RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
REBECCA JADON
RESEARCH PROCESS
deciding WHAT to research
 step I Formulating a research problem
deciding HOW to research – PLANNING a research study
 step II Conceptualising a research design
 step III Constructing an instrument for data collection
 step IV Selecting a sample
 step V Writing a research proposal
CONDUCTING the research study
 step VI collecting data
 step VII processing and displaying data
 step VIII WRITING a research REPORT
RESEARCH PROBLEM
 ANY QUESTION YOU WANT ANSWERED OR ANY
ASSUMPTION THAT YOU WANT TO PROVE OR
DISPROVE OR INVESTIGATE can become your
research problem.

 The formulation of the research problem is the first

and important step of the research process.
step I Formulating a research problem

The main function of formulating a research problem

is to decide what you want to find out about.

It is like identification of a destination before a

journey.
step I Formulating a research problem

interest
Measurement of concepts
Magnitude of work
CONSIDERATIONS
IN SELECTION
Level of expertise
Ethical issues

RELEVANCE
 Literature review

The first step is literature review – to find the

existing body of knowledge in the area of
interest.
Literature review has value before the research process starts,
helps you design the research and supports you throughout
the journey of the research.
LITERATURE REVIEW

Purpose:
 To provide a theoretical framework for your study

 To provide guidelines towards refining your

methodology
 To enable you to contextualise your findings in

relation to the existing body of knowledge

LITERATURE REVIEW
Typically reviewing the literature means critically reading to pull together
themes and issues that are of relevance to your study.
 NOTE DOWN the issues, the theories, the criticisms and their basis
 NOTE the methodologies adopted
 Identify the gap areas
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Literature review can be written in a series of sub
themes relating to your topic
Contents –
 An introductory statement of intent of the literature
exploration
 Summary of the lines of research that provide the
background for the proposed research
 Observations on the literature: identifying specific
areas not covered or challenging any argument or
scope of application in context to proposed research
step I Formulating a research problem

Formulating a research problem can be more confusing after the

initial stage but consider thus a sign of progression.

Confusion is often but a first step towards clarity

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Formulating research objectives – main objective
& sub objectives

Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in your

study.
 Main objective – an overall statement of the thrust
of your study (aim)
 Sub objectives – the specific aspects of the topic
that you are investigating
TYPES OF RESEARCH

The types of research may be classified on the basis

of objective of the research, application or mode
of enquiry.
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 basic research v/s applied research:
Basic research Applied research
Knowledge used to understand Knowledge used to solve
reality problems

Useful in development of Useful in addressing needs of

theory a particular situation
Asking what something means Asking what something is or
or why it exists how it is improved

the central aim of applied research is to discover a solution for some pressing
practical problem,
whereas basic research is directed towards finding information that has a broad
base of applications and thus, adds to the already existing organized body of
scientific knowledge
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Descriptive vs. Analytical:
The major purpose of descriptive research is description
of the state of affairs as it exists at present.

In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher

has to use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the
phenomenon.
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Quantitative vs. Qualitative: (based on type of
measurement)
 Quantitative research is based on the measurement
of quantity or amount. It is applicable to
phenomena that can be expressed in terms of
quantity
 Quantitative research is generally linear and
basically means that the attributes are measurable
(quantitative)
TYPES OF RESEARCH
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
 Deals with qualitative attributes of the subject

 Data is not numerical but descriptive (adjective)

about the phenomenon being investigated
 Data collection methods:

o Observation

o Interview

o Focus groups

o Other methods
TYPES OF RESEARCH
 Quantitative research – research problem is stated
before data collection
 Qualitative research – the research problem may
be reformulated several times during data
collection. A flexibility in research methodology.
step I Formulating a research problem

