Saturday, July 16, 2011

RESEARCH METHODS AND IT'S ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES


Introduction: What is research?

Most of us are researchers most of the time. We don’t necessarily think of ourselves as researchers but research is really about collecting information that tells us about something and it helps us make informed decisions. We do this every day, whether it’s reading a newspaper or listening to the radio. Perhaps we want to know what political party to vote for, and want to find out more about it, or we need to phone a company to find out more about a job vacancy. Perhaps we’re enquiring about a school, or the best price for buying a new computer. Most of these processes involve research at some level. In fact, some people might argue that merely observing what is going on around us is a form of research a way of gathering data or information which we then organize in a coherent way, so that we can act.

Of course what we call research (as in ’basic research methods’) is a more formal way of going about asking questions. We usually begin with something very specific we want to know. Then we ask the question or questions in a structured way. This structure is called a methodology. In research, there are a lot of different kinds of methodologies, and some of them can be very complicated. However, there are some basic ones that have been tried and tested, and which can be easily learned.

There are many different kinds of research. For example:

Market research is learning about business markets so that investment or business decisions can be made. The kinds of questions that get asked here include: Who are the potential customers? What do the customers need? Who are the competitors? And what is the market environment?

Economic research has its own way of going about things. For instance, it may involve specially constructed formulas and equations that facilitate an understanding of the economic environment. It may ask questions such as: Are the economic fundamentals in place? What are the economic trends in the manufacturing or mining sectors? Of course, some of the questions economic research asks may be similar to those market research asks.[1]


 

Scientific research may involve a whole range of sophisticated and specialist research instruments, such as mathematical or chemical formulas and very specialized methodologies.

Media research will involve looking at issues such as media content and audience. Its own kind of specific instruments – such as ways of measuring audience preferences and its spending power[2] – have been developed for this.
Social research is quite a broad term and may involve different kinds of research: from gathering information on the population (demographics) to the attitudes and behaviours of people in a community or country. 

Although many of these different kinds of research have developed methodologies that are specific to their particular discipline, there are basic research methods that are common to most. This MMTK unit outlines some of these basic methodologies and offers a step-by-step guide to planning your research.



The design is the structure of any scientific work. It gives direction and systematizes the research.
The method you choose will affect your results and how you conclude the findings. Most scientists are interested in getting reliable observations that can help the understanding of a phenomenon.
There are two main approaches to a research problem:

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN
Quantitative research design is the standard experimental method of most scientific disciplines.
These experiments are sometimes referred to as true science, and use traditional mathematical and statistical means to measure results conclusively.
They are most commonly used by physical scientists, although social sciences, education and economics have been known to use this type of research. It is the opposite of qualitative research.
Quantitative experiments all use a standard format, with a few minor inter-disciplinary differences, of generating a hypothesis to be proved or disproved. This hypothesis must be provable by mathematical and statistical means, and is the basis around which the whole experiment is designed.
Randomization of any study groups is essential, and a control group should be included, wherever possible. A sound quantitative design should only manipulate one variable at a time, or statistical analysis becomes cumbersome and open to question.
Ideally, the research should be constructed in a manner that allows others to repeat the experiment and obtain similar results.
ADVANTAGES
Quantitative research design is an excellent way of finalizing results and proving or disproving a hypothesis. The structure has not changed for centuries, so is standard across many scientific fields and disciplines.
After statistical analysis of the results, a comprehensive answer is reached, and the results can be legitimately discussed and published. Quantitative experiments also filter out external factors, if properly designed, and so the results gained can be seen as real and unbiased.
Quantitative experiments are useful for testing the results gained by a series of qualitative experiments, leading to a final answer, and a narrowing down of possible directions for follow up research to take.
DISADVANTAGES
Quantitative experiments can be difficult and expensive and require a lot of time to perform. They must be carefully planned to ensure that there is complete randomization and correct designation of control groups.
Quantitative studies usually require extensive statistical analysis, which can be difficult, due to most scientists not being statisticians. The field of statistical study is a whole scientific discipline and can be difficult for non-mathematicians
In addition, the requirements for the successful statistical confirmation of results are very stringent, with very few experiments comprehensively proving a hypothesis; there is usually some ambiguity, which requires retesting and refinement to the design. This means another investment of time and resources must be committed to fine-tune the results.
Quantitative research design also tends to generate only proved or unproven results, with there being very little room for grey areas and uncertainty. For the social sciences, education, anthropology and psychology, human nature is a lot more complex than just a simple yes or no response.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN
Qualitative research design is a research method used extensively by scientists and researchers studying human behavior and habits.

It is also very useful for product designers who want to make a product that will sell.
For example, a designer generating some ideas for a new product might want to study people’s habits and preferences, to make sure that the product is commercially viable. Quantitative research is then used to assess whether the completed design is popular or not.
Qualitative research is often regarded as a precursor to quantitative research, in that it is often used to generate possible leads and ideas which can be used to formulate a realistic and testable hypothesis. This hypothesis can then be comprehensively tested and mathematically analyzed, with standard quantitative research methods.
For these reasons, these qualitative methods are often closely allied with interviews, survey design techniques and individual case studies, as a way to reinforce and evaluate findings over a broader scale.
A study completed before the experiment was performed would reveal which of the multitude of brands were the most popular. The quantitative experiment could then be constructed around only these brands, saving a lot of time, money and resources.
Qualitative methods are probably the oldest of all scientific techniques, with Ancient Greek philosophers qualitatively observing the world around them and trying to come up with answers which explained what they saw.
DESIGN
The design of qualitative research is probably the most flexible of the various experimental techniques, encompassing a variety of accepted methods and structures.
From an individual case study to an extensive interview, this type of study still needs to be carefully constructed and designed, but there is no standardized structure.
Case studies, interviews and survey designs are the most commonly used methods.
ADVANTAGES
Qualitative techniques are extremely useful when a subject is too complex be answered by a simple yes or no hypothesis. These types of designs are much easier to plan and carry out. They are also useful when budgetary decisions have to be taken into account.
The broader scope covered by these designs ensures that some useful data is always generated, whereas an unproved hypothesis in a quantitative experiment can mean that a lot of time has been wasted. Qualitative research methods are not as dependent upon sample sizes as quantitative methods; a case study, for example, can generate meaningful results with a small sample group.
DISADVANTAGES
Whilst not as time or resource consuming as quantitative experiments, qualitative methods still require a lot of careful thought and planning, to ensure that the results obtained are as accurate as possible.
Qualitative data cannot be mathematically analyzed in the same comprehensive way as quantitative results, so can only give a guide to general trends. It is a lot more open to personal opinion and judgment, and so can only ever give observations rather than results.
Any qualitative research design is usually unique and cannot be exactly recreated, meaning that they do lack the ability to be replicated.
COMPARING QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative research? In a nutshell, quantitative research generates numerical data or information that can be converted into numbers.

Only measurable data are being gathered and analyzed in this type of research.
Qualitative Research on the other hand generates non-numerical data. It focuses on gathering of mainly verbal data rather than measurements. Gathered information is then analyzed in an interpretative manner, subjective, impressionistic or even diagnostic.
Here’s a more detailed point-by-point comparison between the two types of research:

1. Goal or Aim of the Research

The primary aim of a Qualitative Research is to provide a complete, detailed description of the research topic. Quantitative Research on the other hand focuses more in counting and classifying features and constructing statistical models and figures to explain what is observed.

2. Usage

Qualitative Research is ideal for earlier phases of research projects while for the latter part of the research project, Quantitative Research is highly recommended. Quantitative Research provides the researcher a clearer picture of what to expect in his research compared to Qualitative Research.

3. Data Gathering Instrument

The researcher serves as the primary data gathering instrument in Qualitative Research. Here, the researcher employs various data-gathering strategies, depending upon the thrust or approach of his research. Examples of data-gathering strategies used in Qualitative Research are individual in-depth interviews, structures and non-structured interviews, focus groups, narratives, content or documentary analysis, participant observation and archival research.
On the other hand, Quantitative Research makes use of tools such as questionnaires, surveys and other equipment to collect numerical or measurable data.

4. Type of Data

The presentation of data in a Qualitative Research is in the form of words (from interviews) and images (videos) or objects (such as artifacts). If you are conducting a Qualitative Research what will most likely appear in your discussion are figures in the form of graphs. However, if you are conducting a Quantitative Research, what will most likely appear in your discussion are tables containing data in the form of numbers and statistics.

