Research Methods
Assignment in Research Methods
1) Overview of various research methods
When writing a Research Paper it is important to know different research methods. These methods help to gather and systemize the information and data in order to scientifically prove the validity of the work. Further will be explained ways how to collect the data.
Research methods are divided in two big blocks: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative methods are those where results are explained in numbers, whereas qualitative methods define outcomes by what respondents answer. It is more subjective and more open, as results are not described by numbers, but rather as observations. To put both methods differences together: quantitative look more for statistical explanation, but qualitative are more in-depth. 1 Further will be in more detail explained methods that lay under quantitative and qualitative.
There are many ways how to collect data for the research. One of them is doing experiments. It usually involves small amount of people who are doing some tests, for example, detecting how fast people read, what affects their reading skills and other objectives. This method is very in-depth and counted as qualitative as the behaviour people is investigated in order to conclude some outcomes. One of the minuses of such methods is that it only researches small group of the society and does not give overall overview for all public. 2
Second type of methods is surveys. Surveys are conducted when a researcher wants quickly to gather a big amount of data. They have low cost, wide range of respondents, easy to conduct and systemize the results. Surveys are usually in a written form and they can be transferred to people in various ways- through e-mail, Web pages or questions can be asked in a person or through telephone call. This type also has few flaws- not all participants will answer to all questions, meaning they can skips some parts, it usually has a low return rate of answers and
1) Overview of various research methods
When writing a Research Paper it is important to know different research methods. These methods help to gather and systemize the information and data in order to scientifically prove the validity of the work. Further will be explained ways how to collect the data.
Research methods are divided in two big blocks: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative methods are those where results are explained in numbers, whereas qualitative methods define outcomes by what respondents answer. It is more subjective and more open, as results are not described by numbers, but rather as observations. To put both methods differences together: quantitative look more for statistical explanation, but qualitative are more in-depth. 1 Further will be in more detail explained methods that lay under quantitative and qualitative.
There are many ways how to collect data for the research. One of them is doing experiments. It usually involves small amount of people who are doing some tests, for example, detecting how fast people read, what affects their reading skills and other objectives. This method is very in-depth and counted as qualitative as the behaviour people is investigated in order to conclude some outcomes. One of the minuses of such methods is that it only researches small group of the society and does not give overall overview for all public. 2
Second type of methods is surveys. Surveys are conducted when a researcher wants quickly to gather a big amount of data. They have low cost, wide range of respondents, easy to conduct and systemize the results. Surveys are usually in a written form and they can be transferred to people in various ways- through e-mail, Web pages or questions can be asked in a person or through telephone call. This type also has few flaws- not all participants will answer to all questions, meaning they can skips some parts, it usually has a low return rate of answers and
Bibliography: 1. Anderson, J.D., (2006). Qualitative and Quantitative research. Imperial COE, p.3. Available at: http://www.icoe.org/webfm_send/1936. Last visited on 23 February, 2014. 2. Research Methods, last updated on 21 August, 2009. Available at: http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/Research/Understanding-dementia-research/Types-of-research/Research-methods. Last visited on 23 February, 2014. 3. Hampton, C., Vilela, M., Conduction Surveys, Community Tool Box. Available at: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-surveys/main. Last visited on: 23 February, 2014. 4. Leung, W.C., How to design a questionnaire. University of East Anglia. StudentBM, Vol. 9, 2001. Available at: http://mail.cochrane.es/files/Recursos/How_to_design_a_questionnaire.pdf. Last visited on 23 February, 2014. 5. Conduct research, Interview.University of Texas at Austin, Instructional Assesment Resources. 2007. Available at: http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ctl/assessment/iar/research/plan/method/interview.php. Last visited on: 23 February, 2014. 6. How to conduct an Interview. Scholastic News. Available at: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/how-conduct-interview. Last visited on 24 February, 2014.