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Research Project – Definition, Writing Guide and Ideas

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Research Project

Definition :

Research Project is a planned and systematic investigation into a specific area of interest or problem, with the goal of generating new knowledge, insights, or solutions. It typically involves identifying a research question or hypothesis, designing a study to test it, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions based on the findings.

Types of Research Project

Types of Research Projects are as follows:

Basic Research

This type of research focuses on advancing knowledge and understanding of a subject area or phenomenon, without any specific application or practical use in mind. The primary goal is to expand scientific or theoretical knowledge in a particular field.

Applied Research

Applied research is aimed at solving practical problems or addressing specific issues. This type of research seeks to develop solutions or improve existing products, services or processes.

Action Research

Action research is conducted by practitioners and aimed at solving specific problems or improving practices in a particular context. It involves collaboration between researchers and practitioners, and often involves iterative cycles of data collection and analysis, with the goal of improving practices.

Quantitative Research

This type of research uses numerical data to investigate relationships between variables or to test hypotheses. It typically involves large-scale data collection through surveys, experiments, or secondary data analysis.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research focuses on understanding and interpreting phenomena from the perspective of the people involved. It involves collecting and analyzing data in the form of text, images, or other non-numerical forms.

Mixed Methods Research

Mixed methods research combines elements of both quantitative and qualitative research, using multiple data sources and methods to gain a more comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon.

Longitudinal Research

This type of research involves studying a group of individuals or phenomena over an extended period of time, often years or decades. It is useful for understanding changes and developments over time.

Case Study Research

Case study research involves in-depth investigation of a particular case or phenomenon, often within a specific context. It is useful for understanding complex phenomena in their real-life settings.

Participatory Research

Participatory research involves active involvement of the people or communities being studied in the research process. It emphasizes collaboration, empowerment, and the co-production of knowledge.

Research Project Methodology

Research Project Methodology refers to the process of conducting research in an organized and systematic manner to answer a specific research question or to test a hypothesis. A well-designed research project methodology ensures that the research is rigorous, valid, and reliable, and that the findings are meaningful and can be used to inform decision-making.

There are several steps involved in research project methodology, which are described below:

Define the Research Question

The first step in any research project is to clearly define the research question or problem. This involves identifying the purpose of the research, the scope of the research, and the key variables that will be studied.

Develop a Research Plan

Once the research question has been defined, the next step is to develop a research plan. This plan outlines the methodology that will be used to collect and analyze data, including the research design, sampling strategy, data collection methods, and data analysis techniques.

Collect Data

The data collection phase involves gathering information through various methods, such as surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, or secondary data analysis. The data collected should be relevant to the research question and should be of sufficient quantity and quality to enable meaningful analysis.

Analyze Data

Once the data has been collected, it is analyzed using appropriate statistical techniques or other methods. The analysis should be guided by the research question and should aim to identify patterns, trends, relationships, or other insights that can inform the research findings.

Interpret and Report Findings

The final step in the research project methodology is to interpret the findings and report them in a clear and concise manner. This involves summarizing the results, discussing their implications, and drawing conclusions that can be used to inform decision-making.

Research Project Writing Guide

Here are some guidelines to help you in writing a successful research project:

• Choose a topic: Choose a topic that you are interested in and that is relevant to your field of study. It is important to choose a topic that is specific and focused enough to allow for in-depth research and analysis.
• Conduct a literature review : Conduct a thorough review of the existing research on your topic. This will help you to identify gaps in the literature and to develop a research question or hypothesis.
• Develop a research question or hypothesis : Based on your literature review, develop a clear research question or hypothesis that you will investigate in your study.
• Design your study: Choose an appropriate research design and methodology to answer your research question or test your hypothesis. This may include choosing a sample, selecting measures or instruments, and determining data collection methods.
• Collect data: Collect data using your chosen methods and instruments. Be sure to follow ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from participants if necessary.
• Analyze data: Analyze your data using appropriate statistical or qualitative methods. Be sure to clearly report your findings and provide interpretations based on your research question or hypothesis.
• Discuss your findings : Discuss your findings in the context of the existing literature and your research question or hypothesis. Identify any limitations or implications of your study and suggest directions for future research.
• Write your project: Write your research project in a clear and organized manner, following the appropriate format and style guidelines for your field of study. Be sure to include an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
• Revise and edit: Revise and edit your project for clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Be sure to proofread for spelling, grammar, and formatting errors.
• Cite your sources: Cite your sources accurately and appropriately using the appropriate citation style for your field of study.

Examples of Research Projects

Some Examples of Research Projects are as follows:

• Investigating the effects of a new medication on patients with a particular disease or condition.
• Exploring the impact of exercise on mental health and well-being.
• Studying the effectiveness of a new teaching method in improving student learning outcomes.
• Examining the impact of social media on political participation and engagement.
• Investigating the efficacy of a new therapy for a specific mental health disorder.
• Exploring the use of renewable energy sources in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change.
• Studying the effects of a new agricultural technique on crop yields and environmental sustainability.
• Investigating the effectiveness of a new technology in improving business productivity and efficiency.
• Examining the impact of a new public policy on social inequality and access to resources.
• Exploring the factors that influence consumer behavior in a specific market.

Characteristics of Research Project

Here are some of the characteristics that are often associated with research projects:

• Clear objective: A research project is designed to answer a specific question or solve a particular problem. The objective of the research should be clearly defined from the outset.
• Systematic approach: A research project is typically carried out using a structured and systematic approach that involves careful planning, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Rigorous methodology: A research project should employ a rigorous methodology that is appropriate for the research question being investigated. This may involve the use of statistical analysis, surveys, experiments, or other methods.
• Data collection : A research project involves collecting data from a variety of sources, including primary sources (such as surveys or experiments) and secondary sources (such as published literature or databases).
• Analysis and interpretation : Once the data has been collected, it needs to be analyzed and interpreted. This involves using statistical techniques or other methods to identify patterns or relationships in the data.
• Conclusion and implications : A research project should lead to a clear conclusion that answers the research question. It should also identify the implications of the findings for future research or practice.
• Communication: The results of the research project should be communicated clearly and effectively, using appropriate language and visual aids, to a range of audiences, including peers, stakeholders, and the wider public.

Importance of Research Project

Research projects are an essential part of the process of generating new knowledge and advancing our understanding of various fields of study. Here are some of the key reasons why research projects are important:

• Advancing knowledge : Research projects are designed to generate new knowledge and insights into particular topics or questions. This knowledge can be used to inform policies, practices, and decision-making processes across a range of fields.
• Solving problems: Research projects can help to identify solutions to real-world problems by providing a better understanding of the causes and effects of particular issues.
• Developing new technologies: Research projects can lead to the development of new technologies or products that can improve people’s lives or address societal challenges.
• Improving health outcomes: Research projects can contribute to improving health outcomes by identifying new treatments, diagnostic tools, or preventive strategies.
• Enhancing education: Research projects can enhance education by providing new insights into teaching and learning methods, curriculum development, and student learning outcomes.
• Informing public policy : Research projects can inform public policy by providing evidence-based recommendations and guidance on issues related to health, education, environment, social justice, and other areas.
• Enhancing professional development : Research projects can enhance the professional development of researchers by providing opportunities to develop new skills, collaborate with colleagues, and share knowledge with others.

Research Project Ideas

Following are some Research Project Ideas:

Field: Psychology

• Investigating the impact of social support on coping strategies among individuals with chronic illnesses.
• Exploring the relationship between childhood trauma and adult attachment styles.
• Examining the effects of exercise on cognitive function and brain health in older adults.
• Investigating the impact of sleep deprivation on decision making and risk-taking behavior.
• Exploring the relationship between personality traits and leadership styles in the workplace.
• Examining the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating anxiety disorders.
• Investigating the relationship between social comparison and body dissatisfaction in young women.
• Exploring the impact of parenting styles on children’s emotional regulation and behavior.
• Investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions for treating depression.
• Examining the relationship between childhood adversity and later-life health outcomes.

Field: Economics

• Analyzing the impact of trade agreements on economic growth in developing countries.
• Examining the effects of tax policy on income distribution and poverty reduction.
• Investigating the relationship between foreign aid and economic development in low-income countries.
• Exploring the impact of globalization on labor markets and job displacement.
• Analyzing the impact of minimum wage laws on employment and income levels.
• Investigating the effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and unemployment.
• Examining the relationship between economic freedom and entrepreneurship.
• Analyzing the impact of income inequality on social mobility and economic opportunity.
• Investigating the role of education in economic development.
• Examining the effectiveness of different healthcare financing systems in promoting health equity.

Field: Sociology

• Investigating the impact of social media on political polarization and civic engagement.
• Examining the effects of neighborhood characteristics on health outcomes.
• Analyzing the impact of immigration policies on social integration and cultural diversity.
• Investigating the relationship between social support and mental health outcomes in older adults.
• Exploring the impact of income inequality on social cohesion and trust.
• Analyzing the effects of gender and race discrimination on career advancement and pay equity.
• Investigating the relationship between social networks and health behaviors.
• Examining the effectiveness of community-based interventions for reducing crime and violence.
• Analyzing the impact of social class on cultural consumption and taste.
• Investigating the relationship between religious affiliation and social attitudes.

Field: Computer Science

• Developing an algorithm for detecting fake news on social media.
• Investigating the effectiveness of different machine learning algorithms for image recognition.
• Developing a natural language processing tool for sentiment analysis of customer reviews.
• Analyzing the security implications of blockchain technology for online transactions.
• Investigating the effectiveness of different recommendation algorithms for personalized advertising.
• Developing an artificial intelligence chatbot for mental health counseling.
• Investigating the effectiveness of different algorithms for optimizing online advertising campaigns.
• Developing a machine learning model for predicting consumer behavior in online marketplaces.
• Analyzing the privacy implications of different data sharing policies for online platforms.
• Investigating the effectiveness of different algorithms for predicting stock market trends.

