Research Methodology

Resource Person
Saba Khurshid
Research Officer
R & D Department, AFPGMI
To Conduct research a research
 Determine the Research Methodology
 Study Population or Sample
 Data Collection and Analyzing Tools
 Interpretation of Research Findings

 Citations and References

What is Research Methodology?
Provides answer to How:
 How will the data be collected?
 How it will be analyzed?
 How it will be reported?
Provides basis for Method Chapter
 Why were these methods selected?
 Research Methodology

• A systematic method to resolve a research problem through data

gathering using various techniques
• Providing an interpretation of data gathered
• Drawing conclusions about the research data
• A blueprint of a research or study
• Methodology, “is the underlying
theory and analysis of how a research Research
does or should proceed”
• Where as Method is the technique Methodology
used in gathering evidence vs.
• Methods cover the technical
procedures or steps taken to do the Research
research,
• and Methodology provides the
Methods
underlying reasons why certain
methods are used in the process.
Research Objective ,Aim
Questions

golden thread as these define the focus and

scope of research project

Research aim(s) is a statement that reflects the broad overarching

goal(s) of the research project

This study sets out to assess the interaction between student

support and self-care on well-being in engineering graduate
students
 The research objectives take the research aims and make them
more practical and actionable. In other words, the research objectives showcase
the steps that the researcher will take to achieve the research aims.

And for the student wellness topic:

• To determine whether student self-care predicts the well-being
score of engineering graduate students.
• To determine whether student support predicts the well-being
score of engineering students.
• To assess the interaction between student self-care and student
support when predicting well-being in engineering graduate
students.
The research questions are, as the name suggests, the key questions that your study
will seek to answer. The research questions will be the driving force throughout the
research process. your methodology and research design will be heavily influenced
by the nature of your research questions.

And for the student wellness topic (which would be quantitative in

nature):
• Does student self-care predict the well-being scores of
engineering graduate students?
Clear • Does student support predict the well-being scores of
engineering students?
Relevant • Do student self-care and student support interact when
predicting well-being in engineering graduate students?

Feasible

Interesting
Activity:
Think about a topic and develop
• Aim
• objective(s)
• Research Question (s)
How do I choose the right methodology
for my research?
• Choosing an optimal research methodology is crucial for the success of any research
project.

• The methodology you select will determine the type of data you collect, how you
collect it, and how you analyze it.

• Understanding the different types of research methods available along with their
strengths and weaknesses, is thus imperative to make an informed decision.
 Overview: Choosing Your Methodology

Understanding the options

– Qualitative research
– Quantitative research
– Mixed methods-based research

Choosing a research methodology

– Nature of the research
– Research area norms
– Practicalities
1. Understanding the options

Before we jump into the question of how to choose a research

methodology, it’s useful to take a step back to understand the three
overarching types of research –
1. Qualitative
2. Quantitative
3. Mixed methods
Each of these options takes a different methodological approach.
• Qualitative research utilizes data that is not numbers-based.
In other words, qualitative research focuses
on words, descriptions, concepts or ideas
• Qualitative research investigates the “softer side” of things to
explore and describe

• while quantitative research makes use of numbers and

statistics.
• while quantitative research focuses on the “hard
numbers”, to measure differences between variables and
the relationships between them
 Qualitative Research
inductive approach
build theories
subjective approach
open and flexible approach
small sample sizes
qualitative data analysis techniques
(e.g. content analysis, thematic analysis,
etc)
Quantitative Research
deductive approach
test theories
objective approach
closed, highly planned approach
requires large sample sizes
statistical analysis techniques
 Mixed methods-based research, attempts to bring these two types of
research together, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data.
 Quite often, mixed methods-based studies will use qualitative research
to explore a situation and develop a potential model of understanding (this
is called a conceptual framework), and then go on to use quantitative
methods to test that model empirically.

