Selecting the Appropriate Research Method - Essay Example

Research Methods Introduction Choosing the right method for a research is sometimes problematic. There are a number of research methods which are popularly used by researchers to come up with the desired data and information in their quest to arrive at the most possible truth. These methods have their own weaknesses and strengths, and selecting the appropriate method before starting the research has got to be the first move of the researcher. Factors to consider in choosing the appropriate research method are validity, reliability and limitations and bias. How these factors affect the outcome of the research influence the researcher’s decision to choose which method is appropriate for the project to be started. Surveys, interviews and observation are among the methods useful for researching industrial relations. Surveys and interviews have some similarity in that they utilize questions to gather data and information, but the two are distinct in the way they are conducted. Observation is far too different from the two methods because it allows the researcher to be a part of the sample – it uses observation as the primary tool to acquire necessary data. In the long run, the researcher can come up with the right choice for a dissertation. Or, he/she can choose a combination of two methods for the project. For example, the survey can be a combination of survey with interview questions. The data gathered can be a basis to create a quantitative and qualitative research. A. SURVEY RESEARCH Survey research is often conducted to know the opinions of a great number of people on a particular issue or topic. In conducting surveys, the researcher asks a number of questions to gain a number of answers on the topic at hand. (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 397) Survey research is more of a quantitative research than qualitative. The latter involves participant observation and unstructured interviewing which is conducted to acquire as much information and opinion from the participants. Surveys are quantitative and positivistic. They are regarded as ‘sterile and unimaginative’, but can provide ‘factual, descriptive information’, the so-called hard evidence (De Vaus, 2002, p. 5). In survey research, the researcher does not manipulate the independent variable and does not have control of the research environment, unlike in the experimental research. Survey research is in contrast to experimental research where researchers do try to manipulate the independent variable. Survey research provides a wide playing field for the researcher in the sense that it is suited for studying a large number of people who can be geographically dispersed. It is also appropriate for studying an analysis of relationships. (Powell, 2004, p. 58) In choosing the type of survey research, the researcher should consider first the research problem and other factors such as the sources of the desired information, the type and nature of data that will be collected, and the objective of the research. (Barbie, 2010, p. 31) A type of survey is literature survey which is an exploratory type, capable of formulating hypotheses based on researches conducted in the past. Literature surveys are quite independent in the sense that they have been conducted by expert researchers but they are considered a part of a larger literature. Literature surveys support future surveys. (Powell, 2004, p. 59) Another type is experience surveys which are used to gather and analyze experiences of experts and researchers on particular subjects. They are exploratory in nature because they acquire ‘insight into the relationships between variables rather than to get an accurate picture of current practices or a simple consensus as to best practices’ (Selltiz et al., 1959, p. 55, cited in Powell, 2004, p. 59). B. INTERVIEWS One of the most important and prominent types of research methods is the qualitative interviewing. Interviewing is a method to collect and analyze data. Interview is an important research method and is used by researchers to ‘check the accuracy of – to verify or refute – the impressions he or she has gained through observation’ (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 455). The purpose of interviewing people is to obtain their opinion, insights, and their experiences that are significant to the research subject. Steinar Kvale (1996) interestingly introduces two metaphors for the interviewer as the “miner” and the “traveler”. Knowledge is considered a “buried metal” and the interviewer is the miner who digs deeper and deeper to unearth the mine. According to Kvale (1996), some miners are objective in their unearthing and in quantifying the facts, while others do it piece by piece to get the essential meaning. (Kvale, 1996, p. 3) The traveler metaphor states that the interviewer is a traveler going on a journey that upon returning back, he/she is now equipped with a tale to tell. The interviewer wanders to many places and conducts interviews and conversations with the people he meets on the way. Interviews may be divided into four types: structured, semi-structured, informal, and retrospective. These four types of interviews are sometimes blended and merged by different researchers. Structured and semi-structured interviews are questionnaires conducted verbally. They consist of questions designed to acquire particular answers from respondents or participants. The answers sometimes contain information that can be compared or contrasted. Informal interviews are the most common interviews and are like casual conversations which reflect common interests of both researcher and respondent. (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 455) Although informal interviews look like easy to formulate, they are one of the most difficult in the sense that ethical issues crop up as the interview progresses. Researchers have to make abrupt decisions while doing the interview. For example there is a question that is too personal for the respondent. The interviewer should decide how far he/she can go with respect to personal issues. The interviewer doing the informal type should have some skill and experience in doing it. On the other hand, a researcher doing the retrospective interview should motivate the respondent to recall and reconstruct from memory something that has happened in the past. (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 456) Face-to-face interviews are more flexible than telephone interviews with respect to question content because they tend to acquire higher response rates. It is also more appropriate when offering complex questions, and permits the use of visual tools as the interview progresses. Validity and Reliability of Interviews An important concern in qualitative research revolves around the ‘degree of confidence researchers can place in what they have seen or heard’; while, validity refers to the ‘appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of the inferences researchers make based on the data they collect, while reliability refers to the consistency of these inferences over time, location, and circumstances’ (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 462). C. OBSERVATION Another research method used in the study of different phenomena of human existence is observation. Through participant observation – or being a part of a group and observing the whole surrounding – one can describe what is going on, the circumstances of the phenomena, the ‘hows and the whys’, and full knowledge of the things as they do happen. This is effective in studying processes, relationships of people and the various instances and occurrences, organizations, time and patterns, and so on. (Jorgensen, 1989, p. 