RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
P3 & D1
COMPARE DIFFERENT RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES FOR HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE AND ASSESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES WITH REGARD
TO ENSURING VALIDITY OF FINDINGS
Research methodologies can be simplified as methods of collecting data
(Humanities. Manchester, 2014). The objective of this assignment is to compare
different research methodologies for health and social care and also assess
research methodologies with regard to ensuring the validity of findings. There are
different types of methodologies that I will be comparing. These are primary research
which includes include questionnaires, interviews, scientific experiments and
observation, secondary research which will literature review and data. Also, there is
quantitative and qualitative.
PRIMARY RESAEARCH
Primary research is about seeking new knowledge which is not published but carried
out by the researcher. Primary research gathers data by carrying out research
Primary research can be quantitative or qualitative. Also it can be collected by the
use of questionnaires, interviews, surveys or observations. Advantages of primary
research is that the researcher can research exactly how they want to and do not
have to rely on other people’s work. Also collected data can be accurate as it could
be examined and interpreted by the researcher depending on their need rather than
relying on the explanation made by secondary data. Disadvantages of primary
research are that it can take a lot of time and cost a lot of money to conduct.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Secondary research involves in obtaining information from other sources such as the
Internet, books, newspaper, and articles. Secondary research is essential for any
research project as it would be a useful starting point for a researcher when the
researcher wants to find out about a particular topic. Also secondary research
involves finding and analysing reports of research that are already carried out by
other people. An advantage of secondary research is that it is inexpensive. It can be
easily assessed; it can provide essential background information and help to clarify a
, research problem. Disadvantages of secondary research are that it can be outdated,
not reliable, may not be applicable as it would not totally answer any research
questions. Also, there may be biases in the data that they researcher do not know.
The differences of primary research and secondary research are that primary
research is conducted by a researcher to collect data whilst secondary research is
involved in searching for an existing data that was originally collected by someone
else. Primary research conducts a survey, observes people’s behaviour or runs
interviews. Secondary research looks in journals, newspapers, books to obtain data
from. Other differences are primary research cost a lot of money to conduct but
secondary research does not as it is inexpensive. Similarities of primary research
and secondary research are that they both involve collecting data and also they both
can be quantitative and qualitative. An example can be research on marketing.
Primary research would be giving out questionnaires for individuals to fill in about the
types of marketing there are. Secondary research would be the researcher acquiring
further knowledge of the marketing industry by looking through internets,
documentaries or books. (Slide share, 2014)
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative involves numbers and measuring quantities or amount. Quantitative
data can be anaylsing and presenting using numbers which the results can be
displayed using a bar graph, pie charts, tables or line graphs. Quantitative data are
used to find out things e.g: to find out how many people have access to health care
services or to find out how many individuals are in a particular category. It requires
the use of specific measurement instruments and it can be used to test hypotheses
in experiments because of its ability to measure data using statistics. Advantages of
quantitative data are that it allows the researcher to analyse and measure data. Also
the researcher can be more objective about the findings of the research. The
disadvantage of quantitative data is that a researcher may need to study a large
amount of people to get an accurate result. Another disadvantage is that the context
of the study or experiment can be ignored.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research involves gathering data that cannot be put in a numerical form
but can be recorded using language. Qualitative data can be achieved by presenting