Qualitative Mixed Quantitative r

• It’s important to understand that each methodological approach has
a different purpose
• for example, to explore and understand situations (qualitative), to test
and measure (quantitative) or to do both.
• They’re not simply alternative tools for the same job.
‘a case study can be defined as an intensive Historical studies examine past events to understand
study about a person, a group of people or a the present and expect potential future effects.
unit, which is aimed to generalize over several
units’

Describes the meaning of the lived

Goal is to develop a theory experience from the perspective of
about the processes (social the participant. Its purpose is to
behavior or scene) under describe the essences of lived
investigation in a natural experiences
setting. Useful in areas where
little is known or when a new
perspective is needed

Systematic study of individual cultures. It

explores cultural phenomena from the point of
view of the subject of the study.
a research method that aims to simultaneously
investigate and solve an issue. In other words,
as its name suggests, action research conducts
research and takes action at the same time
 Phenomological Case Study Ethnographic Grounded Theory

Lived One Person, Place, Culture & Time Process/Cycle

Experiences/Stories Event, one organization Duration

Historical Action Research

makes use of investigate and solve

historical documents an issue.
and other records.
 Exposure and
disease over time
Retrospective

Prospective Times
Series
Study

Longitudinal
No Follow Up Prevalence
The case group & of disease
control group Exposure and
disease at one
time
Randomized Control Trial
•The two groups of cohorts (exposed and un-exposed) are followed prospectively
over time to track the development of new disease.
•Example: In a prospective cohort study researchers compared four different
groups of women (two at-risk groups, two low-risk groups) to investigate which
groups were more likely to develop PTSD symptoms after a birthing event.
•Cohorts are defined from a previous point in time, and are not followed up in the future.
•Information or data is collected from past clinical records and the outcome of interest is investigated.
•Useful for tracking the progress of a disease with a long latency period.
•In a retrospective cohort study researchers used previously collected data to investigate whether there was an
association between birth experience and subsequent maternal care-giving attitudes and behavior over a 12-month
period
•One has a health issue (Case group), and this group is “matched” to a Control group without the health issue
based on characteristics like age, gender, occupation. In this study type, we can look back in the patient’s
histories to look for exposure to risk factors that are common to the Case group, but not the Control group. It
was a case-control study that demonstrated a link between carcinoma of the lung and smoking tobacco.
 Cross-Sectional study

•Cross-sectional studies look at a population at a single point in time, like taking a slice or cross-section of a
group, and variables are recorded for each participant. what is the most common or normal age for students
completing secondary education in Victoria?
 You are interested in how mosquito-
borne diseases spread. You interview a
cohort of people who have been
hospitalized with severe dengue fever,
asking about the events surrounding
their illness and their medical history to
study the spread of the disease.
You are studying the relationship between
early-childhood stress and the likelihood of
later developing post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). Here, the case group would
be individuals who have been diagnosed
with PTSD, while the control group would be
individuals without PTSD.
you randomly assign half the patients in a
mental health clinic to receive the new
treatment. The other half—the control group
—receives the standard course of treatment
for depression.
a cohort of thirty-year-old people in a certain
Retrospective cohort town might be studied to see who develops
study lung cancer. Half of the cohort might be
smokers and half may not. This enables
Prospective
cohort study comparisons between the two groups.
Education researchers wanted to examine if
online learning makes student engagement
Case Control
difficult. Therefore, the researchers
study
administered a survey to 100 students during
the month of December that asks questions
Cross Sectional about how motivated they feel during online
study classes.
A few of the psychotherapists in the clinic have
RCT
decided to try out the new therapy, while others who
treat similar patients have chosen to stick with the
normal protocol. You can use these pre-existing
Non RCT groups to study the symptom progression of the
patients treated with the new therapy versus those
receiving the standard course of treatment.
 2. How to choose a research methodology
Factor 1: The nature of your
research aims, objectives and research
questions

Factor 2: The methodological

approaches taken in the existing
literature

Factor 2: Practicalities and

constraints
Factor #1: The nature of your research

• Each type of research (and therefore, research methodology), whether

qualitative, quantitative or mixed, has a different purpose and helps solve a
different type of question.

