When you are going to write an academic paper, then you will
need to conduct an effective research. Its reason is that for writing an
academic paper, we need to collect the data and data is collected with the help
of an effective research. Most of the students feel it very difficult to select
right research approach due to lack of knowledge about research methodologies.
It is necessary for us to select the research methodology that is appropriate
for our research topic. You can get guidance from your supervisor or tutor on
this issue. You can also contact dissertation
writing services where expert writers are available to help you in
selection of dissertation methodology as well writing methodology chapter. In
this article I am going to inform you about two main research approaches that
are qualitative research methodology and the quantitative research methodology.
I will also describe the difference
between the qualitative and quantitative research.
Qualitative research
methodology
Qualitative research methodology is a direct method to
collect the data from the primary sources like observations, surveys and
interviews. You can conduct a qualitative research methodology in the following
way;
1)
Preparing research
a)
First of all, you should try to decide that
whether it is necessary to collect the data with the help of qualitative
research or quantitative research. You should try to read the literature
related to your topic and try to know which methods is used by the other
people.
b)
If it is necessary for you to collect the data
with the help of qualitative research, then you should decide a research
question that you want to study. Your research question should be clear,
specific and manageable.
c)
There are a lot of types of qualitative research
like action research, ethnography, ground theory and case study research. You
can select one of them. For example, if you are going to find the immediate
result with the help of qualitative research, then you can select the action
research.
2)
Collecting and analyzing data
a)
If you are going to collect the data with the
help of qualitative research methodology, then you can collect the data with
the help of a lot of ways. You can collect the data through direct observation,
participant observation, conducting interviews and completing surveys. In
direct observation, it is required to collect the data directly by observing
the situation without taking part in the situation. In the participant
observation, it is required by an observer to directly involve in the situation
in order to get the data. In an interview, you can collect the data by getting
the answers from a particular person. In the surveys, you can collect the data
with the help of questionaries.
b)
After collecting the data, it is also necessary
for you to analyze the data. In this data analysis, you should try to keep only
that data which is relevant to your topic and remove all the irrelevant data.
c)
After collecting and analyzing the data, the
next thing is to write the data by following the professional structure and
format of that particular academic paper.
Quantitative research methodology
In the quantitative research
methodology, it is necessary for a student to collect the data from the
secondary sources like books, magazines, government surveys and newspapers. You
can conduct the quantitative research methodology in the following;
1)
Preparing research
a)
Like the qualitative research methodology, it is
also necessary for you to read the literature related to your topic in order to
know whether it is necessary for you to collect the data with the help of
quantitative research methodology or not.
b)
Quantification of the data is the main purpose
of the quantitative research methodology. In a quantitative research
methodology, you are given a sample and you are asked to measure the interests,
views and opinions of different people related to this sample.
c)
Quantitative research methodology is a process
that is used to test pre-specified concepts and hypothesis that are used to
develop the theory.
2)
Collecting and analyzing the data
a)
You can collect the data from the indirect
sources like library books, newspapers, government surveys and magazines.
b)
After collecting the data, it is also necessary
for you to analyze the data and keep only that data which is relevant to the
topic of the academic paper.
c)
When you are going to analyze the data, then you
can use the statistical tests.
d)
Like the qualitative research methodology, it is
also necessary for you to write the data in the professional structure and
format of the academic paper.
How to Select a
Research Methodology?
You should keep in mind the following things while selecting
the research methodology;
a)
Your research goals
b)
Statistical significance of the results
c)
Type of the required data
d)
Sample size
e)
Timing (How quickly you need results?)
f)
Availability of the existing information
These are the most important points that you should keep in
mind while selecting the research methodology.