A COURSE IN RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

University of Hassiba Benbouali-
Chlef-Algeria
RESARCH METHODOLOGY
« Techniques du travail universitaire 1 »
by Mr. Naimi AMARA

COURSE OBJECTIVES
 Develop a basic understanding of research
and its methodologies
 Identify appropriate research topics
 Select and define appropriate research
problem
 Prepare a project proposal
 Organise and conduct research
 Write a research report and thesis

1) SOME DEFINITIONS OF RESEARCH
 SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE
 IT IS A SYSTEMATIC AND SCIENTIFIC
SEARCH FOR PERTINENT/RELEVANT
INFORMATION ON A SPECIFIC TOPIC
 A SYSTEMATISED EFFORT TO GAIN NEW
KNOWLEDGE; A MOVEMENT FROM THE
KNOWN TO THE UNKNOWN

DEFINITION ( cont.)
 THE WORD RESEARCH IS COMPOSED OF TWO
SYLLABLES, RE AND SEARCH. THE DICTIONARY DEFINES
THE FORMER AS A PREFIX MEANING AGAIN, A NEW, OR
OVER AGAIN AND THE LATTER AS A VERB MEANING TO
EXAMINE CLOSELY AND CAREFULLY, TO TEST AND TRY,
OR TO PROBE. TOGETHER THEY FORM A NOUN
DESCRIBING A CAREFUL, SYSTEMATIC, PATIENT STUDY
AND INVESTIGATION IN SOME FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE,
UNDERTAKEN TO ESTABLISH FACTS OR PRINCIPLES.
( Grinnel 1993: 4 )

2) SOME TERMINOLOGIES
 Methodology – refers to the methods,
techniques, and procedures that are
employed in implementing your research
plan (design)

RESEARCH METHODS OR
TECHNIQUES
 Research methods or techniques refer to
all the methods the researchers use in
performing research operations ( see
research instruments / research tools

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 A science of studying how research is carried
scientifically
 A way to systematically solve the research
problem by logically adopting various steps

3) TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Research can be classified from three
perspectives:
 I. Application of the research study
 II. Objectives
 III. Inquiry mode employed

I. APPLICATION
 If you examine a research from the
perspective of its application, there are two
broad categories:
 A). Pure research
 B). Applied research

A) PURE RESEARCH
According to Bailey ( 1978:17):
Pure research involves developing and
testing theories and hypotheses that are
intellectually challenging to the researcher
but may or may not have practical application
at the present time or in the future. Thus
such work often involves the testing of
hypotheses containing very abstract and
specialised concepts.

B) APPLIED
 Most of the research undertaken in the social
sciences is applied, the findings being
designed either for use in understanding a
phenomena/issue or to bring a change in a
program/situation.

II. OBJECTIVES
A research study can be carried out with four
objectives:
 1. Descriptive
 2. Correlational
 3. Explanatory
 4. Exploratory

TYPES OF RESEARCH
 1. Descriptive:
The main purpose of such studies is to describe
what is prevalent with respect to the issue/ problem
under study. The main characteristic of descriptive
research is that the researcher has no control over
the variables; he can only report what has happened
or what is happening.
The term Ex post facto ( after the fact ) research for
descriptive research is used mainly in social science
and business research

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
 Some examples:
 Attitudes of students towards quality
teaching
 Strategies put in place by a company to
increase workers’ productivity
 Effects of living in a house with domestic
violence

TYPES OF RESEARCH ( cont.)
 2. Correlational
Aims at discovering or establishing the
existence of a relationship/ association/
interdependence between two or more
aspects of a situation
For instance, the effect of the home
environment on education

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
 Some examples
 Relationship between stressful living and
incidence of heart attacks
 Impact of technology on the language
classroom
 Impact of domestic violence on adolescents

TYPES OF RESEARCH
 3. Explanatory:
Attempts to clarify why and how there is a
relationship between two aspects of a
situation or phenomenon. This type of
research will try to explain, for example, how
the home environment affects children level
of academic achievement.

EXPLANATORY RESEARCH
 Some examples:
 How does domestic violence impact
adolescents learners ?
 Why do some schools adopt a program while
others do not?
 How does technology facilitate learning?

TYPES OF RESEARCH
 4. Exploratory:
This is when a study is undertaken with
the objective either to explore an area where
little is known or to investigate the
possibilities of undertaking a particular
research study. When a study is carried out
to determine its feasibility it is also called a
feasibility study or a pilot study

3. INQUIRY MODE
 From the point of view of inquiry , there are
two types of research:
 1. The structured approach
 2. The unstructured approach

1.THE STRUCTURED APPROACH
 This is usually classified as quantitative research
 quantitative studies often use standardized
measures, numerical values, have larger sample
sizes, and analyze data using statistical programs. A
study is classified as quantitative if the researcher
seeks to quantify the variation in a phenomenon and
if information is gathered using quantitative
variables.

