When attending the last campus session the module criteria was explained in more detail to me developing my understanding of what was expected of me. The session was a thorough guide of research methods, how to apply them and under what circumstances they would best be used for.
I have never academically constructed a project proposal or had the necessity to investigate new ideas and information through research so have a very limited knowledge on research methods and theories.
I learnt that two compulsory sources to be used are those:
- Primary
and
- Secondary.
Primary Research.
This is research that is collected directly by myself from the targeted participants of my project. It is collected in the form of: surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, questionnaires and other methods that involve me personally applying myself to collect information and data. This source is usually designed to help answer and solve a specific question or problem about experience and depends on being physically involved.
Secondary Research.
This type of research already exists in the form of: census data, features in journals, newspaper articles, databases, internal company documents, audio videos (e.g you tube, training videos) and other documents that may have been used by the public or former researchers.
Both Primary and Secondary information can be related to either:
- Quantitative
or
- Qualitative research.
Quantitative.
Is concerned with the collection and analysis of data in numeric form. Links statistics and involves: percentages, proportions, graphs, charts, numerical measurements and other results concerning quantities.
Qualitative.
This research gathers more insight from participants about detail including feelings and motivations. It strives to specify the quality of relationships between two or more things. Related terms that can be associated with this type of research are: emotions, attitudes, reactions and beliefs.
Other relevant terms covered in the Campus session were:
Exploratory Research.
This develops a focus and direction for conclusive research. It is often used to uncover problems and identify variables that need to be measured. It specifically helps formulate a hypothesis or an educated guess about the outcome of a test. It can provide detail to evaluate alternative courses of action. Mainly designed to test hypothesis and examine relationships.
Descriptive Research.
This discovers and describes the behaviour of elements within the research problem.
E.g- Student competence , satisfaction, likes and dislikes and improvement.
Can be remembered by the research that helps to answer the primary questions: who, what, when, where and how.
Other methods of research:
- Casual Research
- Validity and Reliability
I feel this session has extended my knowledge of methods and types of research that will be of importance when designing my project proposal and deciding what tools should be applied throughout my research. It has helped me discover that choosing the wrong source of research may develop insufficient results causing my final module to be unsuccessful.