5. Approach

Qualitative Research is primarily subjective in approach as it seeks to understand human behavior and reasons that govern such behavior. Researchers have the tendency to become subjectively immersed in the subject matter in this type of research method.
In Quantitative Research, researchers tend to remain objectively separated from the subject matter. This is because Quantitative Research is objective in approach in the sense that it only seeks precise measurements and analysis of target concepts to answer his inquiry.

DETERMINING WHICH METHOD SHOULD BE USED

Debates have been ongoing, tackling which method is better than the other. The reason why this remains unresolved until now is that, each has its own strengths and weaknesses which actually vary depending upon the topic the researcher wants to discuss. This then leads us to the question “Which method should be used?”
The goals of each of the two methods have already been discussed above. Therefore, if your study aims to find out the answer to an inquiry through numerical evidence, then you should make use of the Quantitative Research. However, if in your study you wish to explain further why this particular event happened, or why this particular phenomenon is the case, then you should make use of Qualitative Research.
Some studies make use of both Quantitative and Qualitative Research, letting the two complement each other. If your study aims to find out, for example, what the dominant human behavior is towards a particular object or event and at the same time aims to examine why this is the case, it is then ideal to make use of both methods.




DIFFERENT RESEARCH METHODS

There are various designs which are used in research, all with specific advantages and disadvantages. Which one the scientist uses, depends on the aims of the study and the nature of the phenomenon:

Descriptive Designs

Aim: Observe and Describe


DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Descriptive research design is a scientific method which involves observing and describing the behavior of a subject without influencing it in any way.


Many scientific disciplines, especially social science and psychology, use this method to obtain a general overview of the subject.
Some subjects cannot be observed in any other way; for example, a social case study of an individual subject is a descriptive research design and allows observation without affecting normal behavior.
It is also useful where it is not possible to test and measure the large number of samples needed for more quantitative types of experimentation.
These types of experiments are often used by anthropologists, psychologists and social scientists to observe natural behaviors without affecting them in any way. It is also used by market researchers to judge the habits of customers, or by companies wishing to judge the morale of staff.
The results from a descriptive research can in no way be used as a definitive answer or to disprove a hypothesis but, if the limitations are understood, they can still be a useful tool in many areas of scientific research.
ADVANTAGES
The subject is being observed in a completely natural and unchanged natural environment. A good example of this would be an anthropologist who wanted to study a tribe without affecting their normal behavior in any way. True experiments, whilst giving analyzable data, often adversely influence the normal behavior of the subject.
Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor to quantitative research designs, the general overview giving some valuable pointers as to what variables are worth testing quantitatively. Quantitative experiments are often expensive and time-consuming so it is often good sense to get an idea of what hypotheses are worth testing.
DISADVANTAGES
Because there are no variables manipulated, there is no way to statistically analyze the results. Many scientists regard this type of study as very unreliable and ‘unscientific’.
In addition, the results of observational studies are not repeatable, and so there can be no replication of the experiment and reviewing of the results.
SUMMARY
Descriptive research design is a valid method for researching specific subjects and as a precursor to more quantitative studies. Whilst there are some valid concerns about the statistical validity, as long as the limitations are understood by the researcher, this type of study is an invaluable scientific tool.
Whilst the results are always open to question and to different interpretations, there is no doubt that they are preferable to performing no research at all.
CASE STUDY RESEARCH DESIGN
The case study research design have evolved over the past few years as a useful tool for investigating trends and specific situations in many scientific disciplines.
The case study has been especially used in social science, psychology, anthropology and ecology.
This method of study is especially useful for trying to test theoretical models by using them in real world situations. For example, if an anthropologist were to live amongst a remote tribe, whilst their observations might produce no quantitative data, they are still useful to science.
WHAT IS A CASE STUDY?
Basically, a case study is an in depth study of a particular situation rather than a sweeping statistical survey. It is a method used to narrow down a very broad field of research into one easily researchable topic.

