1) SOME DEFINITIONS OF RESEARCH

search for knowledge

it is a systematic and scientific search for pertinent/relevant information on a specific topic a

systematised effort to gain new knowledge; a movement from the known to the unknown

definition
the word research is composed of two syllables, re and search. the dictionary defines the former
as a prefix meaning again, a new, or

over again and the latter as a verb meaning to examine closely and carefully, to test and try, or
to probe. together they form a noun

describing a careful, systematic, patient study

and investigation in some field of knowledge,

undertaken to establish facts or principles.

( grinnel 1993: 4 )

2) SOME TERMINOLOGIES

Methodology – refers to the methods, techniques, and procedures that are employed in
implementing your research plan (design)

RESEARCH METHODS OR TECHNIQUES

Research methods or techniques refer to all the methods the researchers use in performing
research operations ( see research instruments / research tools

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A science of studying how research is carried scientifically

A way to systematically solve the research problem by logically adopting various steps

3) TYPES OF RESEARCH


Research can be classified from three perspectives:

I. Application of the research study

II. Objectives
III. Inquiry mode employed

I. APPLICATION

If you examine a research from the perspective of its application, there are two broad categories:

A). Pure research

B). Applied research

A) PURE RESEARCH

According to Bailey ( 1978:17): Pure research involves developing and testing theories and
hypotheses that are intellectually challenging to the researcher but may or may not have practical
application at the present time or in the future. Thus such work often involves the testing of
hypotheses containing very abstract and specialised concepts.

B) APPLIED

Most of the research undertaken in the social sciences is applied, the findings being designed
either for use in understanding a phenomena/issue or to bring a change in a program/situation.

II. OBJECTIVES

A research study can be carried out with four objectives: 

1. Descriptive
2. Correlational
3. Explanatory
4. Exploratory
TYPES OF RESEARCH

1. Descriptive:
The main purpose of such studies is to describe what is prevalent with respect to the issue/
problem under study. The main characteristic of descriptive research is that the researcher has no
control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening.

The term Ex post facto ( after the fact ) research for descriptive research is used mainly in social
science and business research

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH 

Some examples:

Attitudes of students towards quality teaching 

Strategies put in place by a company to increase workers’ productivity 

Effects of living in a house with domestic violence

TYPES OF RESEARCH ( cont.)

2. Correlational

Aims at discovering or establishing the existence of a relationship/ association/

interdependence between two or more aspects of a situation For instance, the effect of the home

environment on education

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH 

Some examples 

Relationship between stressful living and

incidence of heart attacks

Impact of technology on the language classroom 

Impact of domestic violence on adolescents

TYPES OF RESEARCH


3. Explanatory:

Attempts to clarify why and how there is a relationship between two aspects of a situation or
phenomenon. This type of research will try to explain, for example, how the home environment
affects children level of academic achievement.

EXPLANATORY RESEARCH

Some examples:

How does domestic violence impact adolescents learners ?

Why do some schools adopt a program while others do not? 

How does technology facilitate learning?

TYPES OF RESEARCH 

4. Exploratory:

This is when a study is undertaken with the objective either to explore an area where little is
known or to investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular research study. When a study
is carried out to determine its feasibility it is also called a feasibility study or a pilot study

3. INQUIRY MODE

From the point of view of inquiry , there are two types of research: 

1. The structured approach 

2. The unstructured approach

1.THE STRUCTURED APPROACH

This is usually classified as quantitative research quantitative studies often use standardized
measures, numerical values, have larger sample sizes, and analyze data using statistical
programs. A study is classified as quantitative if the researcher seeks to quantify the variation in
a phenomenon and if information is gathered using quantitative variables.

2. THE UNSTRUCTURED APPROACH 

The unstructured approach to inquiry is usually classified as qualitative 

A study is classified as qualitative if the purpose is primarily to describe a situation,

phenomenon,

problem or event; the information is gathered through the use of variables or measured on

qualitative measurement scales, and if analysis is done to establish the variation in the situation
or problem without quantifying it. Qualitative studies tend to be more “in-depth”, focusing on a
smaller population but probing deeper into a given problem.

4.QUALITIES OF A GOOD RESEARCH

Research must address an important and relevant issue.This means that:

-it is undertaken to increase knowledge and have some beneficial implications

-it will also have relevance to the time, place, and population of the study.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD RESEARCH 

Research is a process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information to answer questions.

But to qualify as research, the process must have certain characteristics: it must, as far as
possible, be:

Logical 
Rigorous 
Systematic
Valid and verifiable
Empirical
Critical
QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH ( cont.)

Good research is logical: this

implies that research is guided by

the rules of logical reasoning ,and

the logical process of induction and

deduction is essential in carrying out

research.

QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH ( cont.)

