Writing a Research - Part 1

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Writing a Research
Dr. Ahmed M. Al-Baidhani
1

Outline
 Part I – Select a Topic:
- The steps followed by a researcher before developing
a scholarly research
 Part II – Writing a Research Proposal:
- The various chapters (usually Chap 1, 2, & 3) and
sections used to develop a research proposal for a
thesis or dissertation
 Part III: - Writing the Results:
- The various chapters (usually Chap 4 & 5) and
sections used to write the results/discussion and
conclusion.
2

Part I: Primary Consideration
• 1. The Selection of a Research Approach
• 2. Review of the Literature
• 3. The Use of Theory
• 4. Writing Strategies
3

1. The Selection of a Research Approach
4

5
How Do We Understand the Social World
and Social Life?
 Quantitative methods
 Trends, graphs,
statistics
 Cause-and-effect
(factors that influence)
 Comparison of groups
 Frames study using
theory
 Qualitative methods
 Individual stories
 Different perspectives
 Complexity of situation
 Builds up to a theory

The Story of Mixed Methods Research
 How mixed methods
 began and initially developed
 has become defined
 grew in philosophical ways
 developed technically
 became a “movement”
 has come under criticism
 continues to evolve as a methodology
6

Basics of quantitative research
 Researcher makes decisions before study (variables, hypotheses,
instruments)
 Researcher reduced the inquiry to a small number of variables to
study and a large number of people
 Researcher asks specific closed-ended questions
 Researcher analyzes numbers
 Researcher places importance on reliability, validity, generalizability,
replicability, control, and lack of bias
 Researcher writes the report using a standard structure
7

Basics of qualitative research
 Researcher makes decisions based on views of participants
 Researcher opens the inquiry up to understand the complexity of the
situation
 Researcher asks open-ended questions – single phenomenon
 Researcher analyzes words and images
 Researcher places emphasis on individual meaning, context, and
self-reflexivity
 Researcher writes the report using a flexible, literary structure
8

9
Reasons for “mixing”
 The insufficient argument – either quantitative or qualitative may be
insufficient by itself
 Multiple angles argument – quantitative and qualitative approaches provide
different “pictures”
 The more-evidence-the-better argument – combined quantitative and
qualitative provides more evidence
 Community of practice argument – mixed methods may be the preferred
approach within a scholarly community
 Eager-to-learn argument – it is the latest methodology
 “Its intuitive” argument – it mirrors “real life”

2. Review of the Literature
10

 Define what a literature review is and why it is
important
 Identify the five steps in conducting a
literature review
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What Is a Literature Review?
 A written summary of the literature
 Describes past and current information and research
 Organized into topics
 Reports the literature based on themes or individual
studies
 Documents a need for your proposed study
12

Literature Review in a Quantitative
Study
 Documents the importance of the research problem at
the beginning of the study
 Supports the theory or explanation used in the study
 Foreshadows the research questions
 Provides an explanation for the results in other studies
and in the theoretical prediction at the end of the study
13

Literature Review in a Qualitative
Study
 Documents the importance of the research problem at the
beginning of the study
 Does not foreshadow the research questions (which are
broad in scope to encourage participants to provide their
own views)
 Is used to compare and contrast with other studies at the
end of the study
14

The Process of Conducting
a Literature Review
 Identify key terms
 Locate literature
 Critically evaluate and select the literature
 Organize the literature
 Write a review (See Part II)
15

Identifying Key Terms
 Write a preliminary “working title” for the project and
select two or three key words that capture the essence
of the project
 Pose a short general research question that you would
like to answer in the study
 Look in catalogues of terms to find words that match
your topic
 Scan the contents in your library stacks and the table of
contents of educational journals 16

Priority/Value of Sources
in the Literature
 Summaries
 Journals, books, indexes, databases
 Early stage literature (e.g., papers posted on Web sites,
conference papers)
17

Examples of Databases Used
in Educational Research
 ERIC
 PsycINFO
 Sociofile
 Social Science Citation Index
 EBSCO
 Dissertation Abstracts
 Datastream
 Bankscope
18

Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature
 Is it a good, accurate source?
 National/International journal?
 Reviewed source?
 Research study?
19

Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature
 Is the source worthy of inclusion?
 Topic relevance: Is the literature on the same topic as
your proposed study?
 Individual and site relevance: Does the literature
examine the same individuals and sites you want to
study?
 Problem relevance: Does the literature examine the
same research problem as you propose in your study?
 Accessibility relevance: Is the literature available in
your library or can it be downloaded from a Web site? 20

Organize the Literature:
Abstracting Studies
 Contents of abstracts vary for research studies and
essays.
 The structure is essentially the same for quantitative and
qualitative research studies:
 Research problem
 Research questions/hypotheses
 Data collection procedures
 Results/findings
21

Developing a Literature Review Matrix
 From the research papers to be reviewed, prepare an Excel
Spreadsheet of 10 columns revealing the following:
 1. Authors Ref.: showing the name of authors, year, title, and journal
 2. Research Objectives: showing goals of the article
 3. Research Questions: showing the paper’s research questions
 4. Analysis Method: Regression, Econometrics, etc.
 5. Dataset and Sample Size: showing sample, population, period
covered, etc.
 6. Variables: showing factors involved
 7. Theory applied: Agency, Stewardship, Stockholder, Stakeholder, etc.
 8. Significant Results/Findings: Impact of so & so variables on others
 9. Importance: marking the paper Important, Very Important, Not
Important, etc.
 10. For Use in: in which chapter most likely you will use such paper 22

Developing a Literature Review Matrix
 From the research papers to be reviewed, prepare an Excel
Spreadsheet of 10 columns revealing the following:
 Example:
23
Authors Ref.
Research
Objectives
Research
Questions
Analysis Method
Dataset and
Sample Size
Variables Theory Applied Significant Results Importance For Use in
Prencipe & Bar-Yosef
(2011). CG & Earnings
Management in Family-
Controlled Companies
To shed light on the
earnings
management issue in
family-controlled
companies characterized
by potentially lower board
independence and a higher
risk of collusion.
What's the relationship
between Corporate
Govenance & Earnnings
Mgmt in Family-
Controlled Companies?
Regression analysis A sample composed of
nonfinancial companies
listed on the Milan Stock
Exchange (MSE) was
selected covering the years
2003 and 2004. The
sample was selected over a
period preceding the
adoption of IFRS to avoid
complexities related to the
transition to IFRS and
implications of its
adoption. Given the
relatively small size of the
Italian stock market, the
number of nonfinancial
companies listed on the
MSE was 137 and 140 in
2003 and 2004,
respectively.
Family-controlled, No
duality, Audit,
Institutional, firm size,
Board size, Leverage,
ROA, etc.
Agency Theory Impact of board
independence on earnings
management is indeed
weaker in familycontrolled
companies. The same
result also holds for the
lack of CEO– board
chairman duality function.
Such effects become
stronger in cases in which
the CEO is a member of
the controlling family.
Important Chap 2 & 3

3. The Use of Theory
24

Chapter Outline
 Quantitative Theory Use
 Variables in Quantitative Research
 Definition of a Theory
 Forms of Theories
 Placement of Quantitative Theories
 Writing a Quantitative Theoretical Perspective
 Qualitative Theory Use
 Variation in Theory Use in Qualitative Research
 Locating the Theory in Qualitative Research
 Mixed Methods Theory Use
25

Variables in Quantitative Research
 Independent
 Variables that probably cause outcomes
 Dependent
 The outcomes that depend on the independent variables
 Intervening or mediating
 Variables that stand between the independent and dependent variables “Just
Bridges”
 Moderating
 New variables that measure the joint impact of two variables “Make Differences”
 Control
 Independent variables that are measured and statistically "controlled“
 Confounding
 Variables that could also affect the dependent variables, but cannot or will not be
measured 26

Forms of Theories
 Theory
 Interrelated set of constructs formed into propositions
that specify the relationships among variables
 Describes how and why variables are related
 Forms include
 Set of hypotheses
 Series of if-then statements
 Visual model
27

