01 - Introduction to Research Methodology

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An Overview of Research

Methods and Methodologies


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Why Do I Need to Know About

Different Methods? As a graduate student...

To be able to read and understand the

empirical literature in your field; to becomea critical consumer of information.

As a graduate student preparing for athesis or dissertation

To be able to both design and implementyour thesis or dissertation as well as futurestudies that interest you.


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Why Do I Need to Know About

Different Methods? As a future practitioner

To be able to intelligently participate in

research projects, evaluations, and studiesundertaken by your institution.

As a businessmen ...

To be able to professionally conduct areliable business research, feasibility study

and to understand customers behavior


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Whats the Difference Between

Method and Methodology?Method:

Techniques for

gathering evidence The various ways of

proceeding in

gathering information

Methodology:

The underlying theory

and analysis of howresearch does or

should proceed, often

influenced by

discipline

(Sandra Harding)


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Epistemology, Methodology, and

MethodAccording to Sandra Harding: "a research

methodis a technique for (or way of

proceeding in) gathering evidence" (p. 2)while "methodology is a theory and analysisof how research does or should proceed" (p.3) and "an epistemology is a theory of

knowledge" (p. 3).

From Is There a Feminist Method?


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An Overview of Empirical

Research MethodsDescriptive (Qualitative)

Ethnography

Case Study

Suvey/Sampling

Focus Groups

Discourse/Text Analysis

Quantitative Description

Prediction/Classification

Experimental

(Quantitative)

True Experiment Quasi-Experiment

Meta-Analysis

From Lauer and Asher, Composition

Research: Empirical Designs and

MacNealy,Empirical Research in

Writing


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Assessing Methods

Research Question(s) is/are key

Methods must answer the research

question(s)

Methodology guides application

Epistemology guides analysis

All must include rigor


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Ethnographies

+ Observational field work done in the actual

context being studied

+ Focus on how individuals interrelate in theirown environment (and the influence of this

environment)

- Difficult to interpret/analyze

- Time consuming/expensive

- Can influence subject behavior


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Case Studies

+ Focus is on individual or small group

+ Able to conduct a comprehensive analysis

from a comparison of cases

+ Allows for identification of variables or

phenomenon to be studied

- Time consuming

- Depth rather than breadth

- Not necessarily representative


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GROUP THINK


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Success Story of Facebook

Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya

Narendra

Fall 2003: three Harvard students planned to

develop social website for students andalumny of Harvard University.

They appointed Victor Gao, to program

HarvardConnetion.com

In the middle, Victor resigned from the

project and proposed his friend, Mark

Zuckerberg, a 19 year old 2nd graduate

student.

Winklevoss and friends agreed to appointZuckerberg, because of his ability to

popularize social website and attract public

attention.

Mark Zuckerberg


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Short History

Zuckerberg made a controversy by delaying

HarvardConnetion.com. In the same time, he developed his

own project, thefacebook.com.

The first investor of thefacebook.com was Eduardo Saverin.

He invested $15,000 for 30% shares.

Summer 2004, Zuckerberg dropped his study and continued to

run thefacebook.com in Silicon Valley.

The second investor of thefacebook.com was Peter Theil, CEO

of Pay-Pal, who invested $ 500,000.

Thefacebook.com started to grow rapidly.


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The Investors

Since its growing, many companies started to invest in face

book.

2005: $ 12,7 mio in venture capital from Accel Partner, and

27,5 mio from Greylock Partner.

2006: Theil indicated that Face Books internal valuation was

around $ 8 bio.

Oct 2007: Microsoft invested $240 mio for 1.6% shares.Google also expressed interest in buying Face Book shares.

Nov 2007: Li Ka-Sing invested $60 mio in Face Book


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Demographic Profile of Visitors to Select Social Networking Sites

Percent Composition of Total Unique Visitors

August 2006

Total U.S. Home/Work/University Locations

Total Internet MySpace Facebook Friendster Xanga

Unique Visitors (000) 173,407 55,778 14,782 1,043 8,066

Percent (%) Composition of Unique Visitors

Total Audience 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Persons: 12-17 9.6 11.9 14.0 10.6 20.3

Persons: 18-24 11.3 18.1 34.0 15.6 15.5

Persons: 25-34 14.5 16.7 8.6 28.2 11.0

Persons: 35-54 38.5 40.6 33.5 35.4 35.6

Persons: 55+ 18.0 11.0 7.6 8.1 7.3


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What Make Face Book Difference?

Simple and professional user interface

Explanation for being added as a friend

Unique groups or communities Security of users profile and information

Many other fun applications


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Market Value

Company Market Value (Milyard USD)

Google 250.00

Ebay 55.20

Yahoo 50.00

Amazon 34.35

Facebook 25.00

PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia 10.60

PT. Bank Central Asia 4.78

PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia 3.80

PT. Bank Mandiri 3.01

PT. Bumi Resources 1.25


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Survey Research

+ An efficient means of gathering large

amounts of data

+ Can be anonymous and inexpensive

- Feedback often incomplete

- Wording of instrument can bias feedback

- Details often left out


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Rank country (bbl/day) Date of Information

1 Russia 9,932,000 2009 est.

2 Saudi Arabia 9,764,000 2009 est.

3 United States 9,056,000 2009 est.

4 Iran 4,172,000 2009 est.

5 China 3,991,000 2009 est.

6 Canada 3,289,000 2009 est.

7 Mexico 3,001,000 2009 est.

8 United Arab Emirates 2,798,000 2009 est.

9 Brazil 2,572,000 2009 est.

10 Kuwait 2,494,000 2009 est.

The World Top Ten Oil Producers


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Daftar Orang Terkaya Indonesia 2010

