RESEARCH METHODOLOGY- MASTERS

1. Hhhh
research methodology
Definition
Popular Terms
The process used to collectinformation and data for the purpose ofmaking business decisions.The methodology
may include publication research,interviews,surveys and other research techniques,and could include both present
and historical information.
1. A collection ofindividuals who have regular contactand frequentinteraction,mutual influence,common feeling of
camaraderie,and who work together to achieve a common setofgoals.
2. Mathematics:A subdivision ofa set.
Read more:http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/group.html
manipulated var...
quantitative da...
qualitative dat...
group
representative...
ABC analysis
equipment
environmental a...
Use 'research methodology'in a Sentence
The research methodologyenabled the team to organize their efforts into one cohesive and conceptual productidea
generation task for us.
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You need to have a good research methodologyin place when trying to figure out new ideas for your company.
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Our research methodologywas reallygood and I considered itto be the bestavailable in the business world today.
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Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/research-methodology.html
Methodologies1
Introduction

2. The w ay you approach your question willhave a profound effect upon the w ayyou construct your dissertation, so this section
discusses the types of researchyou might undertake for your dissertation. The use of literature and case studies is considered and
the merits of primary research are debated and advice is given on the use of existing research data. You may not be fond of
statistics, but the potential relevance of a quantitative approach should be considered and similarly, the idea of qualitative analysis
and conducting your ow n research may yield valuable data. The possibilities of using quantitative and qualitative data are also
discussed.
Watch video on approaching methodologies (.wmv)
What approach should I take - qualitative or quantitative?
This video clip contains comments from the follow ing academics:
 Dr Iain Garner - Psychology
 Alan McGauley - Social Policy
 Shaw na McCoy - Criminology
 Kevin Bonnett - Sociology
What approach should I take - qualitative or quantitative?
Your approach, researchdesign, and research question are allconnected. 'Approach' means something more than the type of data
you use – it refers to your overallorientation to research and the type of claims you w illmake for your study. Dissertations can be
based on either quantitative or qualitative data, or on a combination of both. How you choose this may depend on your preferences
and abilities, and the suitability of particular approaches to your topic. You need to be able to justify w hy you have chosento use
such data. Quantitative data is particularly usefulwhen you wish to discoverhow common particular forms of behaviour such as
illegal drug use are for a particular age group. Qualitative data is particularly usefulw hen you wish to find out w hy people engage in
such behaviour.
Think about the Research Methods modules you have taken so far. Think about the different kinds of studies you have read for
other modules. There is plenty of scope to use the approaches and methods that you are most comfortable w ith. You need
tojustify your approach and methods and to cite appropriate literature to help you do this.
What if I want to findout about social trends, or the measurable effectsof particular policies?
You w illprobably w ant to use large datasets and undertake quantitative data analysis, and you w illbe adopting a realist approach to
the topic studied. Quantitative dissertations are likely to be nearer to the low er end of the range of approved lengths for the
dissertation (e.g. if the length is to be 5,000-8,000 w ords, dissertations based on quantitative analysis are likely to be closer to 5,000
w ordsin length). They w illalso include tables and figures giving your important findings. Remember that all tables must be carefully
titled and labelled and that sources of your data must be acknow ledged.
What if I want to record people'sviewson an issue, and give them a 'voice'?
You w illprobably w ant to use in-depth qualitative data, and you may w ish to adopt a realist, a phenomenologist, or a constructionist
approach to the topic. Qualitative dissertations w illinclude descriptive material, usually extracts frominterviews, conversations,
documents or field notes, and are therefore likely to be nearer to the upper limit of your w ord range (e.g. 8,000 w ords). The types of
method suitable for a dissertation could include content analysis, a small scale ethnographic study, small scale in-depth qualitative
interview ing.
Whether you choose qualitative or quantitative analysiswill dependon several things:
 Your preferred philosophicalapproach (realist, phenomenologist or constructionist).
 Your skills and abilities w ith methods of data collection (if needed) and analysis.
 The topic or issue you are interested in.
 How you frame your research question.
Can I combine qualitative and quantitativemethods?
There are many w ays in w hich qualitative and quantitative data and analysis can be combined. Here are tw o examples.