Field: Education

• Investigating the impact of teacher-student relationships on academic achievement.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches for promoting student engagement and motivation.
• Examining the effects of school choice policies on academic achievement and social mobility.
• Investigating the impact of technology on learning outcomes and academic achievement.
• Analyzing the effects of school funding disparities on educational equity and achievement gaps.
• Investigating the relationship between school climate and student mental health outcomes.
• Examining the effectiveness of different teaching strategies for promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Investigating the impact of social-emotional learning programs on student behavior and academic achievement.
• Analyzing the effects of standardized testing on student motivation and academic achievement.

Field: Environmental Science

• Investigating the impact of climate change on species distribution and biodiversity.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of different renewable energy technologies in reducing carbon emissions.
• Examining the impact of air pollution on human health outcomes.
• Investigating the relationship between urbanization and deforestation in developing countries.
• Analyzing the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
• Investigating the impact of land use change on soil fertility and ecosystem services.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of different conservation policies and programs for protecting endangered species and habitats.
• Investigating the relationship between climate change and water resources in arid regions.
• Examining the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
• Investigating the effects of different agricultural practices on soil health and nutrient cycling.

Field: Linguistics

• Analyzing the impact of language diversity on social integration and cultural identity.
• Investigating the relationship between language and cognition in bilingual individuals.
• Examining the effects of language contact and language change on linguistic diversity.
• Investigating the role of language in shaping cultural norms and values.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of different language teaching methodologies for second language acquisition.
• Investigating the relationship between language proficiency and academic achievement.
• Examining the impact of language policy on language use and language attitudes.
• Investigating the role of language in shaping gender and social identities.
• Analyzing the effects of dialect contact on language variation and change.
• Investigating the relationship between language and emotion expression.

Field: Political Science

• Analyzing the impact of electoral systems on women’s political representation.
• Investigating the relationship between political ideology and attitudes towards immigration.
• Examining the effects of political polarization on democratic institutions and political stability.
• Investigating the impact of social media on political participation and civic engagement.
• Analyzing the effects of authoritarianism on human rights and civil liberties.
• Investigating the relationship between public opinion and foreign policy decisions.
• Examining the impact of international organizations on global governance and cooperation.
• Investigating the effectiveness of different conflict resolution strategies in resolving ethnic and religious conflicts.
• Analyzing the effects of corruption on economic development and political stability.
• Investigating the role of international law in regulating global governance and human rights.

Field: Medicine

• Investigating the impact of lifestyle factors on chronic disease risk and prevention.
• Examining the effectiveness of different treatment approaches for mental health disorders.
• Investigating the relationship between genetics and disease susceptibility.
• Analyzing the effects of social determinants of health on health outcomes and health disparities.
• Investigating the impact of different healthcare delivery models on patient outcomes and cost effectiveness.
• Examining the effectiveness of different prevention and treatment strategies for infectious diseases.
• Investigating the relationship between healthcare provider communication skills and patient satisfaction and outcomes.
• Analyzing the effects of medical error and patient safety on healthcare quality and outcomes.
• Investigating the impact of different pharmaceutical pricing policies on access to essential medicines.
• Examining the effectiveness of different rehabilitation approaches for improving function and quality of life in individuals with disabilities.

Field: Anthropology

• Analyzing the impact of colonialism on indigenous cultures and identities.
• Investigating the relationship between cultural practices and health outcomes in different populations.
• Examining the effects of globalization on cultural diversity and cultural exchange.
• Investigating the role of language in cultural transmission and preservation.
• Analyzing the effects of cultural contact on cultural change and adaptation.
• Investigating the impact of different migration policies on immigrant integration and acculturation.
• Examining the role of gender and sexuality in cultural norms and values.
• Investigating the impact of cultural heritage preservation on tourism and economic development.
• Analyzing the effects of cultural revitalization movements on indigenous communities.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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How to Get Started With a Research Project

Last Updated: October 3, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Chris Hadley, PhD . Chris Hadley, PhD is part of the wikiHow team and works on content strategy and data and analytics. Chris Hadley earned his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from UCLA in 2006. Chris' academic research has been published in numerous scientific journals. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 312,555 times.

You'll be required to undertake and complete research projects throughout your academic career and even, in many cases, as a member of the workforce. Don't worry if you feel stuck or intimidated by the idea of a research project, with care and dedication, you can get the project done well before the deadline!

Development and Foundation

• Don't hesitate while writing down ideas. You'll end up with some mental noise on the paper – silly or nonsensical phrases that your brain just pushes out. That's fine. Think of it as sweeping the cobwebs out of your attic. After a minute or two, better ideas will begin to form (and you might have a nice little laugh at your own expense in the meantime).

• Some instructors will even provide samples of previously successful topics if you ask for them. Just be careful that you don't end up stuck with an idea you want to do, but are afraid to do because you know someone else did it before.

• For example, if your research topic is “urban poverty,” you could look at that topic across ethnic or sexual lines, but you could also look into corporate wages, minimum wage laws, the cost of medical benefits, the loss of unskilled jobs in the urban core, and on and on. You could also try comparing and contrasting urban poverty with suburban or rural poverty, and examine things that might be different about both areas, such as diet and exercise levels, or air pollution.

• Think in terms of questions you want answered. A good research project should collect information for the purpose of answering (or at least attempting to answer) a question. As you review and interconnect topics, you'll think of questions that don't seem to have clear answers yet. These questions are your research topics.

• Don't limit yourself to libraries and online databases. Think in terms of outside resources as well: primary sources, government agencies, even educational TV programs. If you want to know about differences in animal population between public land and an Indian reservation, call the reservation and see if you can speak to their department of fish and wildlife.
• If you're planning to go ahead with original research, that's great – but those techniques aren't covered in this article. Instead, speak with qualified advisors and work with them to set up a thorough, controlled, repeatable process for gathering information.

• If your plan comes down to “researching the topic,” and there aren't any more specific things you can say about it, write down the types of sources you plan to use instead: books (library or private?), magazines (which ones?), interviews, and so on. Your preliminary research should have given you a solid idea of where to begin.

Expanding Your Idea with Research

• It's generally considered more convincing to source one item from three different authors who all agree on it than it is to rely too heavily on one book. Go for quantity at least as much as quality. Be sure to check citations, endnotes, and bibliographies to get more potential sources (and see whether or not all your authors are just quoting the same, older author).
• Writing down your sources and any other relevant details (such as context) around your pieces of information right now will save you lots of trouble in the future.

• Use many different queries to get the database results you want. If one phrasing or a particular set of words doesn't yield useful results, try rephrasing it or using synonymous terms. Online academic databases tend to be dumber than the sum of their parts, so you'll have to use tangentially related terms and inventive language to get all the results you want.

• If it's sensible, consider heading out into the field and speaking to ordinary people for their opinions. This isn't always appropriate (or welcomed) in a research project, but in some cases, it can provide you with some excellent perspective for your research.
• Review cultural artifacts as well. In many areas of study, there's useful information on attitudes, hopes, and/or concerns of people in a particular time and place contained within the art, music, and writing they produced. One has only to look at the woodblock prints of the later German Expressionists, for example, to understand that they lived in a world they felt was often dark, grotesque, and hopeless. Song lyrics and poetry can likewise express strong popular attitudes.

Expert Q&A

• Start early. The foundation of a great research project is the research, which takes time and patience to gather even if you aren't performing any original research of your own. Set aside time for it whenever you can, at least until your initial gathering phase is complete. Past that point, the project should practically come together on its own. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• When in doubt, write more, rather than less. It's easier to pare down and reorganize an overabundance of information than it is to puff up a flimsy core of facts and anecdotes. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

• Respect the wishes of others. Unless you're a research journalist, it's vital that you yield to the wishes and requests of others before engaging in original research, even if it's technically ethical. Many older American Indians, for instance, harbor a great deal of cultural resentment towards social scientists who visit reservations for research, even those invited by tribal governments for important reasons such as language revitalization. Always tread softly whenever you're out of your element, and only work with those who want to work with you. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 2
• Be mindful of ethical concerns. Especially if you plan to use original research, there are very stringent ethical guidelines that must be followed for any credible academic body to accept it. Speak to an advisor (such as a professor) about what you plan to do and what steps you should take to verify that it will be ethical. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2

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• ↑ http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/research/research_paper.html
• ↑ https://www.nhcc.edu/academics/library/doing-library-research/basic-steps-research-process
• ↑ https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185905
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/research_papers/choosing_a_topic.html
• ↑ https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/student-resources/writing-speaking-resources/using-an-interview-in-a-research-paper
• ↑ https://www.science.org/content/article/how-review-paper

About This Article

The easiest way to get started with a research project is to use your notes and other materials to come up with topics that interest you. Research your favorite topic to see if it can be developed, and then refine it into a research question. Begin thoroughly researching, and collect notes and sources. To learn more about finding reliable and helpful sources while you're researching, continue reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Set Up a Research Project (in 6 Steps)

Written by Casey Scott-Songin

Research projects, 0 comment(s).

It can be really exciting to embark on a research project, but knowing where to start can feel overwhelming! Setting up a research project properly means that you will save yourself a lot of stress, worrying about whether you’ll collect useful information, and will save you time analysing results!

Before you even begin to think about what research method you should use or where to recruit participants , you need to think about the purpose, objectives, and key research questions for your project. Below are the six steps to starting a research project that you can be confident in!

1. Define your purpose

The first thing you need to do is have a clear understanding of the purpose of your project. If you had to summarise why you wanted to do this project in two to three sentences, what would they be?

These should include:

• what problem you are trying to solve
• the context for that problem
• the purpose of the project

The problem you are trying to solve

Think about how to summarise your main problem in one sentence.  Is it that your product is not selling? Are you not sure why some ads are more successful than others? Is it that you are struggling to grow you client list? Or maybe There is a high bounce rate on a particular page on your website. Whatever it is, clearly identify it in one sentence (okay, two sentences maximum). 

