RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

What is Research Methodology?

• Is defined as a highly intellectual human activity used in the investigation of nature and matter and deals specifically with the manner in which data is collected, analyzed and interpreted

What Constitutes a Research Topic?

• Unanswered question• Unsolved question• Concern• Query• Statement of inquiry

How to Select a Research Topic?

• Personal interest• Social problem• Testing theory• Prior research• Program evaluation• Human service practice• Minorities in research

Limitations Encountered when Doing or Thinking of Doing a Research

Project?• Time constraints• Financial consideration• Anticipating and avoiding problems• Equipment limitations• Human resource limitations• “Out of the box” thinking• “In the box” thinking

Literature review• Systematic review of available resources– Theoretical and conceptual concepts– Identification of independent and dependent

variables–Measurement and operational definitions– Selection of appropriate research technique– Sampling strategy– Statistical technique– Findings and conclusions of similar studies

studied

Sources of Literature Review

• Books• Journals• Internet• Data bases• Archives• Interviews• Observations• Reports • Records

Select an Appropriate Methodology?

• What is the nature of the problem being investigated?

• Is the problem being investigated subjective or objective?

• Four types of research methods:– Qualitative– Quantitative–Mixed (qualitative and quantitative)– Critical and action oriented

Exploratory Study

Exploratory Study is undertaken when not much is known about the situation at hand, or no information is available on how similar problems or research issues have been solved in the past.

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Example 6.1

• The manager of a corporation is curious to know if the work ethic values of employees working in Tirupur would be different from those of Tamilnadu

That city is a Big city, and no information about the ethic values of its workers. Also, the work ethic values mean be different to people in different cultures.

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Example 6.1 (Cont.)

• The best way to study the above situation is by conducting an exploratory study, by interviewing the employees in organizations in developed area.

Descriptive Study

Is undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to describe the characteristics of the variables of interest in a situation.

Descriptive Study

In addition, descriptive studies are undertaken in organizations to learn about and describe the characteristics of a group of employees, as for example, the age, education level, job status, and length of service.

Example 6.2• A bank manager wants to have a

profile of the individuals who have loan payments outstanding for 6 months and more.

This profile would include details of their average age, earnings, nature of occupation, full-time/ part-time employment status, and the like.

The above information might help the manager to decide right away on the types of individuals who should be made ineligible for loans in the future.

• A marketing manager might want to develop a pricing, sales, distribution, and advertising strategy for his product.

The manager might ask for information regarding the competitors, with respect to the following:

1. the percentage of companies who have prices higher and lower than the industry norm.

2. the percentage of competitors hiring in-house staff to handle sales and those who use independent agents.

Example 6.4 (Cont.) 3. percentage of sales groups

organized by product line, by accounts, and by region.

4. the types of distribution channels used and the percentage of customers using each.

5. percentage of competitors spending more dollars on advertising/promotion than the firm and those spending less.

6. Percentage of those using the web to sell the product.

Hypotheses Testing

• Studies that engage in hypotheses testing usually explain the nature of certain relationships, or establish the differences among groups or the independence of two or more factors in a situation.

• Hypotheses testing is undertaken to explain the variance in the dependent variable or to predict organizational outcomes.

Example

• A marketing manager wants to know if the sales of the company will increase if he doubles the advertising cost

• Here, the manager would like to know the nature of the relationship between advertising and sales by testing the hypothesis:

If advertising is increased, then sales will also go up.

Case Study Analysis• Case studies involve in-depth,

contextual analyses of matters relating to similar situations in other organizations.

• Case studies, as a problem solving technique, are not frequently resorted to in organizations because findings the same type of problem in another comparable setting is difficult due to the reluctance of the companies to reveal their problems.

Case Study Analysis• Case studies that are qualitative

in nature are, however, useful in applying solutions to current problems based on past problem-solving experiences.• Also, case studies are useful in

understanding certain phenomena, and generating further theories for empirical testing.

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Type of Investigation: Causal versus Correlation

• A causal study: Is an inquiry to know the cause of one or more problems.• A correlational study: Is an

inquiry to know the important variables associated with the problem.

Example 6.9• A causal study question: Does smoking cause cancer?• A correlational study question: Are smoking and cancer related? Or Are smoking, drinking, and chewing

tobacco associated with cancer? If so, which of these contributes most to

the variance in the dependent variable?

DefineProblem

Planning a Research Design

Planninga Sample

Gatheringthe Data

Processing andAnalysing the Data

Conclusionsand Report

Flowcharting the Research Process (2)

Survey (Interview, Questionnaire)Experiment (Laboratory, Field)

Secondary Data StudyObservation

Sample Design

ProbabilitySampling

Non-ProbabilitySampling

Collection of Data (Fieldwork)

Editing and Coding Data

Data Processing and Analysis

Interpretation of Findings

Report

Ethical Behavior Considerations:Researchers

No dishonesty, be straightforward and do not hide the true purpose of the research

Maintain objectivity, courtesy and high professional standards through scientific process

No falsification, alteration or misrepresentation of data for political or other purposes

Protect the confidentiality of the research subjects and research sponsors

No faulty conclusions No inclusion or use of information or ideas

contained in competing research proposals

• A process used in statistical analysis in which a predetermined number of observations will be taken from a larger population. The methodology used to sample from a larger population will depend on the type of analysis being performed, but will include simple random sampling, systematic sampling and observational sampling.

