METHODS OF RESEARCH

The Use of Theory

- A theory is an interrelated set of constructs (or variables) formed into propositions, or
hypotheses, that specify the relationship among variables (It might appear as argument,
discussion, or rationale) helps to explain or predict phenomena.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Deductive approach
- Typically used in Qualitative research
● Variables in Qualitative
a. Dependent variables
- Depends on independent variable
- Outcomes or result of the influence of independent var.
- Criterion, outcome, and effect variables (other names)
b. Intervening or Mediating variables
- Stand between independent and dependent
- Mediate the effect of independent on the dependent
c. Moderating variables
- new variables constructed by a researcher by taking one
variable and multiplying it by another to determine the
joint impact of both (e.g., age X attitudes toward quality of
life).
- These variables are typically found in experiments
d. Control variables
- Play an active role in quali.
- Specific independent that researchers measure as it is a potential influence of the dependent
e. Confounding (or spurious) variable
- Not measured or observed in a study
- It exists, but the influence cannot be directly detected.
- Researchers comment on the influence of confounding variables after the study has been
completed. (e.g., discriminatory attitudes)
Variables are related to answer a research question or make predictions about the researcher expects the
results to show (These prediction are called hypotheses)

Inductive Logic of Research in a Qualitative study

WRITING A PROPOSAL
Central Arguments
There are central arguments that frame any proposal. They are introduced as nine central arguments by
Maxwell (2005):
1. What do readers need to better understand your topic?
2. What do readers know little about in terms of your topic?
3. What do you propose to study?
4. What is the setting and who are the people that you will study?
5. What methods do you plan to use to provide data?
6. How will you analyze the data?
7. How will you validate your findings?
8. What ethical issues will your study present?
9. What do preliminary results show about the practicability and value of the proposed study? These nine
questions, if adequately addressed in one section for each question, constitute the foundation of good
research, and they could provide the overall structure for a proposal

DESIGNING RESEARCH
The introduction
- part of the paper that provides readers with the background information for the research
reported in the paper
- purpose is to establish a framework for the research
- It establishes the issue or concern leading to the research by conveying information about a problem.
Because it is the initial passage in a study or proposal, special care must be given to writing it.

● Five components of writing a good introduction

(a) establishing the problem leading to the study,
(b) reviewing the literature about the problem,
(c) identifying deficiencies in the literature about the problem,
(d) targeting an audience and noting the significance of the problem for this audience, and
(e) identifying the purpose of the proposed study.

● Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Introductions

- The authors announce a problem and they justify why it needs to be studied. The type of problem
presented in an introduction will vary depending on the approach.
- Characteristics of a qualitative research problem are:
(a) the concept is “immature” due to a conspicuous lack of theory and previous research;
(b) a notion that the available theory may be inaccurate, inappropriate, incorrect, or biased;
(c) a need exists to explore and describe the phenomena and to develop theory; or
(d) the nature of the phenomenon may not be suited to quantitative measures.
- In quantitative research
a. the problem is best addressed by understanding what factors or variables influence an outcome
b. sometimes advance a theory to test, and they will incorporate substantial reviews of the
literature to identify research questions that need to be answered.
c. may be written from the impersonal point of view and in the past tense, to convey
objectivity.
- A mixed methods study can employ either the qualitative or the quantitative
approach (or some combination) to writing an introduction
 a. emphasis might tip in the direction of either quantitative or qualitative research, and the
introduction will mirror that emphasis.
b. emphasis will be equal between qualitative and quantitative research. (some)

A Model for an Introduction

- Deficiencies model of an introduction is a general template for writing a good introduction. It
consists of five parts, and a separate paragraph can be devoted to each part, for an introduction of
about two pages in length:
1. The research problem
- problem or issue that leads to the need for a study.
- When the problem is not clear, it is difficult to understand the significance of the research
- Often confused with research problem-questions, investigators would like to be answered.
- opening paragraphs of a proposal, which includes the research problem, keep in mind these research
tips:
a. Write an opening sentence that will stimulate reader interest as well as convey an issue to which
a broad audience can relate.
b. general rule, refrain from using quotations, especially long ones, in the lead sentence.
(However, as is evident in some qualitative studies, quotations can create reader interest.)
c. Stay away from idiomatic expressions or trite phrases
d. Consider numeric information for impact
e. Clearly identify the research problem (i.e., dilemma, issue) leading to the study.
f. Indicate why the problem is important by citing numerous references that justify the need to
study the problem.
g. Make sure that the problem is framed in a manner consistent with the approach to
research in the study (e.g., exploratory in qualitative, examining relationships or
predictors in quantitative, and either approach in mixed methods inquiry)
2. Studies that have addressed the problem
3. Deficiencies in the studies
4. The significance of the study for particular audiences
5. The purpose statement

RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

● Qualitative Research Questions and Hypotheses
- inquirers state research questions, not objectives (i.e., specific goals for the research) or
hypotheses (i.e., predictions that involve variables and statistical tests).
- These research questions assume two forms:
a. a central question
- broad question that asks for an exploration of the central phenomenon or concept in a
study
(Helpful Guidelines)
1. Ask one or two central questions followed by no more than five to seven sub-
questions.
2. Relate the central question to the specific qualitative strategy of inquiry.
3. Begin the research questions with the words what or how to convey an open and
emerging design.
4. Focus on a single phenomenon or concept.
5. Use exploratory verbs that convey the language of emerging design. These verbs tell the
reader that the study will
- Discover (e.g., grounded theory)
 - Seek to understand (e.g., ethnography)
- Explore a process (e.g., case study)
- Describe the experiences (e.g., phenomenology)
- Report the stories (e.g., narrative research)
6. Use these more exploratory verbs that are nondirectional rather than
directional words that suggest quantitative research, such as “affect,”
“influence,” “impact,” “determine,” “cause,” and “relate. ”
7. Expect the research questions to evolve and change during the study in a manner
consistent with the assumptions of an emerging design. Often in qualitative
studies, the questions are under continual review and reformulation (as in a
grounded theory study).
8. Use open-ended questions without reference to the literature or theory unless
otherwise indicated by a qualitative strategy of inquiry.
9. Specify the participants and the research site for the study, if the information has
not yet been given.
b. and associated sub-questions.
● Quantitative Research Questions and Hypotheses
- Quantitative research questions inquire about the relationships among variables that the
investigator seeks to know. They are used frequently in social science research and especially in
survey studies.
- Quantitative hypotheses, on the other hand, are predictions the researcher makes about the
expected relationships among variables. They are numeric estimates of population values based on
data collected from samples.
- Testing of hypotheses employs statistical procedures in which the investigator draws
inferences about the population from a study sample. Hypotheses are used often in
experiments in which investigators compare groups.
(Helpful Guidelines)
a. The use of variables in research questions or hypotheses is typically limited to three basic
approaches.
- compare groups on an independent variable to see its impact on a
dependent variable
- relate one or more independent variables to one or more dependent
variables.
- describe responses to the independent, mediating, or dependent variables.
b. the most rigorous form of quantitative research follows from a test of a theory and the
specification of research questions or hypotheses that are included in the theory.
c. independent and dependent variables must be measured separately. This procedure
reinforces the cause-and-effect logic of quantitative research.
d. eliminate redundancy, write only research questions or hypotheses, not both, unless the
hypotheses build on the research questions (discussion follows). Choose the form based on
tradition, recommendations from an adviser or faculty committee, or whether past research
indicates a prediction about outcomes.
e. If hypotheses are used, there are two forms: \
- the null hypothesis represents the traditional approach: it makes a prediction that
in the general population, no relationship or no significant difference exists between
groups on a variable. (ex. “There is no difference or relationship)
- and alternative or directional hypothesis. The investigator makes a
prediction about the expected outcome, basing this prediction on prior
literature and studies on the topic that suggest a potential outcome.
 - Another type of alternative hypothesis is nondirectional—a prediction is
made, but the exact form of differences (e.g., higher, lower, more, less) is not
specified because the researcher does not know what can be predicted from past
literature. T

● Mixed Methods Questions and Hypotheses

- Some attention should be given to the order of the research questions and hypotheses
a. two-phase project, the first-phase questions would come first, followed by the second-
phase questions so that readers see them in the order in which they will be addressed in the
proposed study
b. single-phase strategy of inquiry, the questions might be ordered according to the
method that is given the most weight in the design.
- question that directly addresses the mixing of the quantitative and qualitative strands of the research
- Consider several different ways that all types of research questions (i.e., quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed) can be written into a mixed methods study
- Write separate quantitative questions or hypotheses and qualitative questions. These could be
written at the beginning of a study or when they appear in the project if the study unfolds in
stages or phases. With this approach, the emphasis is placed on the two approaches and not
on the mixed methods or integrative component of the study.
- Write separate quantitative questions or hypotheses and qualitative questions and follow them
with a mixed methods question. This highlights the importance of both the qualitative and
quantitative phases of the study as well as their combined strength, and thus is probably the
ideal approach.
- Write separate quantitative questions or hypotheses and qualitative questions and follow them
with a mixed methods question. This highlights the importance of both the qualitative and
quantitative phases of the study as well as their combined strength, and thus is probably the
ideal approach.