The context for that problem

This is the opportunity to think about what you already know. This should be a summary of what data or research you already have access to. This could include analytics from your website or social media pages, previous qualitative research you may have done, or sector or industry research you have access to. Basically, this is the data that has helped you realise you had a problem to begin with. Knowing where you are starting from will help you significantly when you finish your research because you’ll have a clear understanding of where you are coming from in order to define where you want to be in the future.

The purpose of the project

This should be a sentence about why you decided to do this research project in the first place. If you are working with stakeholders and will be using this to get research approved, this sentence should be your commitment that research can help solve the problem you have identified.

2. Clarify your Objectives

This section should focus on what the research will add to the overall project. It should clearly identify the goals you want to achieve by the end of the research project. Try to focus on one or two goals maximum. You will know you have succeeded at the end of the project if you have achieved these goals. 

For example, if the problem you have identified is that you have a high bounce rate on the main sales page on your website, your objectives of the research may be:

• To identify the key problems on the sales page that is resulting in a high number of users leaving without buying anything
• To understand which audiences are most likely to leave without purchasing anything

Finally, you should identify (if you can) what type of outcomes you want to have from this research project. Will you be writing a report? Will it result in a list of recommended changes to your website? Being very clear about what to expect at the end of the project helps stakeholders get on board and support research projects like these.

3. Define your Key Research Questions

A very important step in any research plan is to identify your key research questions. These are very useful and help you narrow the focus of your research project. They are also really useful when you are analysing your data! When you go to write your report, if you use the data to answer the questions you’ve asked for this project, you’ll know you will have done what you set out to do. 

These questions should be the key questions you are hoping to get an answer to. Try to keep to around five to ten questions. Being as specific as possible to help you focus your research project and get the answers you need to solve your problem. 

Key research questions should be as specific as possible to help you focus your research project and get the answers you need to solve your problem. 

These questions could fall into some of the below categories:

• Why is something happening? 
• Why are your customers behaving a certain way? 
• Why is something not being used?
• What are your audiences’ needs?
• What is motivating your users to do something?
• What specific questions do you have about the product or service?
• What questions do you have after looking into the data that is already available?

The questions you write should not be the questions you ask your audiences. These are often complex and overarching questions, and will most likely need to be broken down when asking your audiences in order to collect useful data. 

4. Write out your Hypotheses and Challenge your Assumptions

An often skipped step, but an important one nonetheless, is to think about any hypotheses you have. Do you expect to have any particular outcomes to the research? Go back to your research questions and write down what you think the answers might be. What do you expect your audiences to do, think or feel? These will entirely be your thoughts and don’t necessarily have to be based in data. To make sure it is clear, you should write these starting each sentence with  “I think….”. 

Now take a look at your research questions again. Have you made any assumptions when crafting your research questions? Did you leave anything out because you assumed you knew the answers? Did you assume something would be more important that something else?

In order to make sure your research is as objective as possible, you need to be aware of what biases you are bringing to the research.

Understanding your hypotheses and assumptions is a crucial step to making your research objective. In order to make sure your research is as objective as possible, you need to be aware of what biases you are bringing to the research. These biases will mean you will be more likely to hear some things over other things. This is called confirmation bias, and it can lead to you making some results more or less important than they actually are. 

It’s useful to document these so you can refer back to them throughout the research process. If you lay out all the things you think might inadvertently impact your interpretation of the results, it will help you from letting confirmation bias influence your research. 

5. Choose your Methodology 

Now that you have a good understanding of what your research project is trying to accomplish, it’s time to choose the right research method to get the information you are looking for!

There are two main types of research methods to choose from: quantitative research and qualitative research. 

Quantitative research identifies what your users are doing while qualitative research helps to understand why users do what they do.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research helps to answer the question: What are your consumers/audiences/users doing? These methods can capture large data sets relatively quickly and give a basic understanding of audience behaviours. Having a large data set allows you to provide a strong confidence in findings relatively quickly. You’ll be able to quickly and easily see if any patterns are emerging. 

While quantitative research is very good at capturing what users are doing, it cannot easily capture what users’ underlying decision making processes are. Further, it does not allow you to follow up on unexpected findings, or have the flexibility to investigate different areas on inquiry. 

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research helps to answer the question: Why are users doing what they’re doing? These research methods can provide an in-depth understanding of user behaviours, attitudes and decision making processes. These methods also allow you to have the flexibility to explore unexpected results, which is often where important or insightful data lies. It usually results in much smaller data sets, but the data is often very rich and cn provide a deep dive into the research questions you are hoping to answer.

Qualitative research does not provide a large data set, and analysis can be time consuming. Further, it is often important to make sure you’re project setup is as objective as possible, as it is possible to accidentally skew your data with your own biases. 

Choosing your Research Method

When deciding on a research method, it can be useful to evaluate whether your key research questions fall into one of the following three categories:

If you are looking to collect breadth in data, you are most likely looking to answer questions around what a large group of people think. Some examples of research methods that can provide breadth in data are surveys, task analysis, or card sorting. These are research methods that work best when a wide range or a large quantity of people need to be reached in order to answer your question. They are useful because the methods themselves allow for data to be categorised relatively easily, which helps analyse quickly. These methods are most useful when testing a hypothesis rather than defining a problem. 

If you are looking to understand the context of something, you are most likely trying to get a better understanding of what problems might exist. Research methods that look for context are most useful when there isn’t much knowledge about the subject. They can often help define the questions as well. Context can be captured with qualitative or quantitative methods. Web or social analytics is a good example of understanding context using a quantitative research method.  Qualitative research methods that capture context include participant observations in natural or group settings. Overall, these methods are good at finding out people’s natural behaviours with little intervention – what they do vs. what they say they do. 

Looking for depth in your key research questions most likely means you’ll be using a qualitative research method, such as interviews or focus groups, to answer your questions. These types of research methods allow you to use open questions to dig deeper into answers and explore topics in greater depth. Depth methods allow you to most accurately define a problem you are hoping to solve with your service or product. Methods such as co-creation or participatory design allow for you to work closely with your audiences to design solutions you know they will like. 

If you’d like to learn more about choosing the right research methods, check out my post: How to Choose the Right Research Method for your Project

6. Recruit your Participants

Once you have chosen the research method that would be best for your project, it’s time to think about who you want to speak to, and how you are going to recruit their help to your project. This is often the most difficult task, but it is one of the most critical things to get correct.

How do you recruit participants for your research project?

The first thing you need to do is identify who you would like to speak to. It could be your entire audience, it could be a subset of people, or it could be people who currently don’t engage with you! 

Finding people from your audience

Once you have an idea of who you want to speak to, think about where you might find them. Maybe you have an email list so it’s as simple as reaching out to your current subscribers! If you don’t currently have anyone on your email list, think about where your audience might be. Would they be in a particular facebook group? Maybe they follow you on social media? Reaching out to your audiences on owned channels such as your social media accounts, via email, or even as a pop up on your website can be a really cheap and easy way to speak to your audiences. 

Finding people who don’t know who you are

And if you’re just starting out, or you want to speak to people who don’t currently follow you, you can always recruit through panels. Depending on how many people you’d like to speak to, you can recruit via panels for relatively low costs, and ensure you’ll get participants that will be relevant to your key research questions. Some survey tools (such as Survey Monkey) have panels you can use built right into their software, or you can search for panels in your country (or the country you’re interested in speaking to participants to) to find a company that would be a good partner for your project. 

How many participants is enough?

How many people is enough for your research project will depend entirely on the research method you choose and the complexity of the questions you are trying to answer. For me, I generally try to get at least 100 survey responses if I’m sending out a survey, and anywhere from six to twenty participants for qualitative research methods such as interviews, focus groups, or co-creation. 

Taking slightly more time to set up a research project has huge benefits and means that your results will be as useful as possible and findings and recommendations will come together much easier and quicker than they would otherwise. 

To find out more about a variety of elements that go into research projects in more detail, check out the other posts on my blog !

What steps do you take when starting research?

Let me know in the comments below if you have tried any of the above methods!

And don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to recieve more on what research methods to choose, research best practice, and a variety of other relevant and informative content!

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The What: Defining a research project

During Academic Writing Month 2018, TAA hosted a series of #AcWriChat TweetChat events focused on the five W’s of academic writing. Throughout the series we explored The What: Defining a research project ; The Where: Constructing an effective writing environment ; The When: Setting realistic timeframes for your research ; The Who: Finding key sources in the existing literature ; and The Why: Explaining the significance of your research . This series of posts brings together the discussions and resources from those events. Let’s start with The What: Defining a research project .

Before moving forward on any academic writing effort, it is important to understand what the research project is intended to understand and document. In order to accomplish this, it’s also important to understand what a research project is. This is where we began our discussion of the five W’s of academic writing.

Q1: What constitutes a research project?

According to a Rutgers University resource titled, Definition of a research project and specifications for fulfilling the requirement , “A research project is a scientific endeavor to answer a research question.” Specifically, projects may take the form of “case series, case control study, cohort study, randomized, controlled trial, survey, or secondary data analysis such as decision analysis, cost effectiveness analysis or meta-analysis”.

Hampshire College offers that “Research is a process of systematic inquiry that entails collection of data; documentation of critical information; and analysis and interpretation of that data/information, in accordance with suitable methodologies set by specific professional fields and academic disciplines.” in their online resource titled, What is research? The resource also states that “Research is conducted to evaluate the validity of a hypothesis or an interpretive framework; to assemble a body of substantive knowledge and findings for sharing them in appropriate manners; and to generate questions for further inquiries.”

TweetChat participant @TheInfoSherpa , who is currently “investigating whether publishing in a predatory journal constitutes blatant research misconduct, inappropriate conduct, or questionable conduct,” summarized these ideas stating, “At its simplest, a research project is a project which seeks to answer a well-defined question or set of related questions about a specific topic.” TAA staff member, Eric Schmieder, added to the discussion that“a research project is a process by which answers to a significant question are attempted to be answered through exploration or experimentation.”

In a learning module focused on research and the application of the Scientific Method, the Office of Research Integrity within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that “Research is a process to discover new knowledge…. No matter what topic is being studied, the value of the research depends on how well it is designed and done.”

