We have to change the nature of the discourse to make it clear that it is not only polite, but essential, to understand people's financial interest in areas that affect their work, just as it is essential to know where they came from and who they did their work with because of other subtle biases. You have to get that information so that others can judge [it] in the context of their work C.
Some state laws and some university policies require disclosure of certain categories of activities. Typically these include service as an officer or director of any commercial entity, investment of more than a given amount in any one company whose product is related to the individual's work, ownership interest of more than a given percentage in a partnership or corporation, and consulting arrangements that result in remuneration greater than a set amount AAHC, Disclosure might include all financial interests of the investigator and his or her immediate family.
The National Research Council requests disclosure of any prior public statements, including publications, relevant to a topic under study NRC, Regarding financial conflicts of interest, one possible method of reducing the influence of corporate money on research is to establish financial pools or mechanisms that increase the distance real or perceived between the funding source and the PORT or its members.
There is considerable disagreement over this approach, as evidenced by this exchange between two participants at the IOM workshop:. You said, "What if it [the funding] comes from the foundation versus the company? What has troubled me. Everybody knows where the money is coming from and where it is going. I have always been offended by the thought that this laundering process somehow magically converts tainted money into clean money. We ought to get rid of that fiction and understand that the money is going to go.
It is then the responsibility of the university to supervise the doctor and to make sure there is adequate peer review within the university and that something untoward does not occur. If you cannot stand before the public and defend an academic researcher receiving money from whatever the source may be, whether it is a pharmaceutical or any other company, and you have to pretend it is being laundered. The question of where. The question is whether the science was valid, good, strong, academic, unbiased, straightforward, peer-reviewed science.
As a dean, Dr. Korn, do you agree with Mr. Hutt's statement? I don't understand laundering because it is not a concept that I use. When I was talking before about the Mega Foundation's money, I was thinking of it as grants that were coming into very specific people for very specific research projects, but coming in as grants through the university.
That is not a laundering phenomenon. It is simply a matter of tracking the research portfolio that is going on within a place at any one time and assuring that whatever institutional assurances have to be met by federal and other regulations are in conformity.
That is all. There is no laundering involved. There is no deception involved. KORN: Sure. We get gifts. Everybody gets gifts. That is the difference between a gift and a grant. A gift is a general award of funds for some very general use, and a grant is much more specific and targeted, usually with a named investigator and expected outcomes. They are different and equally acceptable.
Such "financial distancing" by foundations may be quite variable. The Lilly Foundation, for instance, will support no research in the health area; other corporations, however, use their foundations to promote their own views. Another form of financial distancing is the blind trust, in which control of equity is transferred to a fiduciary for the course of a researcher's involvement in a study.
Such an arrangement might lessen, at the margin, the likelihood of insider trading. It would only affect personal financial gain, however, not prevent biased research, and it is the latter that reflects the intent of financial distancing. For instance, a blind trust would not provide a solution for the investigator who has a substantial holding in a closely held company whose product is involved in PORT studies or is competitive with such a product because the investigator is not really "blind" to this holding in the hands of the fiduciary.
One way to deal with problematic arrangements is to establish rules internal to the research group. For instance, Healy and her colleagues described decisions by the key investigators in a new multicenter clinical trial of treatment after coronary-artery bypass graft surgery. Among their decisions were not to buy, sell, or hold stock or stock options in the companies manufacturing or distributing the medications they were testing and not to serve as paid consultants to these companies throughout the study Healy et al.
This arrangement has been hailed as sound protection against this form of financial conflict of interest Relman, Another example is the decision by members of the Dartmouth assessment team not to accept honoraria or consulting fees and not to own stock whose value is affected by urologic treatment, the area under study by their team Wennberg, b. Several ways to define acceptable activities and the oversight procedures to permit those and only those activities might be outlined in theory.
In practice, the approach of the Harvard University Faculty of Medicine offers some useful guidance. The Harvard University Faculty of Medicine's new rules distinguish three relationships: 1 those requiring special attention and specific approval, 2 those permitted with oversight, and 3 those that are routinely allowable.
