Formulating the Research Design Faisal Abbas, PhD Lecture 9 th
Action Research Focuses on and emphasizes the purpose of the research: the management of change. Relates to the involvement of the practitioner in the research and in particular a close cooperation between practitioners and researchers. The third and final is that action research should have implications beyond the immediate project. In other words it must be clear that the results could inform other context.
Key Features Research in action and not ON action Involves practitioners Researcher becomes part of the organisation Promotes change within the organisation Can have two distinct foci (Schein, 1999): 1). the aim of the research 2). the needs of the sponsor
Grounded Theory Collection of data starts without the formation of an initial theoretical framework. Theory is created from data made by a series of observations. Like PSLSMS, PDHS, NNS etc ….. Financial Statistics for example.
Contd…… Key Features Theory is built through induction and deduction Helps to predict and explain behaviour Develops theory from data generated by observations Interpretative process.
Ethnographic Research To interpret the social world the research subject inhabits and the way in which they interpret it. Key Features Describe and explain the social world inhabited by the researchers and the subject. Takes place over an extended time period. Naturalistic
Naturalism Meaning that researcher will be researching the phenomenon within the context in which it occurs and, In addition, not using data collection techniques that oversimplify the complexities of everyday life. It is not surprising that most ethnographic strategies involve extended participant observation. The term naturalism also refers to the use of the principles of scientific method and the use of a scientific model within research.
Time Horizon Selecting appropriate time horizon for example; Cross Sectional the study of a particular phenomenon (or phenomena) at a particular time. Longitudinal the change and development over a period of time.
Credibility of research findings Important considerations Reliability Validity Generalisability Logic hurdles and false assumptions
Research design ethics Must Remember The research design should not subject the; Research population to embarrassment, Harm them and/or Lead to other material disadvantages Adapted from Saunders et al, (2009)
Summary Research design turns research question and objectives into a proposal/project that considers; Strategies Choices Time horizons
Summary Research projects can be categorised as Exploratory Descriptive Explanatory Research projects may be Cross-sectional Longitudinal
Summary Important considerations The main research strategies may combined in the same project The validity and reliability of results Access and ethical considerations