Research Methodologies

Prof. Dr. Ahmad T. Al-Taani

1. Introduction to Research

1 1. Introduction to Research Prof. A. T. Al-Taani

 Outlines
• The meaning of research
• The difference between quantitative and qualitative
research
• Different types of research
• Why research is necessary
• Initial Intelligence Gathering
• Data Collection, Analysis and Hypothesis Testing
• Originality Within Research
• Skills Required to undertake Good research

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 What is Research?
Research
“Careful study and investigation, especially in
order to discover new facts or information”.
(Oxford paperback dictionary, 3rd edition)
“A systematic and organized effort to
investigate a specific problem that needs a
solution”.
(Sekaran).
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 What is Research?
Other definitions of Research

• “The use of facts to research an opinion, decision or

conclusion”
• “A fact-finding activity”
• “A critical process for asking and attempting to
answer questions about the world”
• Conduct search “again”
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 Scientific Research

“An organized, systematic, data based, critical, scientific

inquiry or investigation into a specific problem,
undertaken with the objective of finding answers or
solutions to it”.
(Sekaran)

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 Characteristics of Scientific Research
• Organized.
• Based on intuition and experience.
• Rigorous (accurate).
• Logic.
• Based on facts.
• Purposive (having a use or purpose).
• Objective not subjective.
• Testability
– whether or not the data support research hypothesis.
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 Characteristics of Scientific Research
• Replicability
– research hypothesis should be supported again when research is
repeated on other similar circumstances.
• Accuracy and Precision
• Generalizability
– the scope of applicability of research findings in organization setting to
other settings.
• Parsimony
– (simplicity, understanding, important factors are included)

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 Research Examples
• Examples of Everyday Research
– Finding out why the car will not start
– Finding out which local supplier has the best offers for home
computers

• Example of Formal Research

– Attempting to discover the advantages and disadvantages of
using various software testing methods on large scale
software development projects

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 Research Stages

• Stage 1
– Intelligence Gathering
• Asking the “what” and “how many” types of
questions.
– Proposing an Initial Hypothesis
• A supposition put forward to account for certain
facts and used as a basis for further investigation
by which it may be proved or disproved

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 Research Stages

• Stage 2

– Data Collection and Hypothesis Testing

• Examining further data accumulated and asking
“why” questions.

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 Qualitative Research
• seeks to answer questions about why and how people behave
in the way that they do. It provides in-depth information about
human behavior.
• Research involving analysis of data/information that are
descriptive in nature and not readily quantifiable.
• Aimed at exploring and understanding meanings and
experience.
• an initial hypothesis may be formulated at the beginning
• the data collected is often used to evolve an on-going
hypothesis.

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 Qualitative Research
• Qualitative research is any which does not
involve numbers or numerical data.
• It often involves words or language but may also
use pictures or photographs and observations.
• Qualitative analysis results in rich data that gives
an in-depth picture, and it is particularly useful
for exploring how and why things have
happened.
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 Sources of Qualitative Data
• Interviews, which may be structured, semi-structured or
unstructured;
• Focus groups, which involve multiple participants discussing an issue;
• Postcards, or small-scale written questionnaires that ask, for example,
three or four focused questions of participants but allow them space
to write in their own words;
• Secondary data, including diaries, written accounts of past events,
and company reports; and
• Observations, which may be on site, or under ‘laboratory conditions’,
for example, where participants are asked to role-play a situation to
show what they might do.
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 Analyzing Qualitative Data
• Because qualitative data are drawn from a wide variety of
sources, they can be radically different in scope.
• There are a wide variety of methods for analyzing them,
many of which involve structuring and coding the data into
groups and themes.
• There are also a variety of computer packages to support
qualitative data analysis.
• The best way to work out which ones are right for your
research is to discuss it with academic colleagues and your
supervisor.
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 Quantitative Research
• data is often used to verify an existing theory, and the
hypothesis is formulated at the beginning of the research.
• Tries to measure variables.
• “explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that
are analyzed using mathematically based methods (in
particular statistics).”
• The data produced are always numerical, and they are
analyzed using mathematical and statistical methods.