Wenyi Ho of Penn State University states that “Research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict and control the observed phenomenon.” in an online resource which further shares four types of knowledge that research contributes to education, four types of research based on different purposes, and five stages of conducting a research study. Further understanding of research in definition, purpose, and typical research practices can be found in this Study.com video resource .

Now that we have a foundational understanding of what constitutes a research project, we shift the discussion to several questions about defining specific research topics.

Q2: When considering topics for a new research project, where do you start?

A guide from the University of Michigan-Flint on selecting a topic states, “Be aware that selecting a good topic may not be easy. It must be narrow and focused enough to be interesting, yet broad enough to find adequate information.”

Schmieder responded to the chat question with his approach.“I often start with an idea or question of interest to me and then begin searching for existing research on the topic to determine what has been done already.”

@TheInfoSherpa added, “Start with the research. Ask a librarian for help. The last thing you want to do is design a study thst someone’s already done.”

The Utah State University Libraries shared a video that “helps you find a research topic that is relevant and interesting to you!”

Q2a: What strategies do you use to stay current on research in your discipline?

The California State University Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program Community Commons resource offers four suggestions for staying current in your field:

• Become an effective consumer of research
• Read key publications
• Attend key gatherings
• Develop a network of colleagues

Schmieder and @TheInfoSherpa discussed ways to use databases for this purpose. Schmieder identified using “journal database searches for publications in the past few months on topics of interest” as a way to stay current as a consumer of research.

@TheInfoSherpa added, “It’s so easy to set up an alert in your favorite database. I do this for specific topics, and all the latest research gets delivered right to my inbox. Again, your academic or public #librarian can help you with this.” To which Schmieder replied, “Alerts are such useful advancements in technology for sorting through the myriad of material available online. Great advice!”

In an open access article, Keeping Up to Date: An Academic Researcher’s Information Journey , researchers Pontis, et. al. “examined how researchers stay up to date, using the information journey model as a framework for analysis and investigating which dimensions influence information behaviors.” As a result of their study, “Five key dimensions that influence information behaviors were identified: level of seniority, information sources, state of the project, level of familiarity, and how well defined the relevant community is.”

Q3: When defining a research topic, do you tend to start with a broad idea or a specific research question?

In a collection of notes on where to start by Don Davis at Columbia University, Davis tells us “First, there is no ‘Right Topic.’”, adding that “Much more important is to find something that is important and genuinely interests you.”

Schmieder shared in the chat event, “I tend to get lost in the details while trying to save the world – not sure really where I start though. :O)” @TheInfoSherpa added, “Depends on the project. The important thing is being able to realize when your topic is too broad or too narrow and may need tweaking. I use the five Ws or PICO(T) to adjust my topic if it’s too broad or too narrow.”

In an online resource , The Writing Center at George Mason University identifies the following six steps to developing a research question, noting significance in that “the specificity of a well-developed research question helps writers avoid the ‘all-about’ paper and work toward supporting a specific, arguable thesis.”

• Choose an interesting general topic
• Do some preliminary research on your general topic
• Consider your audience
• Start asking questions
• Evaluate your question
• Begin your research

USC Libraries’ research guides offer eight strategies for narrowing the research topic : Aspect, Components, Methodology, Place, Relationship, Time, Type, or a Combination of the above.

Q4: What factors help to determine the realistic scope a research topic?

The scope of a research topic refers to the actual amount of research conducted as part of the study. Often the search strategies used in understanding previous research and knowledge on a topic will impact the scope of the current study. A resource from Indiana University offers both an activity for narrowing the search strategy when finding too much information on a topic and an activity for broadening the search strategy when too little information is found.

The Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing identifies scope as an element to be included in the problem statement. Further when discussing problem statements, this resource states, “If you are focusing on a problem, be sure to define and state it specifically enough that you can write about it. Avoid trying to investigate or write about multiple problems or about broad or overly ambitious problems. Vague problem definition leads to unsuccessful proposals and vague, unmanageable documents. Naming a topic is not the same as defining a problem.”

Schmieder identified in the chat several considerations when determining the scope of a research topic, namely “Time, money, interest and commitment, impact to self and others.” @TheInfoSherpa reiterated their use of PICO(T) stating, “PICO(T) is used in the health sciences, but it can be used to identify a manageable scope” and sharing a link to a Georgia Gwinnett College Research Guide on PICOT Questions .

By managing the scope of your research topic, you also define the limitations of your study. According to a USC Libraries’ Research Guide, “The limitations of the study are those characteristics of design or methodology that impacted or influenced the interpretation of the findings from your research.” Accepting limitations help maintain a manageable scope moving forward with the project.

Q5/5a: Do you generally conduct research alone or with collaborative authors? What benefits/challenges do collaborators add to the research project?

Despite noting that the majority of his research efforts have been solo, Schmieder did identify benefits to collaboration including “brainstorming, division of labor, speed of execution” and challenges of developing a shared vision, defining roles and responsibilities for the collaborators, and accepting a level of dependence on the others in the group.

In a resource on group writing from The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, both advantages and pitfalls are discussed. Looking to the positive, this resource notes that “Writing in a group can have many benefits: multiple brains are better than one, both for generating ideas and for getting a job done.”

Yale University’s Office of the Provost has established, as part of its Academic Integrity policies, Guidance on Authorship in Scholarly or Scientific Publications to assist researchers in understanding authorship standards as well as attribution expectations.

In times when authorship turns sour , the University of California, San Francisco offers the following advice to reach a resolution among collaborative authors:

• Address emotional issues directly
• Elicit the problem author’s emotions
• Acknowledge the problem author’s emotions
• Express your own emotions as “I feel …”
• Set boundaries
• Try to find common ground
• Get agreement on process
• Involve a neutral third party

Q6: What other advice can you share about defining a research project?

Schmieder answered with question with personal advice to “Choose a topic of interest. If you aren’t interested in the topic, you will either not stay motivated to complete it or you will be miserable in the process and not produce the best results from your efforts.”

For further guidance and advice, the following resources may prove useful:

• 15 Steps to Good Research (Georgetown University Library)
• Advice for Researchers and Students (Tao Xie and University of Illinois)
• Develop a research statement for yourself (University of Pennsylvania)

Whatever your next research project, hopefully these tips and resources help you to define it in a way that leads to greater success and better writing.

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Research: Overview & Approaches

What does research entail, the office of undergraduate research (our), journal of purdue undergraduate research.

• Planning & Getting Started
• Building Your Knowledge Base
• Locating Sources
• Reading Scholarly Articles
• Creating a Literature Review
• Productivity & Organizing Research
• Scholarly and Professional Relationships
• Empirical Research
• Interpretive Research
• Action-Based Research
• Creative & Experimental Approaches

So what is involved in research? What would you be doing, exactly? Who would you be working with and in what capacity?

It all depends on your particular field of study.

• Those in the liberal arts, social sciences, business and economics might begin with researching journal articles on a particular subject.
• Sometimes you may be collecting data through interviews, observations or surveys, then analyzing that data to find patterns.
• Those in engineering or sciences may spend the bulk of their time conducting laboratory research, experiments, equipment and lab maintenance, and preparing samples.

Ultimately, the research approach you take depends on the questions you are trying to answer.

Undergraduate research is an exciting opportunity to get first-hand experience conducting research and developing valuable research skills that you can bring to your future courses or other professional endeavors. You will likely have the added benefit of receiving guidance and support of an experienced research mentor as you participate in undergraduate research at Purdue.

The Office Undergraduate Research  is the best place to begin your exploration of undergraduate research options at Purdue. Explore the various pages to ...

• Identify Research Programs at Purdue Explore the variety of undergraduate research programs offered at Purdue, such as research abroad, internships, on and off campus opportunities, and more!
• Take an online research course Hone your knowledge and skills about conducting different kinds of research through this sequence of online courses.
• Search for Research Opportunities There are many avenues for finding research opportunities, including college specific programs, special summer programs, partnerships outside of Purdue, and more!
• Present Your Research Discover different opportunities throughout the year to showcase your research, such as the Spring Undergraduate Research Conference, the Fall Expo, the Spring Pitch Competition, the Research Roundtable, and more!
• Market Your Research Experience Learn about how to tell the story of your undergraduate research experience through your CV, resume, cover letter, in an interview, and more.

Want to publish your undergraduate research in an academic journal? Explore opportunities to publish in The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research (JPUR), a student operated journal that partners behind the scenes with the Purdue University Press, the Libraries, the English department, the Purdue Writing Lab, and Purdue Marketing and Media to publish exemplary research across academic departments at Purdue. 

Explore your options and archives of published articles by visiting the JPUR website !

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• Last Edited: May 29, 2024 3:30 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/research_approaches

What is Research?

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Research is independent study and discovery in a field of interest. In the sciences, research is usually conducted in a laboratory led by a Principal Investigator (PI) – this is the faculty member who runs a research project. Research addresses a hypothesis, or scientific question. New student researchers typically join an ongoing project in a faculty’s lab and are often trained & supervised by postdoctoral scholars & graduate students.

WHY CONDUCT RESEARCH?

• Conducting independent study complements your studies, your academic goals, and your professional goals
• UCLA is a world-class research institution with prestigious faculty conducting original research in their fields. Take advantage of the resources available to you
• Find out if a career in research is right for you
• Get valuable research experience to make you a competitive applicant for graduate or professional school
• Research can serve as valuable work experience to make you a competitive applicant for your future career
• Earn university credit and funding for your research
• Build meaningful relationships with and receive mentorship from faculty and lab members

Conducting research as an undergraduate is an excellent way to gain experiences and skills that will benefit you both academically and professionally. In addition to exploring your areas of interest, undergraduate research develops skills in collaborative learning and critical thinking. For students interested in pursuing graduate or professional school, undergraduate research is a way of expanding your education outside of the classroom and better preparing yourself for the rigors of graduate study. Even if you are unsure about graduate studies, conducting undergraduate research is a way of exploring your research interests and testing the suitability of a research career to your interests.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Some questions to ask yourself as you plan your research are:

• What subjects am I interested in and passionate about?
• How much time can I commit to research?
• Will I need financial support to conduct research throughout the summer and academic year?
• What do I want to gain from my research experience?
• How can I best prepare myself academically and professionally to do research?
• What courses should I take that will complement the work I do?
• What safety courses will I need to take to do research in my field or lab?

