Assignment Task

Research Methodology

When referring to the methodology we are talking about whether the researchers employed a quantitative methodology, a qualitative methodology, or a mixed methods approach. You need to state the methodology used in each article, followed by a brief explanation of what that methodology involves, and then a justification for why you believe the article employs this methodology (using evidence from the article). This argument can be made with regards to the data collection and data analysis methods. For example, in-depth interviews (a data collection method) tend to be associated with a qualitative methodology, while statistical analysis (a data analysis method) is associated with a quantitative methodology. Look at the data collection and analysis methods, as well as what the researchers are trying to gather (numerical, objective data, or rich, detailed, subjective data). Use both the data collection and data analysis methods, as well as any other information you find from the article, to support your answer.

The Research Problem

When reading each article, consider the sorts of things investigated, and what is of importance to positivists, interpretivists, and critical realists.

This will guide you in terms of what the authors emphasise. You need to produce the problem statement of each article. Do not “answer” the criteria. State what the problem is, why it is a problem, how it is being investigated and what the purpose statement is. In addition, elaborate on the type of study the authors are doing (In terms of the type of research, you need to determine whether the research is exploratory, explanatory, descriptive, correlative etc.) This is all dealt with on pages 85-92 of your textbook.

The research problem

In this question you need to follow the criteria for a research problem (page 76 of your textbook), using the new paradigms. The key to getting good marks in this question is that you not only incorporate the criteria,

but that the problem and the purpose of the research align with the paradigm. Consider the sorts of thing investigated, and of importance to positivists, interpretivists, and critical realists. This will guide you in terms of what to emphasise in your problem statement. You need to produce a problem statement for each article. Do not “answer” the criteria. State what the problem is, why it is a problem, why it should be saved and a purpose statement.

The research questions

In this question, all you need to do is create one main research question for each article and 3 sub-questions, based on the new paradigm. Make sure that it is a question (not a statement) and make sure that it aligns with the paradigm. E.g. A positivist may be looking to understand a relationship, or the impact of one variable on another variable, while an interpretivist may be trying to understand a particular experience, or the perspectives of participants on a given topic. Remember it must have a ? at the end of the question.