Research Methods

20th November 2013- 26th November 2013

Research Methods

According to Webster.edu (2013), Research Methods helps to understand the use of statistics, One needs to know a little bit about experimental design or how a researcher conducts investigations. A little knowledge about methodology will provide us with a place to hang our statistics, in other words, statistics are not numbers that just appear out of nowhere. The number generated out of research. Statistics are merely a tool to help anyone get answers to research questions.

Types of Research Studies

There are two types of research methods available and below shows the two methods with a description,

1. Qualitative- This method contains non numeric data which are collected through interviews and word of mouth.
2. Quantitative- This method contains numeric data which was collected through analysis, samples, documents.

Research Method steps

Source: Blankenship, (2013)

The above Research method steps can be used to follow when Researching into a topic or a problem.

Primary Data

This data type is also known as field research, and are more reliable than secondary data. Primary data is very important when it directly affects the organizations products and services.

Types of Primary Research

There are different types of primary research methods. Below shows the types of research methods with added information. According to OWL (2013), 

1. Interviews - Interviews are one-on-one or small groups question and answer sessions. Interviews will provide a lot of information from a small number of people and are useful when you want to get an expert or knowledgeable opinion on subject.
2. Surveys - Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger group of people. surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks.
3. Observations involve taking organized notes about occurrences in the world. Observations provide you insight about specific people, events, or locales and are useful when you want to learn more about an event without the biased viewpoint of an interview.
4. Analysis involves collecting data and organizing it in some fashion based on criteria you develop. They are useful when you want to find some trend or pattern. A type of analysis would be to record commercials on three major television networks and analyze gender roles.

Question Types.

1. Closed Questions
2. Open Questions.
3. Funneling
4. Responses

Closed Questions

Closed questions are focused on short answers. This types of questions can be answered right or wrong and these types of questions are easy to answer.

Open Questions

According to SkillsYouNeed (2013), By contrast, to closed question, open questions allow for much longer responses and therefore potentially more creative and information. there are lots of different types of open question; some are more closed than others.

Funneling

According to SkillYouNeed (2013), We can use clever questioning to essentially funnel the respondents answers- that is ask a series of questions that become more restrictive at each step, starting with open questions and ending with closed questions or vice verse.

Responses

According to SkillYouNeed (2013), as there are myriad of questions and question types so there must also be a myriad of possible responses. Theorists have tried to define the types of responses that people may have to questions, the main and most important ones are.

References

Www2.webster.edu. 2013. Research Methods. [online] Available at: http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/statmethods.html [Accessed: 26th Nov 2013].

Burgess, H. 2012. Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) | Beyond Intractability. [online] Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/batna [Accessed: 13 Nov 2013].

Blankenship, D. 2013. Steps of the Research Process - Excerpt. [online] Available at: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/steps-of-the-research-process [Accessed: 26 Nov 2013].