12) Psychologists apply observation method to determine the type of behavior that they want to incorporate in their research and the questions they want answered about the behavior. Here internal and external validity play a role in their choices. External validity determines whether the study is realistic. This is important because the study will apply to a large group of individuals. (Mcilfatrick, 2008, p. 310) According to McBride (2010) speaking on the role of internal validity in observation method, ‘a study with high internal validity provides causal information about behavior’ (p. 39). Purposive sampling Purposive sampling is a kind of sampling wherein experimenters use previous knowledge of a population in judging to select a sample. They use this knowledge in determining whether the sample is representative of the population. (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 100) Purposive sampling is different from convenience sampling in that researchers do not simply study whoever is available but rather use their judgment to select a sample that they believe, based on prior information, will provide the data they need. The disadvantage to this is that the researcher’s judgement could be in error – he or she may not be correct in estimating the representativeness of a sample or their expertise regarding the information needed. (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 101) Purposive sampling can be the kind of sampling suited to the proposed dissertation because this the proposed sample suits the topic and subject matter. Ethical Implications Ethical issues in research become clear and ‘right’ for the participants depending on the researcher. There are rules for surveys to be ethical but sometimes they are not followed. Webster’s new world dictionary defines an ethical behavior as “conforming to the standards of conduct of a given profession or group.” A researcher has the responsibility to evaluate carefully any ethical concerns. He/she be concerned with the dignity and welfare of the participants in the survey. The survey should also be follow existing federal and state regulations and professional standards concerning research with human participants. (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 55) In interviews and observations, ethical considerations are not quite demanded as in surveys. The researcher can submit the questions to the participants through email, by phone or through Internet. In observation, the researcher comes in contact with the participants and observes their actions and behavior. Observation requires a prolonged time in the research area the researcher is interested in. Moreover, the researcher has to make sure that the participants get acquainted with him/her and erase the feeling of being a stranger to the group. (Thomas et al., 2011, p. 359) Validity and Reliability Validity is considered ‘the appropriateness, correctness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of the specific inferences researchers make based on the data they collect. Validation is the process of collecting and analyzing evidence to support such inferences.’ (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006, p. 151) In determining the validity of a research, the researcher is concerned with the result of the data collection, whether it reflects the true picture of the units of analysis (subject of the research). The data collected should not be a product of the research method but of what is being studied. (McNeill and Chapman, 2005, p. 9; Groves, 2004, p. 3) Validity and reliability are a form of measurement, and without this measurement, the survey research hardly makes sense (Wright and Marsden, 2010, p. 5). These two are interrelated, and a researcher has to have a ‘high degree of reliability’ on a survey before he can have validity (Alwin, 2007, p. 290). Internal validity is not a problem to survey research because – as mentioned – surveys do not allow cause-and-effect relationships. (Dumont, 2008, p. 29) Reliability refers to a measure of consistency. A test is considered reliable if we get same result repeatedly. Generally, we use the internal consistency to judge the reliability of results on the same test. Before conducting the research, the researcher can carry out normality test. The right questions should be asked and repeated in another survey using another group of sample. Using this technique will determine the reliability of the survey. Limitation and Bias in Surveys Every research method has its own limitation and bias. Limitations are sometimes referred to as weaknesses of a particular research. Limitations of include availability of sample from a given population. There are times that obtaining permission from the prospectively participants cannot be easily achieved. For example, the survey has to request from management to conduct the survey and management refuses. This in itself is a limitation. Other limitations include how the interview and questions in a questionnaire are to be conducted. The manner of submitting the questionnaire creates a problem and becomes a limitation. CONCLUSION Before conducting research, the researcher has to decide on what type of research method he/she has to apply. A summary of the perspectives and different research methods described in the early sections of this essay can be stated in the diagram below: A research has a problem, or, to put it more simply, before the start of a research, it has to have a research problem (Dumont, 2008). The purpose of any research is generally to collect data and information on a particular subject or topic. Conducting interview questions is considered appropriate and adaptable to researching in industrial relations. In a particular industry for example, the researcher can submit interview questions to the participants either through email or through telephone. Whichever is chosen, the researcher acquires the needed data and information and can repeat it to another group of people to test the reliability of the answers. References Alwin, D. F., 2007. Margins of error: a study of reliability in survey measurement. New Jersey; Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Barbie, E., 2010. The practice of social research, twelfth edition. United States of America: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. De Vaus, D., 2002. Surveys in social research. Crown Nest NSW, Australia: Taylor & Francis Group. Dumont, K., 2008. Research methods and statistics. In: L. Nicholas (ed.), Introduction to psychology. Cape Town: UCT Press. Fraenkel, J. and Wallen, N., 2006. How to design and evaluate research in education. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Groves, R., 2004. Survey errors and survey costs. New Jersey; Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jorgensen, D., 1989. Participant observation: a methodology for human studies. California; London, United Kingdom; New Delhi, India: SAGE Publications Ltd. Kvale, S., 1996. Interviews: an introduction to qualitative research interviewing. California; London, United Kingdom; New Delhi, India: SAGE Publications Ltd. McBride, D., 2010. The process of research in psychology. California; London, UK; New Delhi, India; Singapore: SAGE Publications Ltd. Mcilfatrick, S., 2008. Observation. In: R. Watson et al., (eds.), Nursing research: designs and methods. UK: Elsevier. McNeill, P. and Chapman S., 2005. Research methods. United States of America and Canada: Routledge. Powell, R., 2004. Basic research methods for librarians third edition. United States of America: Ablex Publishing Corporation. Thomas, J., Nelson, J., and Silverman, S., 2011. Research methods in physical activity. Canada; United Kingdom; Australia; New Zealand: Human Kinetics. Read More