What exactly IS a “sample”?

Probability And Nonprobability Sampling

There are two major types of sampling designs: probability and Nonprobability sampling. In probability sampling, the elements in the population have some known chance or probability of being selected as sample subjects. In Nonprobability sampling, the elements do not have a known or predetermined chance of being selected as subjects.

Probability Nonprobability

Unrestricted or Simple Random Sampling

Convenience Sampling

Restricted or Complex Probability Sampling

Purposive Sampling

Systematic Sampling Judgment Sampling

Stratified Random Sampling Quota Sampling

Proportionate and Disproportionate Stratified Random Sampling

Cluster Sampling

Single-Stage and Multistage Cluster Sampling

Area Sampling

Double Sampling

Various sampling designs - Simple Random Sampling (SRS)

• Simple Random Sampling (SRS)– A simple random sample is a sample in

which all units in the sampling frame have an equal probability of selection.

–Many statistical tests have certain assumptions that they rely on and these assumptions are often met when a simple random sample is taken.

– If the researcher wanted to collect a simple random sample of people inChennai, the researcher would need a list of all people in Chenni

Types of sampling designs

• Simple random sampling: Use a random number generator to pick observations from the sample one at a time, thereby insuring that every individual has an equal chance of being in the sample, and every possible sample of individuals has an equal chance of being the sample.

• Advantages: – on average, the sample characteristics will be the same as the population

characteristics– the confidence intervals and statistical significance are as you calculate them in

Socy 201.

• Disadvantages:– it is time consuming to draw a random sample one individual at a time.– in a nationwide study, you might end up sending an interviewer to eastern

North Dakota just to interview one person.

Types of sampling designs (2)

• Systematic random sampling: Use a random number generator to pick a number from 1 to k, then choose that individual and every kth individual in the sampling frame.

• Advantage: – saves time compared to drawing a true random sample one

individual at a time.

• Disadvantage:– while every individual has the same chance of being in the study,

only a few patterns of samples are possible (usually this is not a problem).

Types of sampling designs (3)

• Stratified sampling: Break the sampling frame into groups based on social characteristics, then take a sample from each group.

• Advantage: – Makes the sample less likely to deviate substantially from the

population in one way or another.

• Disadvantage:– when you put the whole sample back together, you might need to

use sampling weights to calculate estimates.

Types of sampling designs (4)

• Multistage cluster sampling: Sampling that proceeds in stages. First a sample of groups is drawn from the sampling frame (as in sampling cities in the U.S.), then a sample of individuals is drawn from each cluster.

• Advantage: – Much less expensive than a true random sample.

• Disadvantage:– Although the sample statistics still correspond to population

parameters on average, they tend to be a bit further off (high or low) than in a true random sample.

Other definitions

• sampling ratio: the chance of one individual in the sample frame appearing in the sample: – sampling ratio = sample size / population size

• sampling interval: the number of spaces k between cases when you draw a systematic random sample– sampling interval = population size / sample size

• weight: when different groups in a stratified sample have different sampling ratios, the weight of each observation is a multiplier used to give every observation the same sampling ratio.– a properly weighted sample gives you an appropriate guess of the

population parameter.

Various sampling designs - Stratified Sampling

• Stratified Sampling–The population is separated in groups or strata and from within each strata a SRS is taken.–Again where would this list come from for each strata to perform a SRS within each strata?

Various sampling designs - Convenience Sampling

Convenience Sampling–A sample collected by what is convenient• For example, collecting surveys from a shopping mall, yielding a lot of data at a low price.

–Note: statistical tests are inappropriate when performed on a convenience sample

Random Cluster Sampling – 1• Done correctly, this is a form of

random sampling• Population is divided into groups,

usually geographic or organizational• Some of the groups are randomly

chosen• In pure cluster sampling, whole

cluster is sampled.• In simple multistage cluster, there is

random sampling within each randomly chosen cluster

Judgment SamplingThe target population should be

clearly defined, uniform and completely assessable so that sample selection bias is not a problem. Or specific environmental samples are selected for their unique value and interest rather than for making inferences to a wider population

The role of sampling in quantitative research

• For many research projects collecting data takes a large portion of the overall time of the project. – After collecting and entering the data using

statistical software packages, such as SPSS or Minitab, the statistics can be calculated within minutes.

– A very important fact though is that getting an answer and getting the right answer are not the same thing.