Essay Information Sciences Research Methodology – Report Writing – Research Assignment Help

Assignment Task:

Task     

Description 

1. Draft research design.  
Is this a quantitative research, qualitative research, mixed method, or design science research that uses quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, explain. 

Here you need to identify and explain why your research is classified as ‘quantitative’ or ‘qualitative’ or ‘mixed method’ or ‘design science’ research. This may be because of the type of data you plan to collect or because of the techniques you plan to apply to analyse and present your data which could either be quantitative or qualitative (we talked about analysis in lecture 6). Remember to answer the question but also to support your answers with a reason.  

2. Planned sample, population or subject selection.  
What are your data sources? who will provide you with the data you need for your research (people, organizations, existing data set, the literature)? What sampling techniques you plan to use (if relevant)? explain. 

Here you are required to identify your data sources. You may have both primary and secondary data in your study (see lecture 4). Then, you need to identify your sample (this is the thing or person that you will collect information from), the likely sample size if appropriate, and why the selected sample is suitable for your study, is it because they are experiencing the issue you are studying or your artefact impacts them or the documents have the information that will help you answer your questions/hypotheses/objectives or develop your artefact. You may not have a very clear idea yet but try to the best of your ability to make an informed choice which makes some. Also, identify the sampling technique you plan to use, explain how it works briefly and why it is appropriate to your research. Quantitative and qualitative research designs have different sampling methods. Finally, explain how you plan to contact or access your sample, so you can extract the required information.     

3. Planned instrumentation and materials for data collection.  
What data collection techniques you plan to use that are appropriate to your research problem and selected design? explain.  

Here you need to identify what instruments you plan to use to collect the information (data) in order to answer your questions/hypotheses/objective or develop your proposed artefact (e.g. questionnaire, interview, people observation, lab observation, surveying the literature if you are doing a purely theoretical study, etc.). Next, you need to explain why the selected instrument is appropriate. For example, interviews are appropriate if you are doing a case study and you want qualitative data, lab observation is appropriate if you are doing an experiment and you want quantitative data, a questionnaire is appropriate if you are doing a survey, and so on.   

4. Planned variables in the study.   
What data you plan to collect? what is the nature of this data (quantitative, qualitative, images, files, audio, video, etc.)? explain.  

What is the data that you plan to collect? This is the raw data. Are you collecting data in the form of numbers (frequencies, ratios, percentages, raw numbers, etc.) or are you collecting data that is in the form of a text (descriptions, handwritten notes, words, etc.)? The nature of the raw data you collect is highly determined by your research design (quantitative, qualitative or mixed) and will also determine the data analysis techniques you will use next (statistical or thematic). If your data is quantitative, also consider discussing if you are going to be using counting, measuring, or using a sensory device to collect the data.   

5. Plan for data analysis.  
Will you use quantitative or qualitative data analysis techniques or both (mixed)? explain.  

What data analysis techniques do you plan to use? This can largely depend on the design of your research and the types of data you plan to collect. If your findings will be derived from subjecting your data to statistical procedures, then consider some of the quantitative techniques mentioned in lecture 6. If your findings will be derived from doing coding and thematic analysis, then consider qualitative data analysis. It is important that you demonstrate that you understand why the selected analysis technique is suitable to your study so an explanation must be provided to support your choice.  

6. Plan for data presentation. 
Which technique(s) you plan to use for displaying your data (text, tables, graphs, statistical measures)? explain.    

How do you plan to present your findings? Again, this can largely depend on the design of your research and the types of data you need to present. Consider referring to lecture 6 for guidance on some of the mentioned presentation techniques and how quantitative and qualitative studies (and mixed) differ in the way the findings are presented.