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Comprehensive Guide to Scientific Research Methods

Explore different types of research, methodologies, and approaches in scientific research. Learn about basic and applied research, quantitative and qualitative approaches, data collection techniques, and analysis methods.

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Comprehensive Guide to Scientific Research Methods

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  1. WELCOME HEIDI VAN DER WESTHUIZEN Cell: 082 824 2056 Email: meertjie@gmail.com

  2. CHAPTER 3 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

  3. Tutorials PLEASE: • Turn off your cell phone • Be on time for the class • Attend regularly • Come prepared

  4. Dates of tutorials

  5. Overview • Ch 1: Strategies of discovery • Ch 2: The role of theory in research • Ch 3: Scientific research

  6. Ways of classifying research • Categories • For what the research is used • Methodology • The approach on which research is based • Aims • What this type of research aims at (wants to achieve) • Time dimension • The length of time involved in doing that research

  7. Decisions about • The researcher should first decide which type of research to use, basicor applied research • He should then decide which approach to use, quantitative,qualitative or using multiple methods (triangulation) • It is then important to decide on the aim or purpose of the research • Then he has to decide about the time dimension to use, namely cross-sectional, longitudinal or case-study research

  8. Categories of research • Basic research • Applied research These types of research are not mutually exclusive

  9. Basic research • Expands on fundamental knowledge • Researcher first states what is being researched, then describes or explains the phenomena • When the focus is on a contribution of knowledge • Is used to: • support or reject theories by explaining social relationships • To interpret changes in communities, in order to enhance new scientific knowledge about the social world • Makes use of • Exploratory research • Descriptive research • Explanatory research

  10. Basic research • Criticism • The knowledge acquired through basic research sometimes does not offer short-term practical solutions • Advantage • Creates a basis for the application of knowledge to many social problems

  11. Applied research • Tends to solve specific problems • Researcher investigates the problem, then it is treated in a specific manner by applying acquired researched knowledge • The focus is more practice orientated, on immediate problem solving • Is generally descriptive in nature • Advantage • It can be applied immediately after the results have been obtained • Disadvantage • Sometimes the results are not published

  12. Approaches on which research is based • Quantitative approach • Qualitative approach

  13. Quantitative research • Researchers investigate the cause and effect of events, by using a large number of respondents • Focuses on measureable aspects of human behavior • Is a formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical data are used to obtain information • Is used to: • Describe variables • Determine cause-effect relationships between variables • Examine relationships amongst these variables

  14. Quantitative research • Is structured and controlled in nature • The scope of quantitative research is larger and more universal • For research to be valid and reliable, use is made of specific scientific methods and techniques • Methods and techniques used in quantitative research • Conceptualisation of concepts that can be operationalised through measurement instruments • Data collection techniques such as structured questionnaires • Data analysis techniques

  15. Quantitative research Measuring instruments used in quantitative research: • Questionnaires • Interviews • Observers • Existing documentation • Any standard method of data collection Analysis: • It is the process in which certain procedures, for ex descriptive statistic techniques, are used to work through the data that have been collected

  16. Qualitative approach • Acknowledge the uniqueness and the meaningfulness of human situations and behavior • Principles of qualitative approach • Believing in multiple realities • Being committed to participants’ viewpoints • Limits disruption • Acknowledgement of participants in the research process • Reporting data by means of participants’ commentaries

  17. Qualitative approach • Use different methods than quantitative research • Observation is an important aspect • Methods and techniques used: • Concepts that capture the meaning of the experience, action or interaction of the element • Unstructured (open) questionnaires and interviews • Participant observation and case studies • Recording of life histories • Analysis of collected data by means of non-quantitative frameworks.

