Research Main Aspects

Usama Bin Iqbal

Lecture # 4
Qualitative Research Techniques
Research Proposal – Start of Research
 It
is a Road map showing
clearly:
 
a. the location : the journey starts,
 
b. the destination to be reached
and

c. the method/s of getting there,

Every Research is based mainly on
three questions:

 What?

 Why?


 How?
A good research design consist of the following
main questions: [Wilkinson, 1990]

 Why this study is being made?

 What the study is about?

 What are the types of data needed?

 Where the data needed can be found?

 In what area the study will be carried?

 What period of time the study will include?

 How much material or how many cases
(samples) will be needed?

 Which sampling method will be adopted if

any?

 What tools/techniques for getting data will

be adopted?

 What type of research will it be?

 How the data will be analyzed?

 How best can these questions be addressed
to achieve the desired results within
Contents of Research
 Hypothesis Formulations
 Abstract
 Background of Research  Research Design
 Introduction of Research  Nature of Research
 Problem Statement  Population and Sampling
 Research Objective  Sampling Technique and Size
 Importance / Significance of  Data Collection
Research  Data Analysis
 Scope of Research  Hypothesis Testing with
 Limitations of Research Results
 Literature review  Conclusion
 Variables of Research  Recommendation
 Theoretical Framework  Appendices
 Research Questions
 Interview Questions
Background of Research
 Why you Thought it is important?
 Why in the entire world you chose this topic?
 Any idea? / Inspiration? / Thought? /
Motivation?
 Link your thoughts with literature
Introduction of Research
 Make your reader aware of the topic.
 Search relevant material from research papers
 Introduction to the topic / research / industry /
phenomena etc
 The introduction will be the first thing the
reader sees. If an introduction is poorly
written or constructed, if it is boring, if it does
not tell readers what they need to know, if it
does not help readers to orient themselves to
your paper—then you have lost your readers'
goodwill right from the beginning,
An introduction should do the following:
 Alert a reader’s interest.
 Indicate the scope and direction of the paper,
and act as a navigation guide to its reading.
 Show the reader how you are interpreting and
approaching the question.
 Provide a context for the main issue.
 Indicate the focus of the paper.
 Indicate your conclusion and point of view.
Introduction Length
 A useful rule of thumb is: an introduction
should be no shorter than one-twelfth and no
longer than one-tenth of the total assignment.
 Thus a 2000-word essay would have an
introduction somewhere between 160 and 200
words;
 a 3500-word report between 290 and 350
words.
Problem Statement
 The Problem statement is the most important
sentence in your paper. If someone asked you,
“What does your paper say?” your answer
would be your thesis statement. Everything
you write will support this statement.
 If your Research Problem is poorly worded,
unfocused or ambiguous, the rest of your
research is likely to go off‐track very early;
you will do a great deal of unnecessary
reading and writing, losing sight of the big
picture (and probably your mind!).
A good Problem statement usually
includes
 A good thesis statement usually includes

 Main idea of the paper. ONE idea. The entire paper is based on this
statement.

 Your opinion or point of view. The thesis statement is not a fact nor a
question, but your view of the topic and what you want to say about it.

 Purpose of the paper. From the thesis, it should be clear what the paper will
do.

 Answer to the research question. Ask yourself the question and then answer
it with your thesis. Is it truly an answer? (if not, change the question or the
answer!)

 An element of surprise. This means that the thesis is interesting, engaging,

and perhaps not so expected.

 Clarity. It should be understandable after one reading and have no mistakes.

Research Objective
 The ultimate ambition of Research.
 What you want to achieve?
 Do you wish to see the impact of one thing (variable) over
another thing (variable).
 Eg: To determine the impact of Interest Rate upon shopping

