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Planning A Research Study

Planning A Research Study. Neuman and Robson Ch. 4 and 5: Reviewing the Scholarly Literature and Planning a Study. Choosing a Research Problem. Where do problems come from? Practical problems in the field The literature in the field Personal interest. Example of a Problem:.

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Planning A Research Study

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  1. Planning A Research Study Neuman and Robson Ch. 4 and 5: Reviewing the Scholarly Literature and Planning a Study

  2. Choosing a Research Problem • Where do problems come from? • Practical problems in the field • The literature in the field • Personal interest

  3. Example of a Problem: • The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of body image and PPF (perceived physical fitness) for different exercise settings

  4. Feasibility of Study • Feasibility is contingent on many factors: • Length of time to do the study • Ethical constraints • Cooperation of others • Cost of conducting the research • Researcher’s own skills

  5. Reviewing the Literature • Recommended Sources: • Journal articles • Books • Conference proceedings • Government / corporate reports • Library Databases • Other Sources (not recommended) • Newspapers and Magazines • Internet

  6. The Annotated Bibliography • A very useful first step… • Consists of a bibliographic citation and a descriptive and evaluative annotation of a selection of your most useful sources • Becomes the basis for the literature review later on in a study

  7. Writing The Literature Review • Concentrates on the scientific research • Provides the context for your research • Justifies the proposed study • Summarizes and evaluates the literature in the field

  8. Questions to be answered in a literature review: • 1. What do we already know in the immediate area concerned? • 2. What are the characteristics of the key concepts or the main factors or variables? • 3. What are the relationships between these key concepts, factors or variables? • 4. What are the existing theories? • 5. Where are the inconsistencies/shortcomings in our knowledge and understanding? • 6. What views need to be (further) tested? • 7. What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or too limited? • 8. Why study (further) the research problem? • 9. What contribution can the present study be expected to make? • 10. What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?

  9. Tips: • Remember the purpose • Read with a purpose • Write with a purpose • Always put citations into your writing immediately • Keep a bibliographic file

  10. Qualitative or Quantitative? • For an examination of differences between qualitative and quantitative research see: http://publish.uwo.ca/~pakvis/QuanQual.doc • Qualitative research tends to focus in and narrow down a topic during the research process • Quantitative research narrows down and focuses in on the problem first, in order to define hypotheses to be tested during the study. • *See summary Table 5.1 p. 83 in text

  11. Issues in Qualitative Design • Issue of “soft data”? • Data are gathered in real world…empirical • Grounded Theory • Inductive methodology • Generalizations are “grounded” in the data • Developed through systematic analysis and comparison of ideas and data

  12. Issues in Qualitative (cont.) • The context • The case as the unit of analysis • Time in social processes • Interpretation of data and subjectivity • Levels of interpretation • first, second, third order interpretations

  13. Issues in Quantitative Design • Variables and attributes • Types of variables • Dependent • Independent • Intervening or control variables

  14. The Causal Hypothesis • Two variables – independent and dependent • Cause-effect relationship • Can be expressed as a prediction or outcome • Logical link to research question • Is falsifiable

  15. Falsification (Karl Popper) • “logic of disconfirming the hypotheses” • Null and alternate hypothesis • Ho: there is no association or no difference • Hα: there is an association or difference

  16. Level vs. Unit of Analysis • Level of analysis • Micro, meso, macro • Unit of analysis • The unit that is measured • Individual, family, society, etc.

  17. Problem of Mismatched Units of Analysis • Ecological Fallacy • when group characteristics or findings are applied to individuals • Reductionism • “fallacy of nonequivalence” • applying individual level data to large groups • Spuriousness • An association between two variables is not true but variation in both is actually caused by third variable

  18. Other problems… • Tautology • Circular reasoning • Explanation simply restates same thing • Teleology • An explanation in terms of an ultimate goal

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