3.  You may be interested in doing an analysis that is primarily quantitative, looking at social trends, or policy implications.
How ever you also want to introduce a 'human touch' by conducting one or severalinterviews asking what these trends
mean to people or how particular individuals experience events. Afterdoing your quantitative analysis, you should include
a chapter or section on the qualitative data you have collected. In your discussion of findings you can use the qualitative
data to help you understand the patterns in the quantitative analysis.
 You may be interested in doing an evaluative case study of a process or policy. You willhave a particular focus – a 'case'
that you are looking at. You w illtriangulate methods – i.e. collect data in severaldifferent ways, and some of these data
may be quantitative. You w illanalyse each type of data and describe this, and then w rite a discussion that showshow
each piece of analysis contributes to the overallpicture of w hat is going on.
Your supervisor or research methods tutor may be able to give you detailed examples of these or other w ays to combine methods.
Can my dissertation be entirely literature-based?
Yes. If you decide to do a primarily theoreticaldissertation, it is almost certain that your dissertation willbe entirely literature-based.
This is likely to be the methodology of theoreticalanalysis: selection and discussion of theoreticalmaterial and descriptive material,
in context, and detailed comparison of theories in terms of their applicability. You might ask how usefulcertain concepts or theories
are for understanding particular patterns of behaviour. How usefulis the concept of institutionalracism? Is objectivity in the media
possible? How usefulis subculturaltheory for understanding virtualcommunities? Here, the focus of attention is not so much to
discover something about the social w orld, for example virtualcommunities, as to reach a judgement about the value of key
concepts or theories in understanding that w orld. How the study is approached and how contrasting approachesare drawn upon
needs to be stated very clearly.
A library-based or theoreticalstudy is not necessarily 'easier' than an empirical study, indeed, it may w ellbe harder. Remember that
theoreticalstudies, like data-based studies, need to have their research design spelled out fromthe start.
But even if your dissertation is more empirically focused, it could still be entirely literature-based. You might choose to conduct a
review of a field of w ork. What does the research literature in this field tell us about x? While all dissertations willinclude a literature
review , it is possible to produce a dissertation that is entirely based on a review of the literature. If you do this, it is important to
review the literature froman explicit angle and identify some themes to make the review distinctive. You might, for example, explore
empirical debates in your chosen field across differentcountries or time periods.
What is case study research?
Whilst it is possible for dissertations to be entirely literature-based, the most common form of dissertation takes the form of a case
study. Here the focus of attention is on a particular community, organisation or set of documents. The attraction of this kind of
dissertation is that it stems fromempirical curiosity but is at the same time practical. You may be interested in a w ider question but a
case study enables you to focus on a specific example. A major challenge in case study dissertations is connecting your own
primary research or re-analysis with the broader theoreticalthemes and empirical concerns of the existing literature.
What's an empirical study?
Most dissertations demand either primary or secondary research. In other w ords, you usually have to analyse data that you have
either collected yourself or data that is already available. The reason for this is that the questions dissertations usually address take
the follow ing form: Is x happening? Is x changing? Why is x happening? Why is x changing? These questions demand primary or
secondary analysis of data.
Case Study 9 Think hard before you decide to undertake empirical research:a student's view
What is secondary analysis?
Secondary analysis is w hen you analyse data which was collected by another researcher. It allow s the researcherto explore areas
of interest w ithout having to go through the process of collecting data themselves in the field. The problem w ith using fieldw ork
methods in an undergraduate dissertation, however, is that they are costly in terms of time (w hich is relatively scarce in your final
year!) and possibly your ow n financialresources too. You may choose, therefore, to undertake secondaryresearch, analysing
existing data.

