Research methodology is a scientific and logical technique that helps you decide on an appropriate research method to collect data. When you start your research, the first question that hits your mind is “What type of research do I need to meet my research objectives?” Selecting a research methodology is one of the most critical factors that can make or break your research project. Following are the factors to be considered while deciding your research methodology: Show Research Goal Think of your research goals. Consider what your research project wants to accomplish which will help you to decide the research design. Do you need to find out all the information at one fell swoop, or you want to conduct follow-up research? If you have an outline of the information that you need at the end of the research project, you will be able to use the right methodology to choose the right research method. Statistical significance Another essential factor to consider while choosing the research methodology is statistical results. If you need clear and highly data-driven research results or statistical answers, you will need quantitative data. However, if your research questions are based on the understanding of reasons, opinions, perceptions and motivations, your data will be less statistical and more thematic. Quantitative vs qualitative data Your research methodology will decide whether you need qualitative or quantitative or both methods. If you want to capture insights into a problem to develop ideas for a solution, you will use qualitative data. You will use qualitative tools such as open-ended interviews to collect data from the target audience. However, if you have any questions, quantitative tools such as surveys can be the best approach to achieve desired results. Sample size While considering a research methodology, the sample size is an important consideration. How big does your sample size need to be to determine answers to research questions and meet research objectives? Will you prefer surveying 50 or 1000 people. If you need a large sample size, you do not need time-consuming methods such as face-to-face interviews. Timing The availability of time is another crucial factor that comes into play at the time of deciding on research methodology. If you need results within the research frame, you might consider using tools and techniques that allow data collection in just a few days. For instance, random or convenience sampling can be your preferred data collection technique. However, if your prescribed data collection period is relatively long, you can organise in-person interviews with your samples. All in all, choosing the right research methodology is quintessential for any research in any subject domain. Popular This article is in
Conducting research is often the stepping stone when you are writing your dissertation, thesis, or any report. Choosing the correct research methodology can determine the success and overall quality of your report. It is hence essential to get the initial stage of your research right. In this article, we discuss the research methodologies in detail and help you identify which method should you choose for your study. Understanding the different research methods There are two general approaches to collecting data: quantitative and qualitative research. Let us understand in detail. Quantitative research In this type of research, the data collected is generally expressed in numbers and graphs to confirm theories and assumptions. The data collected are factual information on the topic. Under the quantitative research method, the factual information can be collected in many ways such as:
In quantitative research, you can include information on:
An example of quantitative research approach Consider this scenario. You are surveying some 300 students at your university and ask them questions such as: "On a scale from 1-5, how satisfied are you with your professors’ teaching skills?" You can perform statistical analysis on the data and draw a conclusion such as "On an average, students rated their professors 4.4." Qualitative research This method is used to understand thoughts, concepts, or experiences of people via interviews, focus groups, case studies, discourse analysis, and literature review. It is basically a survey done to gather people thoughts and experience. Let us look at the techniques in qualitative research.
Qualitative research approach example Let us consider a situation where you conduct in-depth interviews with say 20 students and ask them questions like: "How content are you with your curriculum study?", "What is the positive aspect of the study program?", and "What the students feel can be done to improve the study program?" Based on the answers you get you transcribe all interviews using transcription software and find commonalities and patterns in the responses. Mixed methods This includes a combination of in-depth exploration and numerical measurement. Let's say you conduct interviews to find out how satisfied the students are with their studies and their answers provide new insights. Later, you use the survey as a tool to test the insights on a large scale. Another approach could be to start with a survey to find out trends or opinions or beliefs, followed by interviews to better understand the reasons behind the trends. Understanding differences between quantitative and qualitative research Quantitative and qualitative research methods collect data in different ways, and they allow you to answer different kinds of research questions.
When to use qualitative vs quantitative research A thumb rule for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is:
For most research topics, you can choose between qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods approach. Which type you want depends on, among other things, whether you're taking an inductive vs deductive research approach; your research question(s); whether you're doing experimental, correlational, or descriptive research; and other considerations such as money, time, availability of data. Analyzing qualitative and quantitative data Once you obtain data using the quantitative method, you can analyze the combined data by using statistical analysis to discover patterns or commonalities in the data. The results can be reported in graphs and tables.
Qualitative data is more challenging to analyze than the quantitative data. It consists of images, text or videos instead of numbers. Some conventional approaches to analyze the qualitative data are:
Conclusion Remember that your aim is not just to describe your methods, but to show how and why you applied them and demonstrate that your research was rigorously conducted. You should be able to convince the reader why you choose either qualitative or quantitative method and how it suits your objective. The approach used must be clear to answer the research question and the problem statement. Always, relate the choices towards the main purpose of your dissertation, throughout the section. References
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Published on: Feb 17, 2020 What are the considerations in a qualitative research?Some important ethical concerns that should be taken into account while carrying out qualitative research are: anonymity, confidentiality and informed consent (22).
How do you choose your methodology for qualitative research?What are the Steps to Follow While Choosing the Best Research Methodology?. Step 1: Define the goals, objectives, and research question. ... . Step 2: Refer pertinent research and effectively used methodology. ... . Step 3: Structuring the plan and finding resources to conduct research.. What considerations must be given to the selection of a quantitative methodology?Quantitative researchers must collect evidence of validity and reliability. Some qualitative researchers also aim to establish validity and reliability. They seek to be as objective as possible through techniques, including cross-checking and cross-validating sources during observations.
What are some considerations to be made when deciding between quantitative and qualitative research?A rule of thumb for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is: Use quantitative research if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or hypothesis) Use qualitative research if you want to understand something (concepts, thoughts, experiences)
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