Further, they require five actions by all faculty members. Specifically, faculty must 1 make a full annual disclosure of their potential conflicts of interest to university administration; 2 seek explicit approval before embarking on studies funded by companies in.
As recommended by the guidelines, the dean of the medical school has appointed a standing committee of the Harvard Medical Center, the Committee on Conflict of Interest and Commitment, to review activities that are disclosed and implement procedures for approval and oversight. Although differing in their presumptions, both the prohibition and the disclosure and review models recognize that when ameliorative approaches are insufficient to ensure adequate conflict-of-interest protection for researchers, prohibition may be required.
Consequently, several schemes have been proposed to delineate permissible from impermissible activities. These range from simply advocating the use of common sense, developing only those prohibitions that are tied to a specific danger to the public, or creating entire categories of unacceptable behavior, such as those included in the now withdrawn September NIH Guide for Contracts and Grants DHHS, b.
Other examples include the New England Journal of Medicine 's policy not to accept reviews or editorials by authors with financial connections to the product being reviewed Relman, and the Johns Hopkins University policy that permits researchers to hold paid consultancies but not equity interest in companies that support their research Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, In this report the two councils strongly endorse full disclosure to medical centers, funding organizations, and journals.
The report further asserts that researchers "cannot ethically buy or sell a company's stock until the involvement ends and the results of the research are published or otherwise disseminated to the public" p. It affirms, however, that a researcher may ethically share in economic rewards that are commensurate with the value of his or her actual efforts such as royalties , and.
Research sponsors can withdraw funding or apply penalties when their rules regarding conflict of interest are broken. Institutions also sometimes apply sanctions. For example, the Harvard University Faculty of Medicine's approach to conflicts of interest specifies the following sanctions in rough order of severity: formal admonition; inclusion in a personnel file of a letter from the Office of the Dean that an individual's good standing as a member of the faculty has been called into question; ineligibility for grant applications, institutional review board approval, or supervision of graduate students; nonrenewal of appointment; and dismissal from the faculty.
Two models provide the main approaches for managing conflict of interest. A prohibition model is based on a presumption against relationships that might present a conflict; a "disclosure and peer review" model rests on presumption that such relationships are unavoidable but manageable.
Although the models differ in their underlying presumptions, in where the line is drawn between prohibition and management, and in the means used to deal with conflicts of interest, both models are likely to use one or more of the following mechanisms for dealing with conflict: disclosure, financial distancing, self-regulation, defining categories of acceptable activities, implementing oversight of those activities, defining categories of unacceptable activities, and implementing prohibitions and sanctions.
Chapter 6 considers these procedures as applied to PORTs. Their purpose is to assess alternative treatments for medical conditions using a variety of outcome measures. In guiding insurance coverage, these PORTs are expected to wield considerable influence on medical practice and health policy. Researchers working on applied research have to make use of the outcomes of basic research and explore the utility of them.
Research on improving a theory or a method is also referred as fundamental research. For example, suppose a theory is applicable to a system provided the system satisfies certain specific conditions. Modifying the theory to apply it to a general situation is a basic research. Applied Research In an applied research one solves certain problems employing well known and accepted theories and principles.
Most of the experimental research, case studies and interdisciplinary research are essentially applied research. Applied research is helpful for basic research.
A research, the outcome of which has immediate application is also termed as applied research. Such a research is of practical use to current activity. For example, researches on social problems have immediate use. Applied research is concerned with actual life research such as research on increasing efficiency of a machine, increasing gain factor of production of a material, pollution control, preparing vaccination for a disease, etc. Obviously, they have immediate potential applications.
Other Types of Research Other types of research include action research fact findings to improve the quality of action in the social world , explanatory research searching explanations for events and phenomena, for example finding answer to the question why are the things like what they are? Within each research group, there are classifications of other research categories. Quantitative and Qualitative Research The basic and applied researches can be quantitative or qualitative or even both.
Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount. Here a process is expressed or described in terms of one or more quantities. Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomenon involving quality. It is non-numerical, descriptive, applies reasoning and uses words.