A Qualitative Constructivist/Interpretivist Format

Introduction
Statement of the problem (including existing literature about the problem, significance of the study)
Purpose of the study and how study will be delimited The
research questions
Procedures
Philosophical assumptions of qualitative research
Qualitative research strategy
Role of the researcher Data
collection procedures
Strategies for validating findings Proposed
narrative structure of the study Anticipated
ethical issues
Preliminary pilot findings (if available)
Expected outcomes
Appendixes: Interview questions, observational forms, timeline, and proposed budget
A Quantitative Format
 - The form generally follows the model of an introduction, a literature review, methods, results, and
discussion
Introduction
Statement of the problem (issue, significance of issue)
Purpose of the study and delimitations
Theoretical perspective
Research questions or hypotheses Review of
the literature
Methods
Type of research design
Population, sample, and participants
Data collection instruments, variables, and materials Data
analysis procedures
Anticipated ethical issues in the study
Preliminary studies or pilot tests
Appendixes: Instruments, timeline, and proposed budget
Format for a Mixed Methods Proposal
- In a mixed methods design format, the researcher brings together approaches that are included in
both the quantitative and qualitative formats (see Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007)
Introduction
The research problem
Past research on the problem
Deficiencies in past research and one deficiency related to the need to collect both quantitative and
qualitative data
The audiences that will profit from the study
Purpose
The purpose or study aim of the project and reasons for a mixed methods study
The research questions and hypotheses (quantitative questions or hypotheses, qualitative questions,
mixed methods questions)
Philosophical foundations for using mixed methods research
Literature review (review quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies) Methods
A definition of mixed methods research The
type of design used and its definition
Challenges in using this design and how they will be addressed Examples of
use of the type of design
Reference and inclusion of a visual diagram
Quantitative data collection and analysis
Qualitative data collection and analysis Mixed
methods data analysis procedures
Validity approaches in both quantitative and qualitative research Researcher’s
resources and skills
Potential ethical issues
Timeline for completing the study
References and appendixes with instruments, protocols, visuals

WRITING IDEAS
 - I am reading Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose (Prose, 2006). By reading books such as this, I
am constantly reminded of good writing principles that need to go into my research writing.
a. Writing as Thinking
• Early in the process of research, write ideas down rather than talk about them.
• Work through several drafts of a proposal rather than trying to polish the first draft (Two types:
‘Bricklayer” makes every paragraph just right before making the next:
“let-it-all-hang-out-on-the-first-draft” writes entire daft nit caring how it badly written)
• Do not edit your proposal at the early-draft stage.
First, develop an outline
Write out draft and then shift and sort ideas
Finally, edit and polish each sentence
b. The habit of writing
c. Readability of manuscript
d. Voice, tense and fat (Expect to edit and revise drafts of a manuscript to trim the fat. “Fat” means
additional words that are unnecessary to convey the meaning of ideas)

ETHICAL ISSUES TO ANTICIPATE

- Researchers need to protect their research participants; develop a trust with them; promote the
integrity of research; guard against misconduct and impropriety that might reflect on their
organizations or institutions; and cope with new, challenging problems (Isreal & Hay, 2006)
- Many national associations have published standards or codes of ethics on their Web sites for
professionals in their fields.

Ethical Issues in the Research Problem

- it is important to identify a problem that will benefit individuals being studied, one that will be
meaningful for others besides the researcher
Ethical Issues in the Purpose and Questions
- proposal developers need to convey the purpose of the study that will be described to the
participants
Ethical Issues in Data Collection
- they need to respect the participants and the sites for research
- develops an informed consent form for participants to sign before they engage in the
research.
Ethical Issues in Data Analysis and Interpretation
- In the interpretation of data, researchers need to provide an accurate account of the
information.
Ethical Issues in Writing and Disseminating the Research
- it is important to release the details of the research with the study design so that readers can
determine for themselves the credibility of the study