Your approach to your research problem

Comments

In this exercise we would like you to describe your own possible approach to your research problem along the lines suggested in the previous steps. You should start by considering whether you will approach your problem deductively or inductively. You should then attempt to answer the relevant questions below. This will give you a list of criteria for your proposal.

In the next step we introduce some planning tools you may find useful in this exercise.

Inductive approach

What we know, what we don’t know	Impact	Recommendations for practice
Who are the major stakeholders in this problem? - What is the nature of their involvement? - In what settings is this problem particularly prevalent? - What is the historical background to its emergence? What sort of a problem is this? - Do the stakeholders appear to have an adequate understanding of the problem? - If they do, why haven’t they been able to solve it? - If they don’t, then what do you think is actually the nature of the problem? What happens if this problem is framed in different ways? - What appears to be the ‘best’ framing? - How do I decide what ‘best’ means here? - What kinds of literature does each framing connect to?	Who might be the audience for my research? - Which academic communities would be interested in what I am doing? - Can I meet the standards for evidence and debate in that community? What are the audiences outside a university context? - How can I reach these audiences? - What kind of language will I need to speak? - What will they find useful in what I do?	How can I assist in improving practice? - What kinds of change would I like to see brought about? - Who would benefit from these changes (and who might lose out)? - How would I benefit from those changes?

Deductive approach

What we know, what we don’t know	Impact	Recommendations for practice
What is missing from existing studies? - What problems have yet to be addressed by the current approach? - What are the gaps in the existing literature? How can the theoretical approach be tested in a new way? - Can the theory be extended to other kinds of problems than the ones studied already? - What aspects of the theory might be revised or critiqued? Are there any controversies or unsettled debates within the literature to which I might contribute? - Are these debates conceptual, technical, methodological or empirical? What kind of research might provide evidence for one or other side or even ‘the answer’ to the debate?	Who might be the audience for my research? - Which academic communities would be interested in what I am doing? - Can I meet the standards for evidence and debate in that community? What are the audiences outside a university context? - How can I reach these audiences? - What kind of language will I need to speak? - What will they find useful in what I do?	How can I assist in improving practice? - What kinds of change would I like to see brought about? - Who would benefit from these changes (and who might lose out)? - How would I benefit from those changes?

 

 

MICHAEL ELUYEFA

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09 SEP

I think a mixture of both will produce a more reliable result

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DIMBELET C NGUEMET

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09 SEP

Deductive looks easier to me

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Luz Angeline Ortiz

Luz Angeline Ortiz

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08 SEP

Based on this exercise, I feel my research will be inductive. However, when analyzing and attempting to answer the questions under deductive, I see cross-connectivity. I see how it can easily be a combination of both, even though I think it will predominantly fall more toward inductive research.

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Clare Flanagan

Clare Flanagan

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08 SEP

I'm struggling a bit with this one! In reality, wouldn't we use both approaches at some point in our research?

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Mustafa Al lawati

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07 SEP

My research is definitely a deductive approach style. The problem is there clearly defined and qualitatively evaluated, I’m planning to evaluate it quantitatively moreover I’m planning to use the tool in a different field.

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Faruk Kwansah Nyame

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06 SEP

The nature of my proposed studies falls under the inductive approach

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Bill Cave

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06 SEP

My proposed research problem would definitely require a deductive approach, as defined above. I am seeking to investigate an area which is radically under-researched using a methodology which has not previously been applied.

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