RESEARCH PROBLEM

RESEARCH QUESTION/S

HYPOTHESIS
 HYPOTHESIS
 A hypothesis is a conjectural statement of the
relationship between two or more variables.
 Defined as a proposition, condition, or principle which
is assumed, perhaps without belief, in order to draw
out its logical consequences and by this method to test
its accord with facts which are known or may be
determined.
Thus,a hypothesis has certain characteristics:
1. It is a tentative proposition.
2. Its validity is unknown.
3. In most cases, it specifies a relationship between
two or more variables.
HYPOTHESIS
 Hypothesis brings clarity, specificity and focus to the
research problem
 It tells you what data to collect
 It enhances objectivity of a study
 It enables you to reach a specific conclusion
 Hypothesis is not mandatory, but helps in focused verification of
an assumption
HYPOTHESIS
 Null hypothesis: When you construct a hypothesis
stipulating that there is no difference between two
situations/group/etc , this is a NULL HYPOTHESIS
written as H0.
 Hypothesis of difference: a hypothesis in which a
researcher stipulates that there will be a difference
but does not specify its magnitude
 Hypothesis of point prevalence
 Hypothesis of association
Defining the VARIABLES
A concept that is capable of measurement is
called a variable
Concepts are mental images or perceptions and can vary from
individual to individual
Variable can be subject to measurement (varying degree of
accuracy) – crude/refined or subjective/ objective units of
measurement
A CHARACTERISTIC OR PHENOMENON
WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING MEASURED
IS CALLED A VARIABLE
Defining the VARIABLES
.

The independent variables are those that may influence or affect the dependent
variable.
 1. Independent variable – the cause supposed to be responsible for bringing about
change(s) in a phenomenon or situation.
 2. Dependent variable – the outcome or change(s) brought about by introduction of
an independent variable.
 3. Extraneous variable – several other factors operating in a real-life situation may
affect changes in the dependent variable. These factors, not measured in the study,
may increase or decrease the magnitude or strength of the relationship between
independent and dependent variables. Hence minimise or control the effect of
extraneous variables.
 4. Intervening variable – sometimes called the confounding variable (Grinnell 1988:
203), it links the independent and dependent variables. In certain situations the
relationship between an independent and a dependent variable cannot be
established without the intervention of another variable. The cause, or independent,
variable will have the assumed effect only in the presence of an intervening
variable.
Defining the VARIABLES

LIGHT -
INDEPENDENT
VARIABLE

GROWTH OF
PLANT-DEPENDENT
VARIABLE

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES- INTERVENING VARIABLE- WATER

SOIL/PLANT TYPE,…
Defining the VARIABLES
 Active variables – those variables that can be
manipulated, changed or controlled.
 Attribute variables – those variables that cannot be
manipulated, changed or controlled, and that
reflect the characteristics of the study population,
for example age, gender, education and income.
 PROBLEM STATEMENT “Students observed that the
space was seldom used as a lounge.”
 QUESTION “What sort of changes would have to
be made for the area to function more as a lounge
and social space?”
 HYPOTHESIS “The students hypothesized that the
gallery would be used more if the arrangement of
furniture were less formal and if small screening
elements were used to block the view through the
glass wall along the doorway side of the space
Design practice & research
 Research for design – investigation into technology,
products and materials
 Research ‘into’ design – includes social sciences nad
humanities such as historical and env behaviour
research
 Research ‘thru’ design – design process as a process of
creating new knowledge

Architects doing basic research is less linear, more

iterative, based on experience and often conveyed thru
competitions, exhibitions, magazines 7 monographs
RESEARCH DESIGN
a plan for collecting and analysing evidence that
will make it possible for the researcher to
answer whatever questions he or she has posed
RESEARCH DESIGN
 Functions:
 Conceptualise an operational plan to undertake the
various procedures and tasks required for your
study
 Ensure that these procedures are adequate to
obtain valid, objective and accurate answers to the
research questions. Kerlinger calls this function the
control of variance.
DATA COLLECTION
 Collection of data through primary or secondary
sources
 Primary : surveys  data
 Data--- needs to be coded
 Data--- needs to be compared /statistically
analysed
 SAMPLING
POPULATION : complete set of people/cases with a specialized set of
characteristics.
SAMPLE is the minimized representation of the population or a subset of
the population.
 Random sampling:

 Simple random: when every individual in the population has an equal

likelihood of being included
 Systematic random sampling – every nth individual is selected from the
list (does not always need prior listing of the population)
 Stratified sampling –when the intention is to analyse the data for
specific groups or the population is diverse, we divide the population
into subgroups and draw out proportional random samples from each
group.
 Cluster sampling – the population is divided into groups or clusters
according to some characteristic and random samples are drawn from
each cluster
Non-random sampling:
 Haphazard sampling

