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Research Seminar in Marketing MSc in Business Administration Marketing Dept. Supervised by: Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Foad By: Athkar Khalifa
An Introduction to:What is Research Methodology and How Can We Write it?
First, What is the difference between methodology and methods? • Simply, the methodology is the underlying theory and analysisof how a research does or should proceed. • e.g. : quantitative or qualitative approach or mixed of both. • The methods are the specific techniques or processes you will use to undertake your research such as interviews, examination of the literature, questionnaires… etc.
What is research methodology? • Research methodology simply refers to the practical “how” of any given piece of research. More specifically, it’s about how a researcher systematically designs a study to ensure valid and reliable results that address the research aims and objectives. • For example, how did the researcher go about deciding: • What data to collect (and what data to ignore) • Who to collect it from (in research, this is called “sampling design”) • How to collect it (this is called “data collection methods”) • How to analyse it (this is called “data analysis methods”)
What are qualitative, quantitative andmixed-method methodologies? • Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods are different types of methodologies, distinguished by whether they focus on words, numbers or both. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but its a good starting point for understandings. Let’s take a closer look. • Qualitative research refers to research which focuses on collecting and analysing words (written or spoken) and textual data, whereas quantitative research focuses on measurement and testing using numerical data. Qualitative analysis can also focus on other “softer” data points, such as body language or visual elements.
When to use either of them • It’s quite common for a qualitative methodology to be used when the research aims and objectives are exploratory in nature. For example, it might be used to understand peoples’ perceptions about an event that took place, or a candidate running for president. • Contrasted to this, a quantitative methodology, might be used to measure the relationship between two variables (e.g. personality type and likelihood to commit a crime) or to test a set of hypotheses. Combine both, you’ll use the Mixed method to integrate perspectives and create a rich picture.
How do I choose a research methodology? • The first question you need to ask yourself is whether your research is exploratory or confirmatory/confirmative in nature. • If your research aims and objectives are primarily exploratory in nature, your research will likely be qualitative and therefore you might consider qualitative data collection methods (e.g. interviews) and analysis methods (e.g. qualitative content analysis). • Conversely, if your research aims and objectives are looking to measure or test something (i.e. they’re confirmatory), then your research will quite likely be quantitativein nature, and you might consider quantitative data collection methods (e.g. surveys) and analyses (e.g. statistical analysis).
What to include in a methodology section • Type of research • Data collection process • Data analysis process • Resources, materials, and tools • The rationale behind the research
The introduction to your methodology section The introduction to your methodology section should begin by restating the research problem and underlying assumptions underpinning your study. • This is followed by situating the methods you used to gather, analyze, and process information within the overall “tradition” of your field of study and within the particular research design you have chosen to study the problem. • Provide a justification for how your choice of methods specifically addresses the research problem in ways that have not been utilized in prior studies.
The remainder of your methodology section should describe the following: • Decisions made in selecting the data you have analyzed or, in the case of qualitative research, the subjects and research setting you have examined, • Tools and methods used to identify and collect information, and how you identified relevant variables, • The ways in which you processed the data and the procedures you used to analyze that data, and • The specific research tools or strategies that you utilized to study the underlying hypothesis and research questions.
What are the main data collection methods? • There are many different options in terms of how you go about collecting data for your study. However, these options can be grouped into the following types: • Interviews (which can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured) • Focus groups and group interviews • Surveys (online or physical surveys) • Observations • Documents and records • Case studies
What are the main data collection methods? (Cont.) • The choice of which data collection method to use depends on your overall research aims and objectives, as well as practicalities and resource constraints. For example, if your research is exploratory in nature, qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups would likely be a good fit. Conversely, if your research aims to measure specific variables or test hypotheses, large-scale surveys that produce large volumes of numerical data would likely be a better fit.
How to write an effective methodology section? • Introduce your methods. • Establish methodological connection. • Introduce your instruments. • Discuss your analysis. • Provide background information. • Discuss sampling process. • Address research limitations.
What to avoid in writing the methodology section of your research? • Avoid including irrelevant details, includes unnecessary explanations of basic procedures. • Keep your methodology section straightforward, to contribute to the readers’ understanding of your chosen methods. • Unnecessary Explanation of Basic Procedures • Problem blindness, do not ignore the problems you might encounter during the data gathering process. Instead of turning a blind eye/ describe how you handled them.