The better you plan your academic coursework, the better you will be able to organize your time for research. Whatever your future professional and academic plans are, gaining experience in research will enhance your application and your preparedness for more self-directed research.

Once you have evaluated your research interests and organized your time, the next step is finding a faculty mentor. As part of a collaborative research team, you will need to find the right position both for you and your potential research lab.

You can also take part in UC Online’s ‘Introduction to Research’ class available through the Cross-Campus Enrollment System (CCES). This introductory course will help you understand what research means and provide guidance in how to find a research position.

Do you have a question about getting involved in research? Send us a message through Message Center ( Topic: Beginning Undergraduate Research )!

Research Design 101

Everything You Need To Get Started (With Examples)

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewers: Eunice Rautenbach (DTech) & Kerryn Warren (PhD) | April 2023

Navigating the world of research can be daunting, especially if you’re a first-time researcher. One concept you’re bound to run into fairly early in your research journey is that of “ research design ”. Here, we’ll guide you through the basics using practical examples , so that you can approach your research with confidence.

Overview: Research Design 101

What is research design.

• Research design types for quantitative studies
• Video explainer : quantitative research design
• Research design types for qualitative studies
• Video explainer : qualitative research design
• How to choose a research design
• Key takeaways

Research design refers to the overall plan, structure or strategy that guides a research project , from its conception to the final data analysis. A good research design serves as the blueprint for how you, as the researcher, will collect and analyse data while ensuring consistency, reliability and validity throughout your study.

Understanding different types of research designs is essential as helps ensure that your approach is suitable  given your research aims, objectives and questions , as well as the resources you have available to you. Without a clear big-picture view of how you’ll design your research, you run the risk of potentially making misaligned choices in terms of your methodology – especially your sampling , data collection and data analysis decisions.

The problem with defining research design…

One of the reasons students struggle with a clear definition of research design is because the term is used very loosely across the internet, and even within academia.

Some sources claim that the three research design types are qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods , which isn’t quite accurate (these just refer to the type of data that you’ll collect and analyse). Other sources state that research design refers to the sum of all your design choices, suggesting it’s more like a research methodology . Others run off on other less common tangents. No wonder there’s confusion!

In this article, we’ll clear up the confusion. We’ll explain the most common research design types for both qualitative and quantitative research projects, whether that is for a full dissertation or thesis, or a smaller research paper or article.

Research Design: Quantitative Studies

Quantitative research involves collecting and analysing data in a numerical form. Broadly speaking, there are four types of quantitative research designs: descriptive , correlational , experimental , and quasi-experimental . 

Descriptive Research Design

As the name suggests, descriptive research design focuses on describing existing conditions, behaviours, or characteristics by systematically gathering information without manipulating any variables. In other words, there is no intervention on the researcher’s part – only data collection.

For example, if you’re studying smartphone addiction among adolescents in your community, you could deploy a survey to a sample of teens asking them to rate their agreement with certain statements that relate to smartphone addiction. The collected data would then provide insight regarding how widespread the issue may be – in other words, it would describe the situation.

The key defining attribute of this type of research design is that it purely describes the situation . In other words, descriptive research design does not explore potential relationships between different variables or the causes that may underlie those relationships. Therefore, descriptive research is useful for generating insight into a research problem by describing its characteristics . By doing so, it can provide valuable insights and is often used as a precursor to other research design types.

Correlational Research Design

Correlational design is a popular choice for researchers aiming to identify and measure the relationship between two or more variables without manipulating them . In other words, this type of research design is useful when you want to know whether a change in one thing tends to be accompanied by a change in another thing.

For example, if you wanted to explore the relationship between exercise frequency and overall health, you could use a correlational design to help you achieve this. In this case, you might gather data on participants’ exercise habits, as well as records of their health indicators like blood pressure, heart rate, or body mass index. Thereafter, you’d use a statistical test to assess whether there’s a relationship between the two variables (exercise frequency and health).

As you can see, correlational research design is useful when you want to explore potential relationships between variables that cannot be manipulated or controlled for ethical, practical, or logistical reasons. It is particularly helpful in terms of developing predictions , and given that it doesn’t involve the manipulation of variables, it can be implemented at a large scale more easily than experimental designs (which will look at next).

That said, it’s important to keep in mind that correlational research design has limitations – most notably that it cannot be used to establish causality . In other words, correlation does not equal causation . To establish causality, you’ll need to move into the realm of experimental design, coming up next…

Need a helping hand?

Experimental Research Design

Experimental research design is used to determine if there is a causal relationship between two or more variables . With this type of research design, you, as the researcher, manipulate one variable (the independent variable) while controlling others (dependent variables). Doing so allows you to observe the effect of the former on the latter and draw conclusions about potential causality.

For example, if you wanted to measure if/how different types of fertiliser affect plant growth, you could set up several groups of plants, with each group receiving a different type of fertiliser, as well as one with no fertiliser at all. You could then measure how much each plant group grew (on average) over time and compare the results from the different groups to see which fertiliser was most effective.

Overall, experimental research design provides researchers with a powerful way to identify and measure causal relationships (and the direction of causality) between variables. However, developing a rigorous experimental design can be challenging as it’s not always easy to control all the variables in a study. This often results in smaller sample sizes , which can reduce the statistical power and generalisability of the results.

Moreover, experimental research design requires random assignment . This means that the researcher needs to assign participants to different groups or conditions in a way that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group (note that this is not the same as random sampling ). Doing so helps reduce the potential for bias and confounding variables . This need for random assignment can lead to ethics-related issues . For example, withholding a potentially beneficial medical treatment from a control group may be considered unethical in certain situations.

Quasi-Experimental Research Design

Quasi-experimental research design is used when the research aims involve identifying causal relations , but one cannot (or doesn’t want to) randomly assign participants to different groups (for practical or ethical reasons). Instead, with a quasi-experimental research design, the researcher relies on existing groups or pre-existing conditions to form groups for comparison.

For example, if you were studying the effects of a new teaching method on student achievement in a particular school district, you may be unable to randomly assign students to either group and instead have to choose classes or schools that already use different teaching methods. This way, you still achieve separate groups, without having to assign participants to specific groups yourself.

Naturally, quasi-experimental research designs have limitations when compared to experimental designs. Given that participant assignment is not random, it’s more difficult to confidently establish causality between variables, and, as a researcher, you have less control over other variables that may impact findings.

All that said, quasi-experimental designs can still be valuable in research contexts where random assignment is not possible and can often be undertaken on a much larger scale than experimental research, thus increasing the statistical power of the results. What’s important is that you, as the researcher, understand the limitations of the design and conduct your quasi-experiment as rigorously as possible, paying careful attention to any potential confounding variables .

Research Design: Qualitative Studies

There are many different research design types when it comes to qualitative studies, but here we’ll narrow our focus to explore the “Big 4”. Specifically, we’ll look at phenomenological design, grounded theory design, ethnographic design, and case study design.

Phenomenological Research Design

Phenomenological design involves exploring the meaning of lived experiences and how they are perceived by individuals. This type of research design seeks to understand people’s perspectives , emotions, and behaviours in specific situations. Here, the aim for researchers is to uncover the essence of human experience without making any assumptions or imposing preconceived ideas on their subjects.

For example, you could adopt a phenomenological design to study why cancer survivors have such varied perceptions of their lives after overcoming their disease. This could be achieved by interviewing survivors and then analysing the data using a qualitative analysis method such as thematic analysis to identify commonalities and differences.

Phenomenological research design typically involves in-depth interviews or open-ended questionnaires to collect rich, detailed data about participants’ subjective experiences. This richness is one of the key strengths of phenomenological research design but, naturally, it also has limitations. These include potential biases in data collection and interpretation and the lack of generalisability of findings to broader populations.

Grounded Theory Research Design

Grounded theory (also referred to as “GT”) aims to develop theories by continuously and iteratively analysing and comparing data collected from a relatively large number of participants in a study. It takes an inductive (bottom-up) approach, with a focus on letting the data “speak for itself”, without being influenced by preexisting theories or the researcher’s preconceptions.

As an example, let’s assume your research aims involved understanding how people cope with chronic pain from a specific medical condition, with a view to developing a theory around this. In this case, grounded theory design would allow you to explore this concept thoroughly without preconceptions about what coping mechanisms might exist. You may find that some patients prefer cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) while others prefer to rely on herbal remedies. Based on multiple, iterative rounds of analysis, you could then develop a theory in this regard, derived directly from the data (as opposed to other preexisting theories and models).

Grounded theory typically involves collecting data through interviews or observations and then analysing it to identify patterns and themes that emerge from the data. These emerging ideas are then validated by collecting more data until a saturation point is reached (i.e., no new information can be squeezed from the data). From that base, a theory can then be developed .

As you can see, grounded theory is ideally suited to studies where the research aims involve theory generation , especially in under-researched areas. Keep in mind though that this type of research design can be quite time-intensive , given the need for multiple rounds of data collection and analysis.

Ethnographic Research Design

Ethnographic design involves observing and studying a culture-sharing group of people in their natural setting to gain insight into their behaviours, beliefs, and values. The focus here is on observing participants in their natural environment (as opposed to a controlled environment). This typically involves the researcher spending an extended period of time with the participants in their environment, carefully observing and taking field notes .

All of this is not to say that ethnographic research design relies purely on observation. On the contrary, this design typically also involves in-depth interviews to explore participants’ views, beliefs, etc. However, unobtrusive observation is a core component of the ethnographic approach.

