SCHOOL OF PEDAGOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES

PROGRAM: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

PROGRAM TYPE: REGULAR

Student Name Eyob Eyassu Mola

ASSIGMENT OF THE COURSE research design

methodology in education (631)

SUBMITTED TO: DEGAFE (PhD)

November, 2022

ARBAMINCH, ETHIOPIA

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 1 How can you develop and conceptual framework for your thesis by taking a given topic
show the procedures in relation to your basic questions and objectives

Developing a conceptual framework in research.

1. Step 1: Choose your research question.
2. Step 2: Select your independent and dependent variables.
3. Step 3: Visualize your cause-and-effect relationship.
4. Step 4: Identify other influencing variables.
5. Frequently asked questions about conceptual models
theoretical framework how can it be developed for a research study?
A theoretical framework is used to limit the scope of the relevant data by focusing on specific
variables and defining the specific viewpoint [framework] that the researcher will take in
analyzing and interpreting the data to be gathered
What is the relationship between research objectives and research questions?
Research objectives are clear statements of what you aim to achieve through your research. They
are specific actions that you will take and act as milestones that will help you complete your
research. A research question is the specific concern that you will answer through your research.

1. From your topic operationally define important terms

Your operational definitions describe the variables you will use as indicators and the procedures
you will use to observe or measure them. You need an operational definition because you can't
measure anything without one, no matter how good your conceptual definition might be.
2. A good research topic should be feasible (can be done), interesting, novel, ethical and
relevant (has an implication)
Feasibility: Before doing research, the researcher must be sure that research can be done and
complete according to these factors: It should be possible in order the time frame of the planned
research. Equipment, supplies and other requirements to undertaken the research should be
available. The researcher must have the required expertise The cost of doing the research must be
affordable and the financial resources available. The research objectives must not be too many.
Interest: The research topic must be of interest to investigator and to scientific community.
Novelty: It is essential that the investigator is familiar with the up – to –date literatures on the
topic of research.
Ethics: General ethical principles: Ethics are principles of right conduct, there are generally no
disagreements on the ethical principles in themselves, since they represent basic human. The
research process begins with the choice research topic, followed by selection of the appropriate
research design, development of research protocol, writing and analysis and interpretation of the
research results and finally communicating the research; including its publication. ethical
consideration applies throughout research process

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Relevance: Also, it called " so-what " test for the research to be considered relevant it must have
the potential to advance scientific knowledge policy, or guide further research
3. how can you show research gap for your thesis work
A gap statement is found in the Introduction section of a journal article or poster or in the Goals
and Importance section of a research proposal and succinctly identifies for your audience the gap
that you will attempt to address in your project.
4. formulate positive negative and null hypotheses based on
The null hypothesis is always stated in the negative. This is because you have to be able to
prove something is indeed true. Technically speaking, the word “hypothesis” is a Greek word
that means “an assumption subject to verification”. The null hypothesis is what we test with
statistics.
null hypothesis is a negative statement relative to the research question, and an alternative
hypothesis is a positive statement
5. how can you write your thesis by using the combination and hypothesis and basic
research questions? Discus using practical examples.
It is possible to have both hypothesis and basic research questions in a single study depending
on the focus of the study. More importantly, I think what the Researcher wants to know is:
whether a particular research question could be restated as hypothesis in the same study.

A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested by scientific research. If you want to test a
relationship between two or more variables, you need to write hypotheses before you start y
our experiment or data collection

Example:-

Research Question: Does tutorial class improve female students’ academic performance?

Ha: female students those who attend tutorial class will achieve more than those do not attend
tutorial class.

Ho: there is no significance difference between female students those who attend tutorial class
and those who do not attend tutorial class.

