Lecture 7METHODOLOGY

Lecture 7

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• to know the importance of using a clear, well-defined and critically appraised method

• to be aware of the issues and practicalities of using a questionnaire

• to be able to use a wider range of qualitative methods

• to appreciate the usefulness of multi-method approaches

Lecture 7

LECTURE OUTLINE

• recommended reading• how to critically evaluate methods in research• the appropriate use of questionnaires and

interviews• a range of wider methods• the usefulness of combining methods• the role of sampling in research• ethical considerations in research

Recommended reading:

Chapter 7: Methodology, in the associated book:

Horn, R. (2009) Researching and Writing Dissertations. London: CIPD

Methodology and epistemology:INDUCTION AND DEDUCTIONIn inductive approaches generalisations are made from individual instances, often known as ‘bottom-up’ reasoning. In research terms this involves observing instances of something, looking for a pattern in the instances, building a tentative theory, and then testing that general theory to provide generalisations about behaviour.

Deductive reasoning works the other way around, from the general to the specific, often known as ‘top-down’ reasoning. Deduction starts with a theory, focuses down to a hypothesis about specific matters, then makes observations to test the hypothesis, finally confirming or refuting the hypothesis.

It is important to decide, argue and justify the approach you will be taking in the methodology.

Methodology and epistemology:INDUCTION AND DEDUCTION

One small word of warning: often both inductive and deductive reasoning are called for in a research study, so it may be necessary to explain where in the research inductive approaches are being used and where deductive approaches are used.

Methodology and epistemology:POSITIVIST AND SUBJECTIVIST

Another dimension that you may wish to discuss in a methodology is the positivist–subjectivist dimension.

Positivists believe that in the world we live in there are universal truths, and that research goals should discover the laws of the universe relating to these universal truths.

Subjectivists believe there is no universal truth but a reality that we all contribute to making. From this stance the research goals are to discover the methods by which this reality is made or constructed, or to explore the agreed reality.

Methodology and epistemology:POSITIVIST AND SUBJECTIVIST

There are many variations between the two ends of this continuum.

The detailed positions you can research yourself.

In explaining your research approach you will have to consider how you and your research will see the world.

Adopting a positivist approach implies certain methods and reasoning, whereas the subjectivist approach requires different methods and reasoning.

Methodology and epistemology:QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE

The qualitative–quantitative dimension must be discussed and related to your proposed method of inquiry.

Some methods use one approach whereas others adopt a strategy of both approaches.

Methodology and epistemology:TESTING AND EXPLORING

Research can be defined on the dimension of testing or exploring. Where theory and research is well developed, it would be possible to test a hypothesis about some behaviour or action.

When investigating areas that are not well researched, or areas that have little justified theory, an exploratory approach may be preferable.

Your methodology section will have to explain and justify the approach you are taking.

Exploratory research is useful when your aim is to fully

describe and understand a unique research situation. But it

can also be useful in well-researched areas so that new

insights are developed from jaded or heavily researched

topics or areas.

As a research area becomes well studied there is a

tendency for the approaches to converge, become similar –

adopting an exploratory research design can reverse this

trend.

Methodology and epistemology:TESTING AND EXPLORING

Methodology and epistemology:PARTICIPANT AND OBJECTIVE

The participant or objective dimension is less often considered in dissertation research because time is always limited and participant techniques are often time-consuming.

When a researcher stands aside from the research and observes what takes place, the study may be classified as objective.

But note that the word ‘objective’ is itself burdened with a number of different meanings.

A research census is a study of all the possible cases of a particular type. For instance, if your study is of a particular organisation and you survey or interview all the people in that organisation, then you have taken a census.

If you include all the possible cases in your research, there is no need for sampling.

The difficulty with a census occurs when deciding who is included and who is excluded.

Close definition of the criteria for inclusion in a study should ensure accurate representation of the cases that should be legitimately included in a study. Because dissertation research is often completed in small-scale settings, the need to sample is often avoided.

Sampling concepts:CENSUS

Sampling concepts:POPULATION

A population may be defined as the set of individuals, items or data from which a sample is taken.

Defining a research population for business research frequently centres on being a member of a particular group, such as:

• staff in an organisation

• users of a product

• members of a group

• those with a condition – for example, stress.

Sampling concepts:POPULATIONIt is important to set criteria that make it clear who or what is included in a population. Even defining something as apparently simple as being a member of an organisation can raise problems.

• Would part-time members of staff be included in a population of staff?

• Would outsourced staff be included?• Would members of staff who have recently joined be

included? • Should members of staff who have recently left be

included? • Would staff on long-term sick leave or those suspended

from work be included?

Sampling concepts:POPULATION

Let’s take a closer look at that last point –

Would staff on long-term sick leave or those suspended from work be included?