 Do you wish to see the effect of one thing (variable) over

another thing (variable).
 Eg: To evaluate if good Advertisement may leads to
increase in sales.
 Do you wish to see predict the relationship between two
variables
 Eg: To predict the relationship between Employee
Motivation and Job Satisfaction.
Importance / Significance of Research
 The section on significance of the study
provides information to the reader on how the
study will contribute. 
 What are the Benefits of Research?
 Write the significance of the study by looking
into the general contribution of your study,
such as its importance to society as a whole,
then proceed downwards—towards its
contribution to individuals and that may
include yourself as a researcher. 
 Write in elaborated bullet points…
Scope of Research
 It show to both the readers and writer that
what is aimed at and what is to be expected
 It is mainly based on three Main Aspects.
 First Mention Area of Research ( HR,
Marketing, Finance etc)
 Secondly mention Time Period ( Cross
Sectional or Longitudinal)
 Third Mention Which Entities would be
benefited by the Research. (Country / Industry
/ Organization)
Limitations of Research
 Limit act as shield of your research.
 It limit your perspective and broaden your
scope.
 Limit may imposed on Industry, Time,
Population, Sample Size, Nature of Research.
Literature review
 A literature review or narrative review is a
type of review article. A literature review is
a scholarly paper, which includes the current
knowledge including substantive findings, as
well as theoretical and methodological
contributions to a particular topic.
 It is basically an article that is written by you
but its not your article.
 Your Thoughts - Other Publish Material
- Your words - Logical structure.
Ways to Write Literature review
 Favor and Against
 Chronological Order
 Region Wise
 Anything Related to Topic
 Variable Based
 Strongest to Weakest
 Weakest to Strongest
Variables of Research
 All research projects are based around
variables. A variable is the characteristic or
attribute of an individual, group, educational
system, or the environment that is of interest
in a research study.
 Variables can be straightforward and easy to
measure, such as gender, age, or course of
study. Other variables are more complex, such
as socioeconomic status, academic
achievement, or attitude toward school.
Example:
 A researcher is interested in low levels of literacy.
Literacy itself is still a broad topic. In most
instances, the broad topic and general variables
need to be specifically identified. For example,
the researcher needs to identify specific variables
that define literacy: reading fluency (the ability to
read a text out loud), reading comprehension
(understanding what is read), vocabulary,
interest in reading, etc. If a researcher is
interested in motivation, what specific motivation
variables are of interest: external motivation,
goals, need for achievement, etc?
Theoretical Framework
 The theoretical framework is the structure
that can hold or support a theory of a
research study. The theoretical
framework introduces and describes
the theory that explains why the research
problem under study exists.
 In simple words its “Interaction of Variables”
Three Ways to Identify Variable
 Variables Based ( Most Used Variable in
literature review)
 Expert Opinion
 Industry Expert
 Research Expert
 Researcher Own Judgment / Observation.
Research Questions
 A research question can serve the following purposes in a research:
 Guide the researcher focusing on the research problem,
research objective, research approach & research delivery -
at the end of the research, the researcher needs to answer the
research question asked initially.
 A research question can provide guidance how to develop a
conceptual framework / research model.
 A research question can provide guidance how to form a
hypothesis or hypotheses.
 A research question can provide cue how to operationalize the
research e.g. forming the constructs / variables operational
definition, getting the right instrument / survey questionnaire etc.
to collect data.
 A research question can provide idea on what data analysis to be
conducted e.g. multiple regression, moderation, mediation,
analysis of variance etc.
Research Question Example
 Research Topic: Is it safer for women to get marry
at early age?
 Thesis: Early marriages are safe.
 Sections:
 I. Early marriages nothing harmful to health.
 II. Early marriages brings harmony women
life.
 III. Myths about early marrige are wrong.
Research Question Example
 Research Topic: Why has childhood obesity increased in
the United States?
 Thesis: Childhood obesity has increased in the
United States due to the unhealthy environment
in which many American children are raised.
 Research Questions.
 I. Children eat more than in the past.
 II. Children often do not eat healthy meals.
 III. Children do not have as much physical activity
as in the past.
 IV. Parents model bad habits.
 V. Others say that food companies, advertising
are responsible.
Interview Questions
 Interviews are most effective for
qualitative research: They help you explain,
better understand, and
explore research subjects' opinions,
behavior, experiences, phenomenon, etc. 
 Interview questions are usually open-
ended questions so that in-depth information
will be collected
 “Tell me about your experience working at
[xxx].”
 “What did it feel like to work in xyz
organization ?”
 “What stood out to you as the defining
Hypothesis Formulation
 Hypothesis is defined as “A tentative
assumption made in order to draw out and
test its logical or empirical consequences.” ...
 Thus, every test should start with
a hypothesis that you are trying to prove or
disapprove. So formulating a hypothesis is
the quicker, more accurate and less expensive
way of solving a problem
 Example: There is no significant relationship
between Training and Motivation.

Qualitative Research Hypothesis
 In qualitative research no hypotheses or
relationships of variables are tested. ...
Because the qualitative research involves
developing hypotheses after the data are
collected, it is called hypothesis-
generating research rather
than hypothesis-testing research.
Research Design
 Nature of Research ( Nature and Sub
Kind)
 Population and Sampling (Decide
Sensibly)
 Sampling Technique and Size
 Data Collection
 Data Analysis
Research Design – Nature of Research
 Main Kind ( Qualitative Research)
 Sub Kind ( Select from Framework, Kinds etc)
 Positivism, Ethnography, Phenomenology,
Interpretivism etc
Research Design – Population and Sample
 Decide Population
 Decide Sample ( Size + Technique)
 Select from Main Sampling Kinds
Research Design – Data Collection
 Qualitative researchers  State or governmental
face many choices for studies, 
techniques to generate  Research and service
data ranging demonstrations, 
from grounded  Focus groups, 
theory development
and practice,
 Case studies, 
 Narratology 
 Participant observation,
 Storytelling 
 Qualitative review of
statistics in order to
 Transcript poetry 
predict future
 Biographical narrative happenings,
interviews or shadowing,
 Classical ethnography 
Research Design – Data Analysis
Conclusion and Recommendations
 People become confused about: “Findings”
and “Conclusion”.

Finding is about: What is found out in

research?
 Example:
66% respondent indicated that they preferred
to receive email messages rather than paper
memos.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion is about:
What judgment has been made?

Example: Electronic forms of

communications are preferred to
traditional.
Abstract
 The abstract, although it comes first
logistically, always should be written last. It
needs to be written last because it is the
essence of your report, drawing information
from all of the other sections of the report. It
explains why the experiment was performed
and what conclusions were drawn from the
results obtained. A general guideline for an
abstract has five sections or areas of focus
Abstract
Abstract is the most important part of Research Thesis and
Paper.

It contains four parts:

 What were the research questions and why were these
important?

 How did I go about answering these questions?

 What did I find in response to my research questions?

 What conclusion did I draw regarding my research

questions?
[Smith, C.B. (1991) A Guide to Research, Nelson Hall, Chicago.]
Abstract Main Parts
 Despite the fact that abstracts 
vary somewhat from discipline to discipline , every
abstract should include four main types of
information. 
 It should state the main objective and rationale of
your project,
 It should outline the methods you used to
accomplish your objectives,
 It should list your project’s results or product (or
projected or intended results or product, 
if your project is not yet complete ),
 It should draw conclusions about the implications of
your project.         
Appendices
Any information which is not that much important
and not necessarily very directly linked to the text
can be given in appendices.

If the material is “interesting to know” rather than

“essential to know”, should be given in
appendices.