Formulating the research design

1. Formulatingtheresearchdesign

2. Researchdesign- thegeneralplanofhowyouwillgoaboutansweringyourresearchquestions • Objectives • Sources • Constraints philosophy = question = design

3. The purpose of your research • Exploratory studies: good means of finding out - what is happening; - to seek new insights; - to ask questions; - to assess phenomena in a new light • Useful, ifyouwanttoclarifyyourunderstandingof a problem • Waystoconduct: - asearch of the literature; - interviewing“experts” in the subject; - conductingfocus group interviews

4. Descriptive studies • …togiveanaccurate profile ofpersons, eventsorsituations • „…sowhat?“ • Mostlyshouldbeconsideredas a meanstoan end ratherthanan end initself

5. Explanatory studies • …establishcausalrelationshipsbetweenvariables

6. Differentresearchstrategies • …doestheparticularstrategyenablesyoutoansweryourspecificresearchquestion and meetyourobjectives • …choosingeyourstrategyaccordingto: • yourquestion • yourexistingknowledge • theamountofavailabletime/ resources • yourphilosophicalviews Strategiesare notmutuallyexclusive

7. Experiment • study causal links – whether a change in one independent variable produces a change in another dependent variable • “how” and “why” questions • Experimental vs controlgroup • Participantsassigned at randomtogroups • Internal vs externalvalidity; constraintsofexperiments

8. Insum, experiment will involve typically… • Definition of a theoretical hypothesis • Selection of samples of individuals from known populations • Random allocation of samples to different experimental conditions, the experimental group and the control group • Planned intervention or manipulation to one or more of the variables • Measurement of a small number of dependent variables • Control of all other variables

9. Survey • “who”, “what”, “where”, “howmuch” and “howmany” questions • Benefits: • largedata • largepopulation • higlyeconomical • standardizedtools: comparingsamples • perceivedastrustable • easytoexplain and understand • quantitativeanalysis • possibletobuildmodelsofrelationships • controlovertheprocess • representativeness

10. Case study • strategyfordoingresearchwhichinvolvesanempiricalinvestigationof a particularcontemporaryphenomenonwithinits real contextusingmultiplesourcesofevidence • .. and onceagain, context • questions “why”, “what” and “how“ • techniques: various (interviews, observation, documentaryanalysis, questionnaires) • Triangulation- theuseofdifferentdatacollectiontechniqueswithinonestudy -> toensurethatthedata are telling youwhatyouthinkthey are telling you

11. Single case v. multiple case • Holistic case v embedded case Looks „unscientific“? :P

12. Action research • researchinactionrathertheresearchaboutaction • collaborativedemocraticpartnershipbetweenpractitioners and researchers • cycleofdiagnosing, planning, takingaction and evaluating • theresultsshouldbeapplicable/ informativeinothercontexts

13. Grounded theory • … topredictand explainbehavior • … emphasisupondevelopingtheory • datacollectionstartswithouttheformationoftheinitialtheoreticalframework • datageneratedby a seriesofobservations -> thegenerationofpredictions-> predictionstestedinfurtherobservations-> confirm/ notthepredictions

14. Ethnography • …todescribe and explainthesocialworldtheresearchsubjectsinhabitinthewaytheywoulddescribe and explainit • … researchingthephenomenonwithinthecontextinwhichitoccurs • … notusingdatacollectiontechniquesthatoversimplifythecomplexityofeverydaylife

15. Archival research • … administrativerecords and documentsastheprincipalsourceofdata • questionsaboutthechanges

16. Multiplemethodschoices – combining quantitative and qualitative techniques and procedures Multi-method: - multi-methodquantitativestudy - multi-methodqualitativestudy Mixedmethods: • mixedmethodresearch • mixedmodelresearch

17. Time horizons • Cross-sectional studies - “snapshot” - oftensurveystrategyisused • Longitudinal studies • questionsrelatedtochange • controlovermeasuredvariables • possibilitytousedatacollectedearlier

18. The credibility of research findings • Reliability • Will the measures yield the same results on other occasions? • Will similar observations be reached by other observers? • Is the transparency in how sense was made from the raw data?

19. Threatstoreliability • Participanterror • Participantbias • Observererror • Observerbias

20. Validity • …istherelationshipbetweentwovariables a causalrelationship • Thethreatsofvalidity: • History • Testing • Mortality • Maturation Ambiguity about causal direction Generalizability (externalvalidity)

21. The ethics of research design Themainethicalissues are relatedto: • Privacy of participants • Informed consent; voluntarilynatureofparticipation and therighttowithdrawfromthestudy • Confidentialityof data provided by participants and their anonymity • Datacollection/using/analysing/reportingmethodsthatmaycausenegativeimpactstotheparticipants, includingembarrassment, stress, discomfort, pain, harm

22. Homework • Pleaseselecttheresearchstrategythatwouldbemostappropriateforyourownresearchquestion; explain, whyyouchoosedthatone. Write a shortpassage (approx 0,5 A4) and email itto me on Friday, 29th March. (Ifsomeofyoufeelsthatyoudonotwanttocontinuewithhis/herresearchquestionyoudescribedin last homework, itisokifyougeneratenewone)