The Deductive Approach Used in
Quantitative Research
28
Researcher measures or observes variables
using an instrument to obtain scores
Researcher defines and operationalizes
variables derived from the theory
Researcher tests hypotheses or research
questions from the theory
Researcher tests or verifies a theory

Placing Theory in a Quantitative Study
Placement Advantages Disadvantages
In the introduction Common approach; familiar to
readers; conveys a deductive
approach
Difficult for a reader to isolate
theory base from other
components of the research
process
In the literature
review
Including theories in a literature
review is a logical extension or
part of the literature
Difficult for a reader to see the
theory in isolation from the larger
literature
After hypotheses or
research questions
The theory discussion explains
how and why variables are
related
May leave out an extended
discussion about the origin and
use of the theory
In a separate
section
Clearly separates the theory
from other components of the
research process, enables a
reader to better identify and to
understand the theory base
The theory discussion is isolated
and may not easily connect with
other components of the
research process
29

Theory Use in Qualitative Research
 Theory may be used as:
 A broad explanation
 A theoretical lens or perspective
 Feminist perspective
 Racialzed discourse
 Critical theory
 Queer theory
 Disability inquiry
 An endpoint, a theory that is generated
 Researcher may also choose not to employ theory in a
qualitative study
30

The Inductive Logic of Research in a
Qualitative Study
31
Researcher asks open-ended questions of participants
or records fieldnotes
Researcher analyzes data to form themes or
categories
Researcher looks for broad patterns, generalizations,
or theories from themes or categories
Researcher poses generalizations, or theories, and
compares to past experiences and literature
Researcher gathers information

4. Writing Strategies
32

Writing the Proposal
 What does the intended reader/audience need to understand
better about the topic?
 What does the audience know little about the topic?
 What is the purpose of the study?
 What /Who is being studied?
 What is the setting/environment where the study is occurring?
 What method is to be used? 33

Writing the Proposal
 How will data be collected and analyzed?
 How will the results be validated?
 What ethical issues arise from the study?
 What does the preliminary results about the practicality
and value of the study to be conducted?
34

Format of Qualitative Constructivist /
Interpretivist Research
 Introduction
 Procedures
 State the assumptions in qualitative research
 Provide the qualitative research strategy
 Outline the role of the researcher
 Detail the data collection procedures
 Explain the strategies for validating the findings
 Present the proposed narrative structure of the study
35

Format of Qualitative Constructivist /
Interpretivist Research
 Anticipated Ethical Issues
 Preliminary Findings
 Expected Outcomes
 Appendixes
36

Format of Advocacy / Participatory
Research
 Introduction
 Procedures
 State the assumptions in qualitative research
 Provide the qualitative research strategy
 Outline the role of the researcher
 Detail the data collection & recording procedures
 Describe the data analysis procedure and explain the
strategies for validating the findings
 Present the proposed narrative structure of the study
37

Format of Advocacy / Participatory
Research
 Anticipated Ethical Issues
 Significance of the Study
 Preliminary Findings (if available)
 Expected Advocacy / Participatory Changes
 Appendixes
38

Qualitative Proposals
Introduction
 State the problem
 Include existing literature about problem
 Explain the significance of the study
 State the purpose of the study
 Present the research question
39

Qualitative Proposals
Appendixes
 Interview Questions
 Observations
 Observation Documents
40

Quantitative Proposals
Introduction
 State the problem
 Include issue and/or significance of issue
 State the purpose of the study
 Define the theoretical perspective
 Present the research question or hypothesis
 Review the literature 41

Format of Quantitative Research
 Provide the Methods Used
 State the Significance of the Study
 Present the Preliminary Findings (if available)
 Describe Anticipated Ethical Issues
 Outline the Preliminary Study or Pilot
 Appendixes 42

Quantitative Research Method
 Method of Research
 Research Design
 Population, Sample and Participants
 Data Collection – Variables, Instruments & Materials
 Analysis Procedures
43

Writing a Research - Part 1

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