Whilst it will not answer a question completely, it will give some indications and allow further elaboration and hypothesis creation on a subject.
The case study research design is also useful for testing whether scientific theories and models actually work in the real world. You may come out with a great computer model for describing how the ecosystem of a rock pool works but it is only by trying it out on a real life pool that you can see if it is a realistic simulation.
For psychologists, anthropologists and social scientists they have been regarded as a valid method of research for many years. Scientists are sometimes guilty of becoming bogged down in the general picture and it is sometimes important to understand specific cases and ensure a more holistic approach to research.
THE ARGUMENT FOR AND AGAINST THE CASE STUDY RESEARCH DESIGN
Some argue that because a case study is such a narrow field that its results cannot be extrapolated to fit an entire question and that they show only one narrow example. On the other hand, it is argued that a case study provides more realistic responses than a purely statistical survey.
The truth probably lies between the two and it is probably best to try and synergize the two approaches. It is valid to conduct case studies but they should be tied in with more general statistical processes.
For example, a statistical survey might show how much time people spend talking on mobile phones, but it is case studies of a narrow group that will determine why this is so.
The other main thing to remember during case studies is their flexibility. Whilst a pure scientist is trying to prove or disprove a hypothesis, a case study might introduce new and unexpected results during its course, and lead to research taking new directions.
The argument between case study and statistical method also appears to be one of scale. Whilst many ‘physical’ scientists avoid case studies, for psychology, anthropology and ecology they are an essential tool. It is important to ensure that you realize that a case study cannot be generalized to fit a whole population or ecosystem.
Finally, one peripheral point is that, when informing others of your results, case studies make more interesting topics than purely statistical surveys, something that has been realized by teachers and magazine editors for many years. The general public has little interest in pages of statistical calculations but some well placed case studies can have a strong impact.
HOW TO DESIGN AND CONDUCT A CASE STUDY
The advantage of the case study research design is that you can focus on specific and interesting cases. This may be an attempt to test a theory with a typical case or it can be a specific topic that is of interest. Research should be thorough and note taking should be meticulous and systematic.
The first foundation of the case study is the subject and relevance. In a case study, you are deliberately trying to isolate a small study group, one individual case or one particular population.
For example, statistical analysis may have shown that birthrates in African countries are increasing. A case study on one or two specific countries becomes a powerful and focused tool for determining the social and economic pressures driving this.
In the design of a case study, it is important to plan and design how you are going to address the study and make sure that all collected data is relevant. Unlike a scientific report, there is no strict set of rules so the most important part is making sure that the study is focused and concise; otherwise you will end up having to wade through a lot of irrelevant information.
It is best if you make yourself a short list of 4 or 5 bullet points that you are going to try and address during the study. If you make sure that all research refers back to these then you will not be far wrong.
With a case study, even more than a questionnaire or survey, it is important to be passive in your research. You are much more of an observer than an experimenter and you must remember that, even in a multi-subject case, each case must be treated individually and then cross case conclusions can be drawn.
HOW TO ANALYZE THE RESULTS
Analyzing results for a case study tends to be more opinion based than statistical methods. The usual idea is to try and collate your data into a manageable form and construct a narrative around it.
Use examples in your narrative whilst keeping things concise and interesting. It is useful to show some numerical data but remember that you are only trying to judge trends and
not analyze every last piece of data. Constantly refer back to your bullet points so that you do not lose focus.
It is always a good idea to assume that a person reading your research may not possess a lot of knowledge of the subject so try to write accordingly.
In addition, unlike a scientific study which deals with facts, a case study is based on opinion and is very much designed to provoke reasoned debate. There really is no right or wrong answer in a case study.
Advantages  
-         Specific concrete example;
-         Can help with problem solving;
-         Are often interesting to read.
Disadvantages
-         Can take time to develop;
-         Depending on format, may need some level of good writing skills;
-         Do not usually give broad overview of issue at hand.


NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
In many scientific disciplines, naturalistic observation is a useful tool for expanding knowledge about a specific phenomenon or species.

