Research Philosophy

Research Onion

Research Approach
Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

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 Research Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Positivism

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 Research Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Positivism

Phenomenology

The Research Approach

Deductive Theory Hypotheses Data Confirmatio n Inductive Theory Tentative Hypotheses
Patterns Data

Data

Deductive approach: testing theory

Inductive approach: building theory

Deductive vs. Inductive

Deductive Approach Inductive Approach

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

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 Research Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Positivism Deductive

Inductive Phenomenology

Research Strategies

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.

Research Philosophy Research Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Positivism Deductive

Experimen t

Survey

Grounded Research 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 Research Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Positivism Deductive

Experimen t Cross Sectional Survey Grounded Research Focus Group Longitudinal Ethnography Inductive Phenomenology

Case Study

Types of Data
Quantitative
Qualitative

Research Philosophy Research Approach Research Strategies Time Horizons Data Collection

Positivism Deductive

Experimen t Cross Sectional Quantitative Qualitative Longitudinal Ethnography Inductive Phenomenology Survey Grounded Research Focus Group

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 Title10-20 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 references is 1500 2000

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. Dont 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

Quantitative

Non-numeric

Numeric

Numerical

Nominalcategory No Order or Rank, just name Eg ; country name ,company name etc.

Ordinal ..Ranked categories but we dont 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 20 10 20 30 Allow to do ratio

Excel For Research

CHI SQUARE
Sample drawn from population Values must be mutually exclusive

Minimum expecting of five currencies in each category

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 N T 16 14 20 Expected No 10 10 20 Residual 6 -6 0

Chi square x2 Df Significance

7.2 0.1 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 dont 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

Tests of data
1. Count 2. Average 3. Standard dev 4. T-Test
Average of two means are statistically different from each other SD,AVG,X does not tell us full story either two numbers are different