1. Formulating the research design

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Explanatory studies
…establish causal relationships between variables

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

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

16. - 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

17. 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

18. 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?

19. Threats to reliability
Participant error
Participant bias
Observer error
Observer bias

20. 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)

21. 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

22. 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 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 )