Its aim is to get the meaning, feeling and describe the situation. We measure and weigh things in the study of substance or structure. Can we measure or weigh patterns? We cannot measure or weigh patterns. But to study patterns we must map a configuration of relationships. That is, structures involve quantities whereas patterns involve qualities.
If one wishes to investigate why certain data are random then it is a qualitative research. If the aim is to study how random the data is, what is the mean, variance and distribution function then it becomes quantitative. There has been widespread debate in recent years within many of the social sciences regarding the relative merits of quantitative and qualitative strategies for research. The positions taken by individual researchers vary considerably, from those who see the two strategies as entirely separate and based on alternative views of the world, to those who are happy to mix these strategies within their research projects.
In exploring the distinctions between qualitative and quantitative forms of research one needs to consider the different ontological and epistemological questions as well as positivism, interpretivism and critical paradigms. Strictly speaking they are not so and they show differences between them. One of the primary differences between them is that research methods are the methods by which you conduct research into a subject or a topic.
On the other hand research methodology explains the methods by which you may proceed with your research. Research methods involve conduct of experiments, tests, surveys and the like. On the other hand research methodology involves the learning of the various techniques that can be used in the conduct of research and in the conduct of tests, experiments, surveys and critical studies.
This is the technical difference between the two terms, namely, research methods and research methodology. Research methodology is a systematic way to solve a problem. It is a science of studying how research is to be carried out. Essentially, the procedures by which researchers go about their work of describing, explaining and predicting phenomena are called research methodology.
It is also defined as the study of methods by which knowledge is gained. Its aim is to give the work plan of research. Research methods are the various procedures, schemes, algorithms, etc. All the methods used by a researcher during a research study are termed as research methods. They are essentially planned, scientific and value-neutral.
They include theoretical procedures, experimental studies, numerical schemes, statistical approaches, etc. Research methods help us collect samples, data and find a solution to a problem. Particularly, scientific research methods call for explanations based on collected facts, measurements and observations and not on reasoning alone. They accept only those explanations which can be verified by experiments. In short it can be said that research methods aim at finding solutions to research problems.
On the other hand research methodology aims at the employment of the correct procedures to find out solutions. It is thus interesting to note that research methodology paves the way for research methods to be conducted properly.
Research methodology is the beginning whereas research methods are the end of any scientific or non-scientific research. In this topic if we are to conduct research, then the research methods that are involved are study of various works of the different poets and the understanding of the employment of figures of speech in their works. On the other hand research methodology pertaining to the topic mentioned above involves the study about the tools of research, collation of various manuscripts related to the topic, techniques involved in the critical edition of these manuscripts and the like.
If the subject into which you conduct a research is a scientific subject or topic then the research methods include experiments, tests, study of various other results of different experiments performed earlier in relation to the topic or the subject and the like.
On the other hand research methodology pertaining to the scientific topic involves the techniques regarding how to go about conducting the research, the tools of research, advanced techniques that can be used in the conduct of the experiments and the like. Research methods or techniques, thus, refer to the methods the researchers use in performing research operations.
In other words, all those methods which are used by the researcher during the course of studying his research problem are termed as research methods. Since the object of research, particularly the applied research, is to arrive at a solution for a given problem, the available data and the unknown aspects of the problem have to be related to each other to make a solution possible.
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. Research methods falling in the above stated last two groups are generally taken as the analytical tools of research. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.
Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or tests, how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the standard deviation or chi-square, how to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean and indicate and why. All this means that it is necessary for the researcher to design his methodology for his problem as the same may differ from problem to problem.
For example, an architect, who designs a building, has to consciously evaluate the basis of his decisions, i. Similarly, in research the scientist has to expose the research decisions to evaluation before they are implemented. He has to specify very clearly and precisely what decisions he selects and why he selects them so that they can be evaluated by others also.
From what has been stated above, we can say that research methodology has many dimensions and research methods do constitute a part of the research methodology.
The scope of research methodology is wider than that of research methods. 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.
There are many different methodologies used in various types of research and the term is usually considered to include research design, data gathering and data analysis. Research methodology seeks to inform: Why a research study has been undertaken, how the research problem has been defined, in what way and why the hypothesis has been formulated, what data have been collected and what particular method has been adopted, why particular technique of analysing data has been used and a host of similar other questions are usually answered when we talk of research methodology concerning a research problem or study.