4. Where do I find existing research data?
There are a range of documents that already contain research data that you can analyse. You may, for example, be interested in
exploring w hether gender stereotypes in the media are changing. This might entail content analysis of new spapers, magazines,
video or other media over different time periods. Here you w ould not be collecting your ow n data but instead w ould be analysing
existing documents.
Download Case Study 6 Media research
If you are interested, for example, in doing historicalresearch, you may need to visit archives. Government reports and
autobiographies may also be used as data.
Other documents include officialstatistics, datasets(statisticaldata), and banks of interview transcripts which are allfreely available
to the academic community. Increasingly, documents, databases and archives are readily accessible online. Research Methods
tutors on your course w illbe able to advise on the availability and accessibility of such data sets.
There are some advantages of doing secondary analysis, particularly if you are doing a quantitative study. You w illbe able to w ork
w ith much larger datasets than you could have collected yourself. This has the follow ing advantages:
 They allow you to discuss trends and socialchanges.
 The data are often collected through a random sample, w hich allows you to generalise to the population under
consideration.
 They may also allow you to make comparisons over time, as some datasets are products of longitudinal studies.
Examples of large datasets include the British Crime Survey, and the Youth Cohort Study. Smaller, more targeted
datasets may also be available.
 Secondary analysis has disadvantages also: the data w ere collected fora purpose different fromyours.
 You have to find out something about that purpose, as w ellas the methods of collection, in order to justify your use of a
secondary dataset.
Collecting you own data - primary research
Quantitative data may also result from non-participant observations or other measurements (e.g. in an experimental design). Also,
sometimes data that are collected through qualitative processes(participant observation, interviews)are coded and quantified. Your
research methods tutor can give you further information on these types of data, but here are some common quantitative data
collection methods and their definitions:
Self-completion
questionnaires
A series of questions that the respondent answers on their ow n. Self-completion questionnaires are good for
collecting data on relatively simple topics, and for gaining a general overview of an issue. Questionnaires need
to have clear questions, an easy to follow design, and not be too long.
Structured
interview s
Similar to a self-completion questionnaire, except that the questions that are asked by an interview er to the
interview ee. The same questions are read out in the same w ay to allrespondents. There w illtypically be a fixed
choice of answ ersfor the respondents.
Structured
observation
Watching people and recording systematically their behaviour. Prior to the observation, an observation
schedule w illbe produced w hich details w hat exactly the researchershould lookfor and how those
observations should be recorded.
If you are conducting a qualitative analysis you are likely to w ish to use at least some original material. This may be collected
through in-depth interview s, participant observation recordingsand fieldnotes, non-participant observation, or some combination of
these. Below are some data collection methods that you might w ant to use for your dissertation:
In-depth
interview s
A w ay of asking questions which allowsthe interviewee to have more controlof the interview . The interview could be
semi-structured, which usesan interview schedule to keep some controlof the interview , but also allow s for some
flexibility in terms of the interview ee’s responses. The interview could be unstructured, here the aim is to explore the
interview ee’s feelings about the issue being explored and the style of questioning is very informal. Or the interview
could be a life history w here the interviewer tries to find out about the w hole life, or a portion of the person’s life.
Focus groups A formof interview ing where there are severalparticipants; there is an emphasis in the questioning on a tightly

5. defined topic; the accent is on interaction w ithin the group and the joint construction of meaning. The moderator tries
to provide a relatively free rein to the discussion.
Participant
observation
This involves studying people in naturally occurring settings. The researcher participatesdirectly in the setting and
collects data in a systematic manner. The researcher willobserve behaviour, listen to conversations, and ask
questions.
Spend some time looking at generalbooks about research - they w illgive you an overview of the data collection methods available
and help you to make the best choice for your project. Bryman (2004) w ould be a usefulstarting point.
For any piece of research you conduct,be it empirically based (quantitative or qualitative) or library based, its methods must be
justified. You need to show in the finaldissertation how you have given consideration to different methods, and w hyyou have
chosen and eliminated these.
STUDENT VOICE: Findings from our research
In our study, supervisorssaw part of their role as someone w ho drawsout students’reasonsfor choosing a particular research
approach. Often in early supervision meetings they ask students to justify their reasons for choosing a library-based or an empirical
study. (Todd, Smith and Bannister 2006, p167).
Your supervisor willw ant you to offerconvincing reasons as to why you’ve chosen the approach you have - so be ready!
If you’re having difficulty making that choice, don’t be afraid to ask your supervisor fortheir advice. This w as particularlyusefulfor
one of our respondents:
STUDENT VOICE
It's been a valuable experience for me it's so different fromother stuff. With other essays you can rush themif you have to ... but this
is so much w ork, you can't rush it. It demands more. (Todd, Bannister and Clegg, 2004, p340)
….My reasons for data collection is literature based as my research question involved sensitive subjects which would have been
unsuitable for primary data collection. (Level6 students at Sheffield Hallam University)
I chose primary data because it w ould enable me to build skills that w ould be usefulfor postgraduate study. (Level6 students at
Sheffield Hallam University)
It w illinvolve primary data, secondary data, quantitative and qualitative research methods, lit review s, theoryand policy studies and
an exploration of alternatives. My dissertation is to be based around the experience of 'poverty', as poverty is the experience.
Theories and policies are not. How ever, to do justice to the subject, theories and policies w illbe included so Iam able to
demonstrate w here failures in the systemmay exist. (Level6 students at Sheffield Hallam University)
Note: Research must be conducted in a sensible and ethical manner; data must be analysed and presented in a rational manner. It
is important that students do not expose themselves or others to dangers or risks w hen conducting research. Students need the
approvalof their dissertation supervisor beforeembarking on any type of fieldw ork(see the section on Research Ethics for more
information).
Will my research be inductive or deductive?
In general, deductive research is theory-testing and inductive research is theory-generating. Often people link deductive research
w ith quantitative experiments or surveys, and inductive research with qualitative interviewsor ethnographic work. These links are
not hard and fast – for instance, experimentalresearch, designed to test a particular theory through developing a hypothesis and
creating an experimental design, may use quantitative or qualitative data or a combination. If your research startswith a theory and