2. THE UNSTRUCTURED APPROACH
 The unstructured approach to inquiry is usually
classified as qualitative
 A study is classified as qualitative if the purpose is
primarily to describe a situation, phenomenon,
problem or event; the information is gathered
through the use of variables or measured on
qualitative measurement scales, and if analysis is
done to establish the variation in the situation or
problem without quantifying it. Qualitative studies
tend to be more “in-depth”, focusing on a smaller
population but probing deeper into a given problem.

A COURSE IN RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

4.QUALITIES OF A GOOD RESEARCH
 Research must address an important and
relevant issue.This means that:
-it is undertaken to increase knowledge and
have some beneficial implications
-it will also have relevance to the time, place,
and population of the study.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD RESEARCH
 Research is a process of collecting, analyzing
and interpreting information to answer questions.
But to qualify as research, the process must have
certain characteristics: it must, as far as possible, be:
 Logical
 Rigorous
 Systematic
 Valid and verifiable
 Empirical
 Critical

QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH ( cont.)
 Good research is logical: this
implies that research is guided by
the rules of logical reasoning ,and
the logical process of induction and
deduction is essential in carrying out
research.

 Rigorous-you must be scrupulous (careful)
in ensuring that the procedures followed to
find answers to questions are relevant,
appropriate and justified. Again, the degree
of rigor (strict) varies markedly between the
physical and social sciences and within the
social sciences.

 Good research is systematic: this implies
that the procedure adopted to undertake an
investigation follow a certain logical sequence.
The different steps cannot be taken in a
haphazard way. Some procedures must follow
others. The systematic characteristic of
research rejects the use of guessing and
intuition in arriving at conclusions.

SYSTEMATICNESS
 Good research is systematic as it follows
certain steps. These steps are:
 Problem identification
 Reviewing the literature
 Collecting data
 Analysing data
 Drawing conclusions and making
generalisations

 -Valid and verifiable-this concept implies
that whatever you conclude on the basis of
your findings is correct and can be verified by
you and others.
 -Empirical-this means that any conclusion
drawn are based upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real
life experiences or observations.

QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH(cont.)
 Critical-critical scrutiny ( examination) of the
procedures used and the methods employed
is crucial to a research enquiry. The process
of investigation must be foolproof and free
from drawbacks. The process adopted and
the procedures used must be able to
withstand critical scrutiny.

5)THE RESEARCH PROCESS:
AN EIGHT – STEP MODEL
A) 5 STEPS IN PLANNING A RESEARCH STUDY
 Step 1: Formulating a research problem
 Step 2: Conceptualising a research design
 Step 3: Constructing an instrument for data collection
 Step 4: Selecting a sample
 Step 5: Writing a research proposal

THE RESEARCH PROCESS:
B) 3 STEPS IN CONDUCTING A STUDY
 Step 6: Collecting data
 Step 7: Processing data
 Step 8: Writing a research report

6. HOW TO SELECT A RESEARCH
PROBLEM
An ‘angle’ for your research can come from
insights stemming from:
 personal experience
 theory
 observations
 contemporary issues
 engagement with the literature

What is a research problem?!
 A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty
which a researcher experiences in the context of either
a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain
a solution for the same. The research problem
undertaken for study must be carefully selected. The
task is a difficult one, although it may not appear to be
so. Help may be taken from a research guide in this
connection. Nevertheless, every researcher must find
out his own salvation for research problems cannot be
borrowed.

Why are research questions important?
“Well-crafted questions guide the systematic
planning of research. Formulating your
questions precisely enables you to design a
study with a good chance of answering
them.”
-- Light, Singer, Willett, By Design (1990)

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
 After selecting a problem, it should be stated carefully by the
researcher to delimit his task and isolate a specific problem before
he can proceed with active planning of the study. This type of
decision is culminated in the problem statement.
 Kerlinger (1964) has identified three criteria of good Problem
Statements.
1. A problem should be concerned with relation between two or
more variables. (eg, age, sex . . . .etc)
2. It should be stated “clearly and unambiguously in question form.
3. It should be amenable to empirical testing.

7. Considerations in selecting a good
research problem
 1.Interest: a research endeavour (attempt) is
usually time consuming, and involves hard work
and possibly unforeseen problems. One should
select topic of great interest to sustain the required
motivation.
 2. Magnitude(manageability): It is extremely
important to select a topic that you can manage
within the time and resources at your disposal.
Narrow the topic down to something manageable,
specific and clear.

 3.Measurement of concepts: Make sure that
you are clear about the indicators and
measurement of concepts (if used) in your study.
Do not use in your research problem concepts
that you are not sure how to measure.
 4. Level of expertise: Make sure that you have
adequate level of expertise (know how /
knowledge) for the task you are proposing since
you need to do the work yourself.

 5.Relevance: Ensure that your study adds to the
existing body of knowledge, bridges current gaps and is
useful in policy formulation. This will help you to sustain
interest in the study.
 6. Availability of data: Before finalizing the topic, make
sure that data are available.
 7. Ethical issues: How ethical issues can affect the
study population and how ethical problems can be
overcome should be thoroughly examined at the
problem formulating stage.