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6. How can you put your research problem/topic under comprehensive scholarly
perspective?
Selection of research problem depends on several factors such as researcher's knowledge,
skills, interest, expertise, motivation & creativity with respect to the subject of inquiry. It is
believed that most of the good research studies need lots of time for selection of a research
problem.
A good research problem should have the following characteristics: It should address a gap in
knowledge. It should be significant enough to contribute to the existing body of research. It
should lead to further research.
To put the research topic under comprehensive scholarly perspective
you should consider the following questions: -
 Is the problem clear and researchable?
 Is the topic specific enough both in Geographical and conceptual?
 Is it manageable?
 Is the problem new/ Not studied repeatedly former?
 Is it addressable and can I Do well?
7. Problem statement and review literature must follow inverted pyramid. Discuss it
briefly using specific and practical example.
The inverted pyramid signifies the increased focus in the literature review from the definition of
the problem domain, to the critical discussion of the literature within this domain, to the
identification of research needs and knowledge gaps within the literature, to a clear statement of
research.
The inverted pyramid means that the idea we discuss are conceptually states from the global
sense to the locally selected case study area. For example: - our study may be about educational
problems the review literature explains education status in the global context to the local/selected
area (broader to narrower)
8. Among the qualitative and quantitative approach of research
Which one is inductive? How? Why? Inductive approaches are generally associated
with qualitative research. Inductive research “involves the search for pattern from
observation and the development of explanations theories for those patterns through series of
hypotheses.
Which one is deductive? How? Why? deductive approaches are more commonly associated
with quantitative research.
9. How can you delimit research problem conceptually and geographically? Discuss using
practical example.
delimitations are the characteristics that limit the scope and describe the boundaries of the
study, such as the sample size, geographical location or setting in which the study takes place,
population traits, etc.

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conceptual delimitation is about the problem which we focus to collect data.
For example:- Assessing economic factors that hinder the promotion of good governance in
government secondary schools of Arba minch city administration, gamo zone.
 Geographical delimitation is all about government secondary schools of Arba minch
city administration, gamo zone.
 Conceptual delimitation is all about economic factors that hinder the promotion of good
governance. We have no responsibility to study about other factors.
11.what are the implication of significance of your thesis work ?
Structurally, the significance is written in the Introduction section and 'leads into' your research,
as it is meant to show why your study is needed. In contrast, implications 'lead out from' your
research, and are written in the Discussion section.
What are implications in a thesis?
An implication in a research paper is a conclusion that can be inferred from the study findings.
Implications may be theoretical or practical. Theoretical implications constitute new additions to
existing theories or form the basis for new theories.
How do you write implications in a research paper?
The implications of your research will derive from why it was important to conduct your study
and how will it impact future research in your field. You should base your implications on how
previous similar studies have advanced your field and how your study can add to that.
12.What issues can be addressed under the limitation of thesis work ? Discuss briefly using
practical example
No study is perfect, no matter how elegant its design may be, and many journals require authors
to write a section at the end of the discussion about the limitations of their study. For some
studies, these limitations will be obvious: small sample size, multiple comparisons without
corrections, observational design and risk for confounding. For other designs, the limitations
may be less obvious, but you’ll still need to list them.
What are the limitations of a study?
The limitations of a study are its flaws or shortcomings. Study limitations can exist due to
constraints on research design, methodology, materials, etc., and these factors may impact the
findings of your study. However, researchers are often reluctant to discuss the limitations of their
study in their papers, feeling that bringing up limitations may undermine its research value in the
eyes of readers and reviewers.
Six Tips For Writing Your Limitations Section
Focus on weaknesses in your design and analyses, rather than results.

