Research Methodology

Dr. Mirwais Parsa

CONTACTS 0707222222 | info@dunya.edu.af |www.dunya.edu.af

 Outline of the Course
 Lecture 1: Introduction to Research Methodology
• Philosophy of science
• Definition
• The Language of Research: Concepts, Constructs, Definitions, Variables,
Theory and Models
 Lecture 2: The Research Process
• Problem Identification
• Literature Survey
• The Research Design
• Hypothesis Development
• Procedure for Testing of Hypothesis
 Outline of the Course
 Lecture 3: Data Collection
 Lecture 4: Sampling design and techniques
 Lecture 5: Constructing Questionnaire, Ethics of Conducting Interviews
 Lecture 6: Data Analysis: Descriptive, and Inferential Statistical Measures. Primary and
Secondary Data Analysis, Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Direct Citations.
 Lecture 7: Hypothesis Testing
Mid term exam: (40 Marks)
 Lecture 8: Test of significance
• Types of tests,
• z-test,
• t-test,
• chi-square test
 Outline of the Course
 Lecture 9: Analysis of Variance and Covariance
 Lecture 10: Regression and Correlation Analysis
 Lecture 11: Measurement and Scaling Techniques
 Lecture 12: Stata Session
End term exam: Objective + Subjective type questions (0 Marks) + 10 Marks
attendance
 References

• Walliman, Nicholas. 2011. Research Methods: The Basic, Oxon: Rutledge

• Kothari, C.R. 1990. Research methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Age
International (P) Limited, Publishers: New Delhi.

• Fink, Arlene. 2014. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to
Paper, 4th Edn. California: SAGE
 Introduction/Philosophy of Science
Some important Concepts
1. Paradigm: Thomas Kuhn used the term ‘paradigm’ in two ways: 1. to represent a particular
way of thinking that is shared by a community of scientists in solving problems in their field and
2. to represent the “commitments, beliefs, values, methods, outlooks and so forth shared across a
discipline” (Schwandt, 2001, p. 183-4).
2. Ontology: Ontology is the accepted axiom or ‘truth’ for a particular context. These are the
things the research takes as ‘facts’.
 Ontology refers to what sort of things exist in the social world and assumptions about the form
and nature of that social reality.
 It is concerned with whether or not social reality exists independently of human understanding
and interpretation; for instance, is there a shared social reality or ‘multiple context-specific
realities’.
 Introduction/Philosophy of Science
Some important Concepts

3. Epistemology: Research epistemology is assumptions about the pool of knowledge for a

subject based on a particular ontology (or set of ontologies).
4. Axiology: Research axiology is the values and ethics for a subject based on a particular set of
epistemologies.
5. Methodology: specifies the tools and techniques that we use in the conduct of our research.