8.The Foundation of Hypotheses
 The second step in the research process of social
study is to formulate hypotheses. The hypothesis is
a tentative solution of a problem. The research
activities are planned to verify the hypothesis and
not to find out the solution of the problem or to seek
an answer of a question. It is very essential to a
research worker to understand the meaning and
nature of hypothesis. The researcher always plan or
formulate a hypothesis in the beginning of the
problem.

MEANING OF HYPOTHESIS
 The word hypothesis is made up of two Greek
roots : Hypo + thesis = Hypothesis
 ‘Hypo’ means tentative or subject to the
verification and ‘Thesis’ means statement about
solution of a problem.
 The world meaning of the term hypothesis is a
tentative statement about the solution of the
problem. Hypothesis offers a solution of the
problem that is to be verified empirically and
based on some rationale.

 Hypotheses are designed to express
relationships between variables. If this is the
nature of your question, a hypothesis can
add to your research
 If your question is more descriptive or
explorative, generating a hypothesis may not
be appropriate

9.The formulation of objectives:
Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in
your study.
 -They inform a reader what you want to attain
through the study.
 -It is extremely important to word them clearly
and specifically.
 Objectives should be listed under two headings:
a) main objectives ( aims);
b) sub-objectives.

 The main objective is an overall statement of
the thrust of your study.
 It is also a statement of the main associations
and relationships that you seek to discover or
establish.
 The sub-objectives are the specific aspects of
the topic that you want to investigate within the
main framework of your study.

The research objectives
 -They should be numerically listed.
 -Wording should clearly, completely and
specifically communicate to your readers
your intention.
 -Each objective should contain only one
aspect of the Study.
 -Use action oriented words or verbs when
writing objectives.

The objectives should start with words such as:
 ‘to determine’, ‘to find out’,‘to ascertain’,
‘to measure’,‘to explore’ etc.
 The wording of objectives determines the
type of research (descriptive, correlational
and experimental) and the type of research
design you need to adopt to achieve them.

Examples
Descriptive studies:
 -To describe the types of incentives provides by Hotel XYZ
to employees in Algeria.
 -To find out the opinion of the employees about the
medical facilities provided by five star hotels in Algeria.
Correlatinal studies:
 -To ascertain the impact of training on employee retention.
 -To compare the effectivenesss of different loyalty
programmes on repeat clientele.

Hypothesis –testing studies:
 -To ascertain if an increase in working hours
will increase the incidence of drug/alchohol
abuse.
 -To demonstrate that the provision of
company accommodation to employees in
Algiers hotels will reduce staff turnover.

10.WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
The phrase ‘review of literature’ consists of two
words: Review and Literature.
 The word ‘literature’ in research methodology
refers to the knowledge of a particular area of
investigation of any discipline which includes
theoretical, practical and its research studies.
 The term ‘review’ means to organize the
knowledge of the specific area of research to
evolve an edifice of knowledge to show that his
study would be an addition to this field.

Review of literature
 The term ‘review of literature’ has been
defined in the following ways:
According to W.R. Borg
“The literature in any field forms the
foundation upon which all future work will be
built. If we fail to build the foundation of
knowledge provided by the review of literature
our work is likely to be shallow and naive and
will often duplicate work that has already been
done better by some one else.”

Some definitions of L.R:
 According to John W. Best
“Practically all human knowledge can be
found in books and libraries. Unlike other
animals that must start a new with each
generation, man builds upon the accumulated
and recorded knowledge of the past. His
constant adding to the vast store of knowledge
makes possible progress in all areas of human
endeavour.”

FUNCTIONS OF THE LITERATURE
REVIEW
 a. Bring clarity and focus to your research
problem;
 b. Improve your methodology;
 c. Broaden your knowledge;
 d. Contextualise your findings.
.

a. Bring clarity and focus to your
research problem;
 The process of reviewing the literature helps
you to understand the subject area better
and thus helps you to conceptualise your
research problem clearly and precisely. It
also helps you to understand the relationship
between your research problem and the
body of knowledge in the area.

b. Improve your methodology:
 A literature review tells you if others have
used procedures and methods similar to the
ones that you are proposing, which
procedures and methods have worked well
for them, and what problems they have faced
with them. Thus you will be better positioned
to select a methodology that is capable of
providing valid answer to your research
questions.

c. Broaden your knowledge base
in your research area:
It ensures you to read widely around the
subject area in which you intend to conduct
your research study. As you are expected to
be an expert in your area of study, it helps
fulfill this expectation. It also helps you to
understand how the findings of your study fit
into the existing body of knowledge.

d. Contextualise your findings:
 How do answers to your research questions
compare with what others have found? What
contribution have you been able to make in to
the existing body of knowledge? How are your
findings different from those of others? For you
to be able to answer these questions, you need
to go back to your literature review. It is
important to place your findings in the context
of what is already known in your field of
enquiry.