Rigorous-you must be scrupulous (careful)

in ensuring that the procedures followed to

find answers to questions are relevant,

appropriate and justified. Again, the degree

of rigor (strict) varies markedly between the

physical and social sciences and within the

social sciences.

QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH ( cont.)

Good research is systematic: this implies

that the procedure adopted to undertake an

investigation follow a certain logical sequence.

The different steps cannot be taken in a

haphazard way. Some procedures must follow

others. The systematic characteristic of

research rejects the use of guessing and

intuition in arriving at conclusions.

SYSTEMATICNESS

Good research is systematic as it follows

certain steps. These steps are:

Problem identification

Reviewing the literature

Collecting data

Analysing data

Drawing conclusions and making

generalisations
QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH ( cont.)

-Valid and verifiable-this concept implies

that whatever you conclude on the basis of

your findings is correct and can be verified by

you and others.

-Empirical-this means that any conclusion

drawn are based upon hard evidence

gathered from information collected from real

life experiences or observations.

QUALITIES OF GOOD RESEARCH(cont.)

Critical-critical scrutiny ( examination) of the

procedures used and the methods employed

is crucial to a research enquiry. The process

of investigation must be foolproof and free

from drawbacks. The process adopted and

the procedures used must be able to

withstand critical scrutiny.

5)THE RESEARCH PROCESS:

AN EIGHT – STEP MODEL

A) 5 STEPS IN PLANNING A RESEARCH STUDY

Step 1: Formulating a research problem

Step 2: Conceptualising a research design

Step 3: Constructing an instrument for data collection

Step 4: Selecting a sample

Step 5: Writing a research proposal

THE RESEARCH PROCESS:

B) 3 STEPS IN CONDUCTING A STUDY

Step 6: Collecting data

Step 7: Processing data

Step 8: Writing a research report

6. HOW TO SELECT A RESEARCH

PROBLEM

An ‘angle’ for your research can come from

insights stemming from:

personal experience

theory

observations

contemporary issues

engagement with the literature

What is a research problem?!

A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty

which a researcher experiences in the context of either

a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain

a solution for the same. The research problem

undertaken for study must be carefully selected. The

task is a difficult one, although it may not appear to be

so. Help may be taken from a research guide in this

connection. Nevertheless, every researcher must find

out his own salvation for research problems cannot be

borrowed.

Why are research questions important?

“Well-crafted questions guide the systematic

planning of research. Formulating your

questions precisely enables you to design a

study with a good chance of answering

them.”

-- Light, Singer, Willett, By Design (1990)

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

After selecting a problem, it should be stated carefully by the

researcher to delimit his task and isolate a specific problem before

he can proceed with active planning of the study. This type of

decision is culminated in the problem statement.

Kerlinger (1964) has identified three criteria of good Problem

Statements.

1. A problem should be concerned with relation between two or

more variables. (eg, age, sex . . . .etc)

2. It should be stated “clearly and unambiguously in question form.

3. It should be amenable to empirical testing.

7. Considerations in selecting a good

research problem

1.Interest: a research endeavour (attempt) is

usually time consuming, and involves hard work

and possibly unforeseen problems. One should

select topic of great interest to sustain the required

motivation.

2. Magnitude(manageability): It is extremely

important to select a topic that you can manage

within the time and resources at your disposal.

Narrow the topic down to something manageable,

specific and clear.

3.Measurement of concepts: Make sure that

you are clear about the indicators and

measurement of concepts (if used) in your study.

Do not use in your research problem concepts

that you are not sure how to measure.

4. Level of expertise: Make sure that you have

adequate level of expertise ( know how /

knowledge) for the task you are proposing since

you need to do the work yourself.

5.Relevance: Ensure that your study adds to the

existing body of knowledge, bridges current gaps and is

useful in policy formulation. This will help you to sustain

interest in the study.

6. Availability of data: Before finalizing the topic, make

sure that data are available.

7. Ethical issues: How ethical issues can affect the

study population and how ethical problems can be

overcome should be thoroughly examined at the

problem formulating stage.

8.The Foundation of Hypotheses

The second step in the research process of social

study is to formulate hypotheses. The hypothesis is a

tentative solution of a problem. The research

activities are planned to verify the hypothesis and not

to find out the solution of the problem or to seek an

answer of a question. It is very essential to a

research worker to understand the meaning and

nature of hypothesis. The researcher always plan or

formulate a hypothesis in the beginning of the

problem.

MEANING OF HYPOTHESIS

The word hypothesis is made up of two Greek

roots : Hypo + thesis = Hypothesis

‘Hypo’ means tentative or subject to the

verification and ‘Thesis’ means statement about

solution of a problem.


The world meaning of the term hypothesis is a

tentative statement about the solution of the

problem. Hypothesis offers a solution of the

problem that is to be verified empirically and

based on some rationale.

