Research
methodology 08/01/13 study note
l Research
methodology is a collective term for the structured process of conducting
research.
l Quantitative (for example, measuring the number of times
someone does something under certain conditions) or qualitative (for example, asking people how
they feel about a certain situation). Ideally, comprehensive(adj.广泛的； 综合的；
有理解力的悟性好的) research should try to
incorporate (vi.
both qualitative and quantitative
methodologies but this is not always possible, usually due to time and
financial constraints.
l Research
methodologies are generally used in academic research to test hypotheses
( N-VAR 假说;假设 ) or theories.
l Part of the research methodology is concerned with the how the research is
conducted. This is called the study design and typically involves research conducted using questionnaires, interviews,
observation and/or experiments.
l Research methods
may be understood as all those methods/techniques that are used for conduction of research.
Research methods or techniques*, thus, refer to the methods the researchers. Research
techniques refer to the behavior and instruments we use in performing research
operations such as making observations, recording data, techniques of processing
data and the like. Research methods refer to the behavior and instruments used
in selecting and constructing research technique.
l From what has
been stated above, we can say that methods are more general. It is the methods that generate
techniques. However, in practice, the two terms are taken as interchangeable
and when we talk of research methods we do, by implication, include research
techniques within their compass.
l Keeping this in view, research methods can be put into the
following three groups:
1. In the first group we include those
methods which are concerned with the collection of data. These methods will be used where the data
already available are not sufficient to arrive at the required solution;
2. The second group consists of those statistical techniques
which are used for establishing
relationships between the data and the unknowns;
3. The third group consists of those
methods which are used to evaluate
the accuracy of the results obtained.
l Research
methodology is a way to systematically ( ADJ-GRADED 成体系的;系统的;有条理的;按既定计划的)solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done
scientifically.
l Thus, when we
talk of research methodology we not only talk of the research methods but also
consider the logic behind
the methods we use in the context of our research study and explain why we are using a
particular method or technique and why we are not using others so that research
results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher himself or by
others.
l Some important
factors in research methodology include validity of research data, Ethics and
the reliability of measures most of your work is finished by the time you
finish the analysis of your data.
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