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 Sources of Quantitative Data
• The most common sources of quantitative data include:
• Surveys, whether conducted online, by phone or in person.
These rely on the same questions being asked in the same
way to a large number of people;
• Observations, which may either involve counting the number
of times that a particular phenomenon occurs, such as how
often a particular word is used in interviews, or coding
observational data to translate it into numbers; and
• Secondary data, such as company accounts.

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 Analyzing Quantitative Data
• There are a wide range of statistical techniques available
to analyze quantitative data, from simple graphs to show
the data through tests of correlations between two or
more items, to statistical significance.
• Other techniques include cluster analysis, useful for
identifying relationships between groups of subjects
where there is no obvious hypothesis, and hypothesis
testing, to identify whether there are genuine differences
between groups.
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 Research Approaches
• Qualitative Research

“May be seen as a process of constant comparison,

and the analysis of collected data to prove or
disprove a hypothesis; is not necessarily the last
stage of the research”.

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 Research Approaches
• Quantitative Research
–Hypothesis:

“Overseas students experience some form of

difficulties during their time in the United
Kingdom”.

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 Research Approaches
• The Qualitative Approach
“Please write about any difficulties you have
experienced as an overseas student while at the
University”.

• A More Focused Question:

“In what way did you find lectures were difficult to
understand”.
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 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
• Purpose
– Exploratory versus descriptive and conclusive.
• Small versus large samples.
• Broad range of questioning versus structured questions.
• Subjective interpretation versus statistical analysis.

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 Disadvantage of Qualitative Research

• Findings are based on judgment

• Samples are not representative
• Seldom provides precise quantitative measurement.
• Generalization is limited.

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 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data

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 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data Example 1

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 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data Example 2

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 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data Example 3

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 Types of Research
1. Exploratory
2. Descriptive
3. Explanatory
4. Action
5. Basic Research
6. Applied Research

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 Exploratory Research
• Qualitative Data (Secondary data)
• Experience survey
• Pilot studies
• Why Conducting Exploratory Research?
– Diagnose a situation
– Screening of alternatives
– Discover new ideas
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 Categories of Exploratory Research
• Experience surveys
– Ask knowledgeable individuals about a particular research
problem (most are quite willing).
• Secondary data analysis
– Data collected for a purpose other than the project at hand
– Economical
– Quick source for background information.

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 Categories of Exploratory Research
• Case studies
– Intensely investigates one or a few situations similar to the problem.
– Investigate in depth.
– Careful study.
– May require cooperation.
• Pilot studies
– A collective term
– Any small scale exploratory study that uses sampling
– But does not apply rigorous standards.

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 Types of Pilot Studies

• Focus Group Interviews

– Unstructured
– Free flowing interview
– Group interview (with a small group of people)
– Start with broad topic and focus in on specific issues.

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 Types of Pilot Studies
• Projective Techniques
– an indirect means of questioning that enables a
respondent to "project" beliefs and feelings onto a
third party, onto an inanimate object, or into a task
situation
– Ex. Patient and his father while telling the physician

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 In-Depth Interviews

• relatively unstructured, extensive interview used in the

primary stages of the research process.

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 Defining Problem Results in
Clear Cut Research Objectives
Symptom Detection

Analysis of
the Situation
Exploratory
Research
Problem Definition

Statement of
Research Objectives
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 Types of Research
1. Exploratory Research
–Simple Research
“Do women eat more chocolate than men?”

–Complex Research
• The search for a vaccine for HIV
• The search for new ways to store information to
support AI
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 Types of Research

2. Descriptive Research

–Computer Related Example:

• An examination of how people interact with computers
today as opposed to 5 or 10 years ago.

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 Types of Research
3. Explanatory research
– commonly used in fields such as:
• Social sciences (e.g., health statistics)
• Life sciences (e.g., crime patterns)

– Computer Related Example:

• The use of computer simulation modeling.
• e.g., manufacturing design layouts, pollution studies, traffic
flow studies etc.
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 Types of Research

4. Action Research
–Possible Computer Related Example:
• The use of Neural Networks to monitor vibration
frequencies and sound alarms or shut down
machinery

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 Basic Research
• Generates a body of knowledge by trying to comprehend
how certain problems that occur in organizations can be
solved.
• Also called Fundamental or Pure research.
• Attempts to expand the limits of knowledge.
• Not directly involved in the solution to a pragmatic
problem.
• Organization may later apply the knowledge gained by the
findings of the basic research.
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 Basic Research Examples

• Is executive success correlated with high need for

achievement?
• Are members of highly cohesive work groups more
satisfied than members of less cohesive work
groups?