Hypotheses are designed to express

relationships between variables. If this is the

nature of your question, a hypothesis can

add to your research

If your question is more descriptive or

explorative, generating a hypothesis may not

be appropriate

9.The formulation of objectives:

Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in

your study.

-They inform a reader what you want to attain

through the study.



-It is extremely important to word them clearly

and specifically.

Objectives should be listed under two headings:

a) main objectives ( aims);

b) sub-objectives.

The main objective is an overall statement of

the thrust of your study.

It is also a statement of the main associations

and relationships that you seek to discover or

establish.

The sub-objectives are the specific aspects of

the topic that you want to investigate within the

main framework of your study.

The research objectives

-They should be numerically listed.



-Wording should clearly, completely and

specifically communicate to your readers

your intention.

-Each objective should contain only one

aspect of the Study.

-Use action oriented words or verbs when

writing objectives.

The objectives should start with words such as:

‘to determine’, ‘to find out’,‘to ascertain’,

‘to measure’,‘to explore’ etc.

The wording of objectives determines the

type of research (descriptive, correlational

and experimental ) and the type of research

design you need to adopt to achieve them.

Examples

Descriptive studies:


-To describe the types of incentives provides by Hotel XYZ

to employees in Algeria.

-To find out the opinion of the employees about the

medical facilities provided by five star hotels in Algeria.

Correlatinal studies:

-To ascertain the impact of training on employee retention.

-To compare the effectivenesss of different loyalty

programmes on repeat clientele .

Hypothesis –testing studies:

-To ascertain if an increase in working hours

will increase the incidence of drug/alchohol

abuse.

-To demonstrate that the provision of

company accommodation to employees in

Algiers hotels will reduce staff turnover.

10.WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?

The phrase ‘review of literature’ consists of two

words: Review and Literature.

The word ‘literature’ in research methodology

refers to the knowledge of a particular area of

investigation of any discipline which includes

theoretical, practical and its research studies.

The term ‘ review’ means to organize the

knowledge of the specific area of research to

evolve an edifice of knowledge to show that his

study would be an addition to this field.

Review of literature

The term ‘review of literature’ has been

defined in the following ways:

According to W.R. Borg

“The literature in any field forms the

foundation upon which all future work will be

built. If we fail to build the foundation of

knowledge provided by the review of literature

our work is likely to be shallow and naive and

will often duplicate work that has already been

done better by some one else.”

Some definitions of L.R:

According to John W. Best

“Practically all human knowledge can be

found in books and libraries. Unlike other

animals that must start a new with each

generation, man builds upon the accumulated

and recorded knowledge of the past. His

constant adding to the vast store of knowledge

makes possible progress in all areas of human

endeavour.”

FUNCTIONS OF THE LITERATURE

REVIEW

a. Bring clarity and focus to your research

problem;


b. Improve your methodology;

c. Broaden your knowledge;

d. Contextualise your findings.

a. Bring clarity and focus to your

research problem;

The process of reviewing the literature helps

you to understand the subject area better

and thus helps you to conceptualise your

research problem clearly and precisely. It

also helps you to understand the relationship

between your research problem and the

body of knowledge in the area.

b. Improve your methodology:

A literature review tells you if others have

used procedures and methods similar to the

ones that you are proposing, which

procedures and methods have worked well

for them, and what problems they have faced

with them. Thus you will be better positioned

to select a methodology that is capable of

providing valid answer to your research

questions.

c. Broaden your knowledge base in

your research area:

It ensures you to read widely around the

subject area in which you intend to conduct

your research study. As you are expected to

be an expert in your area of study, it helps

fulfill this expectation. It also helps you to

understand how the findings of your study fit

into the existing body of knowledge.

d. Contextualise your findings:

How do answers to your research questions

compare with what others have found? What

contribution have you been able to make in to

the existing body of knowledge? How are your

findings different from those of others? For you

to be able to answer these questions, you need

to go back to your literature review. It is

important to place your findings in the context

of what is already known in your field of

enquiry.

STEPS IN CONDUCTIONG A

LITERATURE REVIEW

Search for existing literature in your area of

study

Review the literature selected

Develop a theoretical framework

Develop a conceptual framework

Write your literature review

REVIEWING THE LITERATURE


Read critically the contents of books and articles and

look for the following things:

The claims and theories put forward.

The criticisms of these and their basis.

The methodologies adopted, and the criticisms

about them.

The conclusions and findings advanced

Disagreements about the constructs you are

investigating

The gaps you notice in the literature

DEVELOPING A THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

The information obtained from books and

journals now needs to be sorted under main

themes and theories, agreements and

disagreements among authors, and other

aspects related to your research topic; all this

needs to be arranged so as each element

will fit in a slot of the theoretical framework

DEVELOPING A CONCEPTUAL

FRAMEWORK

Writing Lit. Review – Logical

Argument / A Critique

A was the earliest writers to discuss . . .

B made a valuable contribution to the discussion

of this problem . . .