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Start with a bold statement: “This study has some limitations.” Don’t try to soften it with less
obvious language.
Enumerate the limitations, if you can. If you have three limitations to discuss, say so: “This study
has three main limitations.”
Be direct about what they are. “The first limitation is the small number of participants.”
Explain if needed, but without being defensive. “Because this condition is so rare, we anticipated
that recruitment might not meet targets. However, also because the condition is rare, the findings
of this study offer new, potentially useful information for this patient population.”
Signal that you are wrapping up your limitations: “Finally, we could not control for every
possible lifestyle factor, and the observational nature of this design leaves the possibility of
residual confounding.”
These are some suggestions to help you transcend your own limitations
If you want to transcend yourself, you need to have something to aim for. Set realistic goals and
targets. This maybe getting rid of a bad habit; it may be getting up 30 minutes earlier; it may be
to improve your physical health. If you have something to aim for it remains a powerful
motivation. As you achieve a small improvement, you can continue to raise the target. If it is not
so easy to achieve your goals – don’t give up. Self transcendence requires patience, and
perseverance.
Don’t Be Limited by Your Own Thoughts
The first thing we need to be aware of, is how easily we can be affected by our own self imposed
limitations. Quite often, we may be unaware of how much we allow our thoughts to limit our
perspective and capacities. These thoughts and ideas are often deeply embedded in our mind.
However, whilst we cherish these thoughts, they will always act as an invisible barrier. Examine
carefully, your own thoughts. If you find yourself often saying “I can’t do that..” try to at least
suspend disbelief.
Don’t Listen to People’s Negativity
The world has more than its fair share of critics. They have a role to play; but, progress does not
come through listening to the doubts, suspicions and disbelief of critics. It is important to be able
to differentiate between constructive advice and criticism; when you can learn to ignore
negativity you are free to aim for the highest.
Be Focused and Wholly Committed
Our self-transcendence does not come through half hearted attempts. If we can harness the power
of concentration we will gain unimaginable focus. True concentration is the ability to focus on
one thing to the the exclusion of all else. Usually, our attention is dispersed – this makes our
energy equally dispersed; when we learn to concentrate our self improvement will come
spontaneously.

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Remember Many Things were Impossible
If we always listened to the so called ‘experts’ we would probably still be travelling around in a
horse and cart. Many times we see people proudly proclaiming: ‘that is impossible’ When we
look at things from the limitations of the mind, they probably do seem impossible. But, when we
bring our inner soul qualities to the fore, is anything impossible?
Inspiration of Personal Examples
Until quite recently, the Olympics didn’t allow women to compete in the marathon (it was added
as late as 1984) it was felt women were incapable of running such distances. However, we now
see, the women’s marathon time being quite close to men’s.
Why do I need to include limitations of research in my paper?
Although limitations address the potential weaknesses of a study, writing about them towards the
end of your paper actually strengthens your study by identifying any problems before other
researchers or reviewers find them.
Furthermore, pointing out study limitations shows that you’ve considered the impact of research
weakness thoroughly and have an in-depth understanding of your research topic. Since all studies
face limitations, being honest and detailing these limitations will impress researchers and
reviewers more than ignoring them.
13.What are the procedures that you must follow to review the literature for your thesis
work?
What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific
topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories,
methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or
dissertation topic.

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

Search for relevant literature
Evaluate sources
Identify themes, debates, and gaps
Outline the structure
Write your literature review
A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes, and critically
evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.
What is the purpose of a literature review?
When you write a thesis, dissertation, or research paper, you will likely have to conduct a
literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives
you a chance to:

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Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates
around your topic.
Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate
school or pursue a career in research.
Examples of literature reviews
Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at
some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.
Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical
Literature” (Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory
from the 1950s to today.)
14.What are the components of research methodology of the thesis work? Discuss each of
them briefly.
5 Key Elements of Methodology Section of a Research Paper
Research methodology provides the scientific framework of your research process. It evaluates
the quality and validity of your research study. While it seems straightforward to write the
methodology section, it can be tricky as one element is connected to another and you need to
explain the use of each method. A well-structured section that includes all the key elements
provides the blueprint of your research paper.
Starting from broad to specific element, the methodology section of an empirical article may be
organized as:
Logic of Inquiry (Qualitative or Quantitative)
State the logic of inquiry, that is whether your research study is inductive or deductive research.
In simple terms, tell if your study is adopting qualitative or quantitative approach. Explain why
you have used the approach by relating it to the research problem and how is it suitable to study
that problem. It is the overarching component of methodology that will branch out its nature to
all the other four components.
Research Setting and participants
Write the description of the study setting and any contextual information that is relevant to the
study. The social, economic, political, cultural, historical, or physical such as institutions may

