DAY 18:

Writing Research
Methodology
Research Methodology
 Research Methodology:
• Simply refers to the practical “how” of any
given piece of research.
• More specifically, it’s about how a researcher
systematically designs a study to ensure valid
and reliable results that address the research
aims and objectives.
 Research Methodology:
• For example, how did the researcher go
about deciding:
a. What data to collect (and what data to ignore)
b. Who to collect it from (in research, this is
called “sampling design”)
c. How to collect it (this is called “data collection
methods”)
d. How to analyze it (this is called “data analysis
methods”)
Methodology
 Methodology:
1. Research Design
• Is well-explained, which states the type of
technique/s the researcher utilized in the
study.
 Methodology:
2. Research Environment
• Is described briefly and concisely where the
research will be conducted but is not limited
to the details of the population, situations and
other important details.
 Methodology:
3. Research Subject/Respondents
• Are clearly described WHO or WHAT the
research is all about, it includes discussion of
the sampling techniques/selection criteria.
 Methodology:
3. Research Subject/Respondents
• SAMPLING is a process or technique of
choosing a sub-group from a population to
participate in the study; it is the process of
selecting a number of individuals for a study
in such a way that the individuals selected
represent the large group from which they
were selected (Ogula, 2005).
 Methodology:
3. Research Subject/Respondents
• Two types of sampling technique:
a. RANDOM SAMPLING
-Simple random sampling
-Fishbowl sampling
-Lottery sampling
b. NON-RANDOM SAMPLING
-Quota sampling
-Convenience sampling
-Purposive sampling
 Methodology:
4. Research Instruments
• Are described in detail according to parts,
their validation procedures and its
qualification.
 Methodology:
5. Research Procedures
• Are divided in 2 parts: Data Gathering which
provides detailed information about how the
data were gathered from where, and from
whom, by whom and when.
• Data Analysis is the part which also
discusses on how the data will be treated and
if necessary it discusses its parameter limits.
5 Primary Qualitative
Approaches/Designs
 5 Primary Qualitative
Approaches/Designs:
1. Phenomenology
• The overall aim of phenomenology is to
derive an understanding of essential
meanings as constructed through
interpretation of people’s lived experiences.
 5 Primary Qualitative
Approaches/Designs:
2. Case Studies
• Case studies take a more holistic approach to
qualitative research. They can be descriptive,
exploratory, or explanatory, so they are
certainly one of the more versatile qualitative
methodologies.
 5 Primary Qualitative
Approaches/Designs:
3. Ethnography
• The overall aim of ethnographic research is to
develop an in-depth understanding of
complex social and/or cultural phenomena
within specific settings or groups, through
direct immersion and interaction.
 5 Primary Qualitative
Approaches/Designs:
4. Grounded Theory
• The overall aim of grounded theory is to
construct a theoretical model that explains the
phenomena of interest, based on the direct
experiences and perspective of participants.
 5 Primary Qualitative
Approaches/Designs:
5. General Qualitative Inquiry
• If you don’t want to be constrained by a
specific methodology, or if your design does
not fully mesh with those described above,
you can follow a general qualitative inquiry
design.
 DAY 19:
Describing Sample Size and
Sampling Procedures
Samples and Sampling
 Samples and Sampling:
• The term sampling, as used in research,
refers to the process of selecting the
individuals who will participate (e.g., be
observed or questioned) in a research study.
• A sample is any part of a population of
individuals on whom information is obtained.
It may, for a variety of reasons, be different
from the sample originally selected.
Qualitative Sampling
Techniques
 Qualitative Sampling Techniques:
1. Purposeful Sampling
• Also known as purposive and selective
sampling, purposeful sampling is a sampling
technique that researchers use to recruit
participants who can provide in-depth and
detailed information about the phenomenon
under investigation.
 Qualitative Sampling Techniques:

2. Quota Sampling
• In quota sampling, we decide while designing
the study how many people with which
characteristics to include as participants.
Characteristics might include age, place of
residence, gender, class, profession, etc.
• The criteria we choose allow us to focus on
people we think would be most likely to
experience, know about, or have insights into
the research topic.
 Qualitative Sampling Techniques:
3. Snowball Sampling
• In this method, participants or informants with
whom contact has already been made use
their social networks to refer the researcher to
other people who could potentially participate
or contribute to the study.
• Snowball sampling is often used to find and
recruit “hidden populations,” that is, groups
not easily accessible to researchers through
other sampling strategies.
 Qualitative Sampling Techniques:

4. Convenience Sampling
• This is a sampling technique that qualitative
researchers use to recruit participants who
are easily accessible and convenient to the
researchers.
• Oftentimes this may include utilizing
geographic location and resources that make
participant recruitment convenient.
 DAY 20:
Making Meaning – Data
Analysis
Qualitative Data Analysis
 Qualitative Data Analysis:
• Involves the identification, examination, and
interpretation of patterns and themes in
textual data and determines how these
patterns and themes help answer the
research questions at hand.
 Qualitative Data Analysis:
• Qualitative analysis is (NSF, 1997):
-Not guided by universal rules
-Is a very fluid process that is highly dependent
on the evaluator and the context of the study
-Likely to change and adapt as the study evolves
and the data emerges.
Data Preparation and
Basic Data Analysis
 Data Preparation and
Basic Data Analysis:
1. Getting familiar with the Data
• Since most qualitative data is just words, the
researcher should start by reading the data
several times to get familiar with it and start
looking for basic observations or patterns.
This also includes transcribing the data.
 Data Preparation and
Basic Data Analysis:
2. Revisiting research objectives
• Here, the researcher revisits the research
objective and identifies the questions that can
be answered through the collected data.
 Data Preparation and
Basic Data Analysis:
3. Developing a framework
• Also known as coding or indexing, here the
researcher identifies broad ideas, concepts,
behaviors, or phrases and assigns codes to
them.
• For example, coding age, gender, socio-
economic status, and even concepts such as
the positive or negative response to a
question.
 Data Preparation and
Basic Data Analysis:
4. Identifying patterns and connections
• Once the data is coded, the research can
start identifying themes, looking for the most
common responses to questions, identifying
data or patterns that can answer research
questions, and finding areas that can be
explored further.
Qualitative Data Analysis
Methods
 Qualitative Data Analysis Methods:

1. Content analysis
• It is used to analyze documented information
in the form of texts, media, or even physical
items.
• When to use this method depends on the
research questions.
• Content analysis is usually used to analyze
responses from interviewees.
 Qualitative Data Analysis Methods:

2. Narrative analysis
• This method is used to analyze content from
various sources, such as interviews of
respondents, observations from the field, or
surveys.
• It focuses on using the stories and
experiences shared by people to answer the
research questions.
 Qualitative Data Analysis Methods:

3. Discourse analysis
• Like narrative analysis, discourse analysis is
used to analyze interactions with people.
• However, it focuses on analyzing the social
context in which the communication between
the researcher and the respondent occurred.
• Discourse analysis also looks at the
respondent’s day-to-day environment and
uses that information during analysis.
 Qualitative Data Analysis Methods:
4. Grounded theory
• This refers to using qualitative data to explain
why a certain phenomenon happened. It does
this by studying a variety of similar cases in
different settings and using the data to derive
causal explanations.
• Researchers may alter the explanations or
create new ones as they study more cases
until they arrive at an explanation that fits all
cases.