C argued that D had not used the appropriate

methods . . .

In the 1990s E proposed a completely different

approach. . .

The best study of this problem is perhaps by

F...

WHERE TO FIND SOURCES FOR THE

LITERATURE REVIEW


BOOKS

INTERNET

JOURNALS

ARCHIVES

REPORTS

OBSERVATIONS

RECORDS…

PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED IN WRITING A

LITERATURE REVIEW

Some reviews consist of a largely unrelated

annoted list of studies.

Some reviews are not relevant to the

investigation


Theories in the review might be mentionned

or described, but often without a clear, logical

connection among the theories, or without

showing the relevance of each description

ANSWERING SOME OF THE

PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE L.R.

The literature you decide to include must be

relevant to the area of your investigation

The pieces of literature you decide to include

must be logically connected to each other

BOOKS

Use books first as they gather a lot of

information on a topic

They also provide a good background

information on a topic


They also offer intersting extensive

bibliographies

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Look for journal articles second

They discuss one pespective

Each article makes a unique contribution

They can supplement information from books

They offer more up-to- date information

11. WHAT ARE DATA ?

The term data refers to any kind of

information researchers obtain on the

subjects, respondents, or participants of

the study. In research, data are collected

and used to answer the research

questions and objectives of the study


Data collection is an extremely

important part of any research because

the conclusion of a study is based on

what the data reveal. The choice of

procedures usually depends on the

objectives and design of the study

10.TYPES OF RESEARCH DATA

Research data are generally classified either

as quantitative or qualitative. Based on

their sources, they fall under two categories:

Primary data;

Secondary data

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE

DATA

Quantitative data:

These are information which can be counted or

expressed in numerical values

e.g. nb of students, age, grades, test scores…

Qualitative data:

These are descriptive information which has no

numerical values.

e.g. A person’s attitude, perception, or feelings

TYPES OF DATA:

Primary data;

Secondary data

Methods of Data Collection

PRIMARY VS SECONDARY DATA

Primary data are originated by a researcher

for the specific purpose of addressing the

problem at hand. They are collected directly

from the subjects being studied.

PRIMARY VS SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data:
These are information already available.

They have been collected from other

available sources ( recent censuses and

analysed by someone else for purposes

other than the problem at hand. Secondary

data may be published or unpublished.

11. COLLECTING DATA USING

PRIMARY SOURCES

Research tools:

1. Questionnaires

2. Interview schedules

3. Observations

1. The questionnaire

HOW TO CONSTRUCT A QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaires must contain simple but

straightforward directions for the respondents so

that they may not feel any difficulty in answering

the question.

Do not use ambiguous questions or questions

based on presumptions (supposition or guessing; :

questions should be kept short and clear, free

from guessing and interpretations.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT A QUESTIONNAIRE

Do not ask leading questions): Don’t lead the

respondents to answer in a certain way.

Eg: How often do you wash your car?

Assumes that the respondent has a car and he

washes it. Instead, ask a filter question to find if

he has a car or not and then : " if you wash

your car, how many times a year?"

Double-barrelled questions should

be avoided.i.e. two questions in

one / asking two qustions rather

than one.
Types of questionnaire:

There are three basic types of questionnaire,

they are classified according to the kind of

questions they include:

1. Closed-ended

2. Open- ended

3. Combination of both

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Closed format questions ( closed-ended)

closed- ended questions include all possible answers/

prewritten response categories, and respondents are

asked to choose among them.

e.g. An example of a closed form questionnaire item follows:

If group tests are used in your school, by whom are they

administered?

(a) Administrators (b) Consellors,

(c) Psychologists, (d) Psychometricians,

(e) Teachers, and (f) Others

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A QUESTIONNAIRE

2. Open format questions: (open-ended)

Open- ended questions allow respondents to answer in their

own words.

It doesn’t contain boxes to tick but instead it leaves a blank

for the respondent to write in an answer.

e.g. state your opinion about the quality of X

products and services

---------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN A QUESTIONNAIRE

3. Combination of both: this way, it is possible

to find out how many people use a service and

what they think of the service in the same form.

Begin with a series of closed-ended questions,

with boxex to tick or scales to rank, and they

finish with a section of open-ended questions

or more detailed response.

Other types of questions :


4. Dichotomous questions:

e.g. Do you like the products of X company?

yes no

5. Importance questions:

e.g. Cost effective services are:

a. extremely important b. very important.

c. somewhat important d. not very important

6. Likert questions:

e.g. X Corporation products have to improve

on quality.

1. agree

2. strongly agree

3. neither agree nor disagree (undecided)

4. disagree

5. strongly disagree

7. Bipolar questions:

e.g. How would you describe the services of X

corporation?
efficient ---- -X--- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- inefficient

fast ---- ----- ---- ---X-- ---- ---- slow

reliable ---- ---- --X-- ---- ---- ---- unreliable

8. rating scales:

e.g. How would you rate the services of

X corporation?