• So, it’s logical that the key deciding factor in terms of which research
methodology you adopt is the nature of your research aims, objectives and
research questions.
 • But, what types of research exist?
Broadly speaking, research can fall into one of three categories:
1.Exploratory – getting a better understanding of an
issue and potentially developing a theory regarding it

qualitative approach
2. Confirmatory – confirming a potential theory or
hypothesis by testing it empirically
quantitative methods

3. A mix of both – building a potential theory or hypothesis

and then testing it

mixed-methods approach
If your research aims were to understand the
perspectives of war veterans regarding certain political
matters, you’d likely adopt a qualitative methodology,
making use of interviews to collect data and one or more
qualitative data analysis methods to make sense of the
data. Qualitative Methodology

your research aims involved testing a set of hypotheses

regarding the link between political leaning and income
Quantitative Methodology levels,

So, the most important thing need to nature of your research

consider when deciding which
methodological approach to use for aims, objectives
your research project
research questions
Factor #2: The disciplinary norms

• Choosing the right methodology for your research also involves looking at the approaches used by
other researchers in the field, and studies with similar research aims and objectives to yours.

• Oftentimes, within a discipline, there is a common methodological approach (or set of approaches)
used in studies. While this doesn’t mean you should follow the herd “just because”, you should at
least consider these approaches and evaluate their merit within your context.

Benefit of reviewing the research methodologies used by similar studies:

• linked on the data collection techniques that other (more experienced) researchers have developed

• Don’t fall into the trap of adopting the methodological “norm” of other studies just because it’s
popular. Only adopt that which is relevant to your research.
Factor #3: Practicalities

• When choosing a research methodology, there will always be a tension between doing
what’s theoretically best (i.e., the most scientifically rigorous research design) and doing
what’s practical, given your constraints. This is the nature of doing research and there
are always trade-offs, as with anything else. But what constraints, you ask?

• When you’re evaluating your methodological options, you need to consider the
following constraints:
• Data access • Equipment and software
• Time • Your knowledge and skills
• Money
Module II: Conducting research.
 Determine the Research Methodology
 Study Population or Sample
 Data Collection and Analyzing Tools
 Interpretation of Research Findings

 Citations and References

• A Population is the entire set of individuals of interest to a researcher. Although the
entire population usually does not participate in a research study, the results from
the study are generalized to the entire population.
• A Sample is a set of individuals selected from a population and usually is intended to
represent the population in a research study.
• A researcher may be interested in adolescents, preschool
children, men, women, or humans.
• But the population is much too large to permit a researcher
to study every individual.
• Now, what should be done?????

• A researcher must rely on a smaller group, a

sample, to provide information about the
population.
• The goal of the research study is to examine the
sample, then generalize the results to the entire
population.
• Treatment of bulimia nervosa
in adolescents,
• The target population would
be all of the adolescents in the
world who are diagnosed with
this disorder.
• However, a researcher would
have access to the many local
clinics and agencies that treat
clients with eating disorders.
• These local clients (adolescents
diagnosed with bulimia nervosa)
become the accessible
population from which the
sample is selected
• Most researchers select their samples from accessible populations.
• Therefore, we not only need to be cautious about generalizing the results of a study to
the accessible population but we must also always be extremely cautious about
generalizing the results of a research study to the target population.
Choosing an accurate sample from the study population:
The decision on an appropriate sample depends on several key factors.
• First, you decide which population parameters you want to estimate.
• Don’t expect estimates from a sample to be exact. Always expect a margin of error
when making assumptions based on the results of a sample.
• Understanding the cost of sampling helps us determine how precise our estimates
need to be.
• Know how variable the population you want to measure is. It is not necessary to
assume that a large sample is required if the study population is large.
• Take into account the response rate of your population. A 20% response rate is
considered “good” for an online research study.
• Goal of a research study is to examine a sample and then generalize the results to the
population. How accurately we can generalize the results from a given sample to the
population depends on the representativeness of the sample.

• The representativeness of a sample refers to the extent to which the characteristics of the
sample accurately reflect the characteristics of the population.

• Thus, one problem that every researcher faces is how to obtain a sample that provides a
reasonable representation of the population. To generalize the results of a study to a
population, the researcher must select a representative sample.
• Before even beginning to select a sample, however, you must consider how well the
accessible population represents the target population. Specifically, the group of
participants who are available for selection may not be completely representative of
the more general population.

