MATERIALS & METHODS

A logical way to organise the section is:

– what activity/sub-activity will be done?– How frequently? – when will be done?– Using what?

In some cases you may add:

– Justification for methods/procedures/sites/models

Methodology

• Include a list of things (materials) and procedures (methods) used in project/research described chronologically

• Clear M & M should enable others to repeat the study without consultations

•  Forms the basis for budgeting in proposals

Methodology (cont’d)

Site description:

• Geographic location, climate, soils, natural, vegetation, main activities/farming , systems, time and duration of study (Including years)

• Other issues related to the study problem - E.g. weeds and weeding regimes, breeds of cattle, tillage practices

Field studies/projects often include:

• Greenhouse studies (most of the above do not apply)

• Description of treatments or factors (should be clear)

• Study design and replication

• List of parameters measured

• Clear description of materials & procedures used including timing

• Describe routine practices outside treatments (e.g., thinning, harvesting, feeding)

• Remember to include controls

- Controls are not necessarily the non-application

• Check to make sure that each objective is fully catered for in methodology

Socio-economic ResearchSocio-economic Research

Research instrument (s)

• Questionnaires are often used– Different types; select the most appropriate

based on situation & literature

• E.g. Structured, semi-structured, focus groups, etc.

• Sample selection requires innovativeness, consultations and bearing in mind costs implications

• Describe exactly how instrument will beconstructed

• State whether it will be pre-tested (tell the truth!) If yes, how?

• Data handling after field work

-  Coding

-  Keying in -  Analysis (software package, eg. SPSS, STAT)

Socio-economic ResearchSocio-economic Research

• Primary research– Primary data sources– Describe clearly the type of sampling design

(procedure followed in sampling)• Simple random sampling• Stratified random sampling• Quota sampling• Cluster sampling

Research DesignsResearch Designs• Case study – what is going on? Single case is studied

over a period of time.

• Longitudinal studies – has there been any change?

• The comparison – Are A and B different?

• The longitudinal comparison – Are A and B different over a period of time?

• The experiment – Rigorous test of hypothesis to determine the effect that a change in one variable has upon another.

• Secondary research– Secondary data sources

• From published documents

• Libraries, through literature review

• National censuses – National Reference Bureau

• Earlier surveys – baseline studies• Internet – Desktop reviews

• Secondary data may be more difficult than primary data for several reasons– Reliability– Variations in data from different sources– Breaks in data– Includes time series and cross-sectional data

or a combination of both

•    UNOBTRUSIVE MEASURES – are ways of gathering data in which subjects are not aware of their being

studied, and are sometimes called nonreactive measures.

• They usually involve clandestine, novel, or oddball collection of trace data that falls into one of two categories: accretion or erosion.

– Accretion is the stuff left behind by human activity. An example would be going through someone's inbox.

– Erosion is the stuff that is worn down by human activity. An example would be examining wear and tear on floor tiles to estimate how much employees use the restroom.

– Phone tapping is a good example of unobtrusive measures in criminal investigations.

– Nobody claims that unobtrusive measures are superior to other research methods. The only advantage is that it is useful when the subjects to be studied are very suspicious and distrustful.

•   CONTENT ANALYSIS – A technique for gathering and analyzing the content of text.

– The content can be words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, pictures, symbols, or ideas.

– It can be done quantitatively as well as qualitatively, and computer programs can be used to assist the researcher.

– The initial step involves sorting the content into themes, which depends on the content.

– Then, a coding scheme is devised, usually in basic terms like frequency (amount of content), direction (who the content is directed to), intensity (power of content), and space (size of content).

•     HISTORIOGRAPHY – A method of doing historical research or

gathering and analyzing historical evidence

– There are four types of historical evidence:• primary sources, • secondary sources, • running records, and • recollections.

• SECONDARY ANALYSIS – This the reanalysis of data that was originally compiled by another

researcher for other purposes than the one the present researcher intends to use it for.

– Often, secondary analysis will involve adding an additional variable to an existing dataset.

– This variable will be something that the researcher collects on their own, from another dataset, or from a common or primary source of information.

– Secondary data analysis is only limited by the researcher's imagination. While the technique is mostly quantitative, limitations exist that often force such researchers to have some qualitative means of garnering information also. In such cases (as with much Historical-Comparative research), the qualitative part of the study is used as a validity check on the quantitative part.

• A related technique, called meta-analysis, is the combining the results of several different studies dealing with the same research question. It is decidedly quantitative, but involves some of the same sorting and coding techniques found in qualitative research.

• SOCIOMETRY – Is the measurement of social distance between group members.

– More precisely, it is the assessment of attractions and repulsions between individuals in a group and with the group structure as defined by feelings.

– The method was first established by the social psychologist J.L. Moreno in 1934, and to this day, always involves a graphical depiction of the structure of group relations called a sociogram.

– The procedure for constructing a sociogram begins with a questionnaire-based sociometric test which asks each group member the following:

• name two or three peers you like the most, like working with, or are your best friends

• name two or three peers you least like, dislike working with, or that you reject as friends

• rate every member of the group in terms of like or dislike on a 5-point scale   

   

After the mean ratings are collated, and one has identified After the mean ratings are collated, and one has identified what social structures exist what social structures exist

then you construct a sociogramthen you construct a sociogram

• DRAMATURGICAL INTERVIEWING, or just plain dramaturgy,– Is a technique of doing research by role playing or play acting

your own biases in some symbolic interaction or social performance.

– Dramaturgy was popularized by the sociologist Erving Goffman in the early 1960s and is also associated with the pseudopatient study "On Being Sane in Insane Places" by Rosenhan in 1973. Both researchers pretended to be mentally ill to find out what it's like in a psychiatric hospital.

– It's important to note that the acting out doesn't have to be deceptive.

– In fact, it's preferable if the researcher act out on a self-conscious awareness of their own bias, and just exaggerates a bit, in order to instigate a more emotional response from the person being interviewed.

• May have to justify choice of method/procedure if alternatives exist

• For non-familiar models, describe the components and its operationalisation

• If alternative models exist, rationalize your choice in terms of e.g. precision, cost effectiveness or simplicity

• If methodological study, include conventional

methods for reference

Put Statistics in perspectivePut Statistics in perspective

• Qualitative Research

• Quantitative Research

• A clear understanding of features of qualitative research and how it differs from quantitative research is critical in M & M section of research proposals

• Qualitative research is concerned with developing explanations of social phenomena.

• It aims to help us to understand the world in which we live and why things are the way they are. It is concerned with the social aspects of our world and seeks to answer questions about:

– Why people behave the way they do – How opinions and attitudes are formed – How people are affected by the events that go on around them – How and why cultures have developed in the way they have – What is the differences between social groups

• Qualitative research is concerned with finding the answers to questions which begin with: why? how? What or in what way?

• Quantitative research, on the other hand, is more concerned with questions about: how much? how many? how often? to what extent?

• Data handling & statistical analyses

• Routine procedures – only cite credible source

• BUT describe modifications where applicable

• Data analysis depends on objectives, methodology of the study and the data collected

• Appropriate statistical procedures and software should be used to ensure accurate and logical data analysis

• Garbage-in-garbage-out

• Mean separation for pH

END OF PRESENTATION