Research methodologies can be 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 research should try to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methodologies but this is not always possible, usually due to time and financial constraints. A good design should ensure the research is valid, i.
Part of the research methodology is concerned with the how the research is conducted. The term research methodology, which prescribes the research method to use, usually encompasses the procedures followed to analyze and interpret the data gathered. These often use a range of sophisticated statistical analyses of the data to identify correlations or statistical significance in the results.
Objective, representative research can be difficult to conduct because tests can normally only be conducted on a small sample e. This means that researchers need to have a very detailed understanding of the types and limitations of research methodologies which they are using. In simple terms research methodology is used to give a clear cut idea on what the researcher is carrying out his or her research.
In order to plan in a right point of time and to advance the research work, research methodology makes the right platform to the researcher to mapping out the research work in relevance to make solid plans. More over research methodology guides the researcher to involve and to be active in his or her particular field of enquiry.
Right from selecting the topic and carrying out the research, the research methodology drives the researcher in the right track. The entire research plan is based on the concept of right research methodology. More over through the research methodology the external environment constitutes the research by giving an in-depth idea on setting the right research objective, followed by literature point of view, based on that chosen analysis through interviews or questionnaires findings will be obtained and finally concluded message by this research.
The research methodology constitutes the internal environment by understanding and identifying the right type of research, strategy, philosophy, time horizon, approaches, followed by right procedures and techniques based on his or her research work.
The system of collecting data for research projects is known as research methodology. The data may be collected for either theoretical or practical research for example management research may be strategically conceptualized along with operational planning methods and change management.
Some important factors in research methodology include validity of research data, ethics and the reliability of most of your work is finished by the time you finish the analysis of your data. This is followed by research design, which may be either experimental or quasi-experimental. The last two stages are data analysis and finally writing the research paper, which is organised carefully into graphs and tables so that only important relevant data is shown.
Importance of Research Methodology in Research It is necessary for a researcher to design a research methodology for the problem chosen. One should note that even if the research method considered for two problems are same the research methodology may be different. It is important for the researcher to know not only the research methods necessary for the research under taken but also the methodology. For example, a researcher not only needs to know how to calculate mean, variance and distribution function for a set of data, how to find a solution of a physical system described by mathematical model, how to determine the roots of algebraic equations and how to apply a particular method but also need to know i which is a suitable method for the chosen problem?
And so on. Considerations of these aspects constitute a research methodology. More precisely, research methods help us get a solution to a problem. On the other hand, research methodology is concerned with the explanation of the following: 1 Why is a particular research study undertaken? The study of research methods gives training to apply them to a problem. The study of research methodology provides us the necessary training in choosing research methods, materials, scientific tools and training in techniques relevant for the problem chosen.
Research methodology includes a philosophically coherent collection of theories, concepts or ideas as they relate to a particular discipline or field of inquiry. Methodology refers to more than a simple set of methods; rather it refers to the rationale and the philosophical assumptions that underlie a particular study relative to the scientific method. This is why scholarly literature often includes a section on the methodology of the researchers.
Researchers acknowledge the need for rigor, logic, and coherence in their research methodologies, which are subject to peer review. The difference between these two methods has been prominent in many research methods publications Howe, ; Neuman, For instance, Myers , p.
Likewise, Miles and Huberman maintain that qualitative research focuses on in- depth examination of research issues while Harrison argues that quantitative design provides broad understanding of issues under investigation. As ascertained by reputable research methodologies researchers above, we can conclude that there are two main types of research methodology, 1- Quantitative methodology, 2- Qualitative methodology. Is there a relationship? Quantitative research methods tend to be systematic and use numbers.