 Purposive sampling - Focus groups

 Quota sampling

 Snowball sampling

 intensity sampling - The process of selecting or

searching for rich or excellent examples of the
phenomenon of interest. These are not, however,
extreme or deviant cases.
 Sample size is the number of individual samples or
observations required for a statistical analysis.
 -too small –findings can be skewed
 -too large – time consuming and expensive
 Depends on
 Acceptable level of significance
DATA COLLECTION

ORGANIZING THE DATA

(PRESENTATION OF DATA)

ANALYSING THE DATA

RESULT
PRESENTATION OF DATA
BAR CHART PIE DIAGRAM

STACKED BAR CHART

Source: Jadon,2016
FREQUENCY DIAGRAMS
 HISTOGRAM is a graphical presentation of a
frequency distribution of a continuous series.
POLYGON
FREQUENCY CURVE
OGIVE is a cumulative
frequency curve

Source:www.aplustopper.com
Statistical ANALYSIS
Measurement of central tendency: gives the
representative values of the data set-
 Mean: is the average value of a data set

 Mode: is the most common number in a data set

 Median: the middle value of a data set

 Statistical ANALYSIS

 Median and mode are located in the middle of the

frequency distribution
 It is comparatively difficult to calculate the mode.
 Median and mode are not based on all items of the data
set
 Mean is based on all items of data set
 Mean is affected by highest and lowest items of the
series, but median and mode are not influenced by them
Statistical ANALYSIS

Measurement of dispersion: dispersion is the measure of

variation of the items
 Range : is the difference between the highest and
lowest value in the data set
 Variance: measures the spread of the data set.

It is defined as the average of the squared

differences from the mean.
 Standard deviation : is the square root of the variance.

 Lorenz curve is a measure of deviation of actual

distribution from the line of equal distribution
Statistical ANALYSIS

STANDARD DEVIATION:
It is an effective instrument in making higher statistical
analysis viz.: correlation, skewness, regression and
sample studies, etc.
It is not much affected by the fluctuations in sampling
for which is widely used in testing the hypotheses and
for conducting the different tests of significance viz.
: chi square test, T test etc.
Disadvantage – not easy to calculate and difficult for
lay persons to understand
 Statistical ANALYSIS

Correlation: when some definitive connection exists between two or

more groups of data there is said to be a correlation. The
statistical technique that studies the degree of such relationships is
known as technique of correlation. (causal relation is not necessary)
 Linear correlation: when 2 variables change in a constant proportion

 Non linear correlation :

 Simple correlation

 Multiple correlation

Methods of estimating degree of correlation :

 Scattered diagram method

 Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation

 Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (rank difference method)

On the lighter side ….
Statistical ANALYSIS tools
 Regression analysis –describing or forecasting
relationships between variables
 ANOVA (analysis of variance) –compares the3 or more
set of samples
 SPSS (statistical package for social sciences)

SPSS’s Modeler program enables researchers to build

and validate predictive models using advanced
statistical procedures.
SPSS’s Text Analytics for Surveys program helps uncover
powerful insights from responses to open ended survey
questions.
 BIM as a research tool
 Simulation
References
 research-methodology.net
 John Dudovskiy, 2018, The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation in Business
Studies: a step by step approach
 Ranjith Kumar, 1999, research methodology - aStep by step quide , Sage.
 Uwe Flick,2011, Introducing research methodology, Sage.
 Groat & Wang, 2013, Architectural Research Methods
ASSIGNMENT 3
 Write a REVIEW of a research paper (of your choice) in 1000-1500 words stating
its aim, objectives, methodology, main observations, and conclusions. It should also
include a critical review with parallel or quoted research and your observations on
the study especially with reference to the contribution of the research paper to the
subject.
OR
 PROPOSE A RESEARCH TOOL for a study (can be your seminar related) delineating
the process of selection of the tool, data required, development of the research tool
(survey, sampling method, questionaire, etc) and details of the research tool.
Prefinal marking: 15 th oct (5 marks)
 Submission date: 25th oct (10 marks)
 Narrative analysis
 Theoretical analysis
 Statistical analysis