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constitute the context. You could include why you have selected that particular setting for your
research.
Write the characteristics of the targeted population in the research setting and why this particular
population is best suited for studying the research problem. It may include gender, age, ethnicity,
socio-economic aspects, demography, etc. State clearly the sampling method and procedure that
is used to select or identify participants.
Methods and Procedure of Data Collection
Write which methods you have used to collect data from the participants and describe it for the
readers to understand why you have used it for your study and not others. Structured and
unstructured interviews and questionnaires are common methods. Quantitative research is
objective and pre-determined and hence, structured interviews are used while qualitative research
is subjective and flexible and hence, unstructured interviews are used. Unstructured methods will
help to capture experiences, opinions, and perspectives and will provide thick descriptions. You
may use multiple methods to support or complement your data. In case of mixed methods
research, you may use multiple methods at various levels. If possible, describe the entry to the
field, data collection process, and the challenges faced during data collection.
Methods and Procedure of Data Analysis
Write the process how you transcribed and analysed the data in steps. This section is not to
present the actual data but to show how the data was analysed. In quantitative research, statistical
tests are used while in qualitative research, theme and content analysis are used.
Ethical Issues
Were you mindful of the ethical issues while conducting the research? Ethical issues are even
more important in today’s world when people know their worth and value and that researchers
should respect that. Write all the ethical norms that you followed or adhered before, during and
after interviews in the field. Besides, you should write if your research study has been cleared by
any Institutional Review Board.
These five steps will decide the quality and merit of your research and writing all the steps with
the rationale strengthen the overall framework of your research.
If you enjoyed reading this article or you got some key takeaways from this article, please hit the
like button. Thanks for your kindness.
15. What issues will be included in summary, conclusion and recommendation part of your
thesis work? Discuss each of them briefly.
The conclusion chapter provides a clear answer to your research question(s) and summarises the
key findings. In this chapter, you evaluate the limitations of your research, make
recommendations for future research and link back to other research.

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The goal of the recommendations is to make clear, specific, and realistic suggestions to future
researchers before they conduct a similar experiment. No matter what area your research is in,
there will always be further research to do.
The conclusion of a research paper is where you wrap up your ideas and leave the reader with a
strong final impression. It has several key goals:
Restate the problem statement addressed in the paper
Summarize your overall arguments or findings
Suggest the key takeaways from your paper
The content of the conclusion varies depending on whether your paper presents the results of
original empirical research or constructs an argument through engagement with sources.
The steps below show you how to construct an effective conclusion for either type of research
paper.
summarizes the conclusions and recommendations emanating from this study. It begins by
looking at a summary of the initial aims and objectives, its rationale, and a synopsis of the
literature findings.
Recommendations should be one-sentence, succinct, and start with an action verb (create,
establish, fund, facilitate, coordinate, etc.). They should use a “SMART” format (Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely). Each recommendation should be followed by a few
sentences of explanatory text.
Recommendations are often included with a report's conclusion, although they serve different
purposes. Whereas a conclusion offers you the opportunity to summarize or review your report's
main ideas, recommendations suggest actions to be taken in response to the findings of a report.
16. what are the procedures that you must follow to organize the reference for your thesis
work? Explain using practical example.
When you decide to cite a thesis, you'll need to look for the following information to use in your
citation:
1. Author's last name, and first and middle initials.
2. Year published.
3. Title of thesis or dissertation.
4. If it is unpublished.
5. Publication or document number (if applicable; for published work)
Example: - Author, A. A. (date). Title of master’s thesis (Unpublished doctoral dissertation or
master's thesis). Name of Institution, Location. Give the correct full name of the university, not
its abbreviation or brand name.

