Chapter 5 Flashcards
(33 cards)
Research design
Is a general plan of how one will answer research questions
Includes clear objectives derived from research question, it displays the sources from which data will be collected and it will explain how these data will be collected.
Different aspects of the formulation of a research design
5
- research strategy: qualitative, qualitative or multiple methods
- the nature of the project: explanatory, descriptive or exploratory
- methodological choice and related strategies
- determining the time horizon of the research
- ethical issues regarding the project
The research strategy: qualitative, quantitative or multiple methods
Quantitative research design
‘Quantitive’, is often used to refer to a way to collect data or procedure to analyse data that generated or used numerical data,
Some characteristics
-associated with positivism, but may also be associated with Interpretivism when data is drawn from qualitative numbers
- associated with deductive approach, means that focus is on using data to test a certain theory, could also be associated with an inductive approach in some cases
-explores relation between variables after which they are measured numerically and analysed using statistical techniques
The research strategy: qualitative, quantitative or multiple methods
Qualitative research design
‘Qualitative’, synonym for a way to data collection technique or procedure to analyse data that generated or used non-numerical data
Some characteristic:
-associated with interpretive philosophy, bc researches need to make sense of phenomenon being studied.
-often referred to naturalistic research, since it needs to be conducted in a natural setting, order to gain trust, participation and access to meaning and in-depth understanding.
-can either be started with inductive or deductive, but abductive approach is frequently used
-when conducting, participants’ meanings and relations between them are studied using data collection techniques and analytical procedures, to develop a conceptual framework
-associated with action research, case study research and ethnography
The research strategy: qualitative, quantitative or multiple methods
Multiple methods research design
Manu management and business research design are likely to combine qualitative and qualitative, bc data derived from qualitative may be analysed quantitively.
Characteristics:
- associated with critical realism, since philosophy advocated that while there is an objective reality to the world we live in, the way in which each of us understand and interpret it will be affected by our own social conditioning.
- could be associated with pragmatism
- either use inductive or deductive approach, frequently both approaches are used
Two ends of a continuum
Quantitive and qualitative research may be seen as two ends of a confinuum
Different methodological choice one could make
-mono method, choosing either a qualitative or quantitative study
- multiple methods, choosing both qualitative and quantitative study
- multi method; more that one data collection techniques used, but restricted to either qualitative or quantitative design
- mixed methods; both qualitative an quantitative design are mixed in a research design
Three research design when conducting research
-exploratory study
One wished to understand something or wants to assess phenomena in a bright light
-to search literature
-to interview experts
-conducting focus group or individual interviews
-descriptive study
One should be cautious, could become too descriptive and may therefore become worthless outcomes,
-explanatory study
One wished to determine causal relations between certain variables
Discripto-explanatory study
Descriptive studies may become to descriptive, and therefore worthless outcomes,
This is the reason why most descriptive studies are often combines with explanatory studies: after describing something the research will provide a valuable explanation.
research strategy
Various steps a researches has to take to answer his research question.
Quantitative research designs only
- experiment
- survey
Qualitative research design only
- Archival research
- Case study
Quantitative, qualitative or both
- Ethnography
- action research
- grounded theory
- narrative inquiry
Next three layers of the onion
- research strategy
- research choices
- time horizon
Experiment
-frequently used by natural scientist
Goal: to examine the probability of a change in a independent variable causing a change in another, dependent variable
Instead of research questions, experiment used hypothesis
Two kind of hypotheses
-null hypothesis, which predicts that a significant difference or relationship between the variables does not exist
During experiment, tested statistically, will be accepted when probability that there is no statistic difference is greater than a prescribed value (often 0,005), in this case alternative hypothesis will be rejected
-the alternative hypothesis, which predicts there is a relationship of difference
Experimental designs
- classical experiment, group randomly assigned to either a control group or a experimental group.
- quasi experiment: participants will not be randomly assigned to a group. match pair analysis is when a participant in a control group will be compared to a participant in the experimental group based on matching factors
- subject design/repeated measures design; only uses one single group. Before intervention, participants will be observed, a pre-intervention, to establish a baseline (or control), after which a planned intervention
- need less participants, but can become tired and familiar with experiment
Internal validity
External validity
Internal: findings of the experiment can be attributed to the interventions instead of any flaws in the research design
(Such is the case with a laboratory experiment)
External: lot more difficult to establish
(When conducting field-based research)
Survey
- associated with deductive research
- often used for exploratory and descriptive research
- popular research design bc questionnaires is easy for people to understand and explain
Data for survey could be collected through structured observation and structured interviews
Archival research
- uses administrative records and documents as the main source data
- not only historical but also recent data documents, could be collected and analysed when adopting this strategy
- qs with focus upon the past could be answered
- these qs may be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory
Case study
- explore a research topic or phenomenon
- no clear boundary between that which is being studied (topic) and the cotext within which it is being studied (real-life ‘case’)
- when one wishes to gain better understanding of the research and a certain phenomenon, especially when one wishes to explore existing theorey
Characteristics case study
- most used in exploratory and explanatory research
- could combine qualitative and quantitative methods
- possible to use multiple cases within one case study, term literal replication. Will be chosen in a way that similar results are predicted to predict to be produced from each one
- holistic case study, when research is focussed on the organisation as a whole
- embedded case study, when research is focussed on sub units within an organisation and the case will involve more, than one unit of analysis
Case study
Triangulation
Theoretical replication
use of different data collection techniques, within one study, to be sure the data are telling you what you think they tell you, called triangulation
Theoretical replication is when a contextual factor is deliberately different in a certain set of cases,
Ethnography
- Approach is used to study particular groups of people.
- one wishes to explore and analyse people in groups who share the same space ( this could be, same street, organisation, society) and who interact with each other.
