KTEE206

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW
FOR ECONOMICS OF RESEARCH
AND BUSINESS
METHODOLOGY

0
Content
▪ Overview of Research
▪ Research classification
▪ Research method and
methodology
▪ Research process

slide 1
Content
▪ Overview of Research
▪ Research classification
▪ Research method and
methodology
▪ Research process

slide 2
 Overview of research
▪ The concept of research

slide 3
What is Research?
 Why do we research?
What is the purpose of research?

To develop expertise?
Curiosity? (Personal A required task (job
(professional
Interest) development) or assessment)

Because we have Because there is a

questions we want problem we want to
answered solve
 A definition of research?
“Research is seeing what everybody else has seen and
thinking what nobody else has thought.”
- Albert Szent-Györgyi
Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986) was a Hungarian pharmacologist known
for his work on vitamins and oxidation. He was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.

"Bad news sells papers.

It also sells market
"Research is what I'm doing when
research."
I don't know what I'm doing."
- Byron Sharp
- Wernher von Braun
Sharp is Professor of
Von Braun (1912-1977) was a
Marketing Science and
German-American physicist and
Director of the
rocket engineer whose team
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute,
launched the first US satellite into
the world’s largest centre
space.
for research into
marketing.

“Research means that you
don’t know, but are willing
to find out”
- Charles F. Kettering
Kettering (1876-1958) was
an American engineer,
known for inventing the
electric starter used in
combustion engines, as well
as other automobile
technologies.
“Research is something that
everyone can do, and everyone
ought to do. It is simply collecting
information and thinking
systematically about it.”
- Raewyn Connell
Connell is an Australian sociologist.
She is a former professor of at the
University of Sydney and is known
for her work on gender and
transgender studies.
"In fact, the world needs more
nerds."
- Ben Bernanke
Bernanke is an American
economist and former chair of the
board of governors at the United
Stares Federal Reserve.
 A definition of research?
• research. 1.a. the systematic investigation
into and study of materials, sources, etc, in
order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions. b. an endeavour to discover new
or collate old facts etc by the scientific study
of a subject or by a course of critical
investigation. [Oxford Concise Dictionary]
 What is research?
• Research is what we do when we have a question or a
problem we want to resolve

• We may already think we know the answer to our

question

• We may think the answer is obvious, common sense even

• But until we have subjected our problem to rigorous

scrutiny, our 'knowledge' remains little more than
educated guesswork.
The concept of research
Research is an art of investigation of new and innovative aspects of
any branch of knowledge

It comprises of defining and redefining problems, formulating

hypothesis, suggest solutions or solutions approaches, collecting and
analysing data, deriving, experimenting, and eventually validating the
hypothesis or deducing new conclusions

Research is also defined as search for knowledge through objective

and systematic method of finding solution to a problem or
developing foundational theories.
 The concept of research

“science” =

This is just a part of science

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 The concept of research
▪ The physical and biological sciences
(natural sciences)
▪ The social-cultural sciences (Social
sciences)

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 The concept of research
▪ Biology ▪ Psychology
▪ Anthropology ▪ political science
▪ Economics ▪ Sociology
▪ Chemistry ▪ Astronomy
▪ Zoology ▪ Earth science
▪ Human ▪ Archaeology
geography ▪ Law
▪ Physics ▪ Linguistics

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 The concept of research
▪ The physical and biological sciences: deal
with the physical and material world (e.g., rocks,
plants, chemical compounds, stars, muscles,
blood, electricity) => most people first think of
them when they hear the word “science.”
▪ The social-cultural sciences involve the study
of human social-cultural life: beliefs, behaviors,
relationships, interactions, institutions, and so
forth => “soft sciences” (Why?)
→ subject matter—human social life— is highly
fluid, formidable to observe, and difficult to
measure precisely. slide 14
 The concept of research
Three key terms of soft science:
▪ Theory A system of consistent & interconnected ideas that condenses
and organizes the knowledge about the social world and explains how it
works.