As an example, an ethnographer may study how different communities celebrate traditional festivals or how individuals from different generations interact with technology differently. This may involve a lengthy period of observation, combined with in-depth interviews to further explore specific areas of interest that emerge as a result of the observations that the researcher has made.

As you can probably imagine, ethnographic research design has the ability to provide rich, contextually embedded insights into the socio-cultural dynamics of human behaviour within a natural, uncontrived setting. Naturally, however, it does come with its own set of challenges, including researcher bias (since the researcher can become quite immersed in the group), participant confidentiality and, predictably, ethical complexities . All of these need to be carefully managed if you choose to adopt this type of research design.

Case Study Design

With case study research design, you, as the researcher, investigate a single individual (or a single group of individuals) to gain an in-depth understanding of their experiences, behaviours or outcomes. Unlike other research designs that are aimed at larger sample sizes, case studies offer a deep dive into the specific circumstances surrounding a person, group of people, event or phenomenon, generally within a bounded setting or context .

As an example, a case study design could be used to explore the factors influencing the success of a specific small business. This would involve diving deeply into the organisation to explore and understand what makes it tick – from marketing to HR to finance. In terms of data collection, this could include interviews with staff and management, review of policy documents and financial statements, surveying customers, etc.

While the above example is focused squarely on one organisation, it’s worth noting that case study research designs can have different variation s, including single-case, multiple-case and longitudinal designs. As you can see in the example, a single-case design involves intensely examining a single entity to understand its unique characteristics and complexities. Conversely, in a multiple-case design , multiple cases are compared and contrasted to identify patterns and commonalities. Lastly, in a longitudinal case design , a single case or multiple cases are studied over an extended period of time to understand how factors develop over time.

As you can see, a case study research design is particularly useful where a deep and contextualised understanding of a specific phenomenon or issue is desired. However, this strength is also its weakness. In other words, you can’t generalise the findings from a case study to the broader population. So, keep this in mind if you’re considering going the case study route.

How To Choose A Research Design

Having worked through all of these potential research designs, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed and wondering, “ But how do I decide which research design to use? ”. While we could write an entire post covering that alone, here are a few factors to consider that will help you choose a suitable research design for your study.

Data type: The first determining factor is naturally the type of data you plan to be collecting – i.e., qualitative or quantitative. This may sound obvious, but we have to be clear about this – don’t try to use a quantitative research design on qualitative data (or vice versa)!

Research aim(s) and question(s): As with all methodological decisions, your research aim and research questions will heavily influence your research design. For example, if your research aims involve developing a theory from qualitative data, grounded theory would be a strong option. Similarly, if your research aims involve identifying and measuring relationships between variables, one of the experimental designs would likely be a better option.

Time: It’s essential that you consider any time constraints you have, as this will impact the type of research design you can choose. For example, if you’ve only got a month to complete your project, a lengthy design such as ethnography wouldn’t be a good fit.

Resources: Take into account the resources realistically available to you, as these need to factor into your research design choice. For example, if you require highly specialised lab equipment to execute an experimental design, you need to be sure that you’ll have access to that before you make a decision.

Keep in mind that when it comes to research, it’s important to manage your risks and play as conservatively as possible. If your entire project relies on you achieving a huge sample, having access to niche equipment or holding interviews with very difficult-to-reach participants, you’re creating risks that could kill your project. So, be sure to think through your choices carefully and make sure that you have backup plans for any existential risks. Remember that a relatively simple methodology executed well generally will typically earn better marks than a highly-complex methodology executed poorly.

Recap: Key Takeaways

We’ve covered a lot of ground here. Let’s recap by looking at the key takeaways:

• Research design refers to the overall plan, structure or strategy that guides a research project, from its conception to the final analysis of data.
• Research designs for quantitative studies include descriptive , correlational , experimental and quasi-experimenta l designs.
• Research designs for qualitative studies include phenomenological , grounded theory , ethnographic and case study designs.
• When choosing a research design, you need to consider a variety of factors, including the type of data you’ll be working with, your research aims and questions, your time and the resources available to you.

If you need a helping hand with your research design (or any other aspect of your research), check out our private coaching services .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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10 Comments

Is there any blog article explaining more on Case study research design? Is there a Case study write-up template? Thank you.

Thanks this was quite valuable to clarify such an important concept.

Thanks for this simplified explanations. it is quite very helpful.

This was really helpful. thanks

Thank you for your explanation. I think case study research design and the use of secondary data in researches needs to be talked about more in your videos and articles because there a lot of case studies research design tailored projects out there.

Please is there any template for a case study research design whose data type is a secondary data on your repository?

This post is very clear, comprehensive and has been very helpful to me. It has cleared the confusion I had in regard to research design and methodology.

This post is helpful, easy to understand, and deconstructs what a research design is. Thanks

how to cite this page

Thank you very much for the post. It is wonderful and has cleared many worries in my mind regarding research designs. I really appreciate .

how can I put this blog as my reference(APA style) in bibliography part?

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What to include in a research proposal

You should check with each department to find out whether they provide a specific template for submission.

The word count for research proposals is typically 1,000-1,500 words for Arts programmes and around 2,500 words for Birmingham Law School programmes. Each subject area or department will have slightly different requirements for your research proposal, such as word length and the volume of literature review required. It is a good idea to contact the department before you apply. 

Typically, your research proposal should include the following information:

2. Research overview

3. research context.

A well-written introduction is an efficient way of getting your reader’s attention early on. This is your opportunity to answer the questions you considered when preparing your proposal: why is your research important? How does it fit into the existing strengths of the department? How will it add something new to the existing body of literature?

It is unlikely that you will be able to review all relevant literature at this stage, so you should explain the broad contextual background against which you will conduct your research. You should include a brief overview of the general area of study within which your proposed research falls, summarising the current state of knowledge and recent debates on the topic. This will allow you to demonstrate a familiarity with key texts in the relevant field as well as the ability to communicate clearly and concisely.

4. Research questions

The proposal should set out the central aims and key questions that will guide your research. Many research proposals are too broad, so make sure that your project is sufficiently narrow and feasible (i.e. something that is likely to be completed within the normal time frame for a PhD programme).

You might find it helpful to prioritise one or two main questions, from which you can then derive a number of secondary research questions. The proposal should also explain your intended approach to answering the questions: will your approach be empirical, doctrinal or theoretical, etc.?

5. Research methods

How will you achieve your research objectives? The proposal should present your research methodology, using specific examples to explain how you are going to conduct your research (e.g. techniques, sample size, target populations, equipment, data analysis, etc.).

Your methods may include visiting particular libraries or archives, field work or interviews. If your proposed research is library-based, you should explain where your key resources are located. If you plan to conduct field work or collect empirical data, you should provide details about this (e.g. if you plan interviews, who will you interview? How many interviews will you conduct? Will there be problems of access?). This section should also explain how you are going to analyse your research findings.

A discussion of the timescale for completing your research would also beneficial. You should provide a realistic time plan for completing your research degree study, showing a realistic appreciation of the need to plan your research and how long it is likely to take. It is important that you are not over-optimistic with time frames.

6. Significance of research

The proposal should demonstrate the originality of your intended research. You should therefore explain why your research is important (for example, by explaining how your research builds on and adds to the current state of knowledge in the field or by setting out reasons why it is timely to research your proposed topic) and providing details of any immediate applications, including further research that might be done to build on your findings.

Please refer to our top tips page for further details about originality.

7. References

  Read our top tips for writing a research proposal

• CREd Library , Planning, Managing, and Publishing Research

How Do I Determine an Appropriate Scope, Size, and Topic for My Research Project?

Part 2 of 8 in the "preparing for your first nih grant" series looks at fitting your idea to the grant mechanism, your background, available resources, and the current stream of science., christopher moore, doi: doi:10.1044/cred-pvd-path013.

The following is a transcript of the presentation video, edited for clarity.

Your Project Must Fit Your Funding Target

The first thing to wrap your mind around is that the project has to be appropriate in size and scope. You’re a new researcher. You have a limited background because you’re new. You probably have limited resources because you’re new to your university and they didn’t give you all the startup you asked for. So it has to be appropriate in size.

It has to be ready to go. Lab space, target population, research team — everything has to be in place. The grant is not to get things in place. The grant is to pay for things that are ready to launch.

It has to be demonstrably feasible. This is hugely important.

Demonstrably feasible. For an R03 things have to happen very fast. For a two- or three-year award, you can’t waste the first six months getting geared up. That’s not what they want to see. It has to be demonstrably feasible for quick recruitment, data acquisition, analysis, and write-up. You want a product in three years.

A five-year project, on the other hand, for an R01, if that’s what you’re working on. That’s a much larger budget. Not only is it a much longer time, but it’s a much larger budget. It’s going to have a much larger team, and it should be sufficiently complex, well planned, and conceptually deep to warrant this kind of large commitment. You really have to show you know what you’re doing organizationally as well as scientifically.

For training or career development mechanisms – if you’re going to be working on an F32 or a K award — K99/R00, K08, K03, K21, K23, all of those are possibilities — then the research plan has to have real training potential. It has to take you to a new place. That has to be a place that your sponsor can take you better than anybody else. This is the best person on the planet to train you in these new techniques, in a well-funded environment that’s already doing all of that stuff, and it builds perfectly on your own background.

Depending on what the mechanism is, the aims for your grant project are doing different things. That’s all this slide is supposed to tell you. You have to make sure you know what you’re writing for. What’s your objective?

Innovating Within the Framework

I want you to look at this part: Innovating within the framework. This is history and philosophy of science. They don’t teach Thomas Kuhn anymore. Thomas Kuhn had this idea that’s really relevant to a lot of what we do. Normal science is the incremental things that we’re all just contributing. We’re all cogs in a wheel. We’re just all grinding toward the same solution. Human Genome Project was the perfect example — it took way more than a village. It was millions of people working on this project. Literally millions of people. That’s normal science. Everybody is contributing what they do.

Then comes along something revolutionary in science. Which is mostly what young investigators really aspire to do, and that’s to take the paradigm and change directions. You’re thinking about things in a whole new way. We all want to do that. And you think that’s what grant reviewers are looking for. But it’s not what they’re looking for. They don’t trust you to do that.

