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It comprises the format of methodology part of thesis work.
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Presentation on Thesis Orientation for M.A. Rural Development By Khemraj Subedi Lecturer TMC M.Phil Economics, M.A. Economics, M.Ed, Economics 16th August 2016
Research methodology consists with detailed description regarding how research was carried out to answer question.
Methodology Outlines This explains the methods and procedures used in the research and detail discussion on reasons for choosing methods and procedures . It includes rational of methodological approach. The rule of thumb is that there should be enough information to allow anyone to repeat your research if they to do so. Its major information regarding methodology are: • Research design • Description of study area. • Universe, Sample and Sampling Process • Types of data and sources. • Population and sample. • Process of sample selection. • Methods of data collection. • Data processing procedure • Tools of Data analysis • Pilot study
Research Design Research design constitutes decisions regarding what, where, when, how much by what means concerning an enquiry or a research study. Essential elements of a good research design are: • Overall plan for the activities to be undertaken. • A framework for the study, guiding the collection and analysis of data. • An organized and integrated system that guides the researcher in formulating, implementing and controlling the study. • A blueprint specifying the methods to be adopted for gathering and analyzing data.
Research Design Kerlinger (1986)," Research design is a plan, structure, and strategy of investigation so conceived as to obtain answers to research questions or problems." Kumar (2011)," Research design is procedural plan that is adopted by the researcher to answer questions validely, objectively, accurately and economically."
Preparation of Research Design A research design is a clearly planned procedure for carrying out the research. Oliver (1997) states that , the design generally incorporates answer to the following kinds of questions: • Who will constitute the study population. • What sort of data do I need to collect in order to test the hypothesis and/or achieve research aims? • Where will I collect the data? • How will I collect the data? • What type of data-collection instrument and procedures will I use?
Preparation of Research Design cont.... • Who will provide me with data? • Do I need to ask permission before trying to collect data? • When will I collect the data? • How will the data be analyzed? • Will I use a particular theoretical frame in order to interpret the data?
Classification of Research Design Several typologies have been suggested by scholars for classifying research design in social sciences. However these are not mutually exclusive. McGrath(1970) has suggested five models of different types of research designs: (a) Controlled experiment, (b) Study, (c) Survey, (d) Investigation, and (e) Action research
Selltiz, Wrightman and Cook (1981) suggested three broad categories of research Designs: (a) formative or exploratory studies, (b) Descriptive studies, and (c) Studies testing causal exploratory. Cooper and Schindler (2003) suggest four categories of research designs: (a) Exploratory (b) Descriptive (c) Causal, and (d) Experimental
Types of Research Design 1.Based on number of contacts (a) One contact: Cross-Sectional Studies. (b) Two contact: Before- and- after studies. (c) Three or more contact: Longitudinal studies
On the basis of reference period 2.On the basis of reference period • Retrospective study design, • Prospective study design • Retrospective-prospective study design 3. Based on the nature of the investigation. • Experimental, • Non-experimental, • Semi-experimental,
4. Others-some commonly used study designs. • Action research. • Feminist research. • The cross-over comparative experimental design. • Longitudinal Study design • Trend studies ( net change in given time period is measured). • Cohort studies ( study of group of people having similar characteristics for given time period). • Panel Studies( group of panel provide information on particular issues or problem). • Blind studies . • Double -blind studies. • Case studies.
Description of Study Area The researcher need to make the detail explanation on study area. The searcher need to explain logically regarding rationale of selection of study area. Likewise, the researchers need to explain the other salient features associated with the study area so that it will enhance the significance of the study in some extent.
Universe, Sample and Sampling • Universe or population refers to the entire group of people, events, or things of interest that the researcher wishes to investigate. • A sample is a collection of items or elements from a population or universe. • Sampling frame is the list identifying each units in the study population • Sampling is a set of process that has to be employed to select the sample units to gather required information to answer the research questions.
The steps in sampling process: Step 1 Define the population Step 2 Specify the sampling frame Step 3 Specify sampling units Step 4 Select the sampling method Step 5 Determine the sample size Step 6 Specify the sampling plan Step 7 select the sample
Source of Data, Methods of Collection and Tools Primary Sources of data 1. Questionnaire (a) Structured questionnaire. (b) Unstructured questionnaire. 2. Interview Schedule (a) Personal Interview. (b) Telephone Interview (c) Self completed(Mail survey) (d) Others(The internet, e-mail etc.)
Data Collection Methods... 3. Observation (a) Participant observation. (b) Non-participant observation. (c) structured observation studies. (d) Unstructured observation studies Secondary Sources 1. Published sources. 2. Unpublished sources.
