research methodology ඳර්යේණ...
TRANSCRIPT
ඳර්යේණයක් යනු කුමක්ද?
• “A careful, systematic , patient study and investigation in some field of knowledge, undertaken to establish facts or princilpes” (Grinnell, 1993:4)
• It is a discovery (Rediscovery); A voyage from the known to the unknown
• An effort to be closer to the truth
Cont,
• ඳර්යේණ යනු ඥාණ ගයේණයයි.
• වමාජීය විදයා ඳර්යේණ යනු “ නල අදශව්
ඉදිරිඳත් කිරීම, ඉදිරිඳත් කර ඇති මතලාද ල
ලංගුභාලය යවොයා බැලීම යශෝ කිසියම්
ක්රියාලලියක් වශා බඳාන වාධක අනුගත කිරීම, විග්රශ කිරීම, ඒලා අතර වබතාලය යවොයා බැලීම
වශ ඒලාට බඳාන නනවර්ගික වාධක යවොයා
බැලීයම් ක්රමානුකූ ප්රයේයකි”-P.V. Young (Scientific Social Surveys and Research).
Characteristics/නනවර්ගික ක්ෂණ
• It is controlled/ බාහිර වාධක ඳානය කිරීම .
– In real life for an outcome there could be many affecting factors. In a study of cause and effect relationships one has to link effects with causes and causes with effects. Establishment of this linkage is impossible unless it is a laboratory test. Therefore instead of controlling external factors we have to quantify the impact of such factors.
Contd.,
• It is rigorous/බරඳත/උග්ර. – Procedures followed to find answers to a problem
must be relevant, appropriate and justifiable. Researcher needs to be very careful about this.
• It is systematic/ක්රමානුකූ. – Procedures adopted for a research should follow a
logical sequence. Some procedures must follow others.
• It should be valid and verifiable/වප්රමාණ වශ වයතයක්ණය ක ශැකි – Your research conclusion based on findings should be
correct and can be verified by you as well as others.
Contd.,
• It is empirical ප්රතයක්මුක/.
– The conclusions of the research should be based on evidence gathered from information collected from real life experiences/ observations
• It is critical( විචාරාත්මක/ාව්ත්රීය).
– Research procedures and methods applied should withstand critical scrutiny. They must be fool proof (වි්ලාව කටයුතු) and free from drawbacks (අලාසි)
Research process- Steps
• 1. Formulation a of a research problem
• 2. Creation of a research design
• 3. Constructing instruments for data collection
• 4. Selecting a sample
• 5.Writing the research proposal
• 6. Collecting data
• 7. Processing data
• 8. Writing the report
Formulating research problem
ඳර්යේණ ගැටළුල වැකසීම • Tasks:
– Literature review/වාහිතයය විමර්නය
– Formulating the research problem
– Identifying variables/විචයයන් ශඳුනා ගැනීම
– Constructing hypotheses/කල්පිත වැකසීම
Literature review
• To make your research problem clear and bring focus into it
• Develop your methodology
• To know where you are
• To have a broader knowledge in your area of research
Contd.,
• Search and select literature pertaining to your area
• Review selected literature
• Develop a theoretical framework (theories and issues related your study)
• Develop a conceptual framework (aspects you select from theoretical framework that form the basis of your research)
How to write the literature review
• Write under themes
• Some may follow chronological order
• Highlight your arguments
• Provide references
Formulating research problem
• Any question that needs answer can be a research problem. However, not all questions can be transformed into research problems.
• What matters here:
– Your knowledge in research methodology
– Your knowledge of the subject area
– Your understanding of the issues to be examined
Contd.,
• Formation of a research problem is the first step in the research. Identify the destination before you start the journey. It is the foundation of your building.
Contd., • Sources of research problems:
– People (individuals, groups, organizations, communities)
– Problems (Issues, situations, associations,, needs, demographic)
– Programmes (contents, structure, outcomes, attributes, satisfaction, users, consumers)
– Phenomenon (cause and effect relationships, study of a phenomenon itself)
– Research problem is your topic.
Contd.,
• Consider the following when selecting a topic:
– Your interest
– Your level of expertise as well as of your supervisor
– Use concepts that can be measured
– Topic should be relevant to your profession/ subject area
– Availability of data
– Ethical issues
Formulation of objectives
– Objectives are goals of your study
– Main objectives
– Secondary or sub-objectives
– They must be clear, complete and specific
Identifying variables
• A concept or perception that takes on different values and that can be measured is a variable. It is something that varies.
• Types:
– Independent variables (they are responsible for bringing about change in a phenomenon, situation)
Contd.,
• Dependent variables (effects of a change variable, the outcome of the changes brought about by changes in an independent variable)
• Extraneous variables (other factors that affect the changes bring about by independent variables)
• Intervening variables (those that link the independent and dependent variables)
Constructing hypotheses
• It is an ‘anticipation of nature’ or a hunch, assumption, assertion
• “a tentative statement about something, the validity of which is usually unknown’ (Bailey, 1976:126)
• It may be right, partially right or wrong
• It should be simple, specific and conceptually clear
Research design
• It is the plan, structure and strategy of investigating the research problem
• It is an operational plan
• Procedures to be adopted
• Testing the design
Constructing an instrument for data collection
• Data collection methods:
• Primary sources
• Observation
• Interview
• Questionnaire
• Use of secondary sources
• Establish the validity of the selected instrument
Selecting a sample
• “Process of selecting a few from a bigger group”
• Bigger group is the population and the selected few is the sample
• Larger the sample size the more accurate will be the findings
Sampling types
• Sampling strategies are numerous. They can be categorized into three groups:
• Random/probability sampling
• Non-random/probability sampling
• Mixed sampling
Research proposal
• It is your plan of research
• It reveals what you are going to do, how you plan to do and why you have selected the proposed procedures
• It guides you as well as your supervisor
• It is an academic piece of writing
• It shows the strength of your proposed research
Elements
• Introduction (an overview of the main area under study, historical background, philosophical issues etc., trends, major theories, main issues under consideration etc.)
• Importance (Why you do it? What are the benefits?)
• Problem (Your research problem or the research questions)
• Literature review
Contd.,
• Objectives ( main and secondary)
• Hypotheses
• Study design (population, sample, data collection methods etc.)
• Setting (brief description of the community, organization or agency in which you are going to carry out the research)
• Analysis of data (methods you are going to use)
Contd.,
• Structure of the report or chapterization
• Limitations and problems you may encounter
• Work plan or schedule
• Budget (optional)
Collection data
• Ethical issues relating to research participants ( their consent, incentives, sensitive information, harm to participants etc.)
• Ethical issues relating to the researcher (avoiding bias, using appropriate research methodology, correct reporting etc.)
Processing data
• Editing data
• Coding data
• Verifying coded data
• Analyzing data
• Displaying data (charts, diagrams, tables)
Writing the report or thesis
• Follow standards (International standards or departmental guidelines)
• Use appropriate referencing/citation system
• Preparation of a bibliography
• Avoid plagiarism
• Sources:
• Kumar, Ranjit (1999). Research methodology : a step by step guide for beginners, 2nd. ed., Sage, London
• Kothari, C.R. (1990). Research methodology : methods and techniques, 2nd. Ed., Wishwa Prakashan, New Delhi