Research methodology (459500) Lecture 1: language of research Instructor: Dr. Jihad Abdallah

1. Research methodology (459500)Lecture 1: language of researchInstructor: Dr. Jihad Abdallah

2. Introduction • Research involves a range of skills and activities. • To be a good researcher: • You have to be able to work well with a wide variety of people • Understand the specific methods used to conduct research • Understand the subject that you are studying • Be able to convince someone to give you the funds to study it • Stay on track and on schedule, speak and write persuasively

3. Steps of the Research Process • Definition of the problem: involves discussion with decision makers, interviews with experts, analysis of secondary data and some qualitative research such as focus groups. • Developing an approach to the problem: formulating an objective or theoretical framework, analytical models, research questions and hypotheses, and identifying the information needed.

4. 3.Formulation of a research design (the framework for conducting the research project): it details the procedures necessary for obtaining the required information for decision making and its purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses and determine answers to the research questions. 4.Data collection 5.Data preparation and analysis: includes editing, coding, verification and analysis using specialized software. 6.Report preparation and presentation.

5. Language of Research

6. Five Big Words • Theoretical:meaning that it is concerned with developing, exploring or testing the theories or ideas that social researchers have about how the world operates. • Empirical: is based on observations and measurements of reality

7. Nomothetic • Refers to laws or rules that pertain to the general case. • Contrasted with the term "idiographic" which refers to laws or rules that relate to individuals. • Most social research is concerned with the nomothetic -- the general case -- rather than the individual. • We often study individuals, but usually we are interested in generalizing to more than just the individual.

8. Probabilistic • Certainty is not attainable. Thus, social research is probabilistic, or based on probabilities. • The inferences that we make in social research have probabilities associated with them • They are seldom meant to be considered covering laws that pertain to all cases. • Part of the reason we have seen statistics become so dominant in social research is that it allows us to estimate probabilities for the situations we study

9. Primary Data versus Secondary Data • Primary data: are originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem at hand. • Secondary data: are the data that have already been collected for purposes other than the research problem at hand. • Compared to primary data, secondary data are collected rapidly and easily, at relatively low cost and in a short time.

10. Primary data may be qualitative or quantitative in nature. • Qualitative research: an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples that provides insights and understanding of the problem setting. • Quantitative research: a research methodology that seeks to quantify the data and, typically, applies some form of statistical analysis.

11. Classification of Secondary Data • Internal secondary data: are those generated within the organization for which the research is being conducted. • External secondary data: are those generated by sources outside the organization for which the research is being conducted.

12. Uses of Secondary Data • Identify the problem or better define the problem • Develop an approach to the problem • Formulate an appropriate research design (for example, by identifying the key variables) • Answer certain research questions • Interpret primary data more insightfully

13. The quality of secondary data should be routinely evaluated particularly for: - The methodology used to collect the data - Accuracy of the data

14. Types of Research A- Exploratory Research B- Conclusive Research 1. Descriptive:- Cross sectional - Single cross-sectional - Multiple cross-sectional - Longitudinal 2. Relational 3. Causal • Probably the vast majority of applied social research consists of these descriptive and relational studies.

15. Exploratory Research • A type of research conducted to explore or search through a problem or situation to provide insights and understanding. Usually based on small samples. • Purposes of exploratory research (Malhotra, 2006): • Formulate a problem or define it more precisely • Identify alternative courses of action • Develop hypotheses • Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination. • Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem • Establish priorities for further research.

16. Methods employed in exploratory research: • Surveys of experts • Pilot surveys • Qualitative research • Secondary data analyzed in a qualitative way

17. Conclusive Research • Research designed to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating, and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation (Malhotra, 2006). • It is typically more formal and structured than exploratory research. • It is based on large, representative samples and the collected data are subjected to quantitative analysis. • Used to test specific hypotheses and examine relationships.

18. Methods employed in conclusive research: • Surveys • Experiments • Panels • Secondary data analyzed quantitatively • Observational data.

19. 1. Descriptive Research • When a study is designed primarily to describe what is going on or what exists: • Describe characteristics of relevant groups (consumers, salespeople, etc) • Public opinion polls that seek only to describe the proportion of people who hold various opinions are primarily descriptive in nature. • Determine the perception of product characteristics • Make specific predictions (for example, retail sales)

20. 2. Relational Research • When a study is designed to look at the relationships between two or more variables. • A public opinion poll that compares what proportion of males and females say they would vote for a Democratic or a Republican candidate in the next presidential election is essentially studying the relationship between gender and voting preference. • Study of the relation of shopping to eating out.

21. 3. Causal Research • When a study is designed to determine whether one or more variables (e.g., a program or treatment variable) causes or affects one or more outcome variables (cause-effect relationships). • Examples: • study the effect of an advertising campaign on product sales. • Study the effect of presence and helpfulness of salespeople on sales of housewares. • Causal studies are probably the most demanding of all (the main method for causal research is experimentation).

22. Cross-sectional Studies • Is one that takes place at a single point in time. In effect, we are taking a 'slice' or cross-section of whatever it is we're observing or measuring. Information on the same sample (or samples) is obtained only once - single cross-sectional: one sample of respondents is drawn from the target population and information is obtained from this sample only once. - multiple cross-sectional: there are two or more samples of respondents and information from each sample is obtained only once.

23. Cohort analysis: a multiple cross-sectional design which consists of a series of surveys conducted at appropriate time intervals. • A cohort refers to a group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval. For example, a birth or age cohort is a group of people who were born in the same time interval: - Cohort 1: people born before 1950 - Cohort 2: people born from 1901 to 1910 • The term cohort analysis refers to any study in which there are measures of some characteristics of one or more cohorts at two or more points of time. • It is unlikely that any of the individuals studied at time one will also be in the sample at time two.

24. Longitudinal Studies • A longitudinal studyis one that involves a fixed sample from the population that is repeatedly measured over time for the same variables (the sample remains the same over time). The main objective is to observe the changes that occur over time. • A longitudinal design differs from a cross-sectional in that the sample or samples remain the same over time (the same people are studied over time and the same variables are measured). • A major advantage of longitudinal over cross-sectional studies is the ability to detect change as a result of repeated measurement of the same variables on the same sample.

25. Sometimes the term panel is used interchangeably with the term longitudinal design. • A panel consists of a sample of respondents that have agreed to provide information at specified intervals over an extended period.

26. Two types of longitudinal designs: Repeated measures and time series. There is no universal rule for distinguishing these two terms, but in general: • A repeated measures design: two or a few waves of measurement. - Time series design: many waves of measurement over time (usually at least twenty waves of measurement, and often far more).

27. Variables • A variable is any entity that can take on different values. • An attribute is a specific value on a variable • Gender has two attributes: male and female. • the variable agreement might be defined as having five attributes: 1 = strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = neutral 4 = agree 5 = strongly agree • The attributes of a variable should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive.

28. Types of variables • Qualitative: described in words (color, gender, etc) • Quantitative: described in numbers (age, salary, etc) • Quantitative variables are divided into two types: Discrete: whole numbers, countable (number of employees) Continuous: can take fractional values; can take any value within a certain interval)

29. Unit of Analysis • One of the most important ideas in a research project is the unit of analysis. • The unit of analysis is the major entity that you are analyzing in your study. Examples: - individuals - groups - artifacts (books, photos, newspapers) - geographical units (town, state) - social interactions (divorces, arrests) • For different analyses in the same study you may have different units of analysis.

30. Two research fallacies • A fallacy is an error in reasoning, usually based on mistaken assumptions. • The ecological fallacy: occurs when you make conclusions about individuals based only on analyses of group data. • An exception fallacy: the reverse of the ecological fallacy. It occurs when you reach a group conclusion on the basis of exceptional (individual) cases.

31. Ethical Issues • The principle of voluntary participation requires that people not be forced into participating in research. • informed consent. Essentially, this means that prospective research participants must be fully informed about the procedures and risks involved in research and must give their consent to participate. • Ethical standards also require that researchers not put participants in a situation where they might be at risk of harm (both physical and psychological) as a result of their participation.

32. There needs to be a procedure that assures that researchers will consider all relevant ethical issues in formulating research plans. • To address such needs most institutions and organizations (in USA) have formulated an Institutional Review Board (IRB). • IRB is a panel of persons who reviews grant proposals with respect to ethical implications and decides whether additional actions need to be taken to assure the safety and rights of participants.

33. There are two standards that are applied in order to help protect the privacy of research participants: • Confidentiality -- participants are assured that identifying information will not be made available to anyone who is not directly involved in the study. • Anonymitywhich essentially means that the participant will remain anonymous throughout the study -- even to the researchers themselves. • The anonymity standard is a stronger guarantee of privacy, but it is sometimes difficult to accomplish, especially in situations where participants have to be measured at multiple time points (e.g., a pre-post study).