STEPS IN CONDUCTIONG A
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Search for existing literature in your area of
study
 Review the literature selected
 Develop a theoretical framework
 Develop a conceptual framework
 Write your literature review

REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
 Read critically the contents of books and articles and
look for the following things:
 The claims and theories put forward.
 The criticisms of these and their basis.
 The methodologies adopted, and the criticisms
about them.
 The conclusions and findings advanced
 Disagreements about the constructs you are
investigating
 The gaps you notice in the literature

DEVELOPING A THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
 The information obtained from books and
journals now needs to be sorted under main
themes and theories, agreements and
disagreements among authors, and other
aspects related to your research topic; all this
needs to be arranged so as each element
will fit in a slot of the theoretical framework

DEVELOPING A CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK

Writing Lit. Review – Logical Argument
/ A Critique
A was the earliest writers to discuss . . .
B made a valuable contribution to the discussion of this
problem . . .
C argued that D had not used the appropriate methods
. . .
In the 1990s E proposed a completely different
approach. . .
The best study of this problem is perhaps by F . . .

WHERE TO FIND SOURCES FOR THE
LITERATURE REVIEW
 BOOKS
 INTERNET
 JOURNALS
 ARCHIVES
 REPORTS
 OBSERVATIONS
 RECORDS…

PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED IN WRITING A
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Some reviews consist of a largely unrelated
annoted list of studies.
 Some reviews are not relevant to the
investigation
 Theories in the review might be mentionned
or described, but often without a clear, logical
connection among the theories, or without
showing the relevance of each description

ANSWERING SOME OF THE
PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE L.R.
 The literature you decide to include must be
relevant to the area of your investigation
 The pieces of literature you decide to include
must be logically connected to each other

BOOKS
 Use books first as they gather a lot of
information on a topic
 They also provide a good background
information on a topic
 They also offer intersting extensive
bibliographies

JOURNAL ARTICLES
Look for journal articles second
 They discuss one pespective
 Each article makes a unique contribution
 They can supplement information from books
 They offer more up-to- date information

11. WHAT ARE DATA ?
 The term data refers to any kind of
information researchers obtain on the
subjects, respondents, or participants of
the study. In research, data are collected
and used to answer the research
questions and objectives of the study

 Data collection is an extremely
important part of any research because
the conclusion of a study is based on
what the data reveal. The choice of
procedures usually depends on the
objectives and design of the study

10.TYPES OF RESEARCH DATA
 Research data are generally classified either
as quantitative or qualitative. Based on
their sources, they fall under two categories:
 Primary data;
 Secondary data

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
DATA
 Quantitative data:
These are information which can be counted or
expressed in numerical values
e.g. nb of students, age, grades, test scores…
 Qualitative data:
These are descriptive information which has no
numerical values.
e.g. A person’s attitude, perception, or feelings

TYPES OF DATA:
 Primary data;
 Secondary data

PRIMARY VS SECONDARY DATA
 Primary data are originated by a researcher
for the specific purpose of addressing the
problem at hand. They are collected directly
from the subjects being studied.

PRIMARY VS SECONDARY DATA
 Secondary data:
These are information already available.
They have been collected from other
available sources ( recent censuses and
analysed by someone else for purposes
other than the problem at hand. Secondary
data may be published or unpublished.

11. COLLECTING DATA USING
PRIMARY SOURCES
Research tools:
 1. Questionnaires
 2. Interview schedules
 3. Observations

1. The questionnaire
 HOW TO CONSTRUCT A QUESTIONNAIRE
 Questionnaires must contain simple but
straightforward directions for the respondents so
that they may not feel any difficulty in answering
the question.
 Do not use ambiguous questions or questions
based on presumptions (supposition or guessing; :
questions should be kept short and clear, free
from guessing and interpretations.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT A QUESTIONNAIRE
 Do not ask leading questions): Don’t lead the
respondents to answer in a certain way.
Eg: How often do you wash your car?
Assumes that the respondent has a car and he
washes it. Instead, ask a filter question to find if
he has a car or not and then : " if you wash
your car, how many times a year?"

 Double-barrelled questions should
be avoided.i.e. two questions in
one / asking two qustions rather
than one.

Types of questionnaire:
 There are three basic types of questionnaire,
they are classified according to the kind of
questions they include:
1. Closed-ended
2. Open- ended
3. Combination of both

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A
QUESTIONNAIRE
 1. Closed format questions ( closed-ended)
closed- ended questions include all possible answers/
prewritten response categories, and respondents are
asked to choose among them.
e.g. An example of a closed form questionnaire item follows:
If group tests are used in your school, by whom are they
administered?
(a) Administrators (b) Consellors,
(c) Psychologists, (d) Psychometricians,
(e) Teachers, and (f) Others

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A QUESTIONNAIRE
 2. Open format questions: (open-ended)
Open- ended questions allow respondents to answer in their
own words.
It doesn’t contain boxes to tick but instead it leaves a blank
for the respondent to write in an answer.
e.g. state your opinion about the quality of X
products and services
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A QUESTIONNAIRE
3. Combination of both: this way, it is possible
to find out how many people use a service and
what they think of the service in the same form.
Begin with a series of closed-ended questions,
with boxex to tick or scales to rank, and they
finish with a section of open-ended questions
or more detailed response.