In fields such as anthropology, behavioral biology and ecology, watching a person or organism in a natural environment is essential.
Most naturalistic observation is unobtrusive, such as a researcher setting up a camera to film the behavior of a badger underground. Most nature documentaries are examples of naturalistic observational study, where days, weeks or even years of film are analyzed and edited, to give an overview of the life cycle of the organism.
There is often little attempt at analysis, quantitative or qualitative, but the observational study does uncover unknown phenomena and behaviors.
Obtrusive naturalistic observational study is often used in anthropology, where a researcher lives with a remote tribe for a period of time and records their behavior. By living there, she is influencing their social interactions and habits, but can still make some excellent observations.
Often, anthropologists will adopt the lifestyle of a particular group of people, in an attempt to understand why they have certain customs and beliefs.
In technical terms, it would be difficult to follow people without discovery, and it would also be unethical to observe without consent, so obtrusive naturalistic observation is the only method that can be used with human subjects.
Many of the producers of the recent glut of reality shows try to claim that their shows are psychological experiments, based around observational study. This is stretching the idea too far, as there are very few people who would not change their behavior when they are aware that a camera is watching.
In these cases, it is difficult to make any realistic and valid observations about their lifestyle.
Most criticisms of naturalistic observation are based around this principle, and an anthropologist or social scientist has to ensure that they intervene as little as possible.


SURVEY RESEARCH DESIGN

The survey research design is often used because of the low cost and easy accessible information.
NTRODUCTION
Conducting accurate and meaningful surveys is one of the most important facets of market research in the consumer driven 21st century.

Businesses, governments and media spend billions of dollars on finding out what people think and feel.
Accurate research can generate vast amounts of revenue; bad or inaccurate research can cost millions, or even bring down governments.
The survey research design is a very valuable tool for assessing opinions and trends. Even on a small scale, such as local government or small businesses, judging opinion with carefully designed surveys can dramatically change strategies.
Television chat-shows and newspapers are usually full of facts and figures gleaned from surveys but often no information is given as to where this information comes from or what kind of people were asked.
A cursory examination of these figures usually shows that the results of these surveys are often manipulated or carefully sifted to try and reflect distort the results to match the whims of the owners.
Businesses are often guilty of carefully selecting certain results to try and portray themselves as the answer to all needs.
When you decide to enter this minefield and design a survey, how do you avoid falling into the trap of inaccuracy and bias? How do you ensure that your survey research design reflects the views of a genuine cross-section of the population?
The simple answer is that you cannot; even with unlimited budget, time and resources, there is no way of achieving 100% accuracy. Opinions, on all levels, are very fluid and can change on a daily or even hourly basis.
Despite this, surveys are still a powerful tool and can be an extremely powerful research tool. As long as you design your survey well and are prepared to be self-critical, you can still obtain an accurate representation of opinion.

ESTABLISHING THE AIMS OF YOUR RESEARCH

This is the single most important step of your survey research design and can make or break your research; every single element of your survey must refer back to this design or it will be fatally flawed.
If your research is too broad, you will have to ask too many questions; too narrow and you will not be researching the topic thoroughly enough.

RESEARCHING AND DETERMINING YOUR SAMPLE GROUP

This is the next crucial step in determining your survey and depends upon many factors.
The first is accuracy; you want to try and interview as broad a base of people as possible. Quantity is not always the answer; if you were researching a detergent, for example, you would want to target your questions at those who actually use such products.
For a political or ethical survey, about which anybody can have a valid opinion, you want to try and represent a well balanced cross section of society.
It is always worth checking beforehand what quantity and breadth of response you need to provide significant results or your hard work may be in vain.
Before you start the planning, it is important that you consult somebody about the statistical side of your survey research design. This way, you know what number and type of responses you need to make it a valid survey and prevent inaccurate results.

METHODOLOGY

How do you make sure that your questionnaire reaches the target group? There are many methods of reaching people but all have advantages and disadvantages.
For a college or university study it is unlikely that you will have the facilities to use internet, e-mail or phone surveying so we will concentrate on only the likely methods you will use.

FACE TO FACE

This is probably the most traditional method of the survey research design. It can be very accurate. It allows you to be selective about to whom you ask questions and you can explain anything that they do not understand.
In addition, you can make a judgment about who you think is wasting your time or giving stupid answers.
There are a few things to be careful of with this approach; firstly, people can be reluctant to give up their time without some form of incentive.
Another factor to bear in mind is that is difficult to ask personal questions face to face without embarrassing people. It is also very time consuming and difficult to obtain a representative sample.
Finally, if you are going to be asking questions door-to-door, it is essential to ensure that you have some official identification to prove who you are.

