Research Methodology IV
BTech IT
Cape Peninsula University (CPUT)
Faculty of Informatics & Design (FID)
Lecturer: Nhlanhla Mlitwa
Research & Research Process
…Units of analysis
From individuals to groups
Remember the difference between studying members of a criminal
gang … and studying differences between big and small gangs –
what are the units of analysis?
You may also be studying an organisation or organisations:
identify them according to specific characteristics
Sometimes you are only interested – not on individuals but only
in their actions: i.e. whether weddings are racially mixed or not,
secular or religious, or simply interested on understanding the
kissing habbits of drunk people
You may also be studying artefacts such as:
Books, songs, cars, computers, or other scientific discoveries. Each
artefact could imply a set of other artefacts: i.e. “all books”; “all
songs”, “all cars”,…etc
Research & Research Process
The Time Dimension
Research over one or more phenomena - that is conducted at a
specific point in time obviously produces results about that moment in
time and often not about other times.
This study is referred as Cross-Sectional.
Exploratory & Descriptive studies are usually cross-sectional.
Danger: Things about life in general, keep changing and generalising about life
as a whole - based on a snapshot in time can be misleading.
That is why some research studies called Longitudinal Studies are
designed – to permit observations over extended continuous periods
of time, i.e. every 5 yr or 10 yr interval – for the next 50 yrs, etc, etc.
But longitudinal studies may include studies done at a specific moment in
time – about phenomena that extend over a very long time.
Analysis of supreme court decisions in a specific case matter over the past 20
or 30 yrs would be longitudinal, even if it is conducted in one year. There are
three special types of longitudinal studies.
…Longitudinal Studies
three special types:
 Trend studies
 Cohort studies
 Panel studies
Trend Studies
Studies that observe changes within a specific
phenomenon (group, nature, instances, etc) over
time. Where the trend in which specific events
unfold is observed.
Example:
observing the temperature changes between Winter
and summer over a 30 yr period – to make sense of
the global warming on climate change.
…Longitudinal Studies
…Cohort Studies
The difference here is that you select a sub-group
or sub-element, like the age group or time group.
Example:
conducting a study every ten years - about
economic attitudes of World War II Veterans.
…Panel Studies
Similar to the above, except that you observe exactly the
same persons every time. You may observe the same
persons every five yrs – for the next 30 yrs.
In observing changes in spending patterns, this study
may be appropriate, WHY?
SHORT RECAP - Research & Process:
Getting Started
 Starting from a particular research interest
 Ask questions, read literature
 Identify the problem for study
 Clarify the questions to be answered.
 DO CONCEPTUALISATION
 Operationalise
 Select the METHOD of Enquiry
 Start your observations
 Process data
 Analyse that data
It is important to set out a clear Time Frame & Budget
Research & Research Process
Conceptualisation
Here you must be clear about

Key VARIABLES to be studied,

How are you going to define them,

How are you going to measure them (operationalisation)
Concepts & conceptions
A concept is “a technical term for that mental image” so that its
meaning can be shared by others with no physical access to your
mind.
Conceptualisation - process in which we clarify what we (and will)
mean when we use a particular term.
It involves the specification of Variables (& the Attributes composing
them).
A variable is a logical set of attributes of a phenomenon – for example:

Employment Status is a variable composed of Employed &
Unemployed

Digital divide is a variable composed of … and …?
Research & Research Process
…Variables
Every variable must have 2 qualities:
 Its attributes must be exhaustive. For example, if you are
measuring political party affiliation, you cannot just give the
DA & ANC as the attributes. What if other respondents need
to mark the IFP, the DM, and others. So, you will need to
exhaust all the attributes of a variable to enable adequate
responses.
 Attributes of a variable must be mutually exclusive. If you
discuss employment status for example, you need to define
your attributes in such a way that no person can both be
EMPLOYED & UNEMPLOYED at the same time. Being
employed should exclude being unemployed.
That leads us to the subject of INDICATORS & DIMENSIONS
The Research Onion
Phenomenology
Inductive
Philosophy/Epistemology
Research Approach
Research Strategies
•Analyzing existing documents
•Observations
•Interviews
•Questionnaires
Qualitative and
Quantitative
Analytical Techniques
Deductive
Positivism
The Time Dimension
Data Collection Methods
Data Analysis
Techniques
Research Methodology IV
Referencing & Research Ethics
Literature Review & Referencing
Literature Review always goes with referencing.
As a recap:
In addition to the literature about your research topic, also
consult the literature about your context.
e.g. Mobile learning in a tertiary institution in South Africa
you need to say something about tertiary institutions
(based on references) + something a lot about Mobile
learning generally, as well as about the South African
context (that applies to your research).
If you conduct research on the use of ICT to support AIDS
treatment in Southern Africa
– you may have to refer to AIDS literature as well as the
latest WHO (World Health Organisation) report to obtain
the statistics required to substantiate your research.
- Obviously, You need to work with literature on ICT for
this as well. Not just one set but both sets apply equally.
Literature Review & Referencing
…Literature review
Some guidelines for deciding how to present a reference in the
literature study:

