Horn: Researching and Writing Dissertations – Tutor notes
CHAPTER 7
Methodology
Chapter overview
The chosen method for dissertation research is part of the important ‘backbone’ of the work.
It must be connected to the literature section. It is essentially a method selection process.
Once the method is selected, the student has to have enough information about it to carry it
out effectively. This chapter aims to present a balance of quantitative and qualitative methods.
What is covered in this chapter?
 The importance of explaining methodology, and its connection with epistemology
 How to critically evaluate methods in research
 The appropriate use of questionnaires and interviews
 A range of wider methods
 The usefulness of combining methods
 The role of sampling in research
 Ethical considerations in research
Headline chapter points
7.2 METHODOLOGY AND EPISTEMOLOGY
7.3 SAMPLING
CO NCEP TS
7.4 QUESTIONNAIRES
THE APP RO PRI ATE USE O F Q UESTI O N N AI RES
PRELI M I N ARY PO I N TS T O CO NS I DER
M ETHO D O F ADM I NI STR ATI O N
D AT A TY PES
DEVI SI NG Q UES TI O NS
DESI G N
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The wording of questions
Types of question
Likert scales
The ideal length
7.5 INTERVIEWS
THE SKI LLS REQ UI RED FO R I N TER VI EWI NG
TY PES O F I N TER VI EW
7.6 COMMONLY-USED METHODS
O BSERV ATI O N
ETHNO G R AP HI C S TUDI ES
REPE R TO RY G RI D TE CH N I Q UE
DI ARI ES
RELI VI NG
AC TI O N RESE AR C H AN D P AR TI CI P AT O RY RESE AR C H
RO LE- PL AY
O R AL HI S TO R Y TE CHNI Q UES
N ARR ATI VE R ESE ARCH
7.7 NOTES AND DEFINITIONS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS
7.8 ETHICS
Feedback on Activities
None that require feedback in this chapter
Feedback on Case study
Petra
To think about ...
1
Comment on how useful a survey will be in discovering the views
of the departments. If you were to use a survey, would one survey
be suitable for all departments?
2
What other stakeholders ought to be included in the research?
3
Prepare a one-page ‘action report’ for Jade setting out your
proposed strategy for the research – a methods statement. Pay
particular attention to Jade’s stated ne ed for the research to be
‘sound’.
4
Comment on whether your strategy can be developed and
implemented without getting ‘bogged down in too much theory’.
This case study encourages the student to investigate some of the issues involved with
choosing a method to solve a research problem.
Feedback:
1
The double question invites reflection on the nature of surveys and how they should reflect
the concerns and issues of the participants. There is a debate continuum to engage with here
between tightly-controlled questions that reflect the views of the researcher more than those
of the participants, and loosely-structured interviews that directly elicit the perceptions of the
participants but that will be difficult to analyse and relate to known theory.
2
This question invites thoughts about who has an interest in research and which groups should
have participation in the research. Possible stakeholders include:
 the training providers
 senior management
 the departments who do not use the training – if not, why not?
 potential providers of training
 individuals who receive the training
 departmental managers
 the HR department.
3
This activity invites the student to progress beyond explaining the steps that would be needed
to create a questionnaire and administer it. It requires students to address notions of:
 validity
 reliability
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ethics
informed consent
data protection
secondary data
theory and literature
multiple methods
participant validation of the collected data.
4
To be able to comment as requested, the student will have to understand that all research is
embedded in views, beliefs, opinions and cultures. It is only by engaging in theoretical debate
and grounding the research in known theory that any effective progress can be made. It would
be particularly important to critically analyse and assimilate previous research. It could
reasonably be expected that students would display a knowledge of the theory of evaluation,
and the work of Kirkpatrick.
Suggested pedagogical approach
See lesson plan below
Lesson plan
Two hours 20 minutes’ (140-minute) teaching session, including one 15-minute break
Total class time thus 125 minutes
Within that, and additional to it, is an out-of-class activity, which might last 40 minutes
0–40 minutes
LECTURE: Introduction to quantitative and qualitative methods. This
would take a form appropriate to the types of research that your
department normally engages in
40–50 minutes
Q&A SESSION: Questions related to methods
[40 minutes]
OUT-OF-CLASS ACTIVITY: Research to firm up the method each
individual will use and reaffirm the guiding theory. The intended
output is a methods statement: ‘My research will use this method
because …’
The lesson should then resume in-class
50–80 minutes
FEEDBACK: Each group member presents his/her chosen method and
the reasons behind that choice
80–110 minutes
LECTURE: Issues to be considered as you progress your method
(ethics, time, consent, validity, etc)
110–125 minutes
SUMMARY AND ACTIONS: Summary of what has been covered, and
action plans
ACTION PLAN ITEMS
Return next week with:
– a detailed schedule for the conduct of the research
– a list of unresolved issues around the method