Research Methodology

Part I
1

CHAPTER 4 – RESEARCH METHODS

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 Learning Objectives
2

After completing this topic, you should be

able to:
1. Explain the difference between Research Method vs.
Research Methodology.
2. Describe the different Research Methods.
3. Describe the process of conducting Research Survey:
Determining Your Desired Confidence Interval,
Acceptable Sampling Error, Required Sample Size, and
Suitable Sampling Method
4. Explain the concept of research validity

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 Research Process

Review the
Available Literature
Publish Formulate a
Findings Question

Interpret Select an Appropriate

Findings Research Design

Collect Relevant
Data
 Research Methodology vs. Research Method
4

The variety (and complexity) of research situations and

issues requires researchers to be familiar with a fairly
wide range of research methodologies and methods.
Research Methodology
 Coherent collection of theories, concepts, or ideas as they relate to a
particular discipline or field of inquiry (Wikipedia’s definition).
 Methodology includes the (research) methods used, and the
justification for and assumptions underpinning in a particular study.
 Research method, a strategy of inquiry which moves from the
underlying assumptions to research design/plan and data
collection.

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 Research Methodology vs. Research Method
6
Methods used in research differ from discipline to
discipline, depending one the methodologies.
There are mainly three methodologies
1. Quantitative methodology
2. Qualitative methodology
3. Mixed method
• From quantitative methodology, comes the quantitative
methods and from the qualitative methodology, comes the
qualitative methods
• The mixed method uses both qualitative & quantitative
research methods.
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 Research Process design

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 Qualitative methods
8
 Qualitative methods are used to manage qualitative data
for understanding and explaining social phenomena. e.g.
data from interviews, documents, and participant
observation data.
 Qualitative methods include:
 Case study,
 Action research,
 Ethnography, and
 Grounded theory.
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 Quantitative methods
9

Quantitative methods are used to study natural phenomena.

• Quantitative methods include:
 Survey methods,
 Laboratory experiments,
 Numerical methods (e.g. mathematical
modeling), &
 Formal methods (e.g. econometrics)

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 Video moment : methodology
10

Watch the following video on Deciding on the

research methodology
[Link]
mYo&list=RDLVIsAUNs-IoSQ&index=4

[Link]
v=dyHMTaQJmYo&list=RDLVIsAUNs-
IoSQ&index=4

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 Case Study
 Case study: typically applied in socially related research. It
involves an in-depth study of a single individual, group, incident,
or community.
 Case study research is the most common qualitative method

used in information systems (

 A case study is an empirical inquiry that:
 investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context,
especially when
 the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly
evident
 The researcher gives the research product to others to use it
in the field to achieve some goals.

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 Case Study cont’d
 According to Runeson and Host [13], case study is an empirical
method aimed at investigating contemporary phenomena in their
context.
 The steps followed when conducting a case study include
designing, data collection, analyzing data and developing a
conclusion [14].
 Other research methods may be included in a survey, e.g. a survey
may be conducted within a case study, literature search before the
study, and ethnographic methods like interviews and observations
may be used in data collection.”[13].
 P. Runeson and M. Höst, “Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study
research in software engineering,” Empir. Softw. Eng., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 131–
164, 2008.

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 Action research
 Action research: an attempt to solve a real-world problem while
simultaneously learning from the experience of solving the
problem .
 It is carried out in a real-world context with the researcher, as part
of the organization during investigation, solution development
and solution application .
 It is important to have “problem owner willing to collaborate to
both identify a problem, and engage in an effort to solve it” .
 Action research is a cyclic process with five phases: diagnosing,
action planning, action taking, evaluating, and specifying
learning.

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 Action research

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 Action research _2
 Action research: A reflective process of progressive problem
solving led individuals working with others in teams, or as part of
a community of practice to improve the ways they address issues
and solve problems.
 Action research aims to contribute both to the practical
concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and
to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a
mutually acceptable ethical framework
 The researcher uses the research product in the field to
achieve some goals.

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 Ethnography
 Ethnography: ethnographic research comes from the discipline
of social and cultural anthropology where an ethnographers spend
time in the field immersing themselves in the life of people
they study , placing the phenomena studied in their social and
cultural context.
 The researcher to acquire an indepth understanding, “seeing what
people are doing as well as what they say they are doing” [11].
 It uses multiple ways to research, observe, and document objects
such as people, events, or artifacts.