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How to do I choose a citation style?
APA (American Psychological Association) is used by Education, Psychology, and Sciences.
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used by the Humanities.
Chicago/Turabian style is generally used by Business, History, and the Fine Arts
17. What are the components of abstract of your thesis work?
An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects of the
entire paper in a prescribed sequence that includes:
1) The overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) you investigated;
2) The basic design of the study;
3) Major findings or trends found as a result of your study
An abstract should be brief, concise, objective and balanced. It is a "just the facts" presentation
of the research with major emphasis on conveying methods and main results so that readers are
able to understand the basis of the "take home" messages that are expressed in "conclusions"
All abstracts generally cover the following five sections
 Reason for writing: What is the importance of the research?
 Problem: What problem does this work attempt to solve?
 Methodology: An abstract of a scientific work may include specific models or approaches
used in the larger study.
 Results
 Implications
18. how can you present analyze and interpret the data in its respective section?
Data Presentation tools are powerful communication tools that can simplify the data by making it
easily understandable & readable at the same time while attracting & keeping the interest of its
readers and effectively showcase large amounts of complex data in a simplified manner.
Analyzing data is a process of looking for patterns in data that has been collected through inquiry
and figuring out about what the patterns might mean. Interpreting the data is a process of trying
to explain the patterns that were discovered.
Data can be presented in running text, framed boxes, lists, tables or figures, with each of these
having a marked effect not only on how readers perceive and understand the research results, but
also on how authors analyze and interpret those results in the first place
To present the proper data analyze and interpretation
1. Make sure your data can be seen.
2. Focus most on the points your data illustrates.
3. Share one and only one major point from each chart.
4. Label chart components clearly.
5. Visually highlight “Aha!” zones.

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 6. Write a slide title that reinforces the data's point.
7. Present to your audience, not to your data
Steps to conduct Quantitative Data Analysis
I. Relate measurement scales with variables: Associate measurement scales such as
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio with the variables.
II. Connect descriptive statistics with data: Link descriptive statistics to encapsulate
available data.
19. what are the procedure that you must follow develop data gathering tools for your
thesis work?
The data collection provides the basis for reliability estimations. Thus, a good data collection
procedure is crucial to ensure that the reliability estimate is trustworthy. A prediction is never
better than the data on which it is based. Thus, it is important to ensure the quality of the data
collection.
Under the main three basic groups of research methods (quantitative, qualitative and mixed),
there are different tools that can be used to collect data. Interviews can be done either face-to-
face or over the phone.
To develop data gathering tools in thesis we must follow the following procedures.
Step 1: Identify Goals and Performers.
Step 2: Create Investigative Questions.
Step 3: Develop a Data Collection Plan.
Step 4: Create Data Collection Instruments.
Step 5: Collect Data.
Step 6: Analyze Data and Identify Gaps.
Step 7: Summarize Findings & Prioritize Actions.
Here are the top 5 data collection methods and examples that we've summarized for you:
1. Surveys and Questionnaires
2. Interviews
3. Observations
4. Records and Documents
5. Focus Groups
20. what are the components of the following thesis sections?
 Cover page The cover page consists of: - The title of the thesis work, , name of the
institution of study and its logo in upper part, the department which the thesis submitted, The
researcher/ student's name, the advisor name, year of study.
 Preliminary section Preliminary pages consist of; - the title page, statement of thesis
approval sheet, declaration, acknowledgement, table of contents, list of tables and figures,
abbreviations, abstract.

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 Chapter one Background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study,
basic research questions, significance of the study, limitation of the study, delimitation/scope
of the study, operational definition of terms and organization of the paper
 Chapter two Review of related literature
 Chapter three Description of study area (geographical location, population, topography,
temperature range yearly, rainfall range, livelihood activities…) research design, research
methodology, sample size, sampling techniques, data gathering tools, instruments, ethical
consideration. (Budget plan and time schedule for proposal, but not for final report)
 Chapter four Data analysis, presentation and interpretation.
 Chapter five Summary, conclusion, recommendation, suggestive ideas for another
researcher.
 Reference Referencing is an important part of academic work. It puts your work in context,
demonstrates the breadth and depth of your research, and acknowledges other people's work
In general, a reference should contain four elements, which you can remember as the four
W's: author name ("who"), date of publication ("when"), title of the work ("what"), and
publication data ("where")
 Appendices The Appendices should follow the References/Bibliography unless your
Appendices include citations or footnotes. Appendices can consist of figures, tables, maps,
photographs, raw data, computer programs, musical examples, interview questions,
sample questionnaires, etc.

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