Qualitative research methodologies are those scientific approaches that attempt to give meaning to certain experiences by describing cultural phenomena, human behavior or belief systems. Qualitative research is conducted by interviewing people, using a combination of closed and open ended questions and analyzing the responses to draw conclusions about a pattern of behavior or social phenomena. One example of qualitative research in the field of cognitive learning is obtaining information about students' learning styles by listening to their own subjective descriptions of how they learn. Quantitative research methodology is conducted by collecting data and creating statistics based on the evidence collected to prove or disprove a hypothesis.

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Quantitative research uses questionnaires or surveys of individuals and compiles the results into a chart, graph or other type of report. Quantitative research is useful in evaluating attitudes or views on certain topics. For example, doctoral research in the field of political science could survey whether people would support a government policy regarding taxes on luxury goods to shed light on the viability of such a proposal in a given community.

The comparative research approach seeks to draw parallels and contrasts between two similar or competing systems of thought, among several cultures or within cross cultural societies. Comparative research methodology is carried out by using a variety of tools, including surveys, personal observation and analysis of national data. Comparative research is useful for classifying shared social phenomena, placing cultural values in context and analyzing cultural differences. A doctoral project in criminal law could use comparative research, for example, to study how various countries in the european union approach the rehabilitation of convicted criminals.

In the field of medicine and biological sciences, clinical trials are the methodology of choice. They are laboratory experiments carried out to test, confirm or disprove scientific theories or to measure the effect of medication or treatment on animals or humans. Clinical trials are conducted by observing the response of certain individuals to medical interventions and comparing those responses to individuals who have not received such medical interventions. In doctoral research in the field of physical therapy, clinical trials are an effective methodology for gauging the effects of therapeutic devices in patients. research methodology for phd thesis/dissertation research methodology is the basis of your study. When you write about it, you require having an intensive knowledge of all aspects of research.

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You not only need to develop it well, but also require executing your ideas with precision. While many research students think about their data collection tools when they start writing about the methodology, it is also important to look at some other aspects according to saunders. Saunders gave the concept of a research onion, according to which several stages need to be covered while developing a strategy. One may ask questions related to the chosen philosophy of research, as well as its adopted approach, strategy, etc.

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When such questions are over, then the question related to data collection methods should surface. Some important points to be noted in this concept include the following: the type of reality you have been investigating triggers some beliefs. How you understand research philosophy can be categorized in three ways that include ontology, epistemology and axiology. Each of the thought processes differs in the approach you adopt toward the understanding of your methodology. While the philosophy of positivism assumes that the reality is independent of subjects, the philosophy of constructivism assumes that observations are interpreted based on subjects’ response differences.

The deductive approach of research is regarding the deduction of hypotheses from theories, making them operational, and testing them. On the other hand, the inductive approach is regarding the building up of theories based on people’s ways of interpreting certain events. Based on your research topic and its intrinsic qualities, the choice between primary and secondary data or between qualitative and quantitative research is made. When there are specific queries and their contexts, answers are sought through a mixed kind of methodology. If you are finding it all somewhat complex to understand, then you may consult our research guides who can suggest you on picking up the right methodology for your research.

This evidence may have many different forms and be gathered or selected by many different methods, according to the discipline and field of inquiry. However, every thesis needs to answer these questions:

how did you do your research?

why did you do it that way?

this covers not only the methods used to collect and analyse data, but also the theoretical framework that informs both the choice of methods and the approach to interpreting the data, and relates all of these explicitly to the research question s addressed in the thesis. You may need to summarise available methods and theoretical approaches for your research topic you will certainly need to justify choice of method s where a combination of methods is used, that needs to be justified too , and indicate any relevant limitations they may have. All this will be set out in preliminary form in the research proposal you wrote for confirmation of candidature, but it is likely that you have refined and developed it since then. In addition, you now have to report the details of how, where and when the study was actually carried out. The detail and emphasis of what is covered will be different in different disciplines.

However, where the research consists of a series of experiments or studies that are reported separately, it is usually more appropriate to devote a chapter with its own methods section to each study. number of graduate students full time equivalent taught: 22 number of faculty full time equivalent: 10 location: columbia house the department of methodology is an interdisciplinary group with joint appointments in or close connections to other departments in the school. The disciplinary backgrounds of the staff include political science, statistics, sociology, social psychology, anthropology and criminology. In addition to the msc and mphil/phd in social research methods, the department offers a variety of advanced level courses, seminars and workshops in research design, quantitative analysis and qualitative methods. Many departments in the school require students to take courses in the department as part of msc and phd programmes.

The department of methodology welcomes applications from students for our research degree, both full time and part time. For admission to the mphil/phd programme in the department of methodology, we normally require a good grounding in research methods at master's level. You should have an upper second class honours degree from a uk university or its equivalent abroad, and an msc at merit level that provides a training broadly similar to our msc social research methods. Gaps in training in methodology can be addressed in the first year of registration. Applicants are advised to consult the department of methodology website and identify a member of staff who might supervise their project before submitting an application. Any member of staff will be helpful and discuss a potential application beforehand. Applications should primarily identify a substantive area of research and also demonstrate a particular methodological interest, aiming at a methodological development, for example in collecting innovative new data, new analytic techniques, method comparison, evaluation or validation, method critique, applying existing methodology in new contexts, or cost benefit analysis of methodologies.

The department of methodology at lse is catholic with regard to methodology: we support both standalone qualitative and quantitative research, as well as interesting ways of combining them. When you apply for an mphil/phd, you will need to send us a brief research proposal two to five pages that sets out clearly the research problem you wish to investigate, explains why it is important, and describes the methods of research you propose to use, and your particular ambition for developing these. This will help us to evaluate your potential to embark on a research degree, and to identify a supervisor with similar interests and the appropriate expertise. It is expected that a phd in the department will be completed in three years of full time study, with appropriate adjustment made for part time study. Two supervisors are normally assigned to each research student at the time an offer of admission is made.