Research Methods Week 4 – 20 May 2014

In this session we learnt about categories of research and methodologies. I almost fell off my chair when Claire McA said your methodologies are not questionnaires/surveys/interviews etc., but actually the methods that you used.

There are different categories of research, they include:

• Primary
• Secondary
• Qualitative
• Quantitative
• Mixed Qual & Quan

From the ensuing discussion in class I was able to identify my research as qualitative or even mixed.

Exploratory research asked What if? types of questions.  Constructive research build something. Empirical research measures qualitative and quantitative data looking at both negatives and positives.

We discussed action research, case studies and activity theory.  Through these discussions I am thinking that the methodology for my research will be case study based as I want to tell a story of a particular phenomenon.

We discussed theoretical perspective such as positivism, interpretivism, social constructivism, advocacy and pragmatism. Social constructivism uses multiple realities and would be useful to me as I need to look at the trainees, trainers and members of other Departments. Each one having a unique perspective.

We also discussed how to structure our research question and I learnt that it should be presented in a clear concise manor laying out the research I wish to conduct. The question should be presented in a positive way and must not be compounded, i.e. only ask one question per sentence.

We looked at different research questions and talked about the strengths and weaknesses.