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 Applied Research
• Solves a current problem faced by the manager in the
work setting, demanding a timely solution.
• Conducted when a decision must be made about a specific
real-life problem.
• Aims to apply the results of the findings to solve a specific
problems currently being experienced in the organization.
• Aims to enhance the understanding of the problem.

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 Hypothetico-Deductive Research
• The Seven-Step Process in the Hypothetico-Deductive
Method
– Identify a broad problem area
– Define the problem statement
– Develop hypotheses
– Determine measures
– Data collection
– Data analysis
– Interpretation of data
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 Deduction and Induction
• Deductive reasoning: application of a general theory to a
specific case.
– Hypothesis testing

• Inductive reasoning: a process where we observe specific

phenomena and, on this basis, arrive at general
conclusions.

• Both inductive and deductive processes are often used in

research.

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 Possible Reasons for Undertaking Research
• For interest or excitement
• For personal satisfaction
• For fame or fortune
• To gain higher qualifications
• To account for contradictory findings and fill gaps in
knowledge
• For the advancement of science
• For the good of mankind and our children’s future
• It can bring more jobs
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 Research Benefits

Higher Gross Development

National Profit

More Goods
Investment in
Innovation
More Jobs
Research

New Products
and Practices
Increased
Investment Increased Consumer
Company Pleasure
Profits

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 Research Negative Factors
• The Primary Negative Factor
– The initial cost of carrying out the research
• Other Negative Factors
– It’s been done before
– Lack of necessary skills
– Not enough time
– Unlikely to be a success
– Lack of recognition

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 Initial intelligence Gathering
• Initial intelligence Gathering will involve:
– Undertaking a survey of the literature already
published on the topic area.

– Investigating a number of relevant questions that are

fundamental to the research.

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 Initial intelligence Gathering
• Questions formulated need to be very carefully defined
so that they cannot be misinterpreted, and the answers
are meaningful.
• The answers must be appropriate to the research being
undertaken.
• The answers must be objective and not biased by
personal emotion.

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 Original Research
• Definitions of Originality:
– Saying something nobody has said before
– Carrying out empirical work that has not been done before
– Synthesizing something that has not been put together
before
– Making a new interpretation of someone else’s material or
ideas
– Taking a new technique and applying it to an existing area
– Taking an existing technique and applying it to a new area

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 Original Research
• Definitions of Originality:
– Being cross-disciplinary and using different methodologies
– Looking at topics that people in the chosen discipline have
not looked at before
– Adding to knowledge in a way that has not been done before
– Testing existing knowledge in an original way
– Writing down a new piece of information for the first time
– Continuing a previously original piece of work
– Bringing new evidence to bear on an old issue

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 Good Researchers

• Good researchers try to:

– Determine whether the data they are about to analyze is

correct and not corrupted or invalidated in the course of
collecting it.
– Ensure that the source of the data is valid

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 Good Researchers
• Three questions good research needs to ask:
– Is the data obtained correct and are the questions to
be asked, correct?

– Is it possible to find a better or more plentiful supply of

accurate information?

– Is the data being interpreted correctly? could the same

data be viewed differently by someone else?
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 Critical Appraisal of Academic Literature

• Critical appraisal of academic literature

involves:
– Reading the work of others and looking for different
viewpoints
– Assessing the strength of the arguments put forward
– Determining whether claims made are relevant or in
proportion to the emphasis placed on them

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 Finding Reference Material
• Finding reference material involves looking at:
– Journals
– Conferences
– Books
– Library abstracts
– On-line databases
– The WWW

1. Introduction to Research 54 Prof. A. T. Al-Taani

 Further Research Skills
• Further research skills required:
– The ability to design and analyze questionnaires

– The ability to design and conduct interviews

– The ability to use statistical techniques

– The ability to design experiments to test hypotheses

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