MAIL

This does not necessarily mean using the postal service; putting in the legwork and delivering questionnaires around a campus or workplace is another method.
This is a good way of targeting a certain section of people and is excellent if you need to ask personal or potentially embarrassing questions.
The problems with this method are that you cannot be sure of how many responses you will receive until a long time period has passed.
You must also be wary of collecting personal data; most countries have laws about how much information you can keep about people so it is always wise to check with somebody more knowledgeable.

STRUCTURING AND DESIGNING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The design of your questionnaire depends very much upon the type of survey and the target audience.
If you are asking questions face to face it is easy to explain if people are unsure of a question. On the other hand, if your questionnaire is going to include many personal questions then mailing methods are preferable (but may violate local legislation).
You must keep your questionnaire as short as possible; people will either refuse to fill in a long questionnaire or get bored halfway through.
If you do have lots of information then it may be preferable to offer multiple-choice or rating questions to make life easier.

COVER NOTE

It is also polite, especially with mailed questionnaires, to send a short cover note explaining what you are doing and how the subject should return the surveys to you.
You should introduce yourself; explain why you are doing the research, what will happen with the results and who to contact if the subject has any queries.

TYPES OF QUESTION

Multiple choice questions allow many different answers, including don’t know, to be assessed. The main strength of this type of question is that the form is easy to fill in and the answers can be checked easily and quantitatively; this is useful for large sample groups.
Rating, on some scale, is a tried and tested form of question structure. This way is very useful when you are seeking to be a little more open-ended than is possible with multiple choice questions. It is a little harder to analyze your responses. It is important to make sure that the scale allows extreme views.
Questions asking for opinions must be open-ended and allow the subject to give their own response; you should avoid entrapment and appear to be as neutral as possible during the procedure. The major problem is that you have to devise a numerical way of analyzing and statistically evaluating the responses which can lead to a biased view, if care is not taken. These types of question should really be reserved for experienced researchers.
The order in which you ask the questions can be important. Try to start off with the most relevant questions first. Also friendly and non-threatening questions put the interviewee at ease. Questions should be simple and straightforward using everyday language rather than perfect grammar.
Try and group questions about similar topics together; this makes it a lot quicker for people to answer questions more quickly and easily.
Some researchers advocate mixing up and randomizing questions for accuracy but this approach tends to be more appropriate for advanced market research. For this type of survey the researcher is trying to disguise the nature of the research and filter out preconceptions.
It is also a good idea to try out a test survey; ask a small group to give genuine and honest feedback so that you can make adjustments.

ANALYZING YOUR RESULTS

This is where the fun starts and it will depend upon the type of questions used.
For multiple choice questions it is a matter of counting up the answers to each question and using statistics to ‘crunch the numbers’ and test relevance.
Rating type questions require a little more work but they follow broadly the same principle.
For opinion questions you have to devise some way of judging the responses numerically.
The next step is to devise which statistical test you are going to use and start to enter some numbers to judge the significance of your data.

Advantages of surveys

-         Good for comparative analysis.
-         Can get lots of data in a relatively short space of time.
-         Can be cost-effective (if you use the Internet, for example).
-         Can take less time for respondents to complete (compared to an interview or focus group).

Disadvantages of surveys

-         Responses may not be specific
-         Questions may be misinterpreted.
-         May not get as many responses as you need.
-         Don’t get full story.


CONCLUSIONS

This is where you have to analyze the results. Be self critical whether your results showed what you expected or not. Any survey has flaws in its method so it is always a good idea to show that you are aware of these.
For example, a university represents only a narrow cross section of society; as long as you are aware of this then your results are valid. If your survey gave unexpected results explain the possible reasons for why this happened and suggestions for refining the techniques and structure of your survey next time.
As long as you have justified yourself and pointed out your own shortcomings then your results will be relevant and you should receive a good result. 
 REFERENCE:
Sampson Gods power o (2011) Introduction to Research ,publish by .Inye integrated servics No.72 Azikiwe Street Mile 2 Diobu Port Harcourt.Nigeria Rivers State


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