The Research is used to establish or confirm facts, solve new or existing problems, reaffirm the results of previous work, support theorems or develop new theories.
Writers Michael Boyle and Mike Schmierbach in their book called “Applied Communication Research Methods” (2015) established
The Successful Steps of The Research Process:
__ Identify the research problem
__ Determine guiding research questions
__ Consult relevant theory and literature
__ Ask specific research questions and/or state hypotheses
__ Specify and define your concepts
__ Determine the research method or methods
__ Develop effective measures of key variables
__ Identify population
__ Choose your sample
__ Collect data
__ Enter and clean data
__ Analyse data
__ Write research report
__ Draw conclusions and identify limitations
__ Repeat the process!
—————RESEARCH METHODS————–
——- Qualitative versus Quantitative ——-
Qualitative –> describe Quantitative –> count
Qualitative Research: involves providing a nuanced description of individuals without counting or otherwise assigning numbers for each variable. It looks for patterns or interesting details in the description without trying to employ statistics or provide firm numerical estimates. (ex: ask to describe each show they view)
Quantitative Research: involves counting or assigning meaningful numbers to reflect the variables being measured. (ex: ask to specify the exact amount of time spent each week watching each show)
——- Ideographic versus Nomothetic ——-
Sphere of the study and the extend to which the main goal is to provide lots of detail about a narrow set of cases or board generalizations about a larger set of individuals.
Ideographic Research: involves focusing on the specific and unique characteristics of the individual cases being studied.
Nomothetic Research: looks for general patterns so as to explain how larger numbers of individuals respond in similar ways as a result of a small number of explanatory variables.
__________ Types of Study __________
| PRIMARY STUDIES | SECONDARY STUDIES |
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Meta-Analysis = statistical analysis of a systematic review
Narrative Review = Studies not selected systematically, magnitude of effect ignored
REFERENCE LIST:
Schmierbach M.,Boyle M. (2015) Applied Communication Research Methods, Taylor and Francis [online] ProQuest Ebook Central
Available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=3569656. [Accessed 18 October 2016]
McLeod, Saul (2007) Article Research Methods [online] Simply Psychology
Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/research-methods.html
[Accessed 18 October 2016]
Nicoleta Faina Blog 