1. good 2. fair 3. poor 4. very poor

Interview

2.1. What is an interview ?

a) A structured set of questions designed to

obtain information from a sample.

b) Oxford Dictionary definition : a meeting at

which a journalist / interviewer asks somebody

questions to find out his/her opinion ,etc ( often

shown on television or printed in newspaper ).

2.2.Why is it important ?

It is very useful for getting the story

behind a participant's experience. The

interviewer can follow in-depth information

around a topic. Interviews usually follow up

certain respondents’ questionnaires to further

investigate their responses. Usually open-

ended questions are asked during interviews.

2.3.Some Guidelines for Conducting

Interviews
Before starting to design the interview

questions and process, the researcher should

clearly articulate to himself what problem or

need is to be addressed using the information

to be gathered by the interviews. This helps

him to keep clear focus on the aim of each

question.

2.4. Preparation for Interview

1.Choose a setting with little distraction. Avoid loud

lights or noises, ensure the interviewee is comfortable.

(Often, interviewees may feel more comfortable at their

own places of work or homes.)

2. Explain the purpose of the interview.

3. Address terms of confidentiality. Note any terms of

confidentiality. Explain who will get access to their

answers and how they will be analyzed. If their

comments are to be used as quotes, get their written

permission to do so.

4. Explain the format of the interview. Explain the type of

interview you are conducting and its nature

5. Indicate how long the interview usually takes.

6.Tell them how to get in touch with you later if they

want to.

7. Ask them if they have any questions before you both

get started with the interview.

8. Don't count on your memory to recall their answers.

Ask for permission to record the interview or bring along

someone to take notes.

2.5. Types of Topics in Questions

A specialist in the field called Patton notes six kinds of questions.

One can ask questions about:

a-Behaviours - about what a person has done or is doing

b. Opinions/values - about what a person thinks about a topic

c. Feelings - note that respondents sometimes respond with "I think ..."

so be careful to note that you're looking for feelings.

d. Knowledge - to get facts about a topic

e. Sensory - about what people have seen, touched, heard, tasted or

smelled

f. Background/demographics - standard background questions, such

as age, education, etc.

2.6. Wording of Questions

Wording should be open-ended. Respondents should be able to

choose their own terms when answering questions.

Questions should be as neutral as possible. Avoid wording that

might influence answers, e.g., evocative, judgmental wording.

Questions should be asked one at a time.

Questions should be worded clearly. This includes knowing any

terms particular to the program or the respondents' culture.

Be careful asking "why" questions. This type of question infers a

cause-effect relationship that may not truly exist. These questions

may also cause respondents to feel defensive, e.g., that they have to

justify their response, which may inhibit their responses to this and

future questions.

2.7. Conducting Interviews

1.Occasionally verify the tape recorder (if used)

when working.
2.Ask one question at a time.

3.Attempt to remain as neutral as possible. That

is, don't show strong emotional reactions to their

responses. Patton suggests to act as if "you've

heard it all before."

4.Encourage responses with occasional nods of

the head, "uh huh"s, etc.

5.Be careful about the appearance when note taking.

That is, if you jump to take a note, it may appear as if

you're surprised or very pleased about an answer, which

may influence answers to future questions.

6.Provide transition between major topics, e.g., "we've

been talking about (some topic) and now I'd like to move

on to (another topic)."

7.Don't lose control of the interview. This can occur when

respondents talk about a different topic, take a long time

to answer and time is running out , or even begin asking

questions to the interviewer.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

• What question is addressed by this research? Explain the relevant

past research and the ideas that led to this question.

• What hypothesis was investigated in this study? Explain how it is

related to the research question you discussed in #1 above.

• How was the study set up? Explain why it was set up this way.

• What data were collected? Explain why the authors chose these

particular data to collect.

• What were the results?

• Explain how well the results do (or do not) support the hypothesis.

• Explain any alternative explanations for the findings (your own ideas

and/or the authors’).

• What further research does this study suggest (to you and/or the

author)? Explain why it should be conducted.

HOW TO READ A RESEARCH PAPER: A

FOUR- STEP GUIDE



the four steps: Skimming, vocabulary,

comprehension, and analysis.

1. Skimming. Skim the paper quickly, noting

basics like headings, figures and the like.

2. Vocabulary . Go through the paper word by

word and line by line, underlining or

highlighting every word and phrase you

don't understand.

HOW TO READ A RESEARCH PAPER: A

FOUR- STEP GUIDE

3. Comprehension , section by section. Try

to deal with all the words and phrases,

although a few technical terms in the

Methods section might remain. Now go back

and read the whole paper, section by section,

for comprehension.

Here are some qqs. that you might use to

help you better understand the article.

HOW TO READ A RESEARCH PAPER: A

FOUR- STEP GUIDE

4. Analysis . After you understand the

article and can summarize it, then you can

return to broader questions and draw your

own conclusions.

