Formulating the research design

philosophy = question = design Research design - the general plan of how you will go about answering your research questions Objectives Sources Constraints philosophy = question = design

The purpose of your research Exploratory studies: good means of finding out - what is happening; - to seek new insights; - to ask questions; - to assess phenomena in a new light Useful, if you want to clarify your understanding of a problem Ways to conduct: - a search of the literature; - interviewing “experts” in the subject; - conducting focus group interviews

Descriptive studies …to give an accurate profile of persons, events or situations „…so what?“ Mostly should be considered as a means to an end rather than an end in itself

Explanatory studies …establish causal relationships between variables

Different research strategies …does the particular strategy enables you to answer your specific research question and meet your objectives …choosinge your strategy according to: your question your existing knowledge the amount of available time/ resources your philosophical views Strategies are not mutually exclusive

Experiment study causal links – whether a change in one independent variable produces a change in another dependent variable “how” and “why” questions Experimental vs control group Participants assigned at random to groups Internal vs external validity; constraints of experiments

In sum, experiment will involve typically… Definition of a theoretical hypothesis Selection of samples of individuals from known populations Random allocation of samples to different experimental conditions, the experimental group and the control group Planned intervention or manipulation to one or more of the variables Measurement of a small number of dependent variables Control of all other variables

Survey “who”, “what”, “where”, “how much” and “how many” questions Benefits: large data large population higly economical standardized tools: comparing samples perceived as trustable easy to explain and understand quantitative analysis possible to build models of relationships control over the process representativeness

Case study strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real context using multiple sources of evidence .. and once again, context questions “why”, “what” and “how“ techniques: various (interviews, observation, documentary analysis, questionnaires) Triangulation - the use of different data collection techniques within one study -> to ensure that the data are telling you what you think they are telling you

Single case v. multiple case Holistic case v embedded case Looks „unscientific“? :P

Action research research in action rather the research about action collaborative democratic partnership between practitioners and researchers cycle of diagnosing, planning, taking action and evaluating the results should be applicable/ informative in other contexts

Grounded theory … to predict and explain behavior … emphasis upon developing theory data collection starts without the formation of the initial theoretical framework data generated by a series of observations -> the generation of predictions -> predictions tested in further observations -> confirm/ not the predictions

Ethnography … to describe and explain the social world the research subjects inhabit in the way they would describe and explain it … researching the phenomenon within the context in which it occurs … not using data collection techniques that oversimplify the complexity of everyday life

Archival research … administrative records and documents as the principal source of data questions about the changes

- multi-method quantitative study - multi-method qualitative study Multiple methods choices – combining quantitative and qualitative techniques and procedures Multi-method: - multi-method quantitative study - multi-method qualitative study Mixed methods: mixed method research mixed model research

Time horizons Cross-sectional studies - “snapshot” - often survey strategy is used Longitudinal studies questions related to change control over measured variables possibility to use data collected earlier

The credibility of research findings Reliability Will the measures yield the same results on other occasions? Will similar observations be reached by other observers? Is the transparency in how sense was made from the raw data?

Threats to reliability Participant error Participant bias Observer error Observer bias

Validity … is the relationship between two variables a causal relationship The threats of validity: History Testing Mortality Maturation Ambiguity about causal direction Generalizability (external validity)

The ethics of research design The main ethical issues are related to: Privacy of participants Informed consent; voluntarily nature of participation and the right to withdraw from the study Confidentiality of data provided by participants and their anonymity Data collection/using/analysing/reporting methods that may cause negative impacts to the participants, including embarrassment, stress, discomfort, pain, harm

Homework Please select the research strategy that would be most appropriate for your own research question; explain, why you choosed that one. Write a short passage (approx 0,5 A4) and email it to me on Friday, 29th March. (If some of you feels that you do not want to continue with his/her research question you described in last homework, it is ok if you generate new one )