Other types of questions :
 4. Dichotomous questions:
e.g. Do you like the products of X company?
yes no
 5. Importance questions:
e.g. Cost effective services are:
a. extremely important b. very important.
c. somewhat important d. not very important

 6. Likert questions:
e.g. X Corporation products have to improve
on quality.
1. agree
2. strongly agree
3. neither agree nor disagree (undecided)
4. disagree
5. strongly disagree

 7. Bipolar questions:
e.g. How would you describe the services of X
corporation?
efficient ---- -X--- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- inefficient
fast ---- ----- ---- ---X-- ---- ---- slow
reliable ---- ---- --X-- ---- ---- ---- unreliable

 8. rating scales:
e.g. How would you rate the services of
X corporation?
1. good 2. fair 3. poor 4. very poor

An example of an observation workshet

2. Interview
 2.1. What is an interview ?
a) A structured set of questions designed to
obtain information from a sample.
b) Oxford Dictionary definition : a meeting at
which a journalist / interviewer asks somebody
questions to find out his/her opinion ,etc ( often
shown on television or printed in newspaper ).

 2.2.Why is it important ?
It is very useful for getting the story
behind a participant's experience. The
interviewer can follow in-depth information
around a topic. Interviews usually follow up
certain respondents’ questionnaires to further
investigate their responses. Usually open-
ended questions are asked during interviews.

 2.3.Some Guidelines for Conducting
Interviews
Before starting to design the interview
questions and process, the researcher should
clearly articulate to himself what problem or
need is to be addressed using the information
to be gathered by the interviews. This helps
him to keep clear focus on the aim of each
question.

2.4. Preparation for Interview
1.Choose a setting with little distraction. Avoid loud
lights or noises, ensure the interviewee is comfortable.
(Often, interviewees may feel more comfortable at their
own places of work or homes.)
2. Explain the purpose of the interview.
3. Address terms of confidentiality. Note any terms of
confidentiality. Explain who will get access to their
answers and how they will be analyzed. If their
comments are to be used as quotes, get their written
permission to do so.
.

4. Explain the format of the interview. Explain the type of
interview you are conducting and its nature
5. Indicate how long the interview usually takes.
6.Tell them how to get in touch with you later if they
want to.
7. Ask them if they have any questions before you both
get started with the interview.
8. Don't count on your memory to recall their answers.
Ask for permission to record the interview or bring along
someone to take notes.

2.5. Types of Topics in Questions
 A specialist in the field called Patton notes six kinds of questions.
One can ask questions about:
a-Behaviours - about what a person has done or is doing
b. Opinions/values - about what a person thinks about a topic
c. Feelings - note that respondents sometimes respond with "I think ..."
so be careful to note that you're looking for feelings.
d. Knowledge - to get facts about a topic
e. Sensory - about what people have seen, touched, heard, tasted or
smelled
f. Background/demographics - standard background questions, such
as age, education, etc.

2.6. Wording of Questions
 Wording should be open-ended. Respondents should be able to
choose their own terms when answering questions.
 Questions should be as neutral as possible. Avoid wording that
might influence answers, e.g., evocative, judgmental wording.
 Questions should be asked one at a time.
 Questions should be worded clearly. This includes knowing any
terms particular to the program or the respondents' culture.
 Be careful asking "why" questions. This type of question infers a
cause-effect relationship that may not truly exist. These questions
may also cause respondents to feel defensive, e.g., that they have to
justify their response, which may inhibit their responses to this and
future questions.

2.7. Conducting Interviews
1.Occasionally verify the tape recorder (if used)
when working.
2.Ask one question at a time.
3.Attempt to remain as neutral as possible. That
is, don't show strong emotional reactions to their
responses. Patton suggests to act as if "you've
heard it all before."
4.Encourage responses with occasional nods of
the head, "uh huh"s, etc.

5.Be careful about the appearance when note taking.
That is, if you jump to take a note, it may appear as if
you're surprised or very pleased about an answer, which
may influence answers to future questions.
6.Provide transition between major topics, e.g., "we've
been talking about (some topic) and now I'd like to move
on to (another topic)."
7.Don't lose control of the interview. This can occur when
respondents talk about a different topic, take a long time
to answer and time is running out , or even begin asking
questions to the interviewer.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
 • What question is addressed by this research? Explain the relevant
past research and the ideas that led to this question.
 • What hypothesis was investigated in this study? Explain how it is
related to the research question you discussed in #1 above.
 • How was the study set up? Explain why it was set up this way.
 • What data were collected? Explain why the authors chose these
particular data to collect.
 • What were the results?
 • Explain how well the results do (or do not) support the hypothesis.
 • Explain any alternative explanations for the findings (your own ideas
and/or the authors’).
 • What further research does this study suggest (to you and/or the
author)? Explain why it should be conducted.