However, 2- Qualitative methodology is the type by which you are depending on your observations and descriptions. It is subjectively and descriptive, no facts. Given this distinction, purists uphold that research questions are usually oriented towards quantitative or qualitative direction and as such these two methodologies should not go hand-in- hand Howe, ; Smith and Heshusius, Thus, qualitative research methods include action research, case study, ethnography, grounded research, semiotics, discourse analysis, hermeneutics and narrative while quantitative research methods encompass surveys, simulation, mathematical modelling, laboratory experiments, statistical analysis, econometric and structured equations modelling Myers, , p.
In this respect, mixing qualitative with quantitative methods provides opportunity to corroborate results from diverse methods of studying a given phenomenon in a more rigorous manner Neuman, Though the pragmatic researchers argue that mono-method research is a danger to the advancement of social sciences and wonder how stakeholders may develop confidence in findings from singular methods, they support the fact that the choice of research methods must reflect the research questions being addressed Onwuegbuzie and Leech, ; Sechrest and Sadani, In the mist of this debate, researchers, particularly the inexperienced ones may find it difficult to select the appropriate methodologies for a given study.
The basic and applied researches can be quantitative or qualitative or even both. Explaining how digestion of food takes place in our body is a qualitative description. It does not involve any numbers or data and quantities. Determination of exact amount of a particular compound present in a volume is essentially quantitative analysis. Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methodology The above description of the types of research methodologies brings to light the fact that there are two basic approaches to research, viz.
The former involves the generation of data in quantitative form which can be subjected to rigorous quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid fashion. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity. Qualitative research, on the other hand, is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i. Attitude or opinion research i. Reviewing these definitions of what is meant by quantitative versus qualitative research helps identify the reasons for the primarily separate use of each method and the continuing debate among researchers concerning the relative value of each approach.
The arguments can be complicated and often are philosophical; however, they essentially make the following kinds of distinctions. The word qualitative implies an emphasis on processes and meanings that are not rigorously examined or measured if measured at all , in terms of quantity, amount, intensity, or frequency. Qualitative researchers stress the socially constructed nature of reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and what is studied, and the situational constraints that shape inquiry.
In contrast, quantitative studies emphasize the measurement and analysis of causal relationships between variables, not processes. Quantitative research produces data in the form of numbers while qualitative research tends to produce data that are stated in prose or textual forms.
In order to produce different types of data, qualitative and quantitative research tend to employ different methods. Typically, the random sample survey produces quantifiable data that can be statistically analysed with the main aim of measuring, aggregating, modelling and predicting behaviour and relations.
Contextual methods in contrast are applied to a specific locality, case or social setting and sacrifice breadth of population coverage and statistical generalisability in order to explore issues in depth Booth et al, Contextual research includes ethnographic techniques, such as participant observation, interviews and participatory tools that are often group-based and visual.
Using open-ended questions these methods are designed to capture judgements and perceptions and allow complex analyses of often non-quantifiable cause-and-effect processes. Figure 3. Hughes , nevertheless, warns that such technicist solutions underestimate the politics of legitimacy that are associated with choice of methods.
The qualitative paradigm is based on interpretivism Altheide and Johnson, ; Kuzel and Like, ; Secker et al. Reality is socially constructed Berger and Luckmann, and so is constantly changing. On an epistemological level, there is no access to reality independent of our minds, no external referent by which to compare claims of truth Smith, The investigator and the object of study are interactively linked so that findings are mutually created within the context of the situation which shapes the inquiry Guba and Lincoln, ; Denzin and Lincoln, Gaining such insight into the hearts and minds of the people is best acquired through the use of smaller, highly targeted samples.
Expert moderators, unencumbered by the strict time and structure constraints of a quantitative survey, use a multitude of techniques to obtain in-depth information. Interviews are lengthy, oftentimes as long as four hours, allowing the moderator to elicit extremely candid, highly complex responses.
The result is rich, in-depth data laden with insight unobtainable from quantitative research techniques. Good, sound qualitative research has many strengths. It's flexible, highly-focused, and designed to be completed quickly because the results are seen or heard first-hand, readers relates to the findings easily. Qualitative research is not without its weaknesses and limitations. Misuse or misunderstanding the capabilities of qualitative research is commonplace.