Qualitative Data and its Sources • Qualitative research methods are characterized as those that aim to explore meaning of phenomena and events. • How people interpret the social world? • This produces non-numerical data: written, spoken or visual. • Such data include virtually any information that can be captured that is non-numerical in nature.
Data Processing and Analysis Data Processing Data processing refers to the editing, coding, classifying and tabulating the data collected in the questionnaire in order to facilitate analysis of data so as to fulfill the research objectives. A. Editing : Editing is the first step in data processing. It implies checking and correcting the data gathered from questionnaires, interviews and observations in a systematic way to ensure their completeness, consistency and accuracy.
Editing Issues • Forget to ask questions • Forget to record response • Omissions • Logical inconsistencies: Respondent's current age is less than her age at marriage. • Improbabilities: A 15 years young boy having highest education as Master Degree How to minimize these problems? • By inference, by recall, by contacting back to respondents)
B. Coding: • Coding is the means of deciding how the responses are going to be put together in a frame so that they can be entered into the computer or the manual data sheets. • Generally nominal scale and ordinal scale data require coding but Interval and Ratio measurement data do not require coding.
C. Classification • Data must be reduced into homogeneous groups to get meaningful relationship. • A classification must be done according to attributes: Sex, Religion, Marital status, family type, Place of residence etc. • A classification according to economic status: Low income, Middle Income and High Income. • A classification according to age: (0-14) (15-59) (60+)
D. Tabulation • Tabulation refers to the process of summarizing raw data displaying the same in compact form ( in the form of statistical tables) for further analysis. • In broader sense, tabulation is an orderly arrangement of data in columns and rows
Validity • Validity refers to the extent you are measuring what you intend to measure. Validity refers to the extent to which a questionnaire/ or test measures what it purports to measure. • Joppe(200) ," Validity refers to the truthfulness of findings. It determines whether the research truly measures that what it was intended to measure." • A valid measure should satisfy three criteria : content validity, construct validity and criterion-related validity.
Types of Validity 1. Content Validity/Face Validity: • It concerns the extent to which a measure adequately represents all facets of a concept. Face Validity. Face validity is a measure of how representative a research project is ‘at face value,' and whether it appears to be a good project.
2.Construct Validity Construct validity defines how well a test or experiment measures up to its claims. A test designed to measure depression must only measure that particular construct, not closely related ideals such as anxiety or stress. Two Types of Construct validity: • Convergent validity tests that constructs that are expected to be related are, in fact, related. • Discriminant validitytests that constructs that should have no relationship do, in fact, not have any relationship. (also referred to as divergent validity)
3. Criterion Validity Criterion Validity assesses whether a test reflects a certain set of abilities. There may be two types of content validity as follows: • Concurrent validitymeasures the test against a benchmark test and high correlation indicates that the test has strong criterion validity. • Predictive validity is a measure of how well a test predicts abilities. It involves testing a group of subjects for a certain construct and then comparing them with results obtained at some point in the future
Reliability • Reliability means consistency between measurements in a series. • Reliability indicates the precision of measurement scores, or how accurately such scores will be reproduced with repeated measurements. • A measurement device is reliable when it will consistently produce the same results when applied to the same samples or to different samples of the same size drawn from the same population.
Reliability cont.... Joppe(2000) defines Reliability as: " The extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate representation of the total population under study is referred to as a reliability, and if the results of a study can be produced under a similar methodology, then the research instrument is considered to be reliable."
Split-half measures error from instrument construction. • Parallel forms measures error from instrument construction when two or more instruments are used. (In other words, if the pre-test and the post-test are different.) Different people, same time, different test • Test-Retest measures error from instrument administration.Same people, different times • Inter-rater reliability measures error from instrument scoring and recording when two or more researchers do the recording and scoring.
Variables and Their Measurement It contains with details regarding different types of variables like dependent variable , independent variables, moderating variables, confounding variables that associated with the research as per the scope of the theory and structure. Likewise, it contains with the detail explanation on how the variables would be measured
Pilot Study A pilot study is defined as a preliminary investigation to determine the feasibility of a larger study. Pilot study refers to a study conducted in very small scale prior to launching a major research project. It is very good practice to perform a pilot study prior to launching a major research. This provides feedback to the researcher to conduct the major research work smoothly.
Further Readings: • Cooper, D.R. & Schinder, P.M(2008). Business Research Methods. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. • Kumar, R.(2011). Research Methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Kerlinger, F.N.(1986). Foundation of Behavioural Research. New Delhi: Surjeet Publications. • Pant, P.R.(2014). Social Science Research and Thesis Writing, Kathmandu: Buddha Publication. • McGrath, J.H.(1970). Research Methods and designs for education. Scranton, PA: International Textbook Company. • Oliver, P.(2011). Writing Your Thesis. New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