HOW TO READ A RESEARCH PAPER:
A FOUR- STEP GUIDE
 the four steps: Skimming, vocabulary,
comprehension, and analysis.
1. Skimming. Skim the paper quickly, noting
basics like headings, figures and the like.
2. Vocabulary. Go through the paper word by
word and line by line, underlining or
highlighting every word and phrase you
don't understand.

A FOUR- STEP GUIDE
 3. Comprehension, section by section. Try
to deal with all the words and phrases,
although a few technical terms in the
Methods section might remain. Now go back
and read the whole paper, section by
section, for comprehension.
Here are some qqs. that you might use to
help you better understand the article.

A FOUR- STEP GUIDE
 4. Analysis. After you understand the
article and can summarize it, then you can
return to broader questions and draw your
own conclusions.

ANALYSING RESEARCH PAPERS
 Here are some questions that may be useful in
analysing research papers:
 Introduction:
 • What is the overall purpose of the research?
 • How does the research fit into the context of its
field? Is it, for example, attempting to show the
effectiveness of a program? show the validity of a
new technique? open up a new field of inquiry?
 • Do you agree with the author's rationale for
studying the question with this particular
methodology?

(QQS.)
 Methods:
 • Were the measurements appropriate for the
questions the researcher was approaching?
 • How is the study controlled? are there control
groups? If so, are they exactly comparable to the
experimental groups?
 • Were the measures in this research clearly related
to the variables in which the researchers (or you)
were interested?
 • If human subjects were studied, did they
accurately represent the populations under study?

( QQS.)
 Results
 • What is the one major finding?
 • Were enough of the data presented so that you
feel you can judge for yourself how the experiment
turned out?
 • Did you see patterns or trends in the data that the
author did not mention? Were there problems in
data interpretation that were not addressed

(QQS.)
 Discussion
 • Do you agree with the conclusions drawn from the
data?
 • Are these conclusions over-generalized or
appropriately careful?
 • Are there alternative interpretations of the data?
 • What further experiments can you think of, to
continue the research or to answer remaining
questions ?

CONCEPTUALING A RESEARCH
DESIGN
 A research design is a procedural plan that
is adopted by the researcher to answer
questions validly, objectively, accurately and
economically

References (Bibliography):
How to cite the references
 You need to be aware that there are different conventions for
listing different types of sources, such as books, journals,
conference proceedings, and websites. The format for
referencing each of these sources is given below. In the
demonstrations below, the generic format for the specific type
of source is first given, followed by examples. Note that for
book referencing, the title of the book is italicized, whereas for a
journal it is the name of the journal that is in italics. Note below
that the convention is to insert a full stop (.) after the author’s
name and year (e.g. ‘Dreyfuss, H. L. (2001).’); however some
publishers omit this convention, preferring to implement their
own house style.

Rules to follow:
There are two rules to follow in the References section:
First, you should list only significant, published references.
References to unpublished data, abstracts, theses, and
other secondary materials should not clutter up the
References or Literature Cited section. If this reference
seems to be essntial, you may add it parenthetically or as
a foortnote in the etxt.
Second, make sure that all references cited in the text are
indeed listed in the bibliography and that all the
references listed under the bibiography are indeed cited
somewhere in the text.

Most journals cite references in one of the of the
three general ways that may be referred to as :
1. Author and Year Sytem: often referred to as the
Harvard system. It has been very popular for many
years and is used in many journals and books.
Inside the text, you state only the AUTHORr+ YEAR
either with a quotation or without. Full details of the
source are given in a reference list ( bibliography) at
the end of the text. This allows the writer to
acknowledge his/her sources without significantly
interrupting the flow of the writing.

 You should always include the page number when you include a
passage of direct quoatation from another writer’s work.
Eg. -The seminars……………………employees.(Lyon,1992)
-Kneeper and Cropley (1991:p.44) believe that………..
 When a publication has several authors (more than two), it is
advisable to give the surname of the first author followed by et al
( an abbreviation of the Latin for « and the others ».)
Eg: Cohen et al. (2000). Research Methods in Education. 5th
edition London: Routledge Falmer.
This is used only inside the paper. In the bibliography section, the
names of the authors should be all mentioned.

2. Alphabet-Number System: Citation by numbers is a
modification of the name and year system. Citation by numbers
keeps printing expenses within bounds particularly if it is a long
list.Some authors who have habitually used name and year tend
to dislike the alphabet-number system, claiming that citation of
numbers cheat the reader. The reader should be told, so the
argument goes, the name of the person associated with the
cited phenomenon; sometimes, the readershould also be told
the date, on the grounds that an 1897 reference might be
viewed differently than a 1997 reference.
Fortunately, these arguments can be overcome. As you cite
references in the text, decide whether names and dates are
imortant. I f they are not, use only the reference number:

Eg: "Peretyrosine is quantitatively converted to
phenylalanine under these conditions (13)." If
you want to feature the name of the author, do
it within the context of the sentence:
"The role of the carotid sinus in the regulation of
respiration was discovered by Heymans (13)."
If you want to feature th date, you can also do
that within the sentence: " Streptomycin was
first used in the treatment of tuberculosis in
1945 (13)."

