Research Methodology n Thesis Writing

8/13/2019 Research Methodology n Thesis Writing

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research methodology n thesis writing

12/11/13research requires a particular orientation towards a battery of questions. it endeavours to ans a set ofques.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESERCH N REVIEWannual review tell us the state of the year in diff yearsresearch is concerned wid answering certain questions located in the sub field of a discipline. locate aresearch in particular displine.

THESIS N DESERTATIONoften used interchangeblyphd- thesis - trying to make original wrk which may not b a case in mphil or sum odr wrkall odr research wrk - desertation

THESIS- a piece of writing whch is yet not published although it z publicly accesable after it zpublished. librariesabstracts of thesis are often publishedsubmitted for d award for one or the odr degreeoutcome of ones concerted full or part time wrk on a particular topicengages u completely (undivided attention) coz for a certain no of yrs u wrk wrk on a particular topic.if a thesis deserves publication it must b published as a whole as a monographcan be sent back for revision (in du 10% of thesis are sent back for revision)rejection is quite low in india while in cambridge the rejection rate z high ( cant submit it again). mphil,mlet, blet or ba is awarded if the thesis z rejected.in india rejection are now becomig common because:plagerism n academic fraud

difference between earlier thesis n today's wrkethics of research - contemporary books have ds chapter rite in d front. many uni have ethicalcommetties where the ethic.......water. ethics begins with u , the investigator1.sirelbuttt wrking on the cognitive of twins.......data was fabricated n core researchers weremissing.2. paul4. charles dawn - skull evolves at differential ratecases of academic fraud.plagerism is not criminal but unethical.thus every researcher must confine to the academic .......

another chap is on writing skills whch maintains that one shd b able to write up persuavely. writinghas to b developed n has to b taken up seriously.paper clinic- the ability to write n agrue persuavely.ideas must be commited to writing. (some of ds ideas may provide a breakthrough)writing is thinking

components of a thesishas chapters in whch the information pertaining to the topic is spread outchapters are of equal length for a good thesis - must have oragnic cahracteristicabstract z written towards d end but read first.must have a preface, title

bibliography ( list provided at the end of the thsis is references cited not biblioaphy)notatedbibliography ( summary of all books) n reference citation


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problems.the term research is used for many kind of activities: a set if interconnected activities.theview dat is obtained by .......itic n emic- the actor's point of viewDATA COLLECTIONdata are in two forms - numbers - quantitative data

data in the form of words - qualitative data which are in d form of narration

may olos b categorised into primary n secondary data......information dat z retrieved for analysis is called dataprimary data are collected by individualssecondary data are in the form of documents, articles, journals etchistorians make a distinction between primary n secondary sources of data within the secondary data-some disciplines principally rely on seconfdary data, combination of both or nly on primary data.difference between d foll terms z necessary:techniqesmethodstoolsmethodologytechniques n methods r often usd interchangeblytechnique refers to d procedure of collectinf information. observation z a technique, interview . whentwo or more tech are combined for collection of data it z called methods eg case study, pedigree ngeneology methods. method z understood as a theoritical approach - eg diffusion , functional nevolutionary approach.tool refers toa finished product whch z used for data collection. questionnares, internet z olso a tool,librarymethodolgy refers to d philosophical ques dat r taken up in research. relationship btw observer nobservedparadigm- mental window......neither wrng nor rite dealing wid d foundational beliefs.methodologydeals wid 5 issues1.wat z d nature of reality ( can d reality b observed or is it constructed by us)- ontological questionsdeals wid nature of reality.2. relationship btw observer n observed - epistemological3. values - universal n values- axiology4. language ( patois- academic terms)- retoric5. ways of collecting inf- mrthods, ways, techniques

TYPES OF RESEARCH

pure- methodology-to provide an understanding - systematicapplied- understanding - this knowledge to use ( eg d study of post traumatic stresssyndrome)

policy reserch is concerned with the study of the existing policies n their effectiveness. it z a directrelationship wid d state n state n state machineries

action research is one whr d researcher takes up a prob wid an aim to implement d change swherethe person who studied is olso the one who z a part of the implementing team n d researcher z olsothe implementer.

APPLIED N ACTION are often used interchangebly but applied z one whr the researchers findings

have implications for prac actions but these researches r not done wid an explicit aim of bringing abt achange. the researcher z not the implementer. in action research the researcher carries out the


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research to carry out a change .....it z oriented towards a change.....researcher z the implemnter.focus of each research is different

four methods of data collection which are used across disciplinesmethod 1 : survey , used in disciplines- socio, eco, demography, pol science

method 2: fieldwrk...... when study z carried out in natural habitat it z calld fieldwrk ( rounds of fieldwrk) - sociology, social antropologymethod 3: documentary study- history, literature, pol sciencemethod 4: experimentation or the faculty of experimentation - psychology, sociology, sum bit in eco,natural n biological sciences

each of these methods are imp in d career of different discilplineseach method has its merits n demeritsthese methos can be combined within the frame of the same study. wn diif methods r combined thetechnical term used is triangulation eg triangulation of investigation , however the researcher has topoint out y ds methods were combined, which advantahes came up wid ds n d disadvanteges thatwere transcended.