ANALYSING RESEARCH PAPERS

Here are some questions that may be useful in

analysing research papers:

Introduction:

• What is the overall purpose of the research?

• How does the research fit into the context of its

field? Is it, for example, attempting to show the

effectiveness of a program? show the validity of a

new technique? open up a new field of inquiry?

• Do you agree with the author's rationale for

studying the question with this particular

methodology?

ANALYSING RESEARCH PAPERS

(QQS.)

Methods:

• Were the measurements appropriate for the

questions the researcher was approaching?

• How is the study controlled? are there control

groups? If so, are they exactly comparable to the

experimental groups?

• Were the measures in this research clearly related

to the variables in which the researchers (or you)

were interested?

• If human subjects were studied, did they

accurately represent the populations under study?

ANALYSING RESEARCH PAPERS

( QQS.)

Results

• What is the one major finding?

• Were enough of the data presented so that you

feel you can judge for yourself how the experiment

turned out?

• Did you see patterns or trends in the data that the

author did not mention? Were there problems in

data interpretation that were not addressed

ANALYSING RESEARCH PAPERS

(QQS.)

Discussion

• Do you agree with the conclusions drawn from the

data?


• Are these conclusions over-generalized or

appropriately careful?

• Are there alternative interpretations of the data?

• What further experiments can you think of, to

continue the research or to answer remaining

questions ?

CONCEPTUALING A RESEARCH

DESIGN

A research design is a procedural plan that

is adopted by the researcher to answer

questions validly, objectively, accurately and

economically

References (Bibliography):

How to cite the references

You need to be aware that there are different conventions for

listing different types of sources, such as books, journals,

conference proceedings, and websites. The format for

referencing each of these sources is given below. In the

demonstrations below, the generic format for the specific type

of source is first given, followed by examples. Note that for

book referencing, the title of the book is italicized, whereas for

a journal it is the name of the journal that is in italics. Note

below that the convention is to insert a full stop (.) after the

author’s name and year (e.g. ‘Dreyfuss, H. L. (2001) .’);

however some publishers omit this convention, preferring to

implement their own house style.

Rules to follow:

There are two rules to follow in the References section :

First, you should list only significant, published references.

References to unpublished data, abstracts, theses, and

other secondary materials should not clutter up the

References or Literature Cited section. If this reference

seems to be essntial, you may add it parenthetically or as

a foortnote in the etxt.

Second, make sure that all references cited in the text are

indeed listed in the bibliography and that all the

references listed under the bibiography are indeed cited

somewhere in the text.

Most journals cite references in one of the of the

three general ways that may be referred to as :

1. Author and Year Sytem: often referred to as the

Harvard system. It has been very popular for many

years and is used in many journals and books.

Inside the text, you state only the AUTHORr+ YEAR

either with a quotation or without. Full details of the

source are given in a reference list ( bibliography) at

the end of the text. This allows the writer to

acknowledge his/her sources without significantly

interrupting the flow of the writing.

You should always include the page number when you include a

passage of direct quoatation from another writer’s work.

Eg. -The seminars……………………employees.(Lyon,1992)

-Kneeper and Cropley (1991:p.44) believe that………..

When a publication has several authors (more than two), it is

advisable to give the surname of the first author followed by et al

( an abbreviation of the Latin for « and the others ».)

Eg: Cohen et al. (2000). Research Methods in Education. 5

th

edition London: Routledge Falmer.

This is used only inside the paper. In the bibliography section, the

names of the authors should be all mentioned.

2. Alphabet-Number System: Citation by numbers is a

modification of the name and year system. Citation by numbers

keeps printing expenses within bounds particularly if it is a long

list.Some authors who have habitually used name and year tend

to dislike the alphabet-number system, claiming that citation of

numbers cheat the reader. The reader should be told, so the

argument goes, the name of the person associated with the

cited phenomenon; sometimes, the readershould also be told

the date, on the grounds that an 1897 reference might be

viewed differently than a 1997 reference.

Fortunately, these arguments can be overcome. As you cite

references in the text, decide whether names and dates are

imortant. I f they are not, use only the reference number:

Eg: "Peretyrosine is quantitatively converted to

phenylalanine under these conditions (13)." If

you want to feature the name of the author, do

it within the context of the sentence:

"The role of the carotid sinus in the regulation of

respiration was discovered by Heymans (13)."

If you want to feature th date, you can also do

that within the sentence: " Streptomycin was

first used in the treatment of tuberculosis in

1945 (13)."

3. Citation Order System: It is simply a system of

citing the references (by numbers) in the order they

appear in the paper. This system avoids the substantial

printing expense of the name and year system, and

readers often like it because they can quickly refer to

the references if they so desire in one-two-three order

as they come to them in the text. It is a useful system

for a journal that is basically a " note " journal, each

paper contatining only a few references. For long

papers, with many references, citation order is probably

not a good system.