To just grab your attention: • If I say a circle has two sides, am I wrong? • Answer: No, a circle has an inside and an outside, so the statement is correct. • What is a math teacher’s favorite dessert? • Answer: Pi
Effectively written methodology section should: • Introduce the overall methodological approach for investigating your research problem. Is your study qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both (mixed method)? Are you going to take a special approach, such as action research, or a more neutral stance? • Indicate how the approach fits the overall research design. Your methods for gathering data should have a clear connection to your research problem. In other words, make sure that your methods will actually address the problem. One of the most common deficiencies found in research papers is that the proposed methodology is not suitable to achieving the stated objective of your paper. • Describe the specific methods of data collection you are going to use, such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observation, archival research. If you are analyzing existing data, such as a data set or archival documents, describe how it was originally created or gathered and by whom. Also be sure to explain how older data is still relevant to investigating the current research problem. • Explain how you intend to analyze your results. Will you use statistical analysis? Will you use specific theoretical perspectives to help you analyze a text or explain observed behaviors? Describe how you plan to obtain an accurate assessment of relationships, patterns, trends, distributions, and possible contradictions found in the data.
Effectively written methodology section should (Cont.): • Provide background and a rationale for methodologies that are unfamiliar for your readers. Very often in the social sciences, research problems and the methods for investigating them require more explanation/rationale than widely accepted rules governing the natural and physical sciences. Be clear and concise in your explanation. • Provide a justification for subject selection and sampling procedure. For instance, if you propose to conduct interviews, how do you intend to select the sample population? If you are analyzing texts, which texts have you chosen, and why? If you are using statistics, why is this set of data being used? If other data sources exist, explain why the data you chose is most appropriate to addressing the research problem. • Provide a justification for case study selection. A common method of analyzing research problems in the social sciences is to analyze specific cases. These can be a person, place, event, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis that are either examined as a singular topic of in-depth investigation or multiple topics of investigation studied for the purpose of comparing or contrasting findings. In either method, you should explain why a case or cases were chosen and how they specifically relate to the research problem. • Describe potential limitations. Are there any practical limitations that could affect your data collection? How will you attempt to control for potential confounding variables and errors? If your methodology may lead to problems you can anticipate, state this openly and show why pursuing this methodology outweighs the risk of these problems cropping up.
Effectively written methodology section should (Cont.): • NOTE:Once you have written all of the elements of the methods section, subsequent revisions should focus on how to present those elements as clearly and as logically as possibly. The description of how you prepared to study the research problem, how you gathered the data, and the protocol for analyzing the data should be organized chronologically. For clarity, when a large amount of detail must be presented, information should be presented in sub-sections according to topic. If necessary, consider using appendices for raw data. • ANOTHER NOTE:If you are conducting a qualitative analysis of a research problem, the methodology section generally requires a more elaborate description of the methods used as well as an explanation of the processes applied to gathering and analyzing of data than is generally required for studies using quantitative methods. Because you are the primary instrument for generating the data [e.g., through interviews or observations], the process for collecting that data has a significantly greater impact on producing the findings. Therefore, qualitative research requires a more detailed description of the methods used. • YET ANOTHER NOTE:If your study involves interviews, observations, or other qualitative techniques involving human subjects, you may be required to obtain approval from the university's Office for the Protection of Research Subjects before beginning your research. This is not a common procedure for most undergraduate level student research assignments. However, if your professor states you need approval, you must include a statement in your methods section that you received official endorsement and adequate informed consent from the office and that there was a clear assessment and minimization of risks to participants and to the university. This statement informs the reader that your study was conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. In some cases, the approval notice is included as an appendix to your paper.
Ethical Considerations • The rights to privacy of the individuals involved. • The nature of participation in the research must be voluntary and the individuals involved must have the right to withdraw partially or completely from the process. • All participants must provide their consent first. • Maintenance of the confidentiality of data provided by individuals as well as identifiable participants’ anonymity. • How participants react to the researchers’ methods in seeking to collect data. • How the participants will be affected by the way in which data is analyzed and reported. • The behavior and objectivity of the researcher.
More to read about: What to include in a methodology section • Resources, materials, and tools • The rationale behind the research, • Resources are attached below:
References • https://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/docs/handouts/Methodology.pdf • https://gradcoach.com/what-is-research-methodology/ • https://gradcoach.com/saunders-research-onion/ • https://resources.library.leeds.ac.uk/final-chapter/researchingyourtopic.html • https://research.com/research/how-to-write-research-methodology • https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/methodology • https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/examples-of-methodology
