Designing the

research
Lecture 4

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Learning objectives

• After studying this topic, you should be able to

– Describe the main methodologies associated with
positivism
– Describe the main methodologies associated with
interpretivism
– Compare the strengths and weaknesses of methodologies
– Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of triangulation
– Choose a methodology that reflects your paradigm.
• Independent study
– Study Chapter 4
– Other activities as set

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Introduction

• Once you have identified your research paradigm, you can

start designing your research by choosing the
methodology and methods you will use to investigate
your research question(s)
– A methodology is an approach to the process of the
research, encompassing a body of methods
– A method is a technique for collecting and/or analysing
data
– Primary data are data generated from an original source (eg
your own experiments, surveys, interviews or focus groups)
– Secondary data are data collected from an existing source
(eg publications, databases or internal records)
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Main methodological issues

• The main issues are

– Why you will collect certain data
– What data you will collect
– From where you will collect it
– When you will collect it
– How you will collect it
– How you will analyse it
• You need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of
potential methods in order to justify your choice when
writing your methodology chapter

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Exercise 1
Link between paradigm and methodology

• Your choice of methodology and methods should be

guided by your research paradigm
• We have just looked at definition of methodology – now
jot down a definition of a research paradigm

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Solution 1
Link between paradigm and methodology
• A research paradigm ‘is a philosophical framework that
guides how research should be conducted, based on
people’s philosophies and their assumptions about the
world and the nature of knowledge’ (Collis and Hussey,
2014, p. 43)
• Therefore, certain methodologies and their associated
methods are used by researchers sharing the same
philosophical assumptions about reality and what
constitutes valid knowledge

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Methodologies associated with the main
paradigms

Positivism Interpretivism

Experimental studies Hermeneutics

Surveys Ethnography
Cross sectional studies Participative enquiry
Longitudinal studies Action research
Case studies
Grounded theory
Feminist, gender and
ethnicity studies

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Methodologies associated with positivism

• Experimental studies are used to investigate the

relationship between variables where the independent
variable (IV) is deliberately manipulated to observe the
effect on the dependent variable (DV)
– A variable is a characteristic of a phenomenon that can be
observed or measured
• Eg The relationship between noise level (IV) and
productivity (DV) in an artificial or natural setting
– May be difficult to control the effect of confounding
variables (eg change in behaviour due to being watched)

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Methodologies associated with positivism

• Surveys are designed to collect primary or secondary

data from a sample, with a view to generalizing the
results to a population
– A population is a precisely defined body of people or
objects under consideration for statistical purposes
– A sample is a subset of a population that represents
the population
• Eg An analytical survey to investigate customer’s views
on service quality and test relationships between certain
variables

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Methodologies associated with positivism

• Cross-sectional studies are used to investigate variables

or a group of subjects in different contexts over the same
period of time
– A snapshot of the phenomena under study
• Eg Data collected once from firms in a range of
industries to study similarities and differences of
economic characteristics

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Methodologies associated with positivism

• Longitudinal studies are used to investigate variables or a

group of subjects over a long period of time
– Investigate the same variables or the same group of
people several times or continuously over the period (may
be several years)
• Eg Primary or secondary data collected at regular intervals to
reveal the relative stability of the phenomena under study
using time series analysis (see Chapter 12)

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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Hermeneutics is a methodology that focuses on the

interpretation and understanding of text in the context of
the underlying historical and social forces
– Requires constant reference to other parts of the text and
to the historical and social context
• Eg For interpreting historical documents for reasons
behind legal judgements or statutes

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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Ethnography – The researcher uses socially acquired and

shared knowledge to understand the observed patterns
of human activity
– Involves direct participation in the activities taking place
and normally takes place over a long period of time
– Provides a full or partial description of a group of people,
generally through participant observation (see Chapter 7)
in a natural setting

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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Participative enquiry – The participants are involved as

fully as possible in the study, which is conducted in their
own group or organization
– The research may even be initiated by a member of the
group and the participants are involved in the data
collection and analysis
– The participants also determine the progress and direction
of the research, thus enabling the researcher to develop
questions and answers as a shared experience with a
group as co-researchers

