Research Design Robert Croker, Nanzan University

What is research?

Research investigates an issue in a systematic way, by creating and analyzing data.

What is research design?

Creswell (2009)

• A research design is the plan and process for doing research.

Research Design

Worldviews

Research Approaches

Research Methods

Worldviews

Creswell (2009)

•Worldviews are your basic assumptions about how and why to do research.

Research Design

Worldviews

Research Approaches

Research Methods

Worldviews

Creswell (2009)

•Worldviews determine which research approaches and research methods you use.

Research Design

Worldviews

Research Approaches

Research Methods

The Scientist and the Psychiatrist

The Scient

ist

The Psychiatrist

The Scientist

The Scientist

1930s

The Scientist

1940s

The Scientist

1950s

The Scientist

• Research method: linear research design.

• One step at a time.

• Research processes are standardized, - there are set research rules to follow.

choose method

collect data

analyze data

The Scientist

• Participants are usually selected using random sampling methods.

The Scientist

• Data: usually numbers, but also words• Data collection: the researcher uses

instruments like questionnaires to collect data.

The Scientist

• Data: usually numbers, but also words• Analysis: descriptive statistics,

inferential statistics

The Scientist

• Assumes: that there are laws or theories or rules that govern the world.

• These laws or theories or rules need to be tested and refined, to help us understand the world better.

The Scientist

• Assumes: that there is one, objective reality out there in the world.

Different Worldviews

The Scient

ist

The Psychiatrist

The Psychiatrist

The Psychiatrist

1960s

The Psychiatrist

The Social Activist

The Social Activist

• Do research to change the world!

• Researchers have a responsibility to help groups in our society who have no power and no voice – the young and old, the poor, women, gay and lesbian people, foreigners, people with special needs and disabilities – the marginalized.

The Social Activist

• Research should not be done on the participants, research should be done with them – together.

• The purpose of research is to empower participants, create new choices for them, and give them a voice to improve their lives.

The Psychiatrist

• Assumes: there is not one reality, but many.

The Psychiatrist

• Purpose of research – to understand these realities, and find patterns of experience.

The Psychiatrist

Assumes: Each person experiences a situation in different and unique ways.

Each person ‘interprets’ this experience differently, and ‘constructs’ their own understandings of the situation.

These understandings are often complex, multiple, and dynamic.

The Psychiatrist

complex – each person’s ideas are often quite complex, with many layers

multiple – each person often has many different ideas about something

dynamic – these ideas change over time

The Psychiatrist

• Research purpose: to get inside the minds of your participants …

The Psychiatrist

• … to understand these complex, multiple, and dynamic ways of seeing the world …

The Psychiatrist

• … and to build up a deep understanding of their lived experiences.

Ways of seeing the world …

Researchers use different lenses to ‘see’ the world.

… and exploring it!

Researchers do research in different ways, too.

Research Approaches

Creswell (2009)

• Research approaches are a set of processes that help you plan your research design.

Research Design

Worldviews

Research Approaches

Research Methods

What type of research …?

Do you want to explore a phenomenon [exploratory research], or do you want to confirm a theory [confirmatory research]? exploratory confirmatory

Do you want to describe something [descriptive research], or to explain causes and relationships [explanatory research]? descriptive explanatory concrete abstract 34

Research Approaches

• The main research approaches:• Grounded theory – purpose: to create theory• Case studies – purpose: to explore one case• Ethnography – focus: the culture• Narrative analysis – focus: life stories• Phenomenology – focus: the experience

Basic approach – purpose: just answer your research questions!

Research Methods

Creswell (2009)

• Research methods are the ways that you create and analyze your data.

Research Design

Worldviews

Research Approaches

Research Methods

The Psychiatrist

• You are the primary research instrument:You create the data yourself (using observations or interviews), or get participants to directly create data using their own words (e.g. journals).

The Psychiatrist

• Data is created in natural settings like schools, hospitals, and homes.

The Psychiatrist

• Participants are carefully selected to best answer the research questions: purposive sampling.• critical case, typical vs. extreme case

The Psychiatrist

• The whole research process is an interactive process: you create data, then analyze it, then create more data, then analyze that.

A spiral – with more flexible research rules, based on research logic.

create

analyze

create

The Psychiatrist

• Data: is mostly text (words) and images (photos and videos), but also numbers.

The Psychiatrist

• The researcher is the primary data analysis instrument:• The researcher herself analyzes the

data, by deeply reading it – and not using statistical techniques.

The Psychiatrist

• Purpose of analysis – to find patterns of experience.

The Psychiatrist

• Results: words and images, and figures.

Different Worldviews

Post-Positivis

t

Constructivist / Interpre

tivist

The Old Man in the Café

The Old Man in the Café

1980s

The Old Man in the Café

1980s

The Old Man in the Café

• The purpose of research is to question, to challenge ways of seeing the world, to interrupt, to problematize, to deconstruct accepted ways of looking at the world.

• So, have another coffee and cigarette, and enjoy how crazy life is!

Research Design

Post-Positivis

t

Post-Moderni

st, Emancip

atory, Construc

tivist

Social Scientists

Social Scientists

2000s

Social Scientists

2000s

Social Scientists

Creating good quality data is absolutely essential in social science research.

questionnaires statistics and data

interviews and focus groups observations journals, diaries, histories

Social Scientists

Research Design

Post-Positivis

t

Post-Moderni

st, Emancip

atory, Construc

tivist

Pragmatic (Mixed

Methods)