A research strategy for a topic of security risk analysis - Essay Example

The researcher states that it is necessary to understand the importance of conducting quantitative research within the information security field to become familiar with the challenges one faces when addressing an issue in question. Besides, to have a clear picture of the challenges in quantitative research methods, a research strategy must be evaluated to determine the pros and cons related to sampling, validity, reliability, and bias during a study. In fact, the evaluation of each criterion within a hypothetical study will include the use of online survey research to collect data from participants without the need for additional investment in hardcopy materials and travel expenses.

Therefore, to become familiar with the challenges of quantitative research using an online research methodology, the sampling, validity, reliability, and bias will be analyzed by selecting a strategy to conduct a hypothetical study on security risk management. This will determine the viability of the online survey strategy in the information security field. The viability of the online survey methodology will depend on internal and external factors during the process of research management. Before selecting and implementing a research method during an information security study, it is necessary to understand the research question and then define the hypothesis to determine the direction of the research.

The direction of the research will be determined by the topic under investigation, thus establishing a clear strategy to obtain the necessary data needed to complete the study. As disclosed by Cook and Cook (2008), the research design will be based on the research question, so that the study will be able to answer the main hypothesis. Then the data gathering must be elaborated on using quantitative research methods based on the variables illustrated in the hypothesis. Indeed, using quantitative research methods will allow the researcher to present the results of the data collected using statistical displays to make a correlation between the dependent and independent variables being studied.

Before the selection of a research methodology, internal and external validity must be considered before adopting an instrument. Nevertheless, before making a final decision on the preferred instrument, well-defined research questions must be formulated. The research questions must be related to the main hypothesis to acquire the best results and to illustrate the importance of quantitative research within the topic being studied. The research questions must address the purpose of the data to be collected corresponding to all independent variables to understand the behavior of the dependent variable.

For this reason, if a study titled “Security controls as a tool of security risk management in business revenue” will be conducted to understand the reliability of security controls in protecting business revenue, the research question will be “Are security controls reliable in protecting the business revenue”. The dependent variable is business revenue and the independent variable is reliability of security controls. The research hypothesis is that security controls are reliable for protecting business revenue.

This will give a direction to the research. Indeed, the development of an instrument and the implementation of a research method will be based on the research questions to be asked to the targeted population to acquire a