Examples of diffrerent reference styles:

1.Author and Year Sytem:



Day, R.A.1998. How to write and publish a

scientific paper. 5th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

Hutch, E.J.1986. Guidelines on authorship of

medical papers. Ann. Interm. Med. 104: 269-

274.

Sproul,J.,H.Klaaren, and F.Mannarino. 1993.

Surgical treatment of Freiberg’s infraction in

athletes. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:381-384.

2. Alphabet-Number System:

1. Day, R.A.1998. How to write and publish a

scientific paper. 5th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

2. Hutch, E.J.1986. Guidelines on authorship of

medical papers. Ann. Interm. Med. 104: 269-274.

3. Sproul,J.,H.Kllaaren, and F.Mannarino. 1993.

Surgical treatment of Freiberg’s infraction in

athletes. Am. J. Sports Med. 21:381-384.


3. Citation Order System:

1. Hutch EJ. Guidelines on authorship of medical

papers. Ann. Intern. Med.1986; 104: 269-274.

2. Sproul J, Kllaaren H, Mannarino F. Surgical

treatment of Freiberg’s infraction in athletes.

Am J Sports Med 1993. 21:381-4.

3. Day RA. How to write and publish a scientific

paper. 5th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1998.

Notice the differences between this sytem and the previous ones.

Book:

Following the Author and Date system

Author’s surname, initials (year). Title of book,

Place of publication: Publisher .

Examples:

Dreyfus, H.L. (2001). On the Internet, London:

Routledge.

Davenport, T.H. and Prusak, L. (1998). Working

Knowledge, Boston: Harvard Business School

Press 4.

The title of the book should be formatted to distinguish it from other

details.

Journal

Author’s surname, initials (year). ‘Title of article’, Name

of Journal, volume number (issue number): page(s).

Examples:

Burns, E. (1994). ‘Information Assets, Technology

and Organisation’, Management Science, 40(12):

645–662.

Tearle, P., Dillon, P. and Davies, N. (1999). ‘Use of

information technology by English university

teachers. Developments and trends at the time of

the National Inquiry into Higher Education’, Journal

of Further and Higher Education, 23(1): 5–15.

Newspaper

Author’s surname, initials (year). ‘Title of article’,

Name of Newspaper,page(s).

In other words, same format as for a journal citing,

but without the need to provide an issue number.

Example:

Riddell, P. and Webster, P. (2006). ‘Support for

Labour at lowest level since 1992’, The Times, 9

May, p. 2.

Where the author is not known:

The Indian Agra News (2007). ‘Carbon footprints and

economic globalisation’, 18th April, p. 4.

Website

Author’s name, initials (year). ‘Title of article’ [online].

Available at: indicate website address. Last accessed: date.

Example:

Brender, A. (2004). ‘Speakers Promote Distance

Education to Audiences in Asia’ [online]. Available at:

www.chronicle.com. Last accessed: 12

th

November 2004.

For a website you might find that you have little information to write

down, or that the article you once read is no longer there. Do not

panic: the trick is to write down as much as you can. If there is no

author for the web article/source, then record the name of the

website instead, e.g. The eLearning Centre (2005). ‘eLearning is

taking giant steps!’ [online], etc.

Thesis

Author’s name, initials (year). Title of thesis, Title of

award, Institution: Place.

Fictitious examples follow:

Aitken, R. (2008). Exploring the Role of Laughter in the

Workplace, PhD thesis, Inverclyde University: Glasgow.

Or if it is an unpublished dissertation (e.g. an

undergraduate dissertation):

Anderson, T. (2008). Forecasting Economic Growth:

Lessons from Abroad, 3

rd

year Dissertation, BA

Economics, Inverclyde University: Glasgow.

Conference Proceedings

Author’s surname, initials (year). ‘Title of article’,

Name of Conference Proceedings, Place conference

was held, page(s), include website address if taken

from a website and indicate date when last

accessed. Example:

Conole, G., Oliver, M., Isroff, K. and Ravenscroft, A.

(2004). ‘Addressing Methodological Issues in e-

Learning Research’, in Proceedings of the

Networked Learning Conference 2004, Sheffield.

Available at:

www.sef.ac.uk/nlc/Proceedings/Symposa4.htm. Last

accessed: 2nd October 2004.

Lectures/Seminars


Lecture’s name, initials, (year of lecture, seminar).

Title of lecture/seminar[Information about

lecture/seminar]. Date of lecture/seminar.

Biggam, J. (2008). E-security in the Digital Age

[Lecture given to MSc E-Business students, Division

of Business Information Management, Inverclyde

University]. 3rd February.

If the lecture/seminar material is available on a

virtual learning environment (e.g. Blackboard) then

you can append this information before the date

above (Available: website details).

