Research Methodology Lecture Note Portion 1.ppt

Research Methods and Techniques
Module Code: CUDE6023
Dr. Goitom Abraha
College of Urban Development
and Engineering, ECSU
2023

By the End of the Module Participants will be able to:
 Understand the basics of research;
 Design smart research proposal. Undertake research on urban
development & management issues independently and in a team;
 Write and present the findings of the research in an attractive
and understandable manner to the audience;
 Conduct a critical or analytical review of relevant literature
pertaining to their proposed research projects
 Evaluate the methodology of other research reports
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I. Module Outline

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Portion 1 Introduction and Types of Research
Portion 2 Data Collecting and Measuring
Portion 3 Sample, Sampling Design and Sampling Distribution
Portion 4 Variables & Scale of Measurements
Portion 5 Research Proposal Development
Portion 6 Research Ethics
Portion 9 Quantitative Data Analysis (Descriptive Statistics)
Portion 11-14 Practical Sessions on the Application of SPSS
Portions Topic to be Covered
I. Module Outline … Cont’d
Portion 7 Referencing Styles
Portion 8 Qualitative Research methods and Approaches to Data Analysis
Portion 10 Quantitative Data Analysis (Inferential Statistics)

Test 20%
Individual Assignment (Research Proposal Development ) 20%
Group Assignment (SPSS Practical Application) 20%
Final Examination 40%
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II. Assessment

Score
Corresponding Fixed Number
Grades
Corresponding Letter
Grade
[95,100] 4.00 A+
[90, 95) 4.00 A
[85, 90) 3.75 A-
[80, 85) 3.50 B+
[75, 80) 3.00 B
[70, 75) 2.75 B-
[58, 70) 2.50 C+
[50, 58) 2.00 C
[40, 50) 1.00 D
< 40 0.00 F
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IV. Grading
System
V. Some References
See from the Course Outline given to you

 Attendance is mandatory
 Expectation for Classroom Behavior
 Contribute in class discussion
 Meet assignment deadlines
 Discipline
 Punctuality
 Cell phones must be switched off
 Late submission is not acceptable
 Missing Exam and Tests (medical case & emergency only)
 Need to be supplemented by relevant documents
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III. Module Policy

Contents of the Session:
 Meaning of Research
 Objectives of Research
 Motivation in Research
 Significance of Research
 Characteristics of Research
 Research Paradigms
 The Research Process
 Units of Analysis
 Types of Research
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1. Introduction to Research

1. Introduction to Research
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Recognize concepts and essence of research
Appreciate the objectives of research
 Identify characteristics of research
 Compare the research paradigms
Familiarize with the research process
Identify types of research based on different bases
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A systematic method consisting of expressing the problem,
collecting the facts or data, analyzing the facts and reaching
certain conclusions either in the form of solution(s) towards
the concerned problem or in certain generalizations for some
theoretical formulation.
Movement from the known to the unknown.
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1.1 Meaning or Definition of Research

To move beyond guesswork and to test commonsense.
To know what really is going on and for accurate answers.
To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights
into it.
To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation or a group.
To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else.
To test a hypothesis (theory) of a causal relationship between
variables
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1.2 Objectives of Research

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What makes people to undertake research? The possible motives for
doing research may be either one or more of the following:
 To get a research degree along with its consequential benefits;
 To face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems.
 To get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;
 To be of service to society;
 To get respectability.
1.3 Motivation in Research

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 “All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than
overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to
invention”
 Increased amounts of research make progress possible.
 Research promotes the development of logical habits of thinking &
organization.
 Research, as an aid to economic policy, has gained added importance,
both for government and business.
 Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in
our economic system.
 Through research we can devise alternative policies and can as well
examine the consequences of each of these alternatives.
1.4 Significance of Research

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1. Controlled:- In real life there are many factors that affect an
outcome. The effects of other factors affecting the relationship
should be minimized.
2. Rigorous:- the procedures followed to find answers to questions
are relevant, appropriate and justified.
3. Systematic:- 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.
1.5 Characteristics of Research

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4. Valid and verifiable:- conclusion on the basis of findings is correct
and can be verified by you and others.
5. Empirical:- Any conclusions drawn are based upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real-life experiences or
observations.
6. Critical:- The process of investigation must be foolproof (never
failing) and free from drawbacks.
1.5 Characteristics of Research ... Cont’d

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1.6 Research Paradigms (Pattern or Model)
There are two main paradigms that form the basis of research
in the social sciences.
 Positivist approach and
 Naturalistic approach

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 Positivism in social research is associated with questionnaires,
social surveys and experimental design.
 They thus end up producing quite different kinds of data; the
one `hard', numerate and statistical, the other `soft', rich and
taking the form of extracts of natural language.
 There is a `real world' out there independent of people's
perceptions of it: the social world is revealed to us, not
constructed by us.
I Positivism