6. is driven by hypotheses that you are testing (e.g. that social class background and socialdeprivation or privilege are likely to affect
educational attainment), it is, broadly speaking, deductive. How ever much research combines deductive and inductive elements.
What's all this about research design?
Research design is vital to conducting a good piece of w ork. At the start of your research you need to set dow n clearly:
 Your research focusand research question.
 How you propose to examine the topic:
o approach
o methods of data collection
o methods of data analysis
 The types and sources of information you need.
 How you w illaccessthese sourcesof information (be they people, existing datasets, biographicalaccounts, media articles
or w ebsites, officialrecords).
 The proposed outcome of this research (in your case, a dissertation) and the form it w illtake.
 A time-frame for all this.
You and your supervisor willdiscuss your design and decide w hetherthe research is 'do-able'. Your universitymay require you to
produce a report (e.g. an 'interim framew orkreport' or a short 'research proposal') that specifiesyour research design. Other people
may have to look at the design to ascertain w hether there are ethicalissues that affect your research.
Summary
 Quantitative or qualitative? A quantitative approach willmean you w illneed substantialdatasets, as w ellas the
inclusion of tables and statistics in your finalsubmission. This information could come froma variety of sources -
remember to acknow ledge them! A qualitative approach willprobably mean conducting interview sor focusgroups or
observing behaviour. Askyourself if you are prepared to do this, and think about the best w ay of getting the answersyou
w ant frompeople. Will you stop people in the street? Will you conduct telephone interview s? Willyou send out survey
forms and hope that people return them? Will you be a participant or non participant observer?
 Deductive or inductive? Deductive research is theory-testing, which is often linked to datasets, surveysor quantitative
analysis. Inductive research is theory-generating, and is often linked to qualitative interview s.
 Empirical or theoretical?An empirical studycould involve close analysis of statisticsor some formof qualitative
research. How ever, a theoreticalstudybrings its own challenges, and you may be called upon to compare theories in
terms of their applicability.
 Once you have decided upon your approach, you can w rite out a research design, i.e. how you are going to approach the
project.
 Now look a little at the research methods that you have studied. Apart frommatching your research to your generalsense
of objective/subjective reality, it is important to ensure that you match your methodology to the problem you are pursuing.
 What kind of data do you need to answ er your question/test your hypothesis? How would you best be able to collect that
data?
 Again, consider time and feasibility of the exercise. The ability to manage your time w illbe directly related to your ability to
controlthe boundaries of the study – especially if it is closely linked to your w orkplace.
 Now that you have got so far, try to w rite up your research proposalas far as you can. Make sure that you identify w here
your proposalneeds further workand, at the same time, w here you willhave to put your maximum effort. It may be helpful
to draw a criticalpath so that you are clear w hich actions you need to take and in w hat sequence. You willfind it helpful to
plot your research questions on the chart on the next page and ensure that your plans for collecting data really answ er the
question as w ellas avoiding ethical problems.
 At this stage you must be really ruthless w ith yourself. How viable is it? What are the threats to the study? Try some 'w hat
if?' questions on yourself. It w illbe better to go backto the draw ing board now, than once the project is underw ay.
 IMPORTANT: Whatever approach you settle on, you MUST be able to justify its appropriateness to your topic and
question.
Key Questions

7.  Does the data required to answ er your question already exist or willyou have to generate your ow n data?
 Can you combine quantitative w ith qualitative methods? e.g. a survey which includes interviewsor a case study that looks
at a situation from numerous angles.
 What factors may limit the scope of your research? (time, resources, etc.)
 Which method(s) best suit the questions and time you have available to do this study?
 Do you know the differences between typesof data, and types of analysis?
 Does your project have clear links betw een theory and practice?
Further Reading
ABC analysis
Definition
Popular Terms
An analysis ofa range of items that have different levels of significance and should be handled or controlled
differently. It is a form of Pareto analysis in which the items (such as activities,customers,documents,inventory
items,sales territories) are grouped into three categories (A, B, and C) in order of their estimated importance.'A'
items are very important,'B' items are important,'C' items are marginallyimportant.
For example,the bestcustomers who yield highestrevenue are given the 'A' rating, are usuallyserviced by the sales
manager,and receive mostattention. 'B' and 'C' customers warrantprogressivelyless attention and are serviced
accordingly.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ABC-analysis.html
ResearchApproach
ResearchApproach
Research approach can be divided into three types:
1. Deductive research approach
2. Inductive research approach
3. Abductive research approach