01. R. Budi & Michael Hartono US$ 7 billion02. Martua Sitorus US$ 3 billion

03. Susilo Wonowidjojo US$ 2.6 billion

04. Aburizal Bakrie US$ 2.5 billion

05. Eka Tjipta Widjaja U$S 2.4 billion

06. Peter Sondakh US$ 2.1 billion

07. Putera Sampoerna US$ 2 billion

08. Sukanto Tanoto US$ 1.9 billion

9. Anthoni Salim US$ 1.4 billion

10. Soegiharto Sosrodjojo US$ 1.2 billion


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Focus Groups

+ Aid in understanding audience, group, users

+ Small group interaction more than individual

response+ Helps identify and fill gaps in current knowledge

re: perceptions, attitudes, feelings, etc.

- Does not give statistics

- Marketing tools seen as suspect

- Analysis subjective


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Discourse/Text Analysis

+ Examines actual discourse produced for a

particular purpose (job, school)

+ Helps in understanding of context,production, audience, and text

+ Schedule for analysis not demanding

- Labor intensive

- Categories often fluid, making analysis

difficult


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Quantitative Descriptive Studies

+ Isolates systematically the most importantvariables (often from case studies) and to

quantify and interrelate them (often viasurvey or questionnaire)

+ Possible to collect large amounts of data

+ Not as disruptive

+ Biases not as likely

- Data restricted to information available


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Prediction and Classification

StudiesGoal is to predict behaviors:

Prediction forecasts and interval variable

(Diagnostic/TAAS scores)

Classification forecasts a nominal variable (Major

selection after taking 2311)

+ Important in industry, education to predict behaviors

- Need substantial population

- Restricted range of variables can cause misinterpretation

- Variables cannot be added together; must be weighted and

looked at in context of other variables


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The Monty Hall Problem


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Positive Aspects of

Descriptive/Qualitative Research Naturalistic; allows for subjects to interact

with environment

Can use statistical analysis

Seeks to further develop theory (not to

influence action); Prescientific

Coding schemes often arise from interplaybetween data and researchers knowledge of

theory


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Problems with

Descriptive/Qualitative Research Impossible to overlay structure

Impossible to impose control

Subject pool often limited, not

representative

Seen as more subjective, less rigorous

Beneficial only in terms of initial

investigation to form hypothesis


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Experimental Research: True

Experiment+ Random sampling, or selection, of subjects (which

are also stratified)

+ Introduction of a treatment+ Use of a control group for comparing subjects who

dont receive treatment with those who do

- Adherence to scientific method (seen as positive,

too)

- Must have both internal and external validity

- Treatment and control might seem artificial


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ASCH EXPERIMENT


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Experimental Research: Quasi-

Experiment+ Similar to Experiment, except that the subjects are

not randomized. Intact groups are often used (for

example, students in a classroom).+ To draw more fully on the power of the

experimental method, a pretest may be employed.

+ Employ treatment, control, and scientific method

- Act of control and treatment makes situation

artificial

- Small subject pools


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Meta-Analysis

+ Takes the results of true and quasi-experiments

and identifies interrelationships of conclusions

+ Systematic+ Replicable

+ Summarizes overall results

- C/C apples and oranges?- Quality of studies used?


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Positive Aspects of Experimental

Research Tests the validity of generalizations

Seen as rigorous

Identifies a cause-and-effect relationship

Seen as more objective, less subjective

Can be predictive


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Problems with Experimental

Research Generalizations need to be qualified

according to limitation of research methods

employed Controlled settings dont mirror actual

conditions; unnatural

Difficult to isolate a single variable Doesnt allow for self-reflection (built-in)


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What Makes Research Good?

Validity

Reliability

Replicability

Consistent application/analysis

Trustworthiness

Rigor


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Validity in Research

Refers to whether the research actually measureswhat it says itll measure. Validity is the strengthof our conclusions, inferences or propositions.

Internal Validity: the difference in the dependentvariable is actually a result of the independent variable

External Validity: the results of the study aregeneralizable to other groups and environments outsidethe experimental setting

Conclusion Validity: we can identify a relationshipbetween treatment and observed outcome

Construct Validity: we can generalize ourconceptualized treatment and outcomes to broader

constructs of the same concepts


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Reliability in Research

The consistency of a measurement, or the degree to

which an instrument measures the same way each

time it is used under the same condition with thesame subjects. In short, it is the repeatability of

your measurement. A measure is considered

reliable if a person's score on the same test given

twice is similar. It is important to remember thatreliability is not measured, it is estimated.

Measured by test/retest and internal consistency.


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Validity and Reliability

The relationship between reliability and validity isa fairly simple one to understand: a measurementcan be reliable, but not valid. However, a

measurement must first be reliable before it can bevalid. Thus reliability is a necessary, but notsufficient, condition of validity. In other words, ameasurement may consistently assess a

phenomena (or outcome), but unless thatmeasurement tests what you want it to, it is notvalid.


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Rigor in Research

Validity and Reliability in conductingresearch

Adequate presentation of findings:consistency, trustworthiness

Appropriate representation of study for aparticular field: disciplinary rigor

Rhetorical Rigor: how you represent yourresearch for a particular audience


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Thank you for your kind attention

Go forth and research.

.but be careful out there.

01 - Introduction to Research Methodology

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