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 Ethnography continued
 Ethnography is systematic and often uses fieldwork.
 Fieldwork is the collection of information outside of a laboratory,
library or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used
in field research varies across disciplines.
 In basic terms ethnography is the practice of
anthropological research based on direct observation
of and reportage on people's way of life.
For the ethnographer there are two stages,
 Fieldwork, which is the process of observing and recording data.
 Production of a written description and analysis of the subject
under study.
 An ethnographer spends a significant amount of time in the field with his/her
subjects – he immerses himself in the lives of the people he/she is studying.

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 Grounded theory
18

 Grounded theory: a systematic research method in social

sciences emphasizing generation of theory from data gathered in
the process of conducting research.
 Grounded theory is a practice of developing other theories

that emerge from observing a group.

 Theories are grounded in the group’s observable experiences,

but researchers add their own insight into why those

experiences exist.

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 How do you do Grounded Theory? Cont….
19
The methodological stages are:
1. Identify your substantive area - your area of interest.
2. Collect data pertaining to the substantive area. A
Grounded Theory may use qualitative data, quantitative
data or a mixture of the two.
3. Collect observations of the substantive area and activities
occurring within the substantive area;
4. Access public or private record irrespective of form (e.g.
photograph, painting, sculpture, survey, government or
organizational document, etc.)
5. Interact with individuals or a group of individuals, face-to-
face or remotely.

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 How do you do Grounded Theory? Cont….
20

1. Open code your data as you collect it. Open coding and
data collection are integrated activities thus the data
collection stage and open coding stage occur
simultaneously and continue until the core category is
recognized/ selected.
2. Write memos throughout the entire process;
3. Conduct selective coding and theoretical sampling.
4. Sort your memos and find the Theoretical Code(s) which
best organizes your substantive codes
5. Read related literature and integrate it with your theory
through selective coding.
6. Write up your theory.

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 Survey method
 Survey methods: A Survey is a “collection of
standardized information from a specific population,
usually by means of a questionnaire or interview
 research method in which questionnaires or interview
guides are used to gather data about people and their
thoughts and behaviors.


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 What Is A Survey

1. Gathering of a sample of
data or opinions
considered to be
representative of a whole
group or population.
2. Information is collected
primarily by asking
questions.
3. Information is collected
from a sample (or portion)
of a population.

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 Why Are Surveys Conducted?
1. Surveys are primarily used to
describe characteristics of a
population.

2. Researchers use surveys to

examine the distribution of the
identified characteristics
within the population.

3. The description of the

population as a whole is
inferred by the results
obtained from the sample.
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 Surveys may be used for descriptive,
explanatory, and exploratory purposes.
They are typically used in studies that have
the individual as the unit of analysis.

Although the method may be used for other

units of analysis, some individual persons
must serve as respondents or informants.

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 Strengths of Survey Research

Only Way to Probe Opinion of a Very Large

Group

A Very Flexible Tool:

Medical, Educational, Political, Business, etc.

Facilitates Hypothesis Testing

Encourages Standardization and Systematic

Comparison

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 Weaknesses of Survey
Research

Standardization Comes at a Price

Surveys Often Don’t Get at “Why”

Respondents Might Not Have An Opinion

Respondents May Not Actively Engage

Respondents May Lie

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 Steps In Survey Research

1. Define the problem

2. Identify the population
3. Choose the type of instrument to collect
the data
4. Design, construct, pilot and refine the
instrument
5. Select a representative sample
6. Administer the survey
7. Analyze, interpret, and communicate your
findings

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 Experimentation
 Experiments: typical research method used in natural sciences. It
may involve definition of theoretical hypothesis, selection of
sample, allocation of sample, control on other variables.
 Lab demo: Researcher uses product on realistic example in

artificial environment
 Field demo: designer or researcher uses prototype/product in

the field
 Lab experiment: Others use product in artificial, controlled

conditions to achieve goals set by researcher

 Field experiment: Researcher gives the research product to

others to use it under controlled conditions, to achieve goals set

by researcher.
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 Class Task 4(b)
29

Which research method, or data collection

technique and tool are appropriate for use so
as to solve the problem argued in your group
proposal?
 Draw a summary table showing how your

objectives will be achieved. In other words

describe the research methods,
techniques, and tools that you will use to
achieve the objectives. Remember to
justify your choices.

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 Class Task 4 (FOR BSE)
30

How do these research methods compare

with requirements gathering techniques
How different are they
How similar are they

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 More References

S. Easterbrook, J. Singer, M.-A. Storey, and D.

Damian, “Selecting Empirical Methods for
Software Engineering Research,” Guid. to
Adv. Empir. Softw. Eng., pp. 285–311, 2008.
C. Wohlin and A. Aurum, “Towards a Decision
making Structure for Selecting a Research
Design in Empirical Software Engineering,”
Empir. Softw. Eng., vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 1427–
1455, 2015.

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