• For example, the elderly adults in the southeastern United States will have a unique
cultural background that may differentiate them from other elderly adults
throughout the world. Thus, the ability to generalize the results from a research
study may be limited by the specific characteristics of the accessible population.
Often, the most a researcher can hope for is to select a sample that is representative
of the accessible population.
 Major threat to selecting a representative sample

• A biased sample is a sample with different characteristics from those of the

population. For example , If the individuals in a sample are smarter (or older or
faster) than the individuals in the population,

• Selection bias or sampling bias occurs when participants or subjects are selected in
a manner that increases the probability of obtaining a biased sample. For example,
if the population we are interested in is adults and we recruit our sample from the
students enrolled at a university, we are likely to obtain a sample that is smarter, on
average, than the individuals in the entire population.
Activity
• A researcher studying cyberbullying among middle school students
interviews a group of students from a local middle school about their
cyberbullying experiences.

• For this study, identify the target population, the accessible

population, and the sample.

• Describe why it is important to obtain a representative sample.

 Sample Size

• One fundamental question in reaching this goal is determining how

large the sample should be to be representative. Unfortunately, there
is no simple answer to this question, but there are some general
guidelines that can help you choose a sample size.

• law of large numbers (a large sample is probably more representative

than a small sample)
How to determine sample size?

1.Define population size or number of people

2.Designate your margin of error

3.Determine your confidence level

4.Predict expected variance

5.Finalize your sample size

Module II: Conducting research.
 Determine the Research Methodology
 Study Population or Sample
 Data Collection and Analyzing Tools
 Interpretation of Research Findings

 Citations and References

 Data Collection and Analyzing Tools in Research

“Without gathering the data, there is no way that

you can fully answer your research problem and
objectives.”
 Tools of Data Collection
• The process of gathering and analyzing accurate data from various
sources to find answers to research problems, trends and
probabilities, etc., to evaluate possible outcomes is Known as Data
Collection.
PURPOSES OF DATA COLLECTION

Data is meaningless as by itself it does not explain or cause change, information does.
Therefore, the aim of gathering and summarizing data is to transform this into information in
order to:

• identify variables/facts

• measure variable/ phenomena

• describe behaviour

• obtain empirical evidence (objective, reliable, valid)

FIVE ‘W’s OF DATA COLLECTION
1. What data to collect? (Consideration on type of data)
2. From whom data is to be collected?
3. Who will collect data?
4. From where the data will be collected?
5. When is the data to be collected?
• The number of data to be collected will depend on:
• Type of study
• Hypothesis to be tested
• Number of variables
• Type of statistical computation
• In an experimental study the number will also be determined by the
number of experimental and control groups. One needs also to
consider the method of administration, the nature of treatment and
the schedule.
 (1) Discrete data (Whole numbers
typically counts e.g. No. of
patients )

(2) Continuous data (Take any

Value in the range of Values.
e.g. weight in kg )

(1) Nominal (Gender male and female)

(2)Ordinal (first, second and third
 Qualitative Quantitative

Interviews Surveys

Secondary
Focus Groups Qualitative Data
Vs
Quantitative
Ethnography Observational

Case Studies Experiments

Literature Content
Review Analysis
Research Instruments
• Tools refer to the questionnaire or data gathering instrument to be
constructed, validated and administered.
• Criteria for Good Instruments
• RELIBILITY
• VALIDITY
• PRACTICIBILITY - It should be feasible & usable. Quality of being usable
in context to the objective to be achieved.
• USABILITY(practicality) ease in administration, scoring, interpretation
and application, low cost, proper mechanical make – up
• MEASUREABILITY - It should measure the objective to be achieved.
 Adopting or Adapting Instruments
• Adopting an instrument is quite simple and requires very little effort. Even when an instrument is
adopted, though, there still might be a few modifications that are necessary. For example, the Intrinsic
Motivation Inventory that measures intrinsic motivation, needs to be slightly modified to reflect the
specific situation that the researcher is interested in.

• For example, an item on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory reads,

"I enjoyed doing this activity very much.“

How will the participants know what "this activity" is?