This is an important point. What reviewers want you to do, is they want you to be right at the fence line where you’re just sort of leaning against the fence. You know, walking the fence line — like, if you’re a cowboy, you ride the fence line and make sure the fence is intact and keeps all the little dogies inside — that’s where you want to work. You don’t want to be deep inside the safe zone of the known universe. But you don’t want to be outside the fence line, either, working without the support of known science, known concepts, known phenomena.

You feel like science is enormous, and you can work anywhere you want. But in grant-world you can work in this little narrow strip. You’re going to take the existing body of knowledge, and you’re just going to make it a little bit larger, as much as one lab can. You have to be a little bit safe, but you have to be a little bit innovative and you have to push a little bit.

There’s a sweet spot there. That’s what you’re looking for. What helps you find that spot is looking at your unique talents. Your unique talents come from your training. You train in a lab with a person who has their own unique talents, and they give you your own capabilities. You’ve done dissertations that define and have sharpened your talents. You have things that you bring uniquely to this problem. You have to recognize those right at the beginning and exploit those. This isn’t the time to go do something brand new. This is the time to recognize why you’re in the unique position to address this feasible fence line.

So, be aware of what you bring to the problem when you’re starting to work on your grants and starting to work on what your project is.

Getting Ready to Think About Starting to Approach the Concept of a Notion Regarding the Suggestion of Your Idea

Your demonstrated strengths. The first part of your assessment. What do you bring? What’s your demonstrated preparation? Not “what are you really good at?” What are you demonstrably good at? What have you published in? What was your dissertation in? The claims that you make have little to do with your demonstrated strengths and preparation. What can you show?

The most important thing you can do is identify something you can demonstrate as being feasible. So, for new investigators, one of the biggest problems you’ll run up against is you’ll propose something that might be a great idea, but reviewers decide it’s not feasible. Either because you don’t have the preparation or you don’t have the training or whatever. But maybe it’s just because they don’t believe you because you haven’t demonstrated it. You have to show that it’s feasible. You have to provide evidence that says, “Oh yes, I can do this experiment. I’ve run this protocol, I have these streams of subjects, I have letters of support that say they are all lined up. The lab I have is appropriately equipped. Everything you claim to need is in place, including your own capabilities.

And maybe most importantly in terms of feasibility is if you don’t have the expertise yourself, you have the expertise in terms of support of other key personnel. That’s your team. Your demonstrable team. You can claim a team all day long, but you need to demonstrate the logistical connections of that team. The best way to demonstrate a connected team is that you’ve published together. But you’re brand new, and putting together a team in time to publish in time to submit something is ridiculous. It’s never going to happen if you wait that long. But you can have lab meetings. You can participate in journal clubs, you can have regular meetings that you can document. You can present to each other’s journal clubs or colloquia. You can co-present in conference presentations that you put together. There are ways to show that you interact with people that are part of your team. That’s important to do.

You’ve already heard this idea of understanding what your scientific area is and how your idea fits into that. This is recognition of your place in the scientific context.

One of the most difficult problems for new investigators is the scope of your idea. The number one and most damaging concern that reviewers will lead with — and if the primary reviewer utters this word, you’re all done — and that word is “overambitious.”

You go into this project and you feel so compelled to show that you can do it. And you want to give added value, like “I’m only going to charge you $300,000 for this, but I’m going to give you $400,000 worth of effort.” That’s not compelling. What’s compelling is that you know exactly what you’re doing. And that what you’re proposing is not only feasible, but you know so much about it that you’ve actually proposed exactly the right amount of work for this amount of time. You know exactly how long it takes to run subject, how long it takes to process their data, how long it takes to do the analysis and write it up. Getting all of that stuff done, knowing that much about your work and having preliminary data that support that will guide you to something has an appropriate breadth.

The most important thing is guidance from your program officer. It is the program officer’s job to talk to you and provide guidance. You can have a 15, 10-minute conversation with your program officer that will completely change or completely form what you’re going to do in terms of seeking support for your research. We’re sort of afraid to reveal our naïveté to the program officer, I guess, so you’re worried about making that call. People often — more than often, way too often — people send in applications without ever contacting their program officer.

None of you will ever make the mistake of not contacting your program officer ever again. Because I’m going to tell you how to do this.

You’ve identified the program officer associated with your program. If you’re in language disorders, that’s Judith Cooper. If you’re in speech disorders, that’s Lana Shekim. If you’re in hearing it’s Amy Donahue — or quite a few other possibilities. You identify who is your program officer. That’s not a hard thing to do, trolling through the websites. You send that person a three-line email. And it says, “I’m interested the possibility of applying to your institute for support. Would you have 10 minutes to talk? Here’s a whole bunch of times that I’m available.” That’s all that email says. Then you get 15 minutes with that person on the phone, at a scheduled time. You’re ready for them with your specific aims. Maybe you’re going to send it to them right away after your conversation. And you’re going to find out if the mechanism you’re applying for is appropriate, if the institute you’re targeting is appropriate. Maybe they will even give you guidance on which study section you might like to recommend to the review officers. You can accomplish some really important things in 15 minutes, and why people wouldn’t do it, I don’t know. What you’ll never succeed at is calling the phone numbers they give on the website. You will never reach them at that phone number. Set up a phone appointment, and make it a short email. Do you understand what you have to do there? I do not want to let that go past. That’s the most important thing I have to tell you.

Choosing Your Topic

So we got this already. Stick with your strengths and your proven history. Not a time to try new techniques. An approach for which you can provide published evidence that you and your team are experienced and capable. That doesn’t mean that you and your team actually generated that published evidence. I’m talking about just having published, peer-reviewed support.

Think creatively. Be innovative. And keep an eye on the big picture. But also be aware of the fact that you are only one lab, and it’s a big field, and what’s an appropriate size for your project.

Recognize the place of your work in the overall framework. What are you trained to do? Where are you best capable of contributing?

What that does is puts you solidly in the stream of ideas, not just of your group, but of your peers. Of science generally. It’s interesting how often this happens — people will often lead their specific aims with the idea that there’s a “paucity of information” or a paucity of literature in this area. As if that is some kind of motivation for this study. The reason nobody is doing work in that area is because there’s no reason to work in that area. Or because it’s just too uninteresting. Or it’s not going to help anybody. Or it’s too expensive. Or it’s a dumb idea. There are lots of good reasons not to do work in an area. And there’s very few reason to do work in that area.

If you find yourself working on something where your best motivation is a paucity of other investigators working there, you should really look around and see if other people have something figured out that you haven’t figured out. Or maybe it really is an important area, and maybe you just don’t know the literature. We have a small discipline. So our literature isn’t huge. Maybe the literature that influences your science isn’t in your immediate neighborhood. Maybe there’s really great work. It’s just not where you would exactly expect to find it in the speech section of JSLHR. That might not be what’s motivating your work.

The point is, there has to be a solid stream, a dynamic series of experiments and scientific work where you can put yourself right in the middle of it. If you can’t do that, there’s something wrong. Something seriously wrong. Don’t do that.

Preparing for Your First NIH Grant: More Videos in This Series

1. Who Is the Target Audience for Your Grant?

2. How Do I Determine an Appropriate Scope, Size, and Topic for My Research Project?

3. Common Challenges and Problems in Constructing Specific Aims

4. Are You Ready to Write Your First NIH Grant? Really?

5. Demystifying the Logistics of the Grant Application Process

6. Identifying Time and Budgetary Commitments for Your Research Project

7. Anatomy of the SF424: A Formula for NIH Research Grants

8. Common Strengths and Weaknesses in Grant Applications

Christopher Moore Boston University

Selected clips from sessions presented at Pathways (2014 and 2015). Hosted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Research Mentoring Network.

Pathways is sponsored by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through a U24 grant awarded to ASHA.

Copyrighted Material. Reproduced by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in the Clinical Research Education Library with permission from the author or presenter.

Clinical Research Education

More from the cred library, innovative treatments for persons with dementia, implementation science resources for crisp, when the ears interact with the brain, follow asha journals on twitter.

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University of Missouri

• Bias Hotline: Report bias incidents

Undergraduate Research

What research means to me.

What research have you done? 

“At the University of Missouri, I have worked on an undergraduate research project in the soil physics lab for the last two years. My project focuses on how biofuel crop production may influence the speed at which water moves through soil, the amount of water retained in the soil, and the bulk density of the soil (dry soil per volume). I have primarily focused on this topic while here at the university, but prior to that, while in high school, I was very active in the FFA agriscience competitions. That informal research focused largely on pollinator preservation and identifying natural, pollinator-friendly insect repellents.” 

In your own words, what is the significance of research? What does it mean to you?

“Research is incredibly significant because it is how our species has continued to progress throughout history. It is research that first spurred the concepts of farming, building and medicine thousands of years ago, as these ideas had to be tested at some point. Research continues to change how we interpret even the most mundane things every day. To me, research is the answer to many of the growing issues we face today. Be it climate change or the coronavirus, research is the only way to fully understand what problems we currently face, what is yet to come, and how best to deal with it. Research is the key to finding answers to a multitude of questions, such as sustainably feeding our already overpopulated world or producing lifesaving vaccines.”

Do you think people have misconceptions about what research is?

“I feel there is a large disconnect between how people view research and how broad it really is. Some people see it as a this “notebook and pencil” image when in truth most people conduct research every day. Whenever someone takes a different path home from work, searching for a quicker way, that person is in that moment testing a hypothesis. When engineers are given an artsy design for a future structure, they often research a new way of building this unique structure in order to maintain its longevity and safety. When designers sew a new clothing design, plant breeders cross a new combination of genetic lines, or whenever one tries an old family recipe with a little more ground pepper, research is conducted. “

How has research informed/changed your education experience?