8. Research approach can be divided into three types:
1. Deductive research approach
2. Inductive research approach
3. Abductive research approach
The relevance of hypotheses to the study is the main distinctive point between deductive and
inductive approaches. Deductive approach tests the validity of assumptions (or
theories/hypotheses) in hand, whereas inductive approach contributes to the emergence of new
theories and generalizations. Abductive research, on the other hand, starts with ‘surprising facts’
or ‘puzzles’ and the research process is devoted their explanation.[1]
The following table illustrates the major differences between deductive, inductive and abductive
research approaches in terms of logic, generalizability, use of data and theory.[2]
Deduction Induction Abduction
Logic
Inadeductive inference,
when the premises are
Inaninductive inference,
known premises are used
to generate untested
Inanabductive inference,
known
premises are used to

9. true, the conclusion must also
be true
conclusions generate testable
conclusions
Generalizability
Generalising fromthe
general tothe specific
Generalising fromthe
specifictothe general
Generalising fromthe
interactions betweenthe
specificand thegeneral
Use of data
Data collection isusedto
evaluate propositions or
hypotheses related to an
existing theory
Data collection isusedto
explore a phenomenon,
identify themes and
patterns and create a
conceptual framework
Data collection isusedto
explorea phenomenon,
identifythemesand
patterns, locate these ina
conceptual framework
and testthis through
subsequent data collection
and soforth
Theory
Theory falsificationor
verification
Theory generation and
building
Theory generation or
modification;
incorporating existing
theory where
appropriate, to build new
theory or modify existing
theory
Discussion of research approach is a vital part of any scientific study regardless of the research
area. Within the methodology chapter of your dissertation to you need to explain the main
differences between inductive, deductive and abductive approaches and specify the approach
you have adopted for your research by breaking down your arguments into several points.
Let’s illustrate the application of each research approach for a following study:
Effects of labour migration within the EU on the formation of multicultural teams in UK
organizations
Deductive Research Approach
If you have formulated a set of hypotheses for your dissertation that need to be confirmed or
rejected during the research process you would be following a deductive approach. In deductive
approach, the effects of labour migration within the EU are assessed by developing hypotheses
that are tested during the research process.

10. Dissertations with deductive approach follow the following path:
Deductive process
The following hypotheses can be developed in order to assess the effects of labour migration
within the EU on the formation of multicultural teams in UK organizations using a deductive
approach:
Hypothesis: Labour migration within the EU contributes to the formation of multicultural
teams in UK
Inductive Research Approach
Alternatively, inductive approach does not involve formulation of hypotheses. It starts with
research questions and aims and objectives that need to be achieved during the research
process.
Inductive studies follow the route below:
Inductive process

11. Referring to the example above, the effects of labour migration within the EU on the formation
of multicultural teams in UK organizations can be accessed via finding answers to the following
research questions:
Research question: How does labour migration within the EU effect the formation of
multicultural teams in UK?
Abductive Research Approach
In abductive approach, the research process is devoted to explanation of ‘incomplete
observations’, ‘surprising facts’ or ‘puzzles’ specified at the beginning of the study. Referring to
the research topic of the effects of labour migration on the formation of multicultural teams in
the UK discussed above, you may observe that labour migration within the EU was actually
decreasing the extent of cross-cultural differences within teams in the UK.
Then, your study can be devoted to the explanation of this phenomenon by using qualitative and
quantitative methods of data collection and data analysis in an integrated manner…
My e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation in Business Studies: a step by step
assistance contains discussions of theory and application of research approaches. The e-book
also explains all stages of the research process starting from the selection of the research
area to writing personal reflection. Important elements of dissertations such as research
philosophy, research design, methods of data collection, data analysis and sampling are
explained in this e-book in simple words.
John Dudovskiy

12. [1] Bryman A. & Bell, E. (2015) “Business Research Methods” 4th edition, Oxford University
Press, p.27
[2] Source: Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2012) “Research Methods for Business
Students” 6th edition, Pearson Education Limited