Therefore, it is best for the researcher to modify the item to read "I enjoyed the maths computer program
very much."
When an instrument is adopted, it is important to appropriately describe the instrument in
the Instruments section . In the description, include
•Who developed the instrument
•Who validated the instrument
•Other studies that have used the instrument
Here is an example portion of the Instruments section from an instrument that was adopted:

Positive and negative affect were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS;
Watson, Clark, & Tellegren, 1988)...Watson and colleagues report reliability coefficient alphas as .89
for positive and .85 for negative affect. Validity evidence for the instrument as a measure of state
affect was found by correlating the instrument with situations that should influence positive and
negative affect. Positive affect has been found to be related to social activity and negative affect has
been found to be related to fluctuations in stress (Watson et al., 1988). The PANAS has been used to
assess affect in other studies with SDT (e.g., Elliot and Sheldon, 1999; Sheldon & Kasser, 2001;
Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, & Kasser, 2004).
 Adapting an Instrument
• Adapting an instrument requires more substantial changes than adopting an
instrument. In this situation, the researcher follows the general design of another
instrument but adds items, removes items, and/or substantially changes the
content of each item. Because adapting an instrument is similar to developing a
new instrument, it is important that a researcher understands the key principles
of developing an instrument
When adapting an instrument, the researcher should report the same information in the Instruments
section as when adopting the instrument, but should also include what changes were made to the
instrument and why. Below is a sample description of an instrument that was adapted in Korb (2009).

This study adapted the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) scale. This instrument
was developed by Watt and Richardson (2007). Validity evidence was provided by factor
analysis and the longitudinal relationship of the factors influencing teaching to subsequent
engagement in the teaching profession. The purpose of the FIT-Choice is to determine the
factors that preservice teachers identify as being most influential in their choice of the teaching
profession. The FIT-Choice scale was only slightly modified to fit the Nigerian context. All factors
were identical to the original FIT-Choice instrument except for two. Watt and Richardson
identified a job transferability factor that included items such as "Teaching will be a useful job for
me to have when traveling." This factor was judged as not applicable to Nigerian pre-service
teachers. Additionally, an exploitation factor was added to the instrument to represent choosing
teaching as a lazy, easy career with items such as "Teaching will allow me to work other jobs,"
"Teaching will allow me to collect a salary by doing little work," and "When teaching, I can use
the students for gaining money."
 Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of Scale
• In cross-cultural studies, using previously developed instruments with
good psychometric properties can save time and effort. However,
these instruments need to be culturally acceptable and appropriately
translated to be valid; the potential benefits of cross-cultural research
can be obtained only when cross-cultural researchers use appropriate
instruments for their studies. For this reason, the process of
translation becomes an important part of cross-cultural studies.
Generally, direct translation of an instrument from one language to
another does not guarantee content equivalence of the translated
scale (Brislin 1970, Sechrest & Fay 1972). Researchers agree that back-
translation of an instrument is essential for its validation and use in a
cross-cultural study
•World Health Organization (WHO) protocol for scale translation

•Forward translation: Translation to the target language by a bilingual individual aiming

conceptual equivalence of the item

•Expert panel: A bilingual expert panel identifies and resolves the discrepancies between
the two versions.

•Back-translation: Translation back to original language by an independent person not

familiar with the measure

•Pretesting: On target participants followed by in-depth interviews or focused groups to

identify any unacceptable words or expressions.
Figure 1: Steps of Brislin’s method of
translation application.
When to develop a new scale or measure?
• When existing scales do not measure the intended construct or do not adequately
cover key attributes of the construct of interest.
• When the existing scales do not address the needs of the intended target population,
which may differ psychologically from the original population in whom the scale was
validated
• When existing scales have become outdated due to cultural, societal, or generational
change, and there is a need for new measures that may better capture topical issues
• When the adapted or translated version does not have psychometric or dimensional
stability across culturally and linguistically different groups
• When novel research hypotheses, involving new constructs, are propounded.
Steps involved in scale development
• Define the construct and the context: Based on literature review, consultation with subject
experts and a sound theoretical foundation
• Selecting response format: The scale format (e.g., Likert type) and number of response options
are selected
• Item pool generation: Generation of items that adequately sample the content domains of
interest
• Item evaluation: A panel of experts examine the quality and relevance of the items, which may be
modified or refined based on their input
• Pilot testing: This is done through an exploratory study in order to create a more parsimonious
representation of the original items
• Testing for psychometric properties: Reliability assessment includes internal consistency, split-
half reliability, and test-retest reliability. The dimensionality of the scale is examined through
exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Other validity measures include convergent,
discriminant, and criterion validity.