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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Action research is used to find an effective way of

bringing about a conscious change in a partly controlled
environment
– The main aim is for the researcher to enter into a situation,
attempt to bring about change and to monitor the results
• Eg A study aimed at improving communications between
management and staff in an particular firm

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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Case studies are used to explore a single phenomenon

(the case) in a natural setting using a variety of methods
to obtain in-depth knowledge
– The case may be a particular business, group of workers,
event, process, person or other phenomenon
• According to Yin (2014), case study research is the
preferred method if:
– Main research questions are ‘how ‘or ‘why’ questions
– Researcher has little/no control over behavioural events
– Focus of the study is a contemporary phenomenon

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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Grounded theory is a framework in which there is joint

collection, coding and analysis of data using a systematic
set of procedures to develop an inductively derived
theory
– It was conceived by Glaser and Strauss (1967) in reaction
to positivist studies which start with a theoretical
framework, establish hypotheses and collect data that is
used to test the hypotheses
– They argued that this can lead to early closure where the
researchers only collect data relevant to their theories and
ignore data that could be useful for explaining what is
happening
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Methodologies associated with interpretivism

• Feminist studies are used to investigate and seek

understanding of phenomena from a feminist
perspective where the focus is on the role of women in
society vis à vis men
• Gender studies are used to investigate the experiences of
men and women in society
• Ethnicity studies are used to investigate the experiences
of ethnic group(s) in society

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Triangulation

• Triangulation is the use of multiple sources of data,

different research methods and/or more than one
researcher to investigate the same phenomena in a study
– Term comes from surveying where several reference points
are taken to check the location of an object
• Can reduce bias in data sources, methods and
investigators (see Jick, 1979)

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Main types of triangulation
(Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson, 2012)
• Triangulation of theories – A theory is taken from one
discipline (eg psychology) and used to explain a phenomenon
in another (eg marketing)
• Data triangulation – Data are collected at different times or
from different sources in the same study
• Investigator triangulation – Different researchers
independently collect data on the same phenomenon and
compare the results
– Can lead to greater validity and reliability if all the researchers
reach the same conclusions (Denzin, 1978)
• Methodological triangulation – More than one method (from
the same paradigm) is used to collect and/or analyse the data
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 Examples of a cohesive research design

• Choose a methodology and methods that reflect your paradigm

and enable you to answer your research questions

Research design Positivism Interpretivism

Methodology: Survey Case study
Sampling Stratified random sample Convenience sample
method: (Chapter 10) (Chapter 7)
Method of data Self-completion questionnaire Semi-structured, face-
collection: (Chapter 10) or content to-face interviews
analysis (Chapter 8) (Chapter 7)

Method of data Statistics to test hypotheses Thematic analysis of

analysis: (Chapters 11 & 12) interview transcripts
(Chapter 8)

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Influence of paradigm on the research design

• Topic: Gender issues in employment

• Research problem: Effect of the new career-break
scheme in Firm A on the recruitment and retention of
skilled staff
• Research question: How has the new career-break
scheme contributed to employment in Firm A?
• Methodology: Case study
– Positivist – Statistical analysis of secondary data (internal
records) and primary data (staff questionnaire)
– Interpretivist – Thematic analysis of primary data (semi-
structured interviews with staff)

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Exercise 2
Justifying your research design
• The manager of the firm in the previous scenario wants
to commission the research and has confirmed that you
will have access to the sources of data you need for
either study
– Positivist – Statistical analysis of secondary data (internal
records) and primary data (staff questionnaire)
– Interpretivist – Thematic analysis of primary data (semi-
structured interviews with staff)
• In pairs, jot down the advantages and disadvantages of
each of the proposed studies and make a
recommendation

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Conclusions

• Identifying your paradigm at an early stage is important

because it guides your choice of methodology
• This will lead you to a range of associated methods for
collecting and analysing research data
• Postgraduate and doctoral students may want to
incorporate some form of triangulation
• Now read Chapter 4

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