Research Methodology 1:

Overview & Quantitative Methods

Dr. Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

GED 462: Social Theory and Methods of Social Research
Spring 2021

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Presentation Outline
1. Research Methodology: Overview
• What is methodology?
• What are methods?
• Differences
• Types of methods: Quantitative Methods and Qualitative Methods
2. Quantitative Methods (Creswell, 2014, 199-229 pp.):
• Tools – Experiments and Surveys
• Population, Sample Size, Sampling methods
Reading material: Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative,
Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). SAGE
Publications, Inc. [The PDF is freely available online. Search on Google.]
© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah
 Elements of Research
1. Research Topic
2. Research Background
3. Research Objective(s)
4. Research Questions / Hypothesis
5. Literature Review
6. Theoretical & Conceptual Frameworks
7. Research Methodology – Data Collection
8. Data Analysis & Presentation
9. Data Interpretation
10. Conclusion & Recommendations
11. References

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

What is research?
• It is a process
• To create / generate new knowledge
• By following standard procedures / steps
• In an organized / systematic manner
• Which is reproducible

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

What is research method?
• Tools used
• To collect and analyze
• Data and information
• In line with the research objective and research questions or
hypothesis

Materials = Study area, study population, variables (independent

and dependent variables), etc.

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

What is research method? contd.
Q: Give examples of Independent and Dependent Variables.
Hints: Corona situation; Depression in youth; Social media.

Hypothesis: Due to competent traffic police, road accidents are

less in Dhanmondi area than Gulshan area
• Independent variable = Traffic Police
• Dependent variable = Road accident

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

What is research methodology?
• The section of a research document (e.g. research proposal or
research reports) where the
• materials and methods are described and
• reasons to choose a method(s) are explained.

Methods = What + How

Methodology = What + How + Why

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Why is methodology important in research?
• Methodology helps us to follow standard and accepted ways to
find answers to our research questions or test our research
hypothesis.
• Following acceptable ways is important so that our research
and research findings are recognized / accepted by other
researchers (or peers), policy-makers, decision-makers,
readers, society, stakeholders, etc.

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Types of research methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Qualitative Methods
• Mixed Methods

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Quantitative Methods

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Types of quantitative methods
• Experiments
• Surveys – GED 462 will focus on survey method only.

Experiments: In this methods we change certain independent

variables and see the effects on certain dependent variables.
• In villages, communications skills of women received smart phones
vs same skills of women who did not receive any smart phone
• In schools, results of students taught with power point presentations
vs results of students taught without power point presentations

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Why do we conduct surveys?
• To understand / find out / show the
o Opinion – collect opinion on a specific issue, at a specific
time
o Attitude – collect data to understand the attitude of a
population, at a specific time
o Trend – collect data (e.g. opinion) on specific issue, but at
different times – We can see change

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Survey: Population and Sample
• Population: Total number of people or subjects the research is
based on or considering – e.g.
o All 3 lac women working in the ready-made garments factories of Savar
o All 295 plastic factories in Old Dhaka
• Sample: A section / part of the population on which information
/ data will be collected for a research.
• 300 women working in the ready-made garments factories of Savar
• 30 plastic factories in Old Dhaka
• We need to calculate ‘Sample Size’ for a ‘Population’

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Calculating your “Sample Size” for a population

Note: You can use different websites to calculate your sample size. E.g.
SurveyMonkey: https://bit.ly/3dp26Ve
Survey System: https://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm © Haseeb Md. Irfanullah
Sampling methods
• Random
• Systematic

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

 Population size = 2,704
Random: 26, 33, 103, 491, 1104, 1358, 1695,
1742, 2181, 2349, 2676 [Sample size 10]

Systematic: Start randomly, but then pick one after

same interval. Here, select one after each 270.
[Sample size 10]
© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah
Questions?

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah

Thank You

© Haseeb Md. Irfanullah