You might be inclined to answer No to this problem because it would make the research easier to conduct. But if you were investigating stress at work, it would not be unreasonable to expect some staff members to be away from work with ‘stress’.

Sampling concepts:SAMPLING FRAMEEven in well-defined populations not every member is accessible. A sampling frame is the list of accessible members of a population. The alumni of a university are all those who have attended the university in the past. The population would beall those who had attended the university. The sampling frame would be all those who had attended and for whom there was sufficient data for them to be contacted.Reasons they cannot be contacted might include:• lost contact details• death• determined privacy• moved to another country (not necessarily a barrier)• refusal to participate

Sampling:SAMPLE

Once a population is well defined and a sampling frame of the population is produced, it may be necessary to research only a proportion of the population.

The research sample is the list of people or items that you choose to be in your study.

Note that this is not the list of people or items that finally are in the study.

Sampling:SAMPLING METHODS

There are two possible sampling methods: probability sampling and non-probability sampling.

Probability sampling uses some form of random selection of cases from the sampling frame. This is a commonly-used method when inductive reasoning drives the methodology.

Non-probability sampling does not involve the random selection of cases from a sampling frame. This method is commonly used when deductive reasoning drives the methodology.

Sampling – probability:SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLINGSimple random sampling is easy to understand and provides a reasonable representation of a population. If you have a list of 100 staff members in an organisation and you only have the time and money to interview 20 members of staff in relation to some aspect of your research, you can randomly select 20 names by placing all the names in a hat and drawing out 20.

Using an Excel spreadsheet would accomplish this in just a few minutes – and would provide an evidence trail of these actions.

The simple random sample can look like a very sound way to draw a sample, and yet by pure chance it may generate a sample that does not represent small subgroups in your population very accurately.

In some circumstances you will need other methods for drawing a sample.

Sampling – probability:STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLINGStratified random sampling ensures an accurate representation of the population and any important subgroups within that population.

In sampling 20 members of staff from a workforce of 100, we may want to study the different perceptions of managers, technical workers, administrative workers, and sales staff.

Using a random sample we would expect to select five from each group – but when the selection has taken place we may find that only three sales staff have been included.

This example assumes there are equal proportions of the four staff groups – ie 25 managers, 25 sales personnel, etc. If there are different proportions of staff, a decision will have to be made about the sampling rate for each stratum.

To obtain a representative sample it is often necessary to increase the sampling rate for smaller groups.

Sampling – non-probability:OPPORTUNITY SAMPLING

Opportunity sampling, also called accidental, haphazard or convenience sampling, is used when random methods are not required to answer your research questions, or when it is impossible to construct a sampling frame.

In this method the selection of cases to be studied is purely related to accessibility or by chance meeting. If you conduct your research by stopping people on campus (opportunity sampling) and asking them questions, you will not be able to make many claims about the people you questioned and their relation to a larger population.

Sampling – non-probability:PURPOSEFUL SAMPLINGPurposeful sampling is a non-probability method in which the selected cases are related to the purpose of the study. A recent study involved the users of e-learning, and the sample was of those people who had used the e-learning suite in the previous month.

This is a quick and easy way to find cases to study, but cannot be regarded as representing any well-defined population.

The basis of the purposeful sample might be:• modal – cases from the most common group• expertise – those displaying certain knowledge of expertise• quotas – a set number of cases from pre-defined groups• diversity – selecting the widest range of cases possible• snowball – one participant recommends the next participant, and so on• critical incidents – studying important events that occur• self-selection – samples of cases that present themselves to be studied.

QUESTIONNAIRES

Questionnaires are commonly used in dissertation research for gathering data. You will need to consider how questionnaires can contribute to a sound methodology.

In dissertation research there always comes a point when you wonder whether to use a questionnaire.

It is important to consider other methods and actively choose to use a questionnaire because it is the best method to gather the data you need to achieve your research aims.

Questionnaires:DEVISING QUESTIONS

The questions used in a questionnaire may be either of two types:

• biographical questions related to the characteristics of the participants

• investigative questions that focus on the research questions of the study

Questionnaires:DEVISING QUESTIONS: BIOGRAPHICAL

The biographical detail collected will be important in allowingexplanations of the data to be made. Commonly-used variables will be represented in the literature, but you may also need variables selected by ‘hunch’.

A frivolous example might be that you have a hunch that e-learning is linked to height. If you do not collect data about height, you will not be able to explain the usage by this factor.

But do not ask for too much unnecessary data – it is time-consuming to code and often irritates participants if they think you are being ‘too nosy’.

Questionnaires:DEVISING QUESTIONS: INVESTIGATIVE

The investigative questions must relate to the synthesised theory and the research question or one of the hypotheses of the research.