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 The concept of research
Three key terms of soft science:
▪ Data: the forms of empirical evidence - numerical
(quantitative) and non-numerical (qualitative)
information and evidence that have been carefully
gathered according to rules or established
procedures.
– Qualitative data example
– Quantitative data example

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 The concept of research
Three key terms of soft science:
▪ Empirical Description of what we can observe and
experience directly through human senses (e.g.,
touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste) or indirectly using
techniques that extend the senses

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 Classification of research
▪ Based on the use and audience of
research
▪ Based on the purpose of research
▪ Based on the single or multiple points in
time
▪ Based on data collection techniques

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 Classification of research
▪ Based on the use and audience of
research
▪ Based on the purpose of research
▪ Based on the single or multiple points in
time
▪ Based on data collection techniques

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 Classification based on
the use and audience of research
▪ Basic Research (academic research or
pure research): “Research designed to
advance fundamental knowledge about how
the world works and build/test theoretical
explanations by focusing on the “why”
question” – Newman (2014, p.26).

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 Classification based on
the use and audience of research
▪ Applied Research: “Research designed to
offer practical solutions to a concrete
problem or address the immediate and
specific needs of clinicians or practitioners” –
Newman (2014, p.27).

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 Classification based on
the use and audience of research

Neuman
(2014, p.
28)

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 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ Exploratory research
▪ Descriptive research
▪ Explanatory research

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 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ Exploratory research: Research whose primary purpose
is to examine a little understood issue or phenomenon and
to develop preliminary ideas about it and move toward
refined research questions (Newman, 2014, p. 38).
▪ Exploratory research rarely yields definitive answers. It
addresses the “what” question: What is this social activity
really about?

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 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ Descriptive research: to “paint a picture” using words or
numbers and to present a profile, a classification of types,
or an outline of steps to answer questions such as who,
when, where, and how (Newman, 2014, p. 38).
▪ A descriptive study presents a picture of types of people or
of social activities and focuses on “how” and “who”
questions (How often does it happen? Who is involved?).
▪ Descriptive researchers use most data-gathering
techniques: surveys, field research, content analysis, and
historical-comparative research.

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 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ Explanatory research: Research whose primary purpose
is to explain why events occur and to build, elaborate,
extend, or test theory. (Newman, 2014, p. 40).
▪ We use multiple strategies in explanatory research.
– Develop a novel explanation and then provide empirical
evidence to support it or refute it.
– Outline two or more competing explanations and then
present evidence for each in a type of a “head-to- head”
comparison to see which is stronger.
– start with an existing explanation derived from social theory
or past research and then extend it to explain a new issue,
setting, or group of people to see how well the explanation
holds up or whether it needs modification or is limited to only
certain conditions.
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 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ E.g 1: a study focused on the relationship
between parents who are heavy alcohol
drinkers and child abuse. Results could
show that 25 percent of heavy-drinking
parents had physically or sexually abused
their children compared to 5 percent of
parents who never drink or drink very little.
▪ Exploratory research?
▪ Descriptive research?
▪ Explanatory research? slide 27
 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ E.g. 2: a study that is interested in
learning why heavy-drinking parents
abuse their children

▪ Exploratory research?
▪ Descriptive research?
▪ Explanatory research?

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 Classification based on
the purpose of research
▪ E.g. 3: Troshynski and Blank (2008) conducted a
study of men who engage in illegal sex trafficking.
The study was unusual because the research
participants had actively engaged in an illegal
activity. The authors had a chance meeting with
someone who knew people “in the business.” Over
a 3-month period, the authors were able to meet
and conduct open-ended interviews with five
traffickers. Their goal was to explore how the
traffickers saw their business and learn about their
backgrounds.

Exploratory? Descriptive? Explanatory?

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Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
▪ Cross-sectional research Any research
that examines information on many cases
at one point in time (Newman, 2014, p.
44).

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 Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
Longitudinal research Any research that examines
information from many units or cases across more than
one point in time (Newman, 2014, p. 44).
– Time-series research
– Panel study
– Cohort study

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Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
– Time-series research: Longitudinal research in which
information can be about different cases or people in each
of several time periods (Newman, 2014, p. 44).

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 Time series Study
A time-series study by Pettit and Western (2004) on
imprisonment rates among Black and White men in the
United States from 1964 to 1997 found that during a
major rise in incarceration rates in the 1980s (up by
300%), Black men were six to eight times more likely
than White men to go to jail. Young Black men who did
not attend college were more likely to be incarcerated,
and nearly one in three spent some time behind bars;
these rates doubled for Black men who failed to complete
high school. By looking across time, the study authors
showed that the expansion of the number of jailed people
was uneven, and that increasing numbers of jailed people
came from certain parts of the U.S. population.