 3. Citation Order System: It is simply a system of
citing the references (by numbers) in the order they
appear in the paper. This system avoids the substantial
printing expense of the name and year system, and
readers often like it because they can quickly refer to
the references if they so desire in one-two-three order
as they come to them in the text. It is a useful system
for a journal that is basically a " note " journal, each
paper contatining only a few references. For long
papers, with many references, citation order is probably
not a good system.

Examples of diffrerent reference styles:
 1.Author and Year Sytem:
 Day, R.A.1998. How to write and publish a
scientific paper. 5th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
 Hutch, E.J.1986. Guidelines on authorship of
medical papers. Ann. Interm. Med. 104: 269-
274.
 Sproul,J.,H.Klaaren, and F.Mannarino. 1993.
Surgical treatment of Freiberg’s infraction in
athletes. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:381-384.

 2. Alphabet-Number System:
1. Day, R.A.1998. How to write and publish a
scientific paper. 5th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
2. Hutch, E.J.1986. Guidelines on authorship of
medical papers. Ann. Interm. Med. 104: 269-274.
3. Sproul,J.,H.Kllaaren, and F.Mannarino. 1993.
Surgical treatment of Freiberg’s infraction in
athletes. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:381-384.

 3. Citation Order System:
1. Hutch EJ. Guidelines on authorship of medical
papers. Ann. Intern. Med.1986; 104: 269-274.
2. Sproul J, Kllaaren H, Mannarino F. Surgical
treatment of Freiberg’s infraction in athletes.
Am J Sports Med 1993. 21:381-4.
3. Day RA. How to write and publish a scientific
paper. 5th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1998.
Notice the differences between this sytem and the previous ones.

Book:
Following the Author and Date system
 Author’s surname, initials (year). Title of book,
Place of publication: Publisher.
Examples:
 Dreyfus, H.L. (2001). On the Internet, London:
Routledge.
 Davenport, T.H. and Prusak, L. (1998). Working
Knowledge, Boston: Harvard Business School
Press 4.
The title of the book should be formatted to distinguish it from other
details.

Journal
 Author’s surname, initials (year). ‘Title of article’, Name
of Journal, volume number (issue number): page(s).
Examples:
 Burns, E. (1994). ‘Information Assets, Technology
and Organisation’, Management Science, 40(12):
645–662.
 Tearle, P., Dillon, P. and Davies, N. (1999). ‘Use of
information technology by English university
teachers. Developments and trends at the time of
the National Inquiry into Higher Education’, Journal
of Further and Higher Education, 23(1): 5–15.

Newspaper
 Author’s surname, initials (year). ‘Title of article’,
Name of Newspaper,page(s).
 In other words, same format as for a journal citing,
but without the need to provide an issue number.
Example:
 Riddell, P. and Webster, P. (2006). ‘Support for
Labour at lowest level since 1992’, The Times, 9
May, p. 2.
 Where the author is not known:
The Indian Agra News (2007). ‘Carbon footprints and
economic globalisation’, 18th April, p. 4.

Website
 Author’s name, initials (year). ‘Title of article’ [online].
Available at: indicate website address. Last accessed: date.
Example:
 Brender, A. (2004). ‘Speakers Promote Distance
Education to Audiences in Asia’ [online]. Available at:
www.chronicle.com. Last accessed: 12th November 2004.
 For a website you might find that you have little information to write
down, or that the article you once read is no longer there. Do not
panic: the trick is to write down as much as you can. If there is no
author for the web article/source, then record the name of the
website instead, e.g. The eLearning Centre (2005). ‘eLearning is
taking giant steps!’ [online], etc.

Thesis
 Author’s name, initials (year). Title of thesis, Title of
award, Institution: Place.
Fictitious examples follow:
Aitken, R. (2008). Exploring the Role of Laughter in the
Workplace, PhD thesis, Inverclyde University: Glasgow.
 Or if it is an unpublished dissertation (e.g. an
undergraduate dissertation):
Anderson, T. (2008). Forecasting Economic Growth:
Lessons from Abroad, 3rd year Dissertation, BA
Economics, Inverclyde University: Glasgow.

Conference Proceedings
 Author’s surname, initials (year). ‘Title of article’,
Name of Conference Proceedings, Place conference
was held, page(s), include website address if taken
from a website and indicate date when last
accessed. Example:
 Conole, G., Oliver, M., Isroff, K. and Ravenscroft, A.
(2004). ‘Addressing Methodological Issues in e-
Learning Research’, in Proceedings of the
Networked Learning Conference 2004, Sheffield.
Available at:
www.sef.ac.uk/nlc/Proceedings/Symposa4.htm. Last
accessed: 2nd October 2004.

Lectures/Seminars
 Lecture’s name, initials, (year of lecture, seminar).
Title of lecture/seminar[Information about
lecture/seminar]. Date of lecture/seminar.
 Biggam, J. (2008). E-security in the Digital Age
[Lecture given to MSc E-Business students, Division
of Business Information Management, Inverclyde
University]. 3rd February.
 If the lecture/seminar material is available on a
virtual learning environment (e.g. Blackboard) then
you can append this information before the date
above (Available: website details).