Researchers often fall in love with the data- rich results and assume that the results are projectable. This assumption is incorrect. Because the analysis is subjective and deals with a sample size, projectability is not possible. Another common misconception is the expectation that qualitative research will always produce definitive conclusions. In reality, the results will not provide researchers with definitive conclusions, but only with enough information to establish a firm basis for decision making.
Trained researchers are essential to the success of qualitative research. Placed in the hands of untrained researchers, a qualitative research study's chance of success is vastly diminished. When you are ready to pull the trigger on your research study and can't decide which methodology to choose, just remember your axioms. When you want "strength in numbers," choose quantitative research. When "size doesn't matter," qualitative research is your best bet.
Qualitative Research - Key Characteristics Events can be understood adequately only if they are seen in context. The contexts of inquiry are not contrived; they are natural. Nothing is predefined or taken for granted. Qualitative researchers want those who are studied to speak for themselves, to provide their perspectives in words and other actions.
Therefore, qualitative research is an interactive process in which the persons studied teach the researcher about their lives. Qualitative researchers attend to the experience as a whole, not as separate variables. The aim of qualitative research is to understand experience as unified.
Qualitative methods are appropriate to the above statements. There is no one general method. For many qualitative researchers, the process entails appraisal about what was studied. Qualitative research, then, has the aim of understanding experience as nearly as possible as its participants feel it or live it. This allows the researcher to find issues that are often missed such as subtleties and complexities by the scientific, more positivistic enquiries.
Because of the subjective nature of qualitative data and its origin in single contexts, it is difficult to apply conventional standards of reliability and validity.
A numbers-based research discipline, quantitative research statistically measures attitudes, behaviour, and performance and provides results in percentages that are easier to interpret. Utilizing a series of tests and techniques, quantitative research will often yield data that's projectable to a larger population.
Because it is so deeply rooted in numbers and statistics, quantitative research has the ability to effectively translate data into easily quantifiable charts and graphs. Real-world examples have shown the effectiveness of quantitative research in measuring awareness, establishing profiles, and determining future needs.
The quantitative paradigm is based on positivism. Science is characterized by empirical research; all phenomena can be reduced to empirical indicators which represent the truth.
The ontological position of the quantitative paradigm is that there is only one truth, an objective reality that exists independent of human perception. Epistemologically, the investigator and investigated are independent entities. Quantitative research consists of those studies in which the data concerned can be analysed in terms of numbers. Quantitative research is based more directly on its original plans and its results are more readily analysed and interpreted.
Quantitative research is, as the term suggests, concerned with the collection and analysis of data in numeric form. However, quantitative research does have its limitations. Large samples are required, and the logistical difficulties inherent in gathering a sufficiently large sample can sabotage the study before it even gets off the ground. Larger samples also tend to be more expensive. Quantitative research, by virtue of its short usually 20 minute interviews and rigid structure, is not the most flexible method of research and, when handled improperly, is especially vulnerable to statistical error.
Quantitative Research - Key Characteristics Control: This is the most important element because it enables the scientist to identify the causes of his or her observations. Experiments are conducted in an attempt to answer certain questions. They represent attempts to identify why something happens, what causes some event, or under what conditions an event does occur. Control is necessary in order to provide unambiguous answers to such questions. To answer questions in education and social science we have to eliminate the simultaneous influence of many variables to isolate the cause of an effect.
Controlled inquiry is absolutely essential to this because without it the cause of an effect could not be isolated. Operational Definition: This means that terms must be defined by the steps or operations used to measure them.
Such a procedure is necessary to eliminate any confusion in meaning and communication. However, stating that anxiety refers to a score over a criterion level on an anxiety scale enables others to realise what you mean by anxiety. Stating an operational definition forces one to identify the empirical referents, or terms. In this manner, ambiguity is minimised. Again, introversion may be defined as a score on a particular personality scale, hunger as so many hours since last fed, and social class as defined by occupation.
Replication: To be replicable, the data obtained in an experiment must be reliable; that is, the same result must be found if the study is repeated. If observations are not repeatable, our descriptions and explanations are thought to be unreliable.
Hypothesis Testing: The systematic creation of a hypothesis and subjecting it to an empirical test. To decide on the research methodology to use in this research, two critical questions were required to be considered: 1.