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EXAMPLES

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Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
– Panel study: Longitudinal research in which information is
about the identical cases or people in each of several time
periods (Newman, 2014, p. 45).

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 Panel study
In many large U.S. cities, as many as 50 percent ofstudents who begin high
school do not graduate. Neild, Stoner-Eby, and Furstenberg (2008) studied
the issue of dropping out by focusing on ninth grade students. They used
panel data from the Philadelphia Education Longitudinal Study (PELS) that
followed 10 percent of youth in one high school district over time. Students
and their parents within those schools were randomly selected to participate
in half-hour telephone interviews during the summer after the students had
completed the eighth grade. Both parents and students were again
interviewed (in English or Spanish) during the fall/winter of the ninth grade
year (Wave 2 of the survey), during the summer after ninth grade (Wave 3)
and after each subsequent school year until the fall/winter of 2000–2001
(about 6 months after what would have been their fourth year in high
school). By the end of the fourth year, 48.9 percent of students who had
started in the ninth grade had graduated. The study tried to determine
whether ninth grade course failure and attendance added substantially to
predicting dropout. They statistically analyzed the data and found that the
ninth grade year contributed substantially to the probability of dropping out.

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Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
– Cohort study: Longitudinal research that traces
information about a category of cases or people who
shared a common experience at one time period across
subsequent time periods (Newman, 2014, p. 46).

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 Cohort study
Anderson and Fetner (2008) used data from a crossnational survey of people
in various countries conducted in the 1981–1982, 1990, and 2000 periods
and examined a question regarding tolerance of homosexuality in the United
States and Canada. The authors found that tolerance for homosexuality
increased both by birth cohort and over time. Thus, people born later in the
twentieth century were more tolerant than people born earlier and everyone
was more tolerant in the later time periods. For example, people born in the
1920–1929 era were less tolerant when asked in 1981–1982 than when they
were asked 20 years later in 2000.

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Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
Longitudinal research

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Classification based on the single
or multiple points in time
Case-study research Research that is an
in-depth examination of an extensive
amount of information about very few units
or cases for one period or across multiple
periods of time (Newman, 2014, p. 42).

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 Classification based on
data collection techniques
▪ Quantitative data
– Experiments
– Survey
– Nonreactive
▪ Qualitative data
– Field research (ethnography, participant
observation, depth interviewing)
– Historical-comparative research

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 Quantitative data
▪ Experiments: Researcher manipulates
conditions for some research participants
but not others and then compares group
responses to see whether doing so made
a difference (Newman, 2014, p. 49).
– Between-subject experiment
– Within-subject experiment

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Between-subject experiment design

Example

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Within-subject experiment design

Example

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 Quantitative data
▪ Survey: Researcher systematically asks a
large number of people the same
questions and then records their answers
(Newman, 2014, p. 49).
▪ Unlike an experiment, we do not
manipulate a situation or condition to see
how people react; we only carefully
record answers from many people who
have been asked the same questions.
Often we select the people for a survey
using a random sampling technique.
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 Quantitative data
Nonreactive: Research methods in which people
are not aware of being studied (Newman, 2014, p.
49).
- Secondary data analysis: The statistical analysis that were
previously collected and stored (often originally from a survey).
- Content Analysis: Research in which the content of a
communication medium is systematically recorded and analyzed.
The system might include counting how often certain words or
themes appear. We most frequently use content analysis for
descriptive purposes, but exploratory or explanatory studies are
also possible
- Existing statistics: Research in which one reexamines and
statistically analyzes quantitative data that have been gathered
by government agencies or other organizations
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 Qualitative data
▪ Field research (ethnography, participant
observation, interviews): Researcher directly
observes and records notes on people in a
natural setting for an extended period of time
(Newman, 2014, p. 51).
▪ Historical-comparative research:
Researcher examines data on events and
conditions in the historical past and/or in
different societies (Newman, 2014, p. 52).

