,
Types of datat (2
Qualitative - Relating to, measuring, or measured by the quantity of something rather than its quality e.g. E.g. numbers that can be categorised
Objective data can provide a good outline of ‘what’ is happening in a situation. It is more objective and reliable and subject to less bias.
Measurable, useful for graphs and charts
Quantitive - Research that demonstrates quality, length does not determine this quality but rather the content of the research does. E.g. Includes opinions, responses and reflection
Subjective data can provide words and images to help us understand more about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of a situation.
Insight into experiences, more than just yes/no
Sources of Data
Individuals
Comprise of Teacher, family, friends, neighbours, and experts.
Advantages of Individuals
Individuals have an advantage as a source of data as they are able to give up to date information and are able to provide perspectives and insights based on their position in society, such as a doctor can give insight into data of a medical nature and provide extra insight as to the meaning of it and if anything new has been found in the meantime
Disadvantages of Individuals
Individuals, contrary to the above, are disadvantaged as a source of data as, if solely seeking from the individual, the data is unmeasurable and so it may be invalid or false. Additionally, individuals are limited and not all data can be conveyed accurately.
Groups
Comprises of Mission Australia, government agencies, specialist groups, and health authorities
Advantages of Groups
With a group of individuals, there is therefore a larger bank of information that can be used as a source of data and, should the group be made of a mixed number of people such as specialists from various areas, it is not only a large bank, but also an immense wealth of data and knowledge to be used.
Disadvantage of Groups
Although groups are useful in collecting data, in some circles, the individuals that make up a group can often conflict with each other and their findings and opinions can easily contradict one another.
Print and Digital
Digital
Internet, computer programs, television, radio
Advantage Of Digital
As the internet is such a vast source, in conjunction with other digital mediums, these sources of data are infinitely valuable and can provide the most recent of information at the touch of a button.
Disadvantages Of Digital
Though the internet, TV, radio and such are such a vast source of data and information, it is not always accurate or even true at all and so the reliability and validity of these sources is often compromised.
Print
Books, journals, magazines, newspapers
Advantages of Print
Printed information is more reliable than that on the Internet or on TV, and so it is just as valuable a source, and there is plenty of it out there should one know where to find it.
Disadvantages of Print
As print is printed, there is limitation as to its availability, such as if some books are not published or stocked in a certain country and so it would have to be bought overseas.
Reliability and validity
Reliability
Consistency of measurement - Correct, truthful, accurate.
(It is reliable if it were to be repeated under the same conditions)
Validity
Accuracy of measurement - Can be enhanced by references to sources of reliable information.
(Research is valid if it accurately reflects what it was intended to measure)
Ethical behaviour
Ethics
Based on well-founded standards of what is considered morally good and acceptable and what is morally right and wrong for the society. Ethics stablish the rules that individuals need to follow for the survival of the society. Therefore, ethics are subjective and communal.
Ethical Behaviour
Actions following the rules that is considered correct in society. On the contrary, moral behaviour is driven on the by the desire to be good.
The importance Ethical behaviour in research
protect safety and confidentiality of the participant
personal bias could affect the results of your work and impact the ethical reliability
In order to protect the rights of individuals and maintain trust between participants and researcher/s
to be open and honest when interacting with the interviewee
to allow others to trust your research
To receive authentic and accurate responses from participants
Ensure that no third party has access to data(especially with personal information included in the research) for participant’s safety and privacy.
Respect
due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others.
Plan questions that are carefully worded to ensure they do not cause neither distress nor offend anyone personally, politically, religiously, and so on.
Ensure all participation is voluntary and consent is informed, also ensuring that all possible risks are known and are taken with the individuals’ knowledge
In particular you must respect the age, feelings, culture, status, health, experiences of respondents/people involved in research
Integrity
the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change
Ensure all information within the final results and findings can be supported by research and are therefore not suspected to be falsified information on the researcher’s behalf.
Data is presented free of bias or opinion that may compromise the results or make them appear false.
Be honest and truthful in;
How the research & information shared will be used
Who will access the research
How the participants are treated, the purpose of the research and the nature of it
Privacy
a state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people.
Ask for permission before conducting any research involving any individual or their property.
Ensure all data and opinions are not revealed to others during the research process.
Ensure confidentiality
Use numbers, not names
Bias
a tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others that usually results in treating some people unfairly.
Choose a sampling method that reflects the age, gender and culture of the population with as much accuracy as possible.
Record data that supports both the hypothesis and its contrary or otherwise, should it be found
Remove bias
Or
Acknowledge any bias in the analysis of the da
What is a case study?
A secondary research method in which that data collected are in raw format. Used to gain a deep understanding of influences and effects of complex issues within specific contexts
Advantage:
- A lot of detailed is collected
- sample populations can be surveyed when large populations are unavailable
- general predictions are possible
- A hypothesis can be developed
- behaviour is described as it occurs
- the researcher controls the situation
Disadvantage:
- data may not nesscarily be valid for wider population
- danger of data bias when only one person is collecting
- hard to gauge definite cause and effect from one case study
- maybe time consuming and difficult to analyse
- vital information may be missed
What is an observation?
observations require the researcher to watch and record their behaviours of their subjects/participants
advantages:
- May be participant or participant
-non-participant observes gives the ability to see the ‘whole picture’ from outside
- participant allows for personal insight
- gives qualitative data
disadvantages:
- time consuming, due to having to observe groups or maybe even multiple
- the group being aware of your presence, may therefore act differently to when you are absent from a situation
- sociograms can be unreliable due to the observer missing information or the group moving too fast to be observed
Planning for reserch
Planning is essential for success in research, and formulating a research proposal should include a question, hypothesis, sampling and research methods, as well as creating a timeline when all these things should be completed.
