Research Methodology Dr Sng Bee Bee Taught by Dr. Sng Bee Bee • Singapore Bible College Files in many languages for free download at BibleStudyDownloads.org

Writing the Methodology Chapter Objective of this Lesson: Learn about two research approaches – qualitative and quantitative Learn about the Research Methods associated with these Methods Learn how to establish the Validity of research method and conduct

Objectives of this Lesson Select the appropriate research method based on the research question Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of research methods

Research Design Process Step 1: Examine the nature of the topic Step 2: Quantitative? Step 2: Qualitative? OR + Analysis of polls, census conducted in the past Survey? Interview Focus Group Observation Arrange meeting for interviews and/or Focus Groups. Face-to-face or online? Construct questions for survey. Test run questions

Qualitative Research Designs Case Studies Ethnography Life History Field Research Narrative Research

Discussion – Qualitative Research If you were asked to describe what qualitative research is like, what metaphors would you use? Would you use the following metaphors? What do you think they may show you about qualitative research? What other metaphors would you use? - The mirror; The window; The lantern

Metaphors of Qualitative Research Shank, G. D Metaphors of Qualitative Research Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson Mirror - Reflective-based inquiry into the world was called speculative, after the Latin word ‘speculum’, meaning ‘mirror’

Clear and undistorted view of the world out there Metaphors of Qualitative Research Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson The Window Clear and undistorted view of the world out there Generalizability and validity Transparency

Metaphors of Qualitative Research Shank, G. D Metaphors of Qualitative Research Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson The Lantern - illumination, insight and understanding

Personal Skills Needed for Qualitative Research Shank, G. D Personal Skills Needed for Qualitative Research Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson Set of basic skills needed to do qualitative research Observing Conversing Participating Interpreting

Personal Skills Shank, G. D Personal Skills Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson Observing Focused, refined and directed Conversing Listening skills, questioning skills and clarifying skills Participating Fieldwork and action research

Personal Skills Shank, G. D Personal Skills Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson 4. Interpreting Qualitative research is about meaning Basic skills of discerning meaning in any given setting

What Does It Mean To Carry Out Qualitative Research Shank, G. D What Does It Mean To Carry Out Qualitative Research Shank, G.D. Shank (2006), Qualitative Research – A Personal Skills Approach. U.S.A: Pearson Qualitative research is systematic It is planned, ordered and public 2. It is empirical Depends on the world of experience in a basic way. Examines complex phenomenon which is rich, deep, thick, varied, insightful and illuminative

Qualitative Approach What appeal to you What seem feasible Concerns 1. 2. 3.

Choosing the Appropriate Research Methods Step 1: The review of relevant literature on the research topic will inform and underpin each stage in the research process. Step 2: Appropriate research methods are chosen Step 3: Planning of how data will be used once it has been collected Step 4: Planning of how data will be interpreted and analyzed Step 5: Drawing conclusions from the data that inform the research question

Why Use Interviews? Source: Adapted from Gill and Johnson, 2002, in Gray, D.E. (2009), Doing Research in the Real World (2nd ed.). London: Sage Interviewing is a powerful way of helping people to make explicit things that have been implicit – to articulate their perceptions, feelings and understandings (Arksey and Knight, 1999)

Why Use Interviews? Source: Adapted from Gill and Johnson, 2002, in Gray, D.E. (2009), Doing Research in the Real World (2nd ed.). London: Sage There is a need to attain highly personalized data Opportunities for probing are required A good return rate is important

Interviews Face-to-face Interviews Data is more rich and detailed. Interviewer can clarify responses and doubts. S/he can also probe into responses. Responses can also be verified by observing interviewees’ non-verbal language. B. Telephone Interviews These are more appropriate for questions which require more neutral, direct and factual answers

Stages in the Conduct of Interviews Analysis of interview data Description of interview data

Stages in the Conduct of Interviews Set the interview time and location with the person (or people) you will be interviewing Write your interview questions: Open and/or Closed-ended questions Decide how to record the interview Request for subjects to record the interview

Considerations in the Conduct of Interviews Choice of Setting Choice of interviewees Sample size Relationship between interviewer and interviewee Attitude of the interviewer

Considerations in using interviews as a research method Choice of Setting Affects the interviewees: Comfort level Openness to disclose Information Degree to which they feel they’re in control of interview situation

Considerations in using interviews as a research method Choice of interviewees How are they involved in the issue you’re investigating: as experts; participants in the issue or observers Gender; age group; race and nationality

Considerations in using interviews as a research method Sample size Are you seeking a fair representation of the population you’re examining? Are you doing an in-depth study? BREADTH DEPTH

Considerations in using interviews as a research method Relationship between interviewer and interviewee Issues: Imposes obligation on both parties How tightly the interviewer controls the interview To what extent does the interviewer make the interviewee feel comfortable in disclosing information

Considerations in using interviews as a research method Attitude of the interviewer Does the interviewer ask open or closed ended questions? What kinds of questions are asked? Are they bias? Are they leading questions? What is his/her non verbal language, i.e eye contact, posture, tone of voice? What attitude does s/he convey about the subject matter of the interview?

