Identifying research methods

• Intro
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A Research Method is a technique or a tool for gathering and treating data that is associated with an analytic framework. Methods are in effect tools to get a job done. For any job you want to assemble the right kind of tools, ones fit for the purpose; poor tools will make for a poor product.

In the next step, therefore, we will look at the strengths and weaknesses of the most common methods used in quantitative and qualitative research. Firstly try this quiz to see which you think are the strengths of particular research methods. Answer each with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and then qualify your answer with a few words of explanation for your choice.

QUIZ RULES

• Quizzes do not count towards your course score, they are just to help you learn
• You may take as many attempts as you wish to answer each question
• You can skip questions and come back to them later if you wish

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Question 1

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What is a particular strength of surveys/questionnaires?

 

Pulling together standardized responses across large samples of respondents?

 

Capturing complexity in responses and context?

 

Providing in-depth information?

Correct

 

• Neil Christie LEAD EDUCATOR

Surveys and questionnaires are particularly useful for this.

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What is a particular strength of experiments?

 

External and ecological validity?

High levels of control over variables?

 

Accessing participants’ own reasoning?

Correct

• Neil Christie LEAD EDUCATOR

Conducting experiments allows you to have a high level of control over variables.

Question 3

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What is a particular strength of interviews?

 

Gaining quick access to opposing points of view?

Providing in-depth information?

 

Delivering immediate comparable results?

Correct

 

• Neil Christie LEAD EDUCATOR

Interviews allow you to delve deeper by asking follow up questions.

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 4.11. Research methodology

1 comment

The principal question to ask is whether or not a given tool is actually the right one for the task you have in mind. For example, 5-Point Likert scales are very good at collecting moderate amounts of data from large numbers of participants where the issues to be considered are relatively straightforward and tend to produce polarized opinions. It is a ‘quick and dirty’ method for social research. But because this method does not allow respondents the ability to answer the question on their own terms, or to describe contradictory feelings, it is not suitable at capturing the complexities of the social world. You would be best advised to use interview methods if that is what you want to accomplish.

 

The most common methods used in quantitative research include:

 

Surveys/Questionnaires: These are good at pulling together standardized responses across large samples of respondents; Weaker at capturing complexity in responses and context

Experiments: Good at providing high levels of control over variables; Weaker at external and ecological validity

Analysis of secondary data: Good at providing complex material for multiple forms of analysis; Bad at allowing the researcher direct control over what information is collected

’Big Data’ analysis: Good at providing ‘real world’ information; Weaker at accessing participants own reasoning

The most common methods used in qualitative research include:

 

Interviews: Good at providing in-depth information; Weaker at delivering immediate comparable results

Focus Groups: Good at gaining quick access to opposing points of view; Weaker at controlling for self-presentation issues

Ethnography/Participant Observation: Good at resourcing thick accounts of social life; Weaker at gaining a wide spread of data beyond the immediate population

Historical/Archival Analysis: Good at capturing context and temporal dimension; Weaker at allowing a researcher to control data collection

Analysis of ‘naturally occurring data’ (i.e. recordings made of social practices in action): Good at allowing access to what people actually do rather than what they say they do; Weaker at allowing access to participants’ own experiences

Your choice of which approach to pursue should be driven by the philosophical and design considerations discussed above. Having chosen to go in one direction rather than another, your choice of a specific methodology will be driven by the extent to which it can deliver empirical material and forms of analysis that genuinely address your research questions. Knowing what kinds of methodology are typically used in the tradition of research that you are seeking to engage in will help you to get a better sense of how to address these concerns.

 

Activity

Using Google Search, explore a few articles that seem relevant to your own proposed field of study. Look carefully at the early parts of these papers – here is usually set out the research design and methods – and make a list in your Reflective Journal of the types of method and data utilised in these. Is there much variety from paper to paper? If so, why? Do authors identify at the end of their papers any different methods that they may want to apply in follow-up studies?