The questions must adequately investigate each aspect of the theory and each hypothesis. Research questions willbe quite broad and will need further refinement until it is possible to ask specific questions.

A data requirements table is the standard technique for controlling the generation of questions in a questionnaire.

Example of part of a data requirements table

Questionnaires:INTRODUCTIONQuestionnaires should contain a short introduction to the survey that states what is being researched and why the respondent’s help is being requested.

The introduction should set out:• the purpose of the research• the time-scale for completion• the approximate time required to complete it• why the respondent is regarded as a useful source of information• information on confidentiality or anonymity• researchers’ contact details.

At the end of the survey a short thank you note and the researcher’s contact details should be included.

Questionnaires:TYPES OF QUESTIONAt the first level, questions can be open or closed.

Open questions ask the question but do not specify a response.

For example, ‘How do you find this book?’

The data analysis of closed questions is considerably easier than analysing the data from open questions.

Closed questions provide the possible answers to the question.

For example, ‘I find this book to be: brilliant / excellent / marvellous’.

(Note the manner in which the answers can control the responses.)

Closed questions can be constructed in various forms offering responses that present:• a list of items from which one item is to be chosen• a set of categories from which any number may be chosen• a rating scale – say, 1 to 10, or a descriptive scale• a list to be ranked in order• a box, in which to enter an amount, a number, a salary, etc• a grid, referred to as a matrix, which allows for answering

more than one question.

One drawback with closed questions is that the available responses are limited. This is sometimes overcome by adding the category ‘Other’ and ‘Please specify’.

Questionnaires:CLOSED QUESTIONS: VARIATIONS

INTERVIEWS

The demarcation between questionnaires and interviews is not very distinct. When questionnaires are administered in person by the researcher, the skills of interviewing are very much to the fore.

Interviews are normally classified as a qualitative method for gathering data, but as is evident from the statement above, they can be quantitative.

This classification may become clearer if we consider the nature of qualitative research.

Interviews:QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The difference between quantitative and qualitative research is not always clear or distinct, but qualitative research quite often focuses on and displays the following characteristics:• It is exploratory in nature. • It uses natural, existing, settings and contexts.• It is interested in meanings, perceptions, understandings.• The research focus is often on processes, not outputs.• It uses induction for the analysis of data.• It produces specific rather than generalised data.• Research findings are specific to the context.

Interviews:INTERVIEWING SKILLS

• Using active listening

• Using appropriate body language

• Using clear expression

• Using empathy – understanding the interviewee’s stance

• Using social settings skills

• Using logistical skills

• Using observation skills

• Being insightful

Interviews:PROBING QUESTIONS

As the interview progresses it is important to use probing questions to understand more fully significant areas of the interview

Why did you do that?

Can you elaborate?

What evidence led you to . . .?

What did you think?

When did this happen?

How did you feel?

Qualitative methods:OBSERVATION STUDIES

It is important to distinguish between what human participants say happened and what actually happened. Human memory is selective in perception and in recall, and therefore what an interviewee might say about a situation and what actually happened (from an observer’s standpoint) may be quite different.

This difference between what is said and what happens is not normally a deliberate ploy to mislead researchers – it occurs because of the normal human processes of perception and memory recall.

Qualitative methods:OBSERVATION STUDIES

The role of observation studies can be as a primary research data-collecting technique or it can be as part of a multi-method technique.

When used as a part of a multi-method approach, the observations are used to corroborate the data already collected from interviews.

Observation studies are often conducted over long periods of time, and can be either ‘objective observer’ type or ‘participant observer’ type.

Qualitative methods:OTHER METHODS

ethnographic studiesrepertory grid techniquediariesrelivingaction researchrole-playoral history techniquesnarrative researchcontent analysis

Information on these methods is available on pages 130 to 134 of the recommended reading text.

Group activity:

CASE STUDY: Petra

Work in groups of threeTime allowed: 60 minutes’ preparation 10 minutes’ feedback

Read the case study ‘Petra’, and provide considered responses in the form of a comment, an answer, a one-page action report, and another comment, as requested at the end.

Feedback as four separate response elements, for collation with the responses of other groups prior to plenary discussion.

Work-alone activity:

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Preparation for the next learning session

Prepare two PowerPoint presentation slides setting out:

• the type and quantity of data that your dissertation will produce

• how you intend to deal with this data

REFLECTIONon the learning points of this lecture

• Consider what philosophical approach your research will take, and address the issues around the

epistemology of knowledge.• If your study is not structured as a census, you will

have to explore how you will choose participants and decide on a sampling method.• When choosing and justifying your method it is essential you have a strong argument and justification for the method.• The methodology section of the dissertation is a traditional place for a consideration of the ethics of the study.