Examples of Open-ended and Close-ended Questions Parsigian, E. K Examples of Open-ended and Close-ended Questions Parsigian, E.K. (1992), Mass Media Writing. New Jersey, Hove and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers Open-ended question What is your opinion about youths’ addiction to computer gaming? Closed-ended question When did you lose your job? How many incidents of product tampering were reported? Have you gone to the movies lately?

Types of Questions (for both Interviews and Surveys) List Question Category Question

Types of Questions Ranking Question Scale Question

Types of Questions Continuum Scale

Evaluate your Interview Questions Parsigian, E. K Evaluate your Interview Questions Parsigian, E.K. (1992), Mass Media Writing. New Jersey, Hove and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers What exactly do I want the interviewee to tell me? What are the facts and/or details I need to know about this issue or event from this interviewee? Would this interviewee have the answer? What answer might this interviewee give?

Evaluate your Interview Questions Parsigian, E. K Evaluate your Interview Questions Parsigian, E.K. (1992), Mass Media Writing. New Jersey, Hove and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers Do I use simple, precise, unbiased words to achieve the question’s objective? What words may be unfamiliar, too general or ambiguous, or imply something that defeats the purpose of the question? What word adjustments and clarifications are needed to improve the contextual meaning of the question?

Online Interviews Email, instant message or through social networking sites like Facebook Describe your purpose clearly, i.e, that you are conducting a piece of research for one of your courses. Request permission from your participants to write about their responses and promise them you will maintain anonymity Give a time period for your participants to respond, e.g one or two weeks

If you are using social networking sites like Facebook, you may want to create a special account for your research group so that the rest of your friends will not get to see the responses

Interviewee data summary (to be adapted according to your research topic) Date of Interview: ___________________ Place of Interview: ___________________ Duration of Interview: ________________ Interviewer: _____________________ Identifier number for interviewee: _______ Gender of interviewee: ______________ Age of Interviewee: ________________ Job role of Interviewee: ________________ Qualification of Interviewee: _____________ Professional training of Interviewee: ________________ Source: Adapted from Gill and Johnson, 2002, in Gray, D.E. (2009), Doing Research in the Real World (2nd ed.). London: Sage

Structured Interviews Semi-structured Interviews Interview Approaches Source: Adapted from Gill and Johnson, 2002, in Gray, D.E. (2009), Doing Research in the Real World (2nd ed.). London: Sage Structured Interviews Semi-structured Interviews Focused interview Non-directive Interviews Informal conversational interviews

Focus Group Discussion Design 3-4 questions based on your research topic You can conduct either a one-to-one semi structured interview or a focus group with 3 persons. Take turns to ask your questions After the interview, take brief notes of your interviewees’ responses or use your handphone to record the interview. What benefits can you observe of using interviews and FG in research? Would you be able to use interviews or FG for your topic? Briefly present your research questions and notes in class.

Benefits of Using Focus Group as a Research Method Unobtrusive Spontaneous Able to stimulate discussion Can observe interaction between group members Group members encourage one another to contribute input

Criteria for judging the trustworthiness of quantitative and qualitative research Internal validity Credibility Examining the study design and methods used to derive findings. External validity Transferability Exploring the degree to which findings are context bound, so assessed by examining the characteristics of sample. Reliability Dependability Evaluating reliability of study’s conclusions Objectivity Confirmability Addressing the degree to which the steps of the study can be audited, confirmed or replicated. Source: Adapted from Gill and Johnson, 2002, in Gray, D.E. (2009), Doing Research in the Real World (2nd ed.). London: Sage

Video on Interview http://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/videos/01fe333.shtml Homeless People, a program hosted by Diana Ser - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elmgsdfv2G0&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKYM8vcHV4s – Illegal downloading of videos

Methods - Interviews Where you try to find out deeper issues on your topic by interviewing people. You can interview: 1. People experiencing a problem you’re studying 2. Experts

Large numbers of respondents must be reached Methods - Surveys need to find out what people think or prefer tabulate data easily and show the majority responses on the research topic. Better reliability of data is desired Large numbers of respondents must be reached quick answers from a large number of people on a research topic.

Surveys Characteristics Wide and inclusive coverage – breadth At a specific point in time – ‘bring things up to date’ Empirical research – ‘going out’ to investigate what’s ‘out there’

TYPES OF SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Send out self-completion questionnaires Subject to attrition rate - people not responding Disadvantages – data collected may lack detail and depth on research topic - respondents may not give honest answers - questions have to be carefully designed to get the desired responses. Questions are subject to misinterpretation

Steps in Conducting a Survey Decide what you want to find out – what your hypothesis is Define your population Write your questions Test your questions Tally the results Seek patterns in the raw data

SURVEYS POPULATION Every instance included SAMPLE small portion of the whole

SURVEYS Sample has to be carefully selected Random Sampling Selection of people at random Population studied is large Most likely to provide a representative cross-section of the whole.