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 Naturalism favors ethnography, unstructured interviews & other
qualitative techniques.
 Constructionists believe that people make their own reality and that
there are no universal laws external to human interaction waiting to
be discovered.
 Thus there is no sharp distinction between sociological knowledge
and social reality.
 The origins of social constructionism are deeply rooted in the history
of the social science disciplines.
II Naturalism

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Positivist Naturalist
The purpose of research is to
discover the truth.
Realities are multiple, constructed, and
holistic. The purpose is to understand meaning
from the perspectives of the participants.
Knower and known (or observer
and observed) must remain
separate to limit observer bias.
Knower and known are interactive,
inseparatable.
Emphasis on control of
extraneous variables.
Control of extraneous variables is rejected,
instead, they must be described and their
possible influence accounted.
Research participant are
“objectified”-frequently referred
to as research subjects.
Participants are often asked for their taken on
the interpretation of the results.
Data is often quantified, even if
it is descriptive.
Data is often non-numeric. The focus is on
rich description of the event(s) and context.
Focus on generalization of
research findings
Focus on unique aspects of the context,
generalization is downplayed.
Comparing positivist/objectivist) and naturalist/interpretivist)
approaches to research

Two aspects of a single process (are inseparable) by which human
knowledge is produced and continuously upgraded.
Theory is a set of systematically/logically interrelated propositions
that attempts to describe, explain, and predict events.
Theory guides research and research contributes in theory
generation, verification and refutation (proving).
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1.5 Theory and Research

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1.6 The Research Process
1. Problem Identification
8. Reporting the Finding 2. Literature Review
3. Making the Research
Problem Precise
4. Designing the Research &
Clearly Define Terms and
Concepts
5. Define the Population
And Collecting Data
6. Analyzing the Data
7. Interpreting the Results

Research problem is factual ignorance .
Research problem is not equal to social problem .
Research problems may
 Come up as part of on-going work; one research project may
easily lead to another,
 Be suggested by reading the work of other researchers
 Arise out of a certain awareness of specific trends
 Can have three sources:
1) Own experience,
2) Scientific literature, and
3) Theories.
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I. Problem/Topic Identification

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Research topic is influenced by:
o Interest of the researcher
o Current debate in the academic world
o Funding
o Power of research subjects
I. Problem/Topic Identification … Cont’d

 Literature is reviewed in order to:
 Check if the problem is addressed by previous researches
 Insight how previous researches addressed similar issue
 What they left unanalyzed
 Identify theoretical and conceptual framework
 Refine the research problem
Use publications < 10 years old unless it is timeless theoretical
publications
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II. Literature Review

Identification of the general and specific objectives of the research;
Five W’s that help to refine the research:
 What is your research?
 Why do you want to do the research?
 Who will be your participant?
 Where are you going to conduct your research?
 When are you going to conduct your research?
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III. Refining the Research Problem

Decide which research design and method to use based on the
objective of the study on the basis of :-
• Reliability
• Validity
• Representativeness
Customizing to the particular needs and research condition.
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IV Working out the Research Design

Unforeseen practical difficulties may crop up
Example.
 It might be difficult to contact respondents,
 The municipality might not cooperate with you
 Don’t frustrate, but be creative
Example.
 If you fail to interview the mayor look for the letters, minutes,
interviews he gave, etc.
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V. Data Collection

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 The process of bringing raw data into order.
 The process of conceptualizing i.e. reducing the bulky raw data
into workable, ordered bits of information.
 Raw data will be summarized into:
 Numeric (quantitative) description or
 Non-numeric (qualitative) description
Examples include
 30% of the land is privately owned (statistical)
 According to the research, holding the land market information by
the brokers is one of the reasons for land speculation (qualitative)
VI. Analyzing Data

 The researchers troubles are not yet over
 Relate the findings of the study with the research objectives
 E.g. Suppose the purpose of the research is to identify loopholes in
urban land management. After thorough analysis of the land
management the study should have to list those loopholes.
 Many studies fail to address their objectives
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VII. Interpreting the Results

 Final stage in terms of an individual research
 However, it can be the beginning of a new research
 Publish in book, journal article or thesis
 Oral presentation
 Not all researches neatly follow all steps
 Some experienced researchers might combine different stages or
reverse the order.
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VIII. Reporting the Research Findings

 Are the units of observations
 Are those things under examination in order to create summary
descriptions of all such units and to explain differences among
them
 One research can have multiple units of Analysis
Example: If a research describes the housing condition, mean
household income, the unemployment rate, then the units of analysis
are houses, families and individual residents.
1.7 Units of Analysis