hypothesis is deemend in a htpothesis dat one variable l cause d other variable.variable that comes between dependant n independant variable are calld intervening variable.hypothesis testing follows d principle of falsification & wn v are unable to falsify it dr seems to b arelationship btw d variable at d backdrop of d data available.research z an itirative process......tyler n bogde - gatekeeper - ppl who exercise survelliance on information ( whch inf z to b gvn n whchimp must b gvn out).....propositions :whister blowerresearchcovert research (covert- hidden)

14/11QUASI EXPERIMENT- experiments conducted by economists . some of the exemplray wrk of theeconomists are on kautaliya etc.historians in the last 50 yrs so have started to carry out field studies.....similarly economists have wrked on barter system & they are making use of field wrks for ds......this is resulting methodological monism - one method used in all disciplines .methodological integrationpositivism was the wrd used for natural n biological sciences .....the term was proposed by a frenchscholar AUGUSTE COMTE.... positive philosophy- all sciences can use the same method ....sciences

are all those enquiries whch are systematic, independant verofication of phenomenon exists n theattempt to arrive at laws ( nomothetic- we arrive at the general propositions n laws).the term used for social sciences was moral sciences ......M CONDORCET first used the term socialsciencescientific methods comprises of acc to ds authors:observationexperimentatiocomparisionarriving at inferencesbut all disciplines donot confine to these componentstoday therefore methodological monism exists. methodological plurarism is more dominant

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOUR METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION


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1. survey- what z a survey, hw are ds conducted n d merits n demeritssurveys are invariably team researches although thr can be surveys carried out by individualresearches which wld b small coz all the jobs done by diff ppl in team researches will hv to b done byan individual.investigators ( collect d data), index data , analysis n interpret

aims of survey is to generalise abt the whole population, to understand d whole universe rather thanundestanding only one of its parts ( surveyors draw the sample of the whole whch is rep of the whole)the main technique of survey is askng questionssurvey is thus defined as the method of askng questions dat wld generate verbal at aparticular point of time or over timethree types of surveys- the best type is census ( every unit is covered, tries to genralise the universeby studyng the entire population, conducted by gvtsn are statistically analysed, instruments areprepared in such a way dat answers are coded that can be quantitatively treated, presumed to b validn reliable n can b used officially). 2) cross sectional surveys - particular section is studied at diff pointsof time , differed from the census in terms of the size of population. 3) longitudinal survey is one whchincorporates the elemnts of change..... diff samples are drawn from diff times to study d change......different wrds are used for longitudinal surveytrend studycohort studypanel studyfield wrk is an insitu study ......... survey can olso include interviewing ppl or a combination ofquestionnare n intensive interviewingstructure of a questionnare- comprises of 3 parts - the bulk z the set of ques ( closed ended n openended) takes abt 6-7 months for framing a questionnare; (2)covering letter ( generally not more than apage) includes:the bonafides of the researchersaim of researchthe addresses n emailsthe results will b sharedpromise that no inf wld b leaked out;

(3)note of gratitude - thank you note mainly for mailed questionnaresmojor probs wid mailed questionnares - low response rate- it z rarely more than 25%, questionnares

are filled incompletely ( often d open ended questions - difficulty in writing n composing ), no controlover the external env of the components . due to ds predicaments involved in mailed questionnaresone administers other methods: interviewing schedule , group administration , phone interview ortelephonic questionnaredemerits of surveyyields normative repliessays wat ppl actually donot do

2. field work - study of phenomenon in natural habitat ( carrying out insitu study) henry - two ways -gng arnd it n gng inside it.......foe eg to know abt the preliterate societies stayng in dose socities wasessential. characteristics- way of living was qualitatively diff from western societies, no travelouge ndiff language. all these accounts were etnocentic

think/ do / say/ ought to have donelong period ( one cycle)vernacular - must know d lang coz the translator may conceal concepts n thus there l b several formsof interpretation.requirements of a field wrk

scratch notes - these scratch notes need to b expanded ( needs 3-4 hrs for expanding n writing )these are then called processed notes. these includes aspects of ones understanding ..... sorting out


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the information . these processed notes are to be read ...... log book ......ques emerge that areetirative.glosarry......diary ( personal account of the field wrk). in field wrk the process of evaluation is etirative,data collection n analysis go hand in hand n entire field wrk generates head notes ( given by simonottenberg who olso gave the term scratch notes).

field wrk data collected by one person cannot be analysed n understood by other ppl. field wrk textsare authorascent. it z a solo activity . the basic tech in field wrk is observation which is not just d useof visual faculty seen ..... involves the use of the 5 senses...... altough it z largely viewed as conciousviewing but it shd not b interpreted miopicallyas some ppl point out that dr z no tool kit

simplicity in objectives wld come by writing n rewriting the objectives

types of reseach designsexploratory -descriptive- earlier called diagnosticexperimental

9-12 partcipants who do not know each other ( bias factor)note takertaking note of the facial expression

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Research Methodology n Thesis Writing