SURVEYS 2. Systematic Sampling Sample chosen based on every ‘nth’ member 3. Stratified Sampling Every member in the population has an equal chance to be selected in relation to their proportion within the total population. For e.g. in selecting voters for a study on voting behaviour, the researcher selects equal number of subjects from each age group and gender.

SURVEYS 4. Cluster Sampling Focus on naturally occurring clusters of the research issue that the researcher is studying. For example, to study young people aged between 11 and 16 years, a secondary school will form a natural cluster.

SURVEYS 5. Purposive Sampling Sample is ‘hand picked’ for the research. The researcher already knows the people or events s/he wants to study and select those that will produce the valuable data. Allows the researcher to home in on the characteristics that s/he is studying.

SURVEYS 6. Convenience Sampling Sample is chosen according to the people the researcher is in direct contact with or find the most convenient to approach.

Are the Samples Representative A geographer is investigating shopping trends in the capital. She interviews 40 shoppers outside a major department store on Saturday morning. A political party wants to find out if the voters support their policies. It sends out a survey to all its members. A medical student wants to find out how many children have colds in winter. In January, she decides to go to a local pre-school and see how many children have colds. The government needs to know the rate people are moving from farms into the cities. They interview 200 people in the capital. An economist wants to find how earnings relate to qualifications within a large manufacturing company. He puts all the names of the employees in a hat and selects twenty to interview.

Methods – Examining Records Looks at past records e.g. past police records of accidents, crimes etc.; population census of religious and ethnic makeup; educational levels and employment trends for e.g.

Document Analysis 3. Documents Examine documents related to research topic. Examples of documents: minutes of meetings; reports; research articles; census reports; newspaper articles etc.

Observation Observing the phenomenon as it occurs Is unobtrusive – that is, does not intrude into or manipulate the phenomenon being observed Need to be carried out in a systematic way. Plan an observation form.

Methods - Observation Involves the researcher observing a person or situation without his presence being known. e.g. a psychologist observing the behaviour of a person who is suffering from a behaviour disorder, e.g Autism, ADHD, etc. You observe how megachurches use technology in their worship.

Methods - Experiments Involves studying two groups: 1 – control group, all conditions remain as the same; the norm 2 – make one change, called variable Study what happens when the change is made. The study is very accurate, compared with all the above methods, but not all research topic can be carried out through experiments.

What Methods Will You Use? Problems faced by church members who belong to the low income group The use of corporal punishment to promote learning Common causes of conflicts in a church Leadership training in a church Causes of stress among pastors and church leaders Temptations faced by church leaders

Research Ethics What ethical considerations, e.g. confidentiality, do you need to take into account when conducting your research? Why is it important to protect your subjects? What steps will you take to protect your subjects?

Methods Chapter How are you going to find out answers to your research question? Read two research papers in Handbook, pp. 802-805, ‘An Assessment of Dating’ and pp. 818-820, ‘Exercise and Blood Pressure’: Analyze the rationale for choice of research methods Describe the conduct of the research methods, the strengths. Discuss weaknesses of the research methods.

Writing Up Your Method Chapter What method you use and why. E.g. This study made use of surveys to find out if students feel the teaching methods used in the University was helpful in their learning. Survey was used as a method because it allowed the researcher to study a large number of students.

Writing Up Your Method Chapter 3. Describe the steps you carried out in the study: in paragraphs use past tense use passive voice

Writing Up Your Method Chapter 3. Report the procedure of how you conducted the study. E.g. A survey was conducted on 20 students on political science to find out how secure they think Singapore is against terrorism. 40 questions were designed consisting of both closed and open ended questions. The responses were tabulated and analyzed using the SPSS software. Past tense passive voice

Writing Up Your Method Chapter 4. Record how you analyzed the data. E.g. The frequency of the responses were recorded in a table. The responses were grouped according to a few themes in accordance with the research questions. Variations of these themes were noted and analyzed.

Writing Up Your Method Chapter Justify your research methods and sample size: Why did you choose your methods? E.g. you use qualitative methods, namely, interviews, because you’re concerned to find out people’s thinking, feelings, or controversial views about your research topic. You use quantitative methods as you’re concerned to measure a certain phenomenon, or you want to establish validity through statistical measurement.

Writing Up Your Method Chapter Justify your research methods and sample size: How did you determine your sample size. You need to prove that your sample size is representative. You need to explain how you got your sample. Was it by convenient sampling; random sampling etc? You need to prove that your sample is not bias, that is, you did not select people for your study who’re more inclined towards a particular point of view.

Writing Up Your Method Chapter Justify your research methods and sample size: You need to explain the rationale for the research method/s you’ve chosen - about the validity, advantages and disadvantages of the method/s. You need to explain how you overcome the weaknesses of the method in your study, by using another method that will address those weaknesses, i.e triangulation.

Ending your Method Chapter End your Method Chapter by a summary of what you have covered in the Chapter and a forecast of the next Chapter. E.g ‘This Chapter has therefore described the method used in this study and the next Chapter will describe the data gathered after the conduct of the method’.

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