Common Units of Analysis in Social Research
A. Individuals: human beings in terms of their membership in social
groupings like income of the family, Education level, …
B. Groups: small gangs, different segments of society, families, …
C. Organizations: Church, colleges, army divisions, academic
departments, supper markets, …
D. Social interactions: Telephone calls, kisses, dancing, arguments, e-
mail exchanges, chat room discussions, friendship choices, court
cases, divorces, traffic accidents, …
E. Social Artifacts: books, poems, paintings, automobiles, buildings,
songs, pottery, …

Types of research can be looked at from three different perspectives:
A. Applications of the findings of the research study;
B. Objectives of the study;
C. Mode of enquiry used in conducting the study.
1.8 Types of Research

Two broad categories from the perspective of its application:
I. Pure Research
II. Applied Research.
A. Types of Research: Application Perspective

 Involves developing and testing theories and hypotheses that are
intellectually challenging to the researcher but may not have
practical
application at the present time or in the future.
 Concerned with the development, examination, verification and
refinement of research methods, procedures, techniques and
tools
that form the body of research methodology.
I. Pure/Basic/Fundamental Research

I. Pure/Basic/Fundamental Research … Cont’d
 May later result in further result of an applied nature
 It may have implications for social policy,
 Mainly concerned with generalizations and with the formulation
of a theory.

II. Applied Research
 For direct application of its findings;
 Improving a product of a process-testing theoretical concepts in
actual problem situations
 Intensive in nature
 To do something better or in an efficient manner;
 Information gathered can be used to guide policy formulation,
program, project or action; and for the enhancement of
understanding of a phenomenon.
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Example:
 To guide practical urban problem solving & management exercise:
 Solid waste management in the CBD of Addis Ababa.
 Improving drainage infrastructure problem in Hawassa City.
II. Applied Research … Cont’d

B. Types of Research: Objectives Perspective
 From the perspective of its objectives, broadly a research endeavor
can be classified as
I. Descriptive
II. Correlational
III. Explanatory
IV. Exploratory.

 A research study classified as a descriptive study attempts to
describe systematically a situation, problem, phenomenon,
service or program, or provides information about, say, the living
conditions of a community, or describes attitudes towards an issue.
I. Descriptive

 For example to describe
 Types of service provided by an organization
 Administrative structure of an organization
 Living conditions of aboriginal people in the outback
 Needs of a community
 What it means to go through a divorce
 How a child feels living in a house with domestic violence
 The attitudes of employees towards management.
 The main purpose of such studies is to describe what is prevalent
with respect to the issue/problem under study.
I. Descriptive … Cont’d

II. Correlational Study
 The main emphasis in a correlational study is to discover or establish
the existence of a relationship/association/interdependence between
two or more aspects of a situation.

Example
 What is the impact of an advertising campaign on the sale of
a product?
 What is the relationship between stressful living and the incidence
of heart attack?
 What is the relationship between technology and unemployment?
 What is the effect of a health service on the control of a disease,
or the home environment on educational achievement?
II. Correlational Study … Cont’d

 Explanatory research attempts to clarify why and how there is a
relationship between two aspects of a situation or phenomenon.
Example
 Why stressful living results in heart attacks;
 How the home environment affects children’s level of academic
achievement.
III. Explanatory Research

IV. Exploratory Research
 This is when a study is undertaken with the objective either to
explore an area where little or none 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.
Example
 How to increase flavors of spaghetti?
 A new way to managing informal activities

 This is typology of research based on the process the researcher
adopts to find answers to research questions. Broadly, there are two
approaches to enquiry:
1. Structured/Quantitative Approach;
2. Unstructured /Qualitative Approach
C. Types of Research: Mode of Enquiry Perspective

 Everything that forms the research process (objectives, design,
sample, and the questions that you plan to ask of respondents) is
predetermined
 More appropriate to determine the extent of a problem, issue or
phenomenon
I. Structured Approach

 Allows flexibility in all these aspects of the process
 Predominantly used to explore its nature, in other words,
variation/
diversity per se in a phenomenon, issue, problem or attitude
towards an issue
II. Unstructured Approach

 Both approaches have their place in research.
 Both have their strengths and weaknesses.
 Neither one is markedly superior to the other in all respects
 One should not ‘lock’ him/her self solely into a structured or
unstructured approach.
 In many studies you need to combine both qualitative & quantitative
approaches.
Structured or Unstructured?

 For example, suppose you want to find out the types of service
available to victims of domestic violence in a city and the extent of
their utilization.
 Types of service are the qualitative aspect of the study as finding
out
about them entails description of the services.
 The extent of utilization of the services is the quantitative aspect as
it involves estimating the number of people who use the services
& calculating other indicators that reflect the extent of utilization.
Structured or Unstructured? … Cont’d

Research Methodology Lecture Note Portion 1.ppt

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Research Methodology Lecture Note Portion 1.ppt