For a research topic, researchers should consider topics of interest and resources that are accessible locally and available; and for the IRP specifically the chosen topic must interconnect to CAFS content, e.g families, communities, groups. A research question can then be formulated.
Once this is established, a researcher must examine the research methods, sampling methods and sample size that best suits the research.
As for managing resources, time management can be achieved through a calendar system and recoding all deadlines in a diary, making lists on what to do etc. A filing system can be
implemented to keep data organised and all electronic data should be backed up via a hard drive to ensure no data is lost.
Formulating a research process?
Research planning involves creating a proposal that outlines the project plan and research process.
This stage involves choosing a research focus, sampling methods, outlining the research plan, and setting research goals with a timeline.
Managing resources e.g. time, materials
The researcher must effectively manage time and resources (tablet/laptop, recording devices, notepads, folders) for successful research.
for effective resource management, create a timeline
elements of a timeline:
a list of all the specific actions required to conduct the research
the dates or time frames within each of these actions will be completed
resources required
the management of research needs to be planned, organised, implemented and evaluated
setting a timeline starts with setting goals
first, identify the long-term goal/s of the research project then, identify the intermediate goals or actions to achieve the long-term goal/s
finally, outline all the short-term goals or actions that are necessary to achieve each of the intermediate goals or actions
decide on the most appropriate order and times for the goals
as each goal is achieved, the situation must be evaluated and planning continues so resources can be organised and implemented to achieve the goal with the next priority
Accessing sources of data
The researcher conducting research will need to access sources of data through individuals, groups, print and digital sources.
Included in this would be accessing relevant sources of secondary data and using suitable research methods to collect and record primary and secondary data.
This can be done through various research methods and recording devices.
Collecting and recording
The second step is to collect and record data, including documenting actions, recording issues, and proposing solutions, which are essential tasks for researchers. Methods:
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observations
Case Studies
Literature review
involves using research methodologies to gather data from a range of primary and secondary sources. Recording data involves documenting the specific data that is relevant to and necessary for the research topic. Collecting this primary data may be in the form of interview or questionnaire responses, as well as observation details. This information collected must be done so in a logical, thoughtful, systematic manner to be most effective .
Documenting issues and actions
process diary should be used to:
record research activities, i.e. interviews and phone calls
present an account of the positive and negative experiences faced throughout the research process
suggest recommendations for future researchers
aim of the project diary is to document research progress
it must set out clearly what is to be done, how it will be done and feelings about the research process and should include positive and negative experiences, any changes made in the focus or direction of the project and show both the work done during and outside of school hours
should include:
preliminary research ideas and processes, i.e. mindmaps, timeline drafts, advantages and disadvantages
dates, telephone calls, addresses and other details of the research (i.e. example questionnaires and references to secondary data)
will provide a critical reflection and evaluation of the IRP (which can be used in the ‘analysis and discussion’ section of the report)
They researcher must record actions and propose solutions to any research issues
The process should be document through various mediums:
e.g. handwritten diaries, folders, electronic formats, mind maps, videos, journals, blogs, or other forms of recording
The diary should honestly reflect on problems and their solutions, and be used to record readings, conversations, contacts, and secondary data sources.
Presenting research findings?
it is vital that the finding primary research is presented in an appropriate format
when selecting a format, a researcher should consider the purpose of presenting the information, as well as what they want the reader to understand from it.
Quantitative research should be presented in graphs, tables, and statistics
Qualitative research is formatted through detailed descriptions
Analyse research findings?
This involves comprehensive analysis of the results discovered.
exploring the relationship between key data and results and the research question/hypothesis in order to draw conclusions from them
Clarifying the data and highlighting important points, trends, common elements, unexpected outcomes and relationships between factors
explaining the significance of the information in relation to the question/hypothesis posed
often analysis of data involves establishing the following from the results:
mean: average score
median: middle score
mode: most common score
range: difference between the highest and lowest scores
when analysing data:
identify key data that is relevant to the research question/hypothesis
discuss key data both supports and disproves the research question/hypothesis
construct an argument using key data in order to draw conclusions about the research
Drawing conclusions from Research
Researcher analyses data to draw conclusions, discusses findings, links to hypotheses, and makes recommendations for future improvements.
Researcher must credit sources with correct bibliography format throughout the project.
Researchers can include supporting materials in a clearly labelled appendix, such as interview questions, raw data copies, key secondary articles, and interview transcripts.
The project is then ready for presentation, submission and review.
the conclusion should summarise and restate clearly and briefly:
what the primary data collected shows, how this relates to the research in general, the validity of the findings, and possible implications/recommendations from the findings
tips for writing a (good) conclusion: restate the research question/hypothesis to remind the reader of the purpose of the research reiterate how research has supported the research focus/question or hypothesis recapitulate the main aspects of the research show the reader how the topic influences their daily life or is significant in global context pose a challenging question that asks the reader to think about the implications of the research focus or use a thought-provoking quote from the research in the conclusion that summarises up a key point the reader should consider.
Outline of IRP process?
IRP
The project plan
Provides an initial summary and outline of the complete research process.
The project diary
Is a record of an ongoing process
Records values, attitudes and feelings
Reflects honestly on problems encountered and their solutions
Records conversations, contacts, readings and sources of secondary data
Reflects the proposed timeline.
The product
Is independent; that is, it is the student’s own work, based on area of interest related to the course content
Is research based, meaning that the students should ‘find something’ out or add their existing knowledge
Should reflect the time and commitment allocated to it in the overall context of the course