To record the example where Barlow, in her book written in

2007, cites a journal article written by MacFarlane in 2004,

and where you have also referred to MacFarlane in the body

of your text (as described earlier), then you can note this

information in your References section by first of all citing

MacFarlane’s journal article in the normal way, adding the

phrase ‘cited in’ (or ‘in’), then citing Barlow’s book in the
normal way, as follows:

MacFarlane, K. (2004). ‘Alternative Approach to Cognitive

Learning’, Organisational Learning, 10(2): 23–45, cited in

Barlow (2007). Learning Again, Milton Keynes: Open

University Press, p. 634

Suppose that you have read a book titled Classic and Cavalier: Essays

on Jonson and the Sons of Ben and that is made up of chapters

written by different authors and that you want to reference one of the

chapters written by Martin Elsky. You reference the chapter first, then

indicate the general book details, as shown in the example below:

Elsky, M. (1982). ‘Words, Things, and Names: Jonson’s Poetry and

Philosophical Grammar’, in Classic and Cavalier: Essays on Jonson

and the Sons of Ben, ed. by Summers, C. J. and Pebworth, T.-L.,

Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press, pp. 31–44.

Remember, you can omit the ‘pp.’ if you wish, when indicating the

chapter’s page numbers.

Citing sources is a laborious, mechanical process but it is a necessary

part of being viewed as a competent researcher. The upside is that

there are easy marks up for grabs.

Processing and Analysing data:

1) Introduction

Processing and analyzing data involve a

number of closely related operations

which are performed with the purpose of

summarizing the collected data and

organizing these in a manner that they

answer the research questions

(objectives).

2) The Data Processing Operations

1. Editing- a process of examining the collected

raw data to detect errors and omissions and to

correct these when possible.

2. Coding: the process of translating information

gathered from questionnaires or other sources

into something that can be analyzed. It involves

assigning a value to the information given—often

value is given a label.

Coding can make data more consistent:

Example: Question = “Sex?”

Answers = Male, Female, M, or F, etc…

Coding will avoid such inconsistencies

Example: variable EDUCATION, possible coding:

0 = Did not graduate from high school

1 = High school graduate

2 = Some college or post-high school education

3 = College graduate

3. Classification- a process of arranging data in

groups or classes on the basis of common

characteristics. Depending on the nature of

phenomenon involved.

a) Classification according to attributes: here data

is analysed on the basis of common characteristics

which can either be:

- descriptive such as literacy, sex, religion etc. or

- numerical such as weight, height, income etc.

E.g. Table 1. Hotel Employees with MBA Degree

YES NO TOTAL

MBA Degree

21 9 30

b) Classification according to class –

intervals: is done with data relating to

income, age, weight, tariff, production,

occupancy etc. Such quantitative data

are known as the statistics of variables

and are classified on the basis of class –

intervals.

E.g. persons whose income are within

DA 20001 to DA 40000 can form one

group or class, those with income within

D 40001 t0 DA 60000 can form another

group or class and so on. The number of

items which fall in a given class is known

as the frequency of the given class

Table 3. Saleries Received by Algerian Nurses

Income Range Frequency %

Ds.10001-20000 10 50

Ds.20001-30000 8 40

Ds.30001-40000 2 10

Total 20 100

4. Tabulation- Tabulation is the process of

summarizing raw data and displaying the same

in compact form for further analysis. It is an

orderly arrangement of data in columns and

rows. Tabulation is essential because:

a) It conserves space and reduces explanatory and

descriptive statement to a minimum.

b) It facilitates the process of comparison.

c) It facilitates the summation of items and the detection of

errors and omissions.

d) It provides the basis for various statistical computations.

Analysisng data

Data can be analysed either manually or

with the help of a computer .



Manual Data Analysis: This can be done if

the number of respondents is reasonably

small. Manual data analysis is extremely

time consuming.

Data Analysis Using a Computer: If you want to

analyse data using computer, you should be

familiar with the appropriate program. In this area,

knowledge of computer and statistics plays an

important role.The most common software is

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)

for windows. However, data input can be long and

laborious process, and if data is entered

incorrectly, it will influence the final results .

3) Hypothesis-testing: After analysing

the data as stated above, the researcher

is in a position to test the hypotheses. Do

the facts support the hypotheses or they

happen to be contrary? This is the usual

question which should be answered

while testing hypotheses.

4) Generalisations and interpretation: If

a hypothesis is tested and confirmed

several times, it may be possible for the

researcher to arrive at generalisation,

i.e., to build a theory. As a matter of

fact, the real value of research lies in its

ability to arrive at certain

generalisations.

5) Preparation of the report or the thesis:

Writing the report is the last, and for many, the

most difficult step of the research process. The

report informs the world what you have done,

what you have discovered and what

conclusions you have drawn from your findings.

The report should be written in an academic

style. Language should be formal and not

journalistic.