Dissertation

TOPIC 05 RESEARCH DESIGN

LECTURER: THANG NGUYEN @ FSB HANOI BASED ON: SAUNDERS ET AL (2012)

RESEARCH METHODS FOR BIZ STUDENTS

OUTLINE Research design Coherence Quantitative vs qualitative methods Nature of RD Research strategies Time horizon Ethics of research design Quality of research design

RESEARCH DESIGN

FINDING A ROUTE
Planning a journey: research design Destination: answering research question Planning criteria: research objectives Coherence in journey: research process/onion

RD: OVERALL PLAN TO ANSWER RESEARCH Q

Objectives Methodology Strategy Time horizon

COHERENCE

COHERENCE AMONG RD ITEMS

Objectives Method: qualitative vs quantitative Strategy: explore, describe, explain Time horizon: cross-sectional, longitudinal Sources of data How to collect and analyse data Ethical issues Constraints: access, time, money

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE
Numeric data: numbers Non-numeric data: words, images, video Quantitative: numeric data, questionnaire, graphs, statistics Qualitative: non-numeric data, interview, categorisation In reality: mixed methods

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

QUANTITATIVE RD
Philosophy: positivism and others Approach: both deductive & inductive Characteristics: random sampling Strategies: experimental & survey Survey research strategies: Questionnaire Structured interview Structured observation

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

QUALITATIVE RD
Philosophy: interpretive, naturalistic, others Approach: inductive, deductive, abductive Characteristics: non-random sampling Strategy: Action research Case study research Ethnography Grounded theory Narrative research

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

MULTIPLE METHODS RD
Philosophy: realism & pragmatism Approach: inductive, deductive, abductive Characteristics: mono method, multiple methods p169, Figure 5.2 p165, Box 5.4 p170 Strategy: Concurrent triangulation Concurrent embedded Sequential explanatory Sequential exploratory Sequential multi-phase

NATURE OF RD

EXPLORATORY STUDIES
Discover what is happening Ask open questions Lit search, expert interview, in-depth individual interview, focus group interview Flexible & adaptable to change

NATURE OF RD

DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES
Get accurate profile of events, people, situations Make conclusions based on description Evaluate data and synthesize ideas Normally, description-explanatory

NATURE OF RD

EXPLANATORY STUDIES
Establish causal relationship bet. variables Context: a situation or a problem Quantitative or qualitative

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

A PLAN OF ACTION TO ACHIEVE A GOAL

Experiment Survey Archival research Case study Ethnography Action research Grounded theory Narrative inquiry

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

EXPERIMENT
Causal relationship bet. IV and DV Hypothesis rather than research question Null hypothesis vs alternative hypothesis Variables: Independent Dependent Mediating Moderator Control Confounding

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

EXPERIMENT
Between-subjects/group design Classical: experimental & control groups Quasi-experiment: not random group Within-subjects/group design Single group: repeated measures Normally quantitative

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

SURVEY
Normally, deductive & quantitative Standardized data from a large sample Help establish relationship bet. variables Give control over research process Use sampling to reduce cost Data collection techniques: Survey Structured observation Structured interview

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Primary data source: administrative records & documents Can be historical or recent Inevitably secondary data analysis Constraints: missing data, confidentiality

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

CASE STUDY
Exploring a phenomenon within its contexts Normally, exploratory & explanatory Can be quantitative or qualitative Techniques: interview, observation, documentary analysis, questionnaire Triangulation: different data collection techniques to check consistency Single case vs multiple case Holistic case vs embedded case

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

CASE STUDY
Single case: critical/extreme/unique Multiple case: literal/theoretical replication Holistic case: organisation as a whole Embedded case: sub-units within whole Case study can be used to explore theory To challenge existing theory To generate new research questions

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

ETHNOGRAPHY
Used to study people within groups Normally, qualitative Realist: report facts & data Interpretive: subjective, multiple meanings Critical: explore impact of power for changes

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

ACTION RESEARCH
Emergent & iterative process to develop solutions to real organisational problems Purpose: practical action Process: emergent & iterative Participation: participants Knowledge: theoretical/experiential Implication: within/beyond contexts

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

GROUNDED THEORY
Process to analyse, interpret, explain the meanings constructed by social actors Normally, inductive approach Three coding stages: Open coding: categorisation Axial coding: relation between categories Selective coding: integration => theory Constant comparison: abduction Time consuming, intensive, reflective

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

NARRATIVE INQUIRY
Personal account to interpret events Collect whole story rather than bits of data Normally, qualitative & interpretive

TIME HORIZON

TIME HORIZON
Dependent on research question

CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES
Study of a phenomenon at particular time

LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
To study change and development Work with cohorts of people

ETHICS OF RD

ETHICAL ISSUES
Issues with negotiating access Research ethics Risk of embarrassment, pain, harm Exclusion of covert research

QUALITY OF RD

CANONS OF INQUIRY
Reliability: result consistency, replication Construct validity: measuring validity Internal validity: causal relationship External validity: generalisability

QUALITY OF RD

THREATS TO RELIABILITY
Participant error Participant bias Researcher error Researcher bias

QUALITY OF RD

THREATS TO INTERNAL VALIDITY

Past or recent events Testing Instrumentation Mortality Maturation Ambiguity about causal direction