 To record the example where Barlow, in her book written in
2007, cites a journal article written by MacFarlane in 2004,
and where you have also referred to MacFarlane in the body
of your text (as described earlier), then you can note this
information in your References section by first of all citing
MacFarlane’s journal article in the normal way, adding the
phrase ‘cited in’ (or ‘in’), then citing Barlow’s book in the
normal way, as follows:
MacFarlane, K. (2004). ‘Alternative Approach to Cognitive
Learning’, Organisational Learning, 10(2): 23–45, cited in
Barlow (2007). Learning Again, Milton Keynes: Open
University Press, p. 634

 Suppose that you have read a book titled Classic and Cavalier: Essays
on Jonson and the Sons of Ben and that is made up of chapters
written by different authors and that you want to reference one of the
chapters written by Martin Elsky. You reference the chapter first, then
indicate the general book details, as shown in the example below:
 Elsky, M. (1982). ‘Words, Things, and Names: Jonson’s Poetry and
Philosophical Grammar’, in Classic and Cavalier: Essays on Jonson
and the Sons of Ben, ed. by Summers, C. J. and Pebworth, T.-L.,
Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press, pp. 31–44.
 Remember, you can omit the ‘pp.’ if you wish, when indicating the
chapter’s page numbers.
 Citing sources is a laborious, mechanical process but it is a necessary
part of being viewed as a competent researcher. The upside is that
there are easy marks up for grabs.

Processing and Analysing data:
 1) Introduction
Processing and analyzing data involve a
number of closely related operations
which are performed with the purpose of
summarizing the collected data and
organizing these in a manner that they
answer the research questions
(objectives).

2) The Data Processing Operations
 1. Editing- a process of examining the collected
raw data to detect errors and omissions and to
correct these when possible.
 2. Coding: the process of translating information
gathered from questionnaires or other sources
into something that can be analyzed. It involves
assigning a value to the information given—often
value is given a label.

Coding can make data more consistent:
Example: Question = “Sex?”
Answers = Male, Female, M, or F, etc…
Coding will avoid such inconsistencies
 Example: variable EDUCATION, possible coding:
0 = Did not graduate from high school
1 = High school graduate
2 = Some college or post-high school education
3 = College graduate

3. Classification- a process of arranging data in
groups or classes on the basis of common
characteristics. Depending on the nature of
phenomenon involved.
a) Classification according to attributes: here data
is analysed on the basis of common characteristics
which can either be:
- descriptive such as literacy, sex, religion etc. or
- numerical such as weight, height, income etc.

E.g. Table 1. Hotel Employees with MBA Degree
YES NO TOTAL
MBA Degree 21 9 30

 b) Classification according to class –
intervals: is done with data relating to
income, age, weight, tariff, production,
occupancy etc. Such quantitative data
are known as the statistics of variables
and are classified on the basis of class –
intervals.

 E.g. persons whose income are within
DA 20001 to DA 40000 can form one
group or class, those with income within
D 40001 t0 DA 60000 can form another
group or class and so on. The number of
items which fall in a given class is known
as the frequency of the given class

Table 3. Saleries Received by Algerian Nurses
Income Range Frequency %
Ds.10001-20000 10 50
Ds.20001-30000 8 40
Ds.30001-40000 2 10
Total 20 100

 4. Tabulation- Tabulation is the process of
summarizing raw data and displaying the same
in compact form for further analysis. It is an
orderly arrangement of data in columns and
rows. Tabulation is essential because:
a) It conserves space and reduces explanatory and
descriptive statement to a minimum.
b) It facilitates the process of comparison.
c) It facilitates the summation of items and the detection of
errors and omissions.
d) It provides the basis for various statistical computations.

Analysisng data
 Data can be analysed either manually or
with the help of a computer .
 Manual Data Analysis: This can be done if
the number of respondents is reasonably
small. Manual data analysis is extremely
time consuming.

 Data Analysis Using a Computer: If you want to
analyse data using computer, you should be
familiar with the appropriate program. In this area,
knowledge of computer and statistics plays an
important role.The most common software is
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
for windows. However, data input can be long and
laborious process, and if data is entered
incorrectly, it will influence the final results.

 3) Hypothesis-testing: After analysing
the data as stated above, the researcher
is in a position to test the hypotheses. Do
the facts support the hypotheses or they
happen to be contrary? This is the usual
question which should be answered
while testing hypotheses.

4) Generalisations and interpretation: If
a hypothesis is tested and confirmed
several times, it may be possible for the
researcher to arrive at generalisation,
i.e., to build a theory. As a matter of
fact, the real value of research lies in its
ability to arrive at certain
generalisations.

 5) Preparation of the report or the thesis:
Writing the report is the last, and for many, the
most difficult step of the research process. The
report informs the world what you have done,
what you have discovered and what
conclusions you have drawn from your findings.
The report should be written in an academic
style. Language should be formal and not
journalistic.

A COURSE IN RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

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