What type of data was going to be collected for the research? The format in which the research findings were going to be analysed and reported?
Apart from the above major two questions, there are other factors to consider when deciding which research methodology to use.
To what extent do you wish to align your own research with standard approaches to the topic? Which approach will produce more useful knowledge? Which will do more good? This may involve paradigm and philosophical issues or different images about what a good piece of research looks like.
The question of whether to use quantitative research methodology or qualitative research methodology is commonly asked, especially by beginning researchers.
But when that has been done, and the question still remains, the above factors help in making the decision. Of course, a reasonable decision in any study might be to combine the two approaches. Given the above, Qualitative Research Methodology seemed the most appropriate research methodology to use in this research. The logic behind using this research methodology is as above and the justification is as follows: Type of Data: the data, which is in the form of information will be collected from research papers, journal articles, web sites, and web blogs using the Internet.
The data collected in the form of information is textual, and thus can be analysed using the qualitative research methodology. To fill the knowledge gap, information was required to be collated, analysed, and conclusions drawn. Percentage and statistics of quantitative research methodology would make no sense.
Study in Detail: to adequately solve the research problem, the situation or phenomena, cloud computing with mobile phones opportunities and issues for developing countries needed to be studied in detail. Qualitative research methodology is most appropriate in such situations.
A quantitative comparison or systematic standardisation would not suffice. Existing Similar Literature: though there were not much research that existed on the similar topic to this research, other researchers on cloud computing had done qualitative research as well. There is comprehensive literature around that suggests the use of qualitative research methodology in information systems Myers, Cloud computing aligns itself to the field of information systems.
Practical Considerations: as this research looked at opportunities and issues of cloud computing with mobile phones in developing countries, time constraints and funding issues would not permit primary investigation and data collection from all developing countries. However, secondary data in qualitative format was readily available and could be easily accessed via the Internet for this research. Knowledge Acquisition: not much would be learnt through this research from quantitative analysis.
But that is not good enough. Qualitative research methodology is the key to know as much as possible. Availability of Secondary Data: probably another important criterion that made this research use qualitative research methodology would be the abundance of secondary data that was available at the click of a mouse.
He also lists the advantages of savings on cost and time, access to quality data that has been tested, access to difficult populations and availability of longitudinal data. Subject under Study: the researcher is intimately involved in research on cloud computing since it became the buzz word within the IT Industry. He started off by writing research papers on understanding cloud computing, after a series of other research publications on the same topic, found a knowledge gap and narrowed it down to this research dissertation.
Quantitative Research Methodology: however, there are several sections, percentage and statistics provided with the assistance of quantitative analysis to strengthen the case of mobile cloud computing for developing countries. They are planned, scientific, and value-neutral. What that means is that good research methods don't "just happen. It is not necessary that every theory, technique and information in the topic of research is useful for a particular problem.
A researcher has to identify and select materials which are useful to his research study. The function of the research method is to provide for the collection of relevant information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. The design of research method, appropriate for a particular research problem, involves the consideration of the following: 1.
Objectives of the Research Study; 2. Method of Data Collection to be Adopted; 3. Source of Data or Information; 4. Tool for Data Collection; and 5. Data Analysis - Qualitative and Quantitative The goal of the research method is to produce new knowledge, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. This process takes three main forms: Exploratory Research Exploratory research is a type of research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined.
Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Given its fundamental nature, exploratory research often concludes that a perceived problem does not actually exist.
The Internet allows for research methods that are more interactive in nature. For example, RSS feeds efficiently supply researchers with up- to-date information; major search engine search results may be sent by email to researchers by services such as Google Alerts; comprehensive search results are tracked over lengthy periods of time by services such as Google Trends; and websites may be created to attract worldwide feedback on any subject.
The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by themselves, but they can provide significant insight into a given situation. Social exploratory research "seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meanings they give to their actions, and what issues concern them.
The goal is to learn 'what is going on here? Babbie identifies three purposes of social science research. The purposes are exploratory, descriptive and explanatory. Exploratory research is used when problems are in a preliminary stage.
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