Research Methods: What are research methods?
What are the research methods
Research methods are the strategies, processes, or techniques utilized in the collection of data or evidence for analysis in order to uncover new information or create a better understanding of a topic.
There are different types of research methods that use different tools for data collection, such as (1) Qualitative Research; (2) Quantitative Research; and (3) Mixed Methods Research.
Types of research
Qualitative Research gathers data about lived experiences, emotions, or behaviors, and the meanings individuals attach to them. It assists in enabling researchers to gain a better understanding of complex concepts, social interactions, or cultural phenomena. This type of research is useful in the exploration of how or why things have occurred, interpreting events, and describing actions.
Techniques or Tools:
- Interviews: these can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured in-depth sessions with the researcher and a participant.
- Focus groups: with several participants discussing a particular topic or a set of questions. Researchers can be facilitators or observers.
- Observations: On-site, in-context, or role-play options.
- Document analysis: Interrogation of correspondence (letters, diaries, emails, etc.) or reports.
- Oral history or life stories: Remembrances or memories of experiences told to the researcher.
- Surveys or questionnaires: which ask the same questions to large numbers of participants or use Likert scales which measure opinions as numerical data.
- Observation: which can either involve counting the number of times a specific phenomenon occurs, or the coding of observational data in order to translate it into numbers.
- Document screening: sourcing numerical data from financial reports or counting word occurrences.
- Experiments: testing hypotheses in laboratories, testing cause, and effect relationships, through field experiments, or via quasi- or natural experiments.
Quantitative Research gathers numerical data which can be ranked, measured, or categorized through statistical analysis. It assists with uncovering patterns or relationships and making generalizations. This type of research is useful for finding out how many, how much, how often, or to what extent.
Mixed Methods Research integrates both Qualitative and Quantitative Research. It provides a holistic approach combining and analyzing the statistical data with deeper contextualized insights. Using Mixed Methods also enables Triangulation, or verification, of the data from two or more sources.
