Research Methods

… for research and innovation skills

To be covered
1. Research Problem
2. Educational Study
3. Topic of Interest
4. Conducting Literature Review

By Dr. Jonathan M. 0772166337, makanjera@yahoo.com

University of Zimbabwe 2022
Research problem stated in a study
1 Criteria for selecting a research approach
1. Worldviews
a basic set of beliefs that guide action, epistemologies
and ontologies/ paradigms/research methodologies
2. Research designs
• Qualitative
• narrative research, phenomenology,
grounded theory, ethnographies case
studies, research methods, research
problem, experiences of the researcher)
• Quantitative
• Experimental designs - true experiments,
quasi experiments applied behavioral
analysis / single subject experiment
• Non-Experimental designs - Causal-
comparative research, correlational design
Surveys
• Mixed methods
• convergent parallel mixed methods,
explanatory sequential mixed methods,
exploratory sequential mixed methods,
Transformative mixed methods, Embedded
mixed methods, Multiphase mixed
methods
3. Research problem
• An issue or concern to be addressed (e.g. the issue of racial discrimination).
The problem comes from a void in the literature, and conflict in research
results in the literature, topics that have been neglected in the literature; a
need to lift up the voice of marginalized participants; and real-life problems
found in the workplace, the home, the community etc.
• E.g. If a problem calls for (a) the identification of factors that influence an
outcome, (b) the utility of an intervention, or (c) understanding the best
predictors of outcomes, then a quantitative approach is best.
• Otherwise if a concept or phenomenon needs to be explored and understood,
because little research has been done on it, it merits a qualitative research.
4. Audiences
• Researchers write for audiences that will accept their research (journal
editors, readers, faculty committees, conference attendees or colleague in the
field)
• Students should consider the approaches typically supported and used by
their advisers
5. Personal experiences
• Researcher’s own personal training and experiences also influence their choice
of approach. An individual trained in technical, scientific writing, statistics and
computer statistical programs and familiar with quantitative journals in the
library would most likely choose quantitative design.
Introduction to an educational research study

• …the topic is the subject

matter of a proposed study
Quantitative research design • … it relates a study to the
larger, ongoing dialogue in the
Qualitative research design
• literature
… reflect on whether it is
• … it fills in gaps and extend
practical and useful to
undertake Simultaneously… •
prior studies
… compares results of different 1
2 studies Topic of interest
Theoretical
1 Literature review 3
framework
Topic of interest 2 3 4
Create hypotheses Literature Review Theoretical Framework Formulate research question
Define research
Define variables
problem
5
Defining sample (places and
persons)

6 5 4
Framing of general Hypotheses Collect data, 6
analyze and Designing research plan
laws supported? (including techniques)
interpret

7
Collecting data

8
Analyzing and interpreting
data
Topic of interest

1 Gaining insight into a topic

• Draft a brief working title to the study (a tangible idea that the researcher can keep
refocusing on and changing as the project goes on, it’s a central notion of the study and good
practice for students to give a working title if they do not already have one written on paper)
• Writing the working title (a complete the sentence: “My study is about… “ e.g. “My study is
about at-risk children in the junior high.” or “My study is about helping college faculty
become better researchers.” )
• Simplicity (good, sound research projects begin with straight forward, uncomplicated
… researcher thoughts that are easy to read and understand)
should spend • Brief and avoid wasting words (eliminate unnecessary words such as “An approach to…, “A
more time in
the library
study of…” etc.)
examining the • Use a single title or double title ( e.g. of double title would be “An Ethnography:
research on a Understanding a Child’s Perspective of War.”
topic • Pause the topic as a brief question (“What does it mean to be Arabic in U.S. society today?”)
• A topic can be researched ONLY (if a researcher has participants willing to serve in the study,
has money for data collection)
Topic of interest

2 The literature review

• 20 to 30 pages (start with at least 15 pages on your first submission of the
proposal, your supervisor will recommend changes that may take you to 30
pages)
• Good approach(start by developing an outline of all possible subtopics and
eventually develop them into the “Literature Review” section)
• Difference for Educational Research and Journal (in a journal an abbreviated
version of the educational version is given under “Related Literature” as part
• … it relates a study to of the introduction for quantitative studies in a separate section for qualitative
the larger, ongoing
studies)
dialogue in the
literature • Literature reviews take several forms (integrate what others have done and
• … it fills in gaps and said, criticize previous scholarly works, build bridges between related topics,
extend prior studies and identify the central issues in a field. However, instead of criticizing, most
• … compares results of
different studies
theses and dissertations integrate the literature, organize it into a series of
related topics (often from general topics to narrower ones) and summarize
the literature by pointing out the central issues)
Conducting a literature review

1 Using literature in a qualitative study

• Use of the literature
1. The literature is used to frame the problem in the introduction to the study
2. The literature is presented in a separate section as a review of the literature
3. The literature is presented in the study at the end; it becomes a basis for comparing and contrasting
findings of the qualitative study
• Criteria
1. There must be some literature available
2. This approach is often acceptable to an audience most familiar with the traditional postpositivist
approach to literature reviews
3. This approach most suitable for the inductive process of qualitative research; the literature does not
guide and direct the study but becomes an aid once patters or categories have been identified
• Examples of suitable strategy types
1. Typically, literature is used in all qualitative studies, regardless of type
2. This approach is used with those studies employing a strong theory and literature background at the
beginning of a study, such as ethnographies and critical theory studies
3. This approach is used in all types of qualitative designs, but it is most popular with grounded theory,
where one contrasts and compares a theory with other theories found in the literature
Conducting a literature review

2 Using literature in a quantitative and mixed methods studies

• … when composing
literature to review, it is
difficult to determine
how much literature to
review
• However, for
quantitative or mixed
methods study write
literature that is related
to the major
independent and major
dependent variables
under study
1. Introduction (first component where you tell the reader the sections to be
covered)
2. Review Topic 1 (addresses the scholarly literature about the Independent
variable or variables)
3. Review Topic 2 (incorporates the scholarly literature about the Dependent
variable or variables)
4. Review Topic 3 (includes the scholarly literature that relates the
independent variable(s) to the independent and dependent variable(s). This
is the crux of the proposed study. This section should be short and concise
and contain studies that are extremely close in topic to the proposed study
5. Provide a summary (highlights the most important studies, capture major
themes, suggests why more research is needed on the topic, and advances
how the proposed study will fill this need)
End