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Summary Research skills (part I)
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- Research Skills
- Instelling
- Tilburg University (UVT)
summaries of lectures of research skills, including tutorials etc
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1Research Skills
Lecture 1; Part 1; Qualitative Research
What is research?:
Research:
An original investigation undertaken in order to contribute to knowledge and understanding in a
particular field. Research is a creative activity leading to the production of new knowledge. So, collect
data, and analyze it. Herein, the methodology is very important (the way you research will be done).
Knowledge = A claim is accepted because proof of truth or warrant is given
Belief/faith = a claim is accepted without proof or warrant; yet high strength of conviction
Opinion = personal point of view, varies in conviction.
Therefore, research is always knowledge based.
Research can be divided in three types:
- pure research: focuses on knowledge creation
- applied research: knowledge is applied (in an applied setting)
- evaluation research: looks more to the outcomes etc.
How to ensure quality in research?: peer reviews are the solution. Research findings must be open to
scrutiny and formal evaluation by experts in a particular field. They are qualified to review the
research in order to ensure articles quality. If the research findings are new to these expert
reviewers, then we can say that the research findings represent an original contribution to
knowledge. The reviewers assess submitted manuscripts for their originality, validity and significant
to determine whether it is published. There are also a few ways of reviewing: double blind (reviewers
do not know who the writer is and vice versa), single blind (reviewers do know the name of the
author but not the reviewers’).
Overview of qualitative research
Quantitative focuses on numbers and is useful for generalizations (trends, patterns) etc. Qualitative
research focuses on text. Useful for ‘in depth’; behavior, experiences, perspectives, phenomena’s.
Case study is the most popular and we will in this course focus on this.
Why do qualitative research?
Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and what they say
and do. They allow a researcher to see and understand the context within which actions and
decisions take place. It is the context that helps to explain why someone said something or acted the
way they did. Also by talking to people, or reading what they have written, we can find out what they
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are or were thinking. (quantitative is more suitable for cause-and-effect).
Formalized research process
You have to write a formal research proposal for your thesis. A research design is a plan for an entire
qualitative research project. This plan should be written in a research proposal. The main purpose is
to provide a road map for the whole research project. Another purpose is to convince your potential
supervisor, advisory committee and school that you are capable of doing the research and that your
project is viable. Of course, you need to be flexible and possibly change the plan as your research
progresses.
In this process you will work as followed (this is also the main aim for these lectures):
Identifying Research problems
In identifying a research problem, it is important to already select a research topic. There are three
requirements in choosing a topic:
1. You are interested in the topic;
2. A faculty member is prepared to supervise you;
3. You can obtain relevant data on the topic. (it should not just be relevant and doable, but also
accessible etc).
The research problem focuses the reader’s attention on how the study will add to the literature.
State the problem in the opening paragraph (i.e. something that needs a solution). Identify an issue
(research-based research problems or practical problems). Reference the problem using the
literature.
How does the problem differs from other parts of research?:
- a research topic is the broad subject matter being addressed in a study
- a research problem is an educational issue or problem in the study
- a purpose is a major intent or objective of the study
- research questions are those that the researcher would like answered or addressed in the study.
As you can see, the topic is broader than the problem.
Justifying the importance of the research problem:
- justification based on what other researchers have found (so read a lot)
- justification based on personal or workplace experiences
- justification based on the experiences that others have had in the workplace
On bases of these three, you can create a research problem with practical relevance. It justifies why
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your research problem is worth researching, why you are doing it and why other people can have
benefit of it.
You should locate the research problem in the opening paragraph(s). Therefore, read the opening
paragraphs of existing studies (to scan for potential use) for one or more of the following:
- what is the issue or problem?
- what controversy leads to the need for a study?
- What concern is being addressed behind the study?
- is there a sentence such as, “the problem being addressed in this study is…?”
For your own thesis, it is important to find research-gaps. What do we still need to know? And what
else do we need to know to improve practice? Also ask who your audience is: who will profit from
reading the study (e.g. other researchers, practitioners, policy makers, special populations like
parents).
Part 2 Qualitative research; Formulating research question
Why research questions (RQs)?
Your research problem comes from the research topic. Then you can make (a set up of) research
questions. You can have an idea of a research (main) question, but it is often transformed because of
literature study (literature might already have exploited your area, or you find other gaps in
literature). Qualitative research questions seek to explore or describe phenomena (but do not
provide an explanation because that is quantitative); understand the experiences, understandings,
and meanings. Qualitative research questions may be more general and can be a bit vague. Instead
of asking how one concept causes another, qualitative RQs are about how people understand or feel
about a concept. Qualitative RQs can change over the course of a study (quantitative do not!),
because it is a reflective process (the entire independent variable can change). The researcher just
has to ask himself whether the question is important and relevant.
When you suspect a cause-and-effect relationship, then it is probably quantitative. Qualitative just
gives an implication of a possible connection/relation.
You always want to write a paper that matters. Bad RQ’s always give bad research. Good RQ’s not
always give good research (often because of methodology and evaluation during the process).
The ‘so what’ test is a process for formulating (good) research questions. Throughout the process,
you keep asking yourself; ‘so what?’ to make it more significant and entrusting (ask yourself; so what
if the question is not answered/so what if you have the answer). Other ways to phrase the ‘so what’
questions are: what is significant about your research?, how does this research better the reader’s
understanding?, what are the implications of your research?, or what are the contributions to the
existing literature? Etc. Just ask yourself why you should do the study on a certain topic; that
determines the research question. Of course, literature needs to be aligned and there should be a
literature gap.
So it is important when deciding on your topic and you have relevant research questions, to ask
yourself ‘so what’ to answer the significance of your study (what will you get by doing this
research/why should people read your research?).
Rigor & Relevance of research questions
Rigor looks to validity and reliability which are forms of ‘the scientific research’. Rigor determines
whether the research is good research (like the methodology; all the data collection etc; like samples,
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surveys etc). Doing research according to your
found literature, is part of rigorous research.
Relevance determines whether it is useful
(practical). Is it relevant on the business
practitioners, does it give practical
contribution?
Research should be rigorous and relevant.
When writing your research; think about rigor and relevance and motivate your research to improve
practical relevance, without neglecting the academic rigor. This starts with defining the topic, RQ’s,
conceptualization etc.
If your research is relevant:
- then qualitative research allows scholarship (school/theoretical guys) and practice
(business/practical guys) to come together.
- then qualitative researchers in business and management study real situations and engage with
people in organization (they can use it)
- It is one way for business research to become more relevant.
Characteristics of rigorous RQ’s:
- they should be focused
- they should drive the right research design (case study, survey etc; depends on RQ)
- they should drive the management of the research project (needed time, needed resource, and
other limitations)
(Gebruik de naaste woorden en structure om aan te geven dat het qualitative is).
Example:
(It is narrowed down. Zie hoe de 5-W’s zijn gebruikt.) From the RQ, you can probably guess the
method; case studies etc.
Primary and secondary RQs: There are main RQs (primary) and secondary RQs (subject). Contributory
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