Guide To: Research Methods for Dummies

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Guide To:

Research Methods


Research Guide - Primary and Seconary Research

Primary Research Primary research that is carried out by yourelf and, all the research wduld be with your own tools and methods. Examples of primary reasearch methods would include: Sureys, Questionnaires, interviews etc.

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Advantages:

The WRiter can make their own choices on how the research is controlled. The outcome of the research is more realiable, as it will all be based on what you ve written The data is more re cent and uptodate

Disadvantages:

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Carrying out your own uming. research can be time cons n’t results of the research ca always be trustworthy.

secondary Research secondary research is information that is taken from another source. This sorce would have already carried out their own research and you would use thier research for your own use or purpose. Secondary research can be found in books, the Internet etc.

Advantages:

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Its more time efficient, takes less time to find than primary information. They are more easier to access e.g. computers, CDs/DVDS etc. It allows users to find answers more easily, without the need to go out to look for answers.

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Disadvantages: the quality of the research may be poor and not realiable or trustworthy. The research that is found may be out of date and will result in unreliable informataion.


Research Guide - Qualitative and Quantitive Research

Qualitative + quantative research Qualitative Qualitative Research is basically exploratory research. It is used to find out reasons, opinions or inspirations. It helps to provide insights to develop ideas or a hypothesis. common methods of qualitative research include focus groups or group discussions, interviews, and participation/observations. The size of this type of research is typically small.

Quantative Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem in numerical form. It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables. This type of research, include various forms of surveys (online surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys and kiosk surveys), face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews etc.


Research Guide - Research Methods

Methods sTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

tHIS METHOD INVOLVES AT LEAST 2 PEOPLE AND CAN INVOLVE A SURvey where a host has a person or thing they want to examine and so this can be done in the form of a face to face interview where questions are asked.

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Disadvantages:

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Advantages:

The interviewee could give inefficient answers resulting in untrustwothy information The interviewee could rush the interview and would have the sme result in untrustworthy information

All the answer that the researcher is looking for can be answered in a specific way it can be less than time consuming than a secondary interview as you can ask your own questions based on your topic.

Observations tHIS METHOD doesn’t include any participants and it is where you - the researcher - would observe a group or situation (without taking part or having any involvment), and you should be able to come up with a conclusion from your observation.

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Advantages: The research that is carried out and the results that come out of the observation are more reliable as you wouldn’t hav interfered with the subjects of the observation.

Disadvantages:

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You may not have full understanding of what is happeneing with the subject(s), and no questions can be asked to avoid affecting the research.


Research Guide - Research Methods

Questionnaire a QUESTIONNAIRE I A SERIES OF DIFFERENT QUETIONS BASED ARIUND THE TOPIC THAT YOU ARE RESEARCHING ABOUT. tHESE CAN BE IN WRITTEN OR PRINTED FORM. tHEY CAN BE USED IN A SURVEY OR STUDY.

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Advantages:

yOU CAN INTERVIEW AND ASK A MANY SUBJECTS AS YOUWANT THERE IS NO LIMIT. tHE RESULTS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRES MAY HAVE A MOJOIRTY AND SO THE STATISTICS MAY HAVE A TREND .

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Disadvantages:

If it is an unattended, questionnaire the subject may not know what a question may maen which would result in unreliable answers. Some subjects may not be serious about the topic and give unrelated answers.

fOCUS GROUP A FOCUS GROUP IS A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT CAN BRAINSTORM AND DISCUSS A SPECIFIC TOPIC THAT YOU ARE RESEARCHING. tHEY ARE EXPECTED TO FOLLOW AND AGENDA. ALL THAT IS DISCUSSED IN A FOCUS GROUP CAN BE RECORDED, AND CAN HAVE AN OBSERVER PRESENT FOR YOUR OR THEIR OWN USE.

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Advantages:

iT IS AN EASIER METHOD IN GAINING MORE IDEAS FOR YOUR OW N REASEARCH. THE PARTICIPANTS CAN BU ILD UP ON EACH OTHERS COMMENTS AND WOULD GRADUALLY BUIL D, MAKING THINGS MORE ELABORAT E.

DisadvantagesCO: N-

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ALL PARTICIPANTS MAY NOT TRIBUTE TO THE FOCUS GROUP, LETTING OTHERS BE MORE DOMI NANT. PIC SOME GROUPS MAY GO OFF TO AND SO IT’ A DUTY TO THE RESEARCHER/HOST TO STAY ON TOPIC.


THAT’S ALL FOLKS! Guide By: Hammad Mirza


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