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Content
▪ Overview of courses
▪ Overview of scientific research
▪ The process of scientific research
▪ Literature review
▪ The list of references

slide 48
Basic steps in the research process
(Neuman, 2014)

Steps in the quantitative research Steps in the qualitative research

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 Basic steps in the research process
(Neuman, 2014)
Steps Example 1 (Quan.)
1 Select a topic.
Social inequality and voting
2 Focus the question
Did occupational segregation by gender and
race—a major source of social inequality—
influence how people voted in the 2004 U.S.
presidential election?
Occupational segregation occurs when one group (e.g., one
gender, one race) almost exclusively holds a type of job.
Final Red Counties, Blue Counties, and
title Occupational Segregation by Sex and Race
Example 2 (Quali.)
Acknowledge self and context.
The author’s interest: inner-city poverty
shifted to gangs in an urban housing
project.
Socio-cultural context
The physical-social setting: an urban
housing project in South Chicago. Drug
dealing gangs operated in the projects
that had very high rates of poverty and
that were overwhelming occupied by
African Americans.
Gang leader for a day: A rogue
sociologist takes to the streets.
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 Basic steps in the research process
(Neuman, 2014)
Steps Example 1 (Quan.) Example 2 (Quali.)

3. Design Specific factors: choice of presidential candidate and occupational The author initially tried
the study.
segregation by race and gender. to conduct a quantitative
Features (e.g., racial mix, educational credentials of women and non-Whites, survey but dropped this
degree of mobility) that might threaten or weaken the degree of technique. Instead, he
occupational segregation are also considered. observed and talked with

4. Collect Data came from the U.S. census on occupations, demographics, and voting.
gang members and
the data. people in the housing
project several days a
5. Analyze Examine numerous correlations, charts, and statistical tests.
the data week over eight years
between 1990 and 1998
6. - Both occupational & sex segregation to be related to election outcomes.
and took very detailed
Interpret
- Counties with equal/integrated labor markets: Democratic party candidate
the data notes every day on what
received more votes.
he saw, heard,
- Counties with highly segegrated labor markets, especially with other
participated in, and
conditions that threatened to undermine the segegration: Republican party
thought.
received more votes slide 51
 Basic steps in the research process
(Neuman, 2014)
Steps Example 1 (Quan.) Example 2 (Quali.)
7. An article published in the scholarly A semi-academic book “Gang Leader for a
Inform
journal “American Journal of Day” about 10 years after the original
others
Sociology.” research study ended, although the author
had written several studies and books
related to the same general research in the
meantime.
How Ethnic competition theory and split The study is largely descriptive with little
does
labor market theory were used to theory. Little theory was provided on how a
theory
fit in? explain how county-level inequality gang provides social organization and
influence the local political climate services to a local community, the
and voting behavior. economics of drug dealing, and how local
poor people must negotiate with a range of
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Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative research
(Newman, 2014, p. 176)

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Techniques for narrowing a topic into
research question

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 Research is a PROCESS
• It is easy to think that research is about reading sources and reaching
conclusions.

• In fact, research is a more involved set of connected processes.

• Being aware of these processes and how they shape your research and its
conclusions makes you more critical and aware of your own work and
arguments.
 If research is a process, what does
that process involve?
Group discussion:

1. Identify one member of your group who will moderate the

discussion and keep time
2. Identify another member of your group who will keep notes,
create the diagram and report back
3. Discuss for 10 minutes what your group thinks the research
process involves.
4. Report back on your five points.
What does the research process
involve?

How will you

What do you How will you How will you
deal with
want to find the present your
that
know? information? findings?
information?
If research is a process, what does that process
involve?
Group discussion:

1. Identify one member of your group who will moderate the

discussion and keep time
2. Identify another member of your group who will keep notes,
create the diagram and report back
3. Discuss for 10 minutes what your group thinks the research
process involves.
4. Report back on your five points.
 A process for research I
• The first step is to formulate your question
• Then figure out how you are going to answer it

o How have others answered it?

o Do you agree with the existing answers or do you have a
different idea/proposal/hypothesis?
o How does your proposal fit in with what others have
done?
o What additional information/data do you need in order
to be able to answer the question?
o How will you find that information/data and analyse it?

• The final step is to present your answer – written or oral.

A Process for Research II

1. Problem definition
2. Literature review
3. Selection of research design, subjects,
and data collection techniques
4. Data gathering
5. Data processing and analysis
6. Implications, Conclusions, and
Recommendations