What are the argument/s & contribution/s of the author/s?

Does this differ from other author/s conducting similar research?
If so – how does it differ? Are there reasons for differences (e.g. a
different context)? You can introduce an alternative view as
follows: e.g. However, …./ In contrast….
Similarly – does this confirm what others have said/found? In those
cases you can report something like: generally ….. apply to ……
(ref1, ref2, ref3).
Why are they saying that? Are such reasons applicable or not
applicable to your research?
When you refer to other authors’ works it is important that you say
why you are referring to a specific argument/guidelines/
framework/… i.e. This is an important consideration for this
research … because …
Once you have completed, it is necessary to analyse your findings
from the literature as a basis for your discussions throughout
your document.
Literature Review & Referencing
Make sure that what you are writing tells a story (interesting), that it
is cohesive and also attend to the flow of your writing.
Your arguments and statements must be substantiated by (1) a
reputable reference and (2) make logical sense.
Avoid:
 Just providing a list of summarized references that are strung
together in a disjointed way, i.e. there is no logical flow from the
one section to the next.
 A list of bullet points – one can easily ask the question if the list
is in fact complete – therefore only use a list of bullet points when
you know for certain that the list is complete and representative,
i.e. no one can add to or delete from the list
 Leaving the reader with the question “why am I reading this?” –
“should I read the next part?” and finally
– with a feeling of “so what”.
 Repeating what others have said (even in your own words)
without some attempt to make sense of that, e.g. “what does this
mean?”, “how does it apply to my research?”…
The last point leads us to the subject of RESEARCH ETHICS &
REREFENCING.
Literature Review & Referencing
…Ethics & Referencing
Research Ethics:
Important principle guiding relationships between science & the
rest of the society is ACCOUNTABILITY.
So, scientists cannot do whatever they want without regard for the
rights of the society.
Research ethics emphasizes that scientists conduct their research
both in a SOCIALLY RESPONSIVE (& useful) as well as
RESPONSIBLE manner:
- Always adhere to the highest possible technical standards in
your research (never take technical chances!!)
- Always indicate at the end of your work, what the limits of your
study were, and the methodological constraints that affect the
extent of the validity of your study
- Never misrepresent your results in any way!!
- Never change (or fabricate) your data in any way
(even if it leads to the findings that you dislike).
Literature Review & Referencing
…Research Ethics – What is ethics?
Because of the significance of the Ethics or notion in research – most
professional bodies and all credible research institutions (including
universities) establish specific codes of ethical behaviour in
research.
Masters & Doctoral proposals should obtain ethics committee approval
before research can be allowed.
In research interviews for example, you will need to declare that you
will not abuse, compel, deceive & redicule your participants, and
that you will not subject them to inhume types of tests.
In the case of interviews for example, you should not do THIS
Researchers therefore abide by the following principles:
- rejection of secrete research
- obligation to free & open dissemination of research results
- responsibility to sponsors of research
- integrity in methods and handling of data, findings, & reporting
- Appropriate ascription of authorship to a manuscript
- No simultaneous submission of manuscripts to different
publications
- REJECTION OF ANY FORM OF PLAGIARISM.
Literature Review & Referencing
Referencing
What is referencing, why is it important, and how to do
it correctly?
It is a standardised method of acknowledging sources of
information (and ideas) used in your assignment to
uniquely identify their source.
Direct quotations, facts, figures, as well as ideas and
theories, from both published and unpublished works,
must be referenced.
Information obtained from any source, including the
Internet, is covered by copyright law.
You must acknowledge any source that you refer to in
your assignment, both within the text of your
assignment, and at the end of it (by including a list of
references).
Referencing your sources also enables the reader to view
your sources
Literature Review & Referencing
…Some Referencing Styles
Did I say “Reject any form of PLAGIRISM?”
Statement implies strict adherence to full & correct referencing. Using
someone else’s work – and then claiming that it is your own is
tantamount to stealing. Stealing someone’s work!!
Such theft in research terms is known as plagiarism.
Remember that you are also required to adhere to the highest technical
standards possible.
So, it is not enough to reference, but it has to be correct, and most of
all, consistent. Please remember the CONSISTENCY part!!
What consistency…? You see, there are numerous referencing styles.
To make life easier, most institutions decide on the most preferable
style for use by its students/ researchers/ authors.
When you write a research paper for a conference or journal for
example, they will tell you their preferred referencing style – for
consistency among all papers they publish.
Literature Review & Referencing
Let us discuss some referencing styles below.
… Oh, Holy Cow!!, why should we discuss referencing styles now? You ask.
Because many students (and amateur writers) tend to mix different referencing styles
in one piece of work (a lack of technical consistency).
You should know these so that you can also AVOID INCONSISTENT REFERENCING
(mixing Styles). We use the Harvard Style at CPUT!!
… Some styles:
Harvard Referencing Style