“Participating in research hasn’t as much changed my educational experience as it has enriched it. Conducting research has helped me to better understand my studies, making me a better student and future job applicant. Research has left me more disciplined and skilled, preparing me for advanced academic pursuits in graduate school and later in the workforce. For me, the best thing about my research experience has been the advice provided me by my adviser, Dr. Stephen Anderson. His insights on how to conduct research have been one of the richest learning experiences of my life.”

What do you plan on doing after college? Has your experience with research influenced what you want to do with your life?

“After graduating in May, I plan to attend graduate school, pursuing a PhD in Soil Science. Prior to conducting research, I had no further educational plans past receiving my bachelor’s degree and now I am on a path to achieving one of the highest academic titles in my field. As a first-generation student, I owe a great deal to the McNair Scholars Program for encouraging my involvement in undergraduate research. Thanks to my experiences as an undergraduate researcher, I have found my passion and identified future career goals as a researcher.”

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How To Write Chapter Four Of Your Final Year Project (Data Analysis And Presentation) | ResearchWap Blog

• Posted: Monday, 06 July 2020
• By: ResearchWap Admin

Easiest steps to write chapter four of your final year project effectively and perfectly with ease.

In writing the final year project, Students at times find it difficult to document their findings properly. In every research project, chapter four is the heart of the research work and sometimes, supervisors do not even start the reading of the research work from chapter one, but they jump to chapter four because that is the chapter that tells the reader all that was done, the instrument you used, how you analyzed your data and finally your findings.

The purpose of this chapter four in your final year project is to summarize the collected data and the statistical treatment, and or mechanics of analysis. The first paragraph should briefly restate the problem, taken from Chapter one, and explain the object of each experiment, question, or objective, point out salient results, and present those results by the table, figure, or other forms of summarized data. Select tables and figures carefully. Some studies are easier to defend if all the raw data is in this chapter; some are better if the bulk of the raw data is in an appendix.

Also, read this article - Step By Step Guide To Write A Good Research Proposal

Chapter four of a Qualitative Research work carries different titles such as ‘Analysis of Data’, ‘Results of Study’, ‘Analysis and Results’ and so forth but the keywords are ‘analysis’ and ‘results’ which implies that you have ‘analyzed’ the raw data and presenting the ‘results’ or what you discovered in the fieldwork carried out, in this Chapter.

Studies have shown that a greater number of students always find it difficult to document their findings correctly. You may have done a good job writing Chapter one (Introduction), Chapter two (Literature Review), and Chapter three (Methodology) with such clarity and end up making a mess of Chapter four (Findings and Data Analysis).

Since chapter four is the heart of your research work and if your supervisor does not start the reading of your work from chapter one, but jump to chapter four which you have spent so much time collecting and analyzing data but do a poor job of reporting the results of the findings.

Also, read this article - Step By Step Instructions To Design And Develop A Questionnaire For A Final Year Project

Alternatively, after collecting all the data and your presentation of your results lack organization and clarity, your reader would struggle by trying to figure out what you have written, and by this, you’ve just wasted your precious time and possibly the cost of compiling the chapter.

Chapter four should ‘stand-alone:

 what does this mean?

This means that you could ask a friend to read it and he or she would understand what you discovered in your study without having to read Chapters one to three.

For you to achieve this, your chapter four should be aligned to the purpose of the study, the research questions, why the study was important, how it connects to the underlying theories, literature review, and reflective of the conceptual framework. Chapter four is the culmination of your study and represents your best thinking and how you answered the research question you had formulated and stated in chapter one of the research project.

Also, Read This Article – How To Write Effective Research Project Abstract

A good researcher should begin this chapter with two or three introductory paragraphs. A transition from chapter three is very important too. The researcher should also provide a very brief review of the overall research design. It is not necessary to list all of the secondary questions and hypotheses at the beginning of the chapter, but the introductory section of the chapter should focus the reader’s attention on the primary research question and hypothesis.

Don’t border detailing everything, the bulk of the chapter will consist of the presentation of findings for the secondary questions and hypotheses set forth in Chapter three.

In quantitative research, the results usually begin with a description of the sample, For example, the sample size, description of participants who were excluded, and why the handling of missing data.

Also, the descriptive statistics.  For example, frequencies and percentages for categorical variables, means, standard deviations, and ranges for continuously measured variables are presented, and the normality of continuously measured variables is usually presented.

Address each hypothesis in turn, presenting a description of the analysis that was computed to address each hypothesis and the results of that analysis. State whether the null hypothesis was rejected.

Also, Read This Article - Trending Project Topics For Final Year Students At A Glance

Do not repeat in tedious prose that it is obvious for a knowledgeable peer to see at a glance.  The dissertation advisor usually has an opinion about the level of detail needed in this chapter.  Table titles and figure captions should be understandable without reading the chapter text.

Note all relevant results, even those that were contrary to the alternative hypotheses, or those that tend to distract from clear determinations.

Chapter Four Table Of Content

• Introduction to the Chapter.
• A transition from chapter three. (Very important)
• Provide a brief overview of the research project: as I stated earlier, chapter four should be able to stand alone, this means it should be presented in such a way that one can read it and understand everything about your study, this means that a BRIEF overview of the research project is very important in this chapter.
• Describe the purpose of the chapter.
• Explain the organization of the chapter.
• Data Analyses and Presentation of the Findings: this is the heart of this chapter, the presentation of the findings should be very concise and clear, make sure that you present it in such a way that even a layman can understand it.
•  State null hypothesis.
• Present the statistical results in a table.
• Draw statistical conclusions for accepted and rejected hypotheses.
• Draw a preliminary research conclusion
• Conclusion and Transition to Chapter Five

Also, Read This Article - How To Develop Effective And Unique Project Topics

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What does the research project grant entail?

The grants for research projects support your company in carrying out ground-breaking research with an intrinsically high risk, which in the long term can potentially lead to a significant positive impact for both the company and for Flanders. 

Specifically, the VLAIO agency provides grants for the implementation of individual projects relating to a well-defined innovative idea. There is no preference for particular sectors, application domains or knowledge fields. A research project focuses on building new, ground-breaking knowledge in your domain, which is needed to eventually develop this idea into new or improved products, processes or services, or a combination thereof. Significant challenges and risks are associated with developing this new knowledge. Your project is based on a realistic plan to overcome such challenges and to manage the risks. Within a research project, you may collaborate with other companies or knowledge institutions, engaging them either as subcontractors or partners. The knowledge you develop provides a clear competitive advantage and has a positive impact on the further development of your company, both in terms of employment, investments and anchoring in Flanders. 

The focus of a research project is always on developing knowledge and high-risk research. Some supporting development activities may be included as well, in which case the project is considered a mixed project.

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Make an appointment with one of our Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship business advisors. They will support and advise you in realising your plans, growth ambitions or business transformation.

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RESEARCH PROJECT

Ipa (us): .

  Dictionary entry overview: What does research project mean?  

• RESEARCH PROJECT (noun)   The noun RESEARCH PROJECT has 1 sense:

  Familiarity information: RESEARCH PROJECT used as a noun is very rare.

  Dictionary entry details  

• RESEARCH PROJECT (noun)

Sense 1

Research into questions posed by scientific theories and hypotheses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

research project; scientific research

Hypernyms ("research project" is a kind of...):

research (systematic investigation to establish facts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "research project"):

big science (scientific research that requires massive capital investment but is expected to yield very significant results)

biological research (scientific research conducted by biologists)

experiment ; experimentation (the act of conducting a controlled test or investigation)

Instance hyponyms:

Human Genome Project (an international study of the entire human genetic material)

  Context examples  

A document that protects researchers from involuntary disclosure of personal identifying information acquired in the course of a research project .

(Certificate of Confidentiality, NCI Thesaurus)

One of two or more scientists working together on a research project .

(Co-Investigator, NCI Thesaurus)

A research project that is in an active grant funding cycle.

(Active Funded Research Project, NCI Thesaurus)

The final breakage was first reported by Project Midas, an Antarctic research project based in the United Kingdom.

(Massive Iceberg Breaks Off from Antarctica, NASA)

A nine-year joint research project has led to a crucial breakthrough in cancer research.

(Scientists Reveal The Relationship Between Sugar, Cancer, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The partnership is part of the second stage of a research project in Russia, where an existing telescope is already dedicated to space debris monitoring.

(High tech Russian telescope to start operating in Brazil, Agência Brasil)

Research project involving detection of breast tumors (screening, diagnosis clinical trials), development or refinement of diagnostic techniques or devices, education or promotion of breast cancer detection.

(Breast Cancer Detection Research, NCI Thesaurus)

Researchers from the University of Tübingen (Germany) and the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), among others, are also participating in this pioneering research project .

(Hair was dyed for first time as part of funeral rituals, University of Granada)

This would render the investigators competitive for funding through the research project grant (R01) and/or First Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) (R29) award mechanisms, thus potentially leading to the establishment of new research programs in areas that might have previously remained unexplored.

(Exploratory/Developmental Grant for Diagnostic Cancer Imaging, NCI Thesaurus)

A research project conducted by the Agroenergy division of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) has identified species of microalgae that can be grown in liquid waste from agroindustrial processes to provide renewable raw materials.

(Brazilian researchers identify microalgae that can provide biofuels, Agência Brasil)

Wisconsin Energy Institute

Data centers are driving up energy demand nationally. what does that mean for wisconsin.

As work continues on Microsoft’s data center campus in Mount Pleasant, similar developments nationally have sparked concerns about strain on the country’s electric grid.

But it’s unclear how much stress data centers will put on Wisconsin’s electric grid and what the impact of these projects will be on the state’s clean energy transition.

According to the  U.S. Department of Energy , data centers are “energy intensive” buildings, using 10 to 50 times the energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building. 

This year, the amount of electricity needed to power America’s data centers is expected to climb to nearly 21 gigawatts, up from 19 gigawatts in 2023, according to a new report from the  Federal Energy Regulatory Commission . By the end of the decade, the country’s data centers are expected to require 35 gigawatts. For context, 1 gigawatt provides enough energy to power  100 million LED light bulbs .

Read the story at WPR

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