  18. Qualitative approach • General characteristics • Involves holistic investigation • Man is the primary data-collection instrument • The emphasis is on the use of qualitative methods • Subjects are selected in a purposeful, rather than a random manner • Researcher makes use of inductive data analysis • A grounded theory (a theory that was actually developed from the data) can be developed • The design develops as the research develops • The subject plays a role in the interpretation of the results • Intuitive insights are used • The emphasis on social processes

  19. Qualitative approach • Reasons for doing qualitative research: • Research that can’t be done by means of an experiment because of practical and ethical considerations • Research that makes in-depth enquiries into complexities and processes • Research where the relevant variables still need to be identified • Research that tries to find out and explore why the current practice do not work • Research about unknown phenomena

  20. Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research • p88

  21. Multiple Methods or Triangulation • Sometimes there are an overlap between quantitative and qualitative research used. • This results in a multiple method study in which the researcher uses multiple methods of data collection and analysis • Triangulation is based on the assumption that any bias inherent in a certain data source, would be neutralised when used in conjunction with another source

  22. Multiple methods or triangulation • Data triangulation • The use of more than one data source (questionnaires, diaries, interviews) • Researcher triangulation • The use of more than one researcher, to achieve inter-subjective agreement • Theory triangulation • The use of multiple theories to interpret a single set of data

  23. Multiple methods or triangulation 4. Methodological triangulation • The use of multiple methods to study a single topic, for ex combining quantitative and qualitative data in a single study 5. Analysis triangulation • The use of two or more analytical techniques to analyse the same set of data

  24. Validity and reliability • Validity: A methodologicalrequirement for • research methods such as observation, the use of measuring instruments • research results such as the analysis and interpretation of collected data and conclusions from analysis • Reliability: When identical investigations are repeated, similar research results will be obtained.

  25. Types of research • Exploratory research • Descriptive research • Explanatory research • Correlational research

  26. Types of research • Exploratory research • Does research on a topic which has not been researched before • The major purpose is: • the clarification of ideas • the formulation of questions and hypotheses, for more precise investigation later • Investigates the “what” of the matter

  27. Types of research • Exploratory research • Methods • Secondary sources of information are studied • Selected cases are analysed • A survey of persons who are likely to have information on the phenomenon under investigation is conducted

  28. Types of research • Descriptive research • Aimed at giving the specific details of a situation or relationship • Determines the “how” or “why” the phenomenon came into being, and also everybody that is (was) involved

  29. Types or research • Explanatory research • Aimed at gaining insight into a situation or a phenomenon • Looks for causes and reasons why “something” happened or did not happen

  30. Types or research • Correlational research • Refers to: • a systematic investigation of relationships between two or more variables • or to explain the nature of the relationship • Does not examine cause and effect, does not indicate causation • When a correlation exists, a change in one variable corresponds to a change in others

  31. Time dimensions in research • Cross-sectional research • Longitudinal research • Panel studies • Follow-up studies • Tracer studies (Time-series research) • Cohort research • Trend designs • Case study research

  32. Cross-sectional research • Is nonrecurrent in nature • Is done at a specific point in time • Concentrate on the here and now • Disadvantage: can not include changes in the process • It is difficult to demonstrate causality • Can be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory in nature with descriptive research yielding the best results

  33. Longitudinal research 1. Are done over an extended period of time 2. Is used in: • Studying time-relating processes • Determining time sequences • Making comparisons over time • Enhancing research control

  34. Designs in longitudinal research • Panel studies • The same people or group, is investigated again over various periods of time • The panel refers to the sample of subjects providing data • Expensive • Attrition (loss of participants over time)

  35. Designs in longitudinal research 2. Follow-up studies • Similar to panel studies • To determine the subsequent development of individuals who have a specific condition or who have received a specific intervention

  36. Designs in longitudinal research • Tracer studies (Time-series research) • Traces people or follow their lives over a period of time • In most cases data is only collected at one point • Ex 5 years after completion of a drug rehab programme

  37. Designs in longitudinal research • Cohort research • Is done by using a category of people who had the same experiences in life over a specific period of time • The emphasis is on a category, not a specific individual • They are studied over different periods of time

  38. Designs in longitudinal research

  39. Trend designs • Investigates changes in the general population in relation to a specific phenomenon. • Researchers select different samples of subjects from the same population • At preset intervals of time, data are collected from that particular sample.

  40. Case-study research • Researcher do an in-depth investigation into various characteristics of a small number of cases over a specific period of time. • Data may be collected by means of various techniques such as • Observation by the researcher • Interview • Questionnaires • Written accounts by the subjects in the form of diaries and narratives • Data reported in documents and newspapers

  41. Summary Table 3.3 p103 NB!!

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