www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/harvard_6.pdf

www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/ref_guides/harvardonline.htm

http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/harvard.pdf

www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/harvard.html
APA Style [American Psychological Association (APA)

http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/apa.pdf
Oxford Style:
www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/ref_guides/oxford.htm
Vancouver Referencing Style

http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/vancouver.pdf
Chicago Style (footnotes)

www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChiWorksCited.html
Oxford Referencing Style
The Oxford (documentary-note) referencing
system/ style consists of:



Citations in the body of the paper, using a
superscript (raised) number, generally at the
end of a sentence
Footnotes at the bottom (foot) of each page, for
all citations on that page, or endnotes if they
appear at the end of a chapter, section or other
thesis
A reference list (wrongly known as
bibliography) at the end of the paper giving the
details of each source referred to and possibly
other materials consulted.
Oxford Style: Some examples
In the reference list at the end of the paper:
See how the
(a) author names, and
(b) the date, are written
1
S Kostof, A history of architecture: settings and
rituals, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, New
York, 1995, p. 35.
2
M Levey, Rococo to revolution: major trends in
eighteenth-century painting, Thames and Hudson,
London, 1966, p.14.
3
M Levey, Painting in eighteenth-century Venice,
2nd edn, Phaidon, Oxford, 1980.
Vancouver Style
Vancouver is a "numbered" style, that follows rules of the
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
It is a requirement for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical
Journals.
 A number is assigned to each reference as it is cited. A
number must be used even if an author was named in the
sentence, eg. Smith [12] argued that...
 Use double quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation.
 Type [sic] after a misspelled word or an incorrect or
apparently absurd statement in quoted material to indicate
that this is an accurate rendition of the original source.
 Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations.
 The original number assigned to a reference is re-used every
time the reference is cited in text, regardless of the previous
position in text
Vancouver Style: Examples
The coach can carry out his own assessment of the athlete [5,9]
in relation to the agreed constructs and so pinpoint areas of
agreement on the one hand, [2-4] and differing perceptions
on the other.
Butler and Hardy maintain "that people's intrinsic motivation
could be weakened by the application of external
controls".[1]
Reference list (again, see names & dates):
Baker PN, editor. Obstetrics by ten teachers. 18th ed.
London: Hodder Arnold; 2006.

Delbridge ML, Harry JL, Toder R. A human candidate
spermatogenesis gene, RBM1, is conserved and amplified
on the marsupial Y chromosome. Nat Genet. 1997; 15: 131136.
It is very important that you use the right punctuation and that
the order of details in the reference is also correct.

Latin Abbreviations
Latin forms must be used correctly.
 ibid. (ibidem), meaning, in the same
place), relates to the same work, cited
immediately before.
 op. cit. (opera citato, meaning in the work
cited ) refers to a different page of a work
cited earlier.
 loc. cit. (loco citato, meaning in the place
cited) refers to the same page of a work
cited earlier.