When the characteristics of quantitative or qualitative research are discussed, the four essential elements of the research process must be addressed.
They are epistemology, theoretical perspectives, methodology, and methods (Crotty, 1998). Denzin and Lincoln (1998) suggested that four basic issues structure the design of a research study:
(a) Which paradigm or worldview will inform the study design?
(b) Who or what will be studied?
(c) Which research strategies will be used? and
(d) Which research methods or tools will be used to collect and analyse data?
Methodology context within proposal and thesis structure
How do I choose a research methodology?
Research aims and objectives will form the basis for decisions on your approach to the methodology.
The first question you need to ask yourself is whether your research is exploratory or confirmatory in nature.
What is a methodology in a research paper?
The methodology section of your research paper allows readers to evaluate the overall validity and reliability of your study and gives important insight into two key elements of your research: your data collection and analysis processes and your rationale for conducting your research.
•When writing a methodology for a research paper, it’s important to keep the discussion clear and succinct and write in the past tense.
What to include in a methodology
•The first part of a methodology section usually describes the type of research you perform and how you develop your research methods.
•This section also discusses the question or problem you investigate through your research and the type of data you need to perform evaluations and research assessments.
•Additionally, the methodology often includes the criteria your experimental studies need to meet to produce valid and reliable evidence. The information you cover in this part of your methodology allows readers to gain insight into how you measure validity and reliability during your studies.
Differences between the methodology and methods
While the methodology is the entire section of your research paper that describes your processes, the methods refer to the actual steps you take throughout your research to collect and analyse data.
The methodology usually appears at the beginning of your paper and looks like a summary or essay in paragraph form detailing your research validity, process and rationale. The format you use to describe your research and analysis methods can take various forms, depending on the type of research, type of data and type of assessments you use.
For instance, when describing the methods you use to perform quantitative and statistical analyses, the format you use may focus on a graph or chart to display your data. Additionally, the methods you describe within each part of your methodology can include tables or lists to demonstrate your research process and outcomes.
A qualitative approach is likely to take an explanatory written form detailing your research validity, sources process and rationale.
The purpose and format ultimately influence the content that you include in both your methodology and your research method details. However, the content within your entire methodology focuses on delivering a concise summary of your research, approaches and outcomes. Therefore, the content of your methodology includes all aspects of performing your studies.
The content in your research paper that details your collection and analysis methods differs because it’s often necessary to explain your scientific approaches and research processes with lists and visual aids (like charts or graphs) to support the information.
Literature review Tips on Structure
Usually, a literature review can be described as an objective, concise, and critical summary of published research literature pertinent to the subject being researched in an article. A literature can be an end in itself (an analysis of what is known about a topic) or a prologue to and rationale for engaging in primary research.)
The following are guidelines on how to write a literature review:
Organize the literature review around key topics of concepts. Use headings or topic sentences to convey your organizational principle.
Tell a story about the research. This will assist you with your organization.
Be selective. Incorporate only studies that are pertinent to your subject.
Synthesize and evaluate.
Use a summary to assist the reader to relate every section to the wider topic and to clarify your argument’s movement. Where have we just been and where are we heading to?
EXAMPLE OF A LITERATURE REVIEW CONCLUSION
“The objective of this review was to view the trends in composition studies within the past fifty years and see how commentary on student writing has transformed and is still transforming. It’s clear from the research reviewed that evaluative commentary is widely practiced all through composition programs in universities today. Together with this, it’s also evident that the field of composition studies in regards to the kinds of commentary that students get on their writing is varied and continues to be examined and analyzed to benefit both composition students and the society at large. Moreover, corrective vs. evaluative commentary is still being discussed, and continues to be problematic in the discourse community of college composition and also high school writing as viewed in Bardine et al.’s research.” Assisting students to become better writers is important in our current society with reducing school budgets.”
How to Create a Literature Review
Youtube Videos
Reading Papers Quickly and Efficiently
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D198mpdhoPg
How to Create a Literature Review | Part 1 – Identifying Themes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LusyMJjbQ4
How to Create a Literature Review | Part 2 – Creating a Structure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEaFpxCTDIo
How to Create a Literature Review | Part 3 – Content Writing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTroQMmkE8