Doing Research

Preface 5
Instructions for using the book and website 11

Part 1 Design 15
1 Why do you do research? 19
1.1 Research approaches 22
1.2 Rules for the quality of research 28
1.3 Research phases 33
1.4 Research report and/or professional product? 35

2 Choosing the subject 37
2.1 Finding a subject 38
2.2 Graduate internships and clients: you can’t always get what you want 40
2.3 Informed expectations 44
2.4 Group assignment: the division of tasks 45

3 The background to your research 47
3.1 Recognizing the reason 48
3.2 Writing the background using the 6W method 49
3.3 Data collection (during the preliminary research) 50
3.4 The research logbook 57

4 Main question and objective 61
4.1 Main question 62
4.2 Sub-questions: useful or necessary? 66
4.3 Formulating the objective 70

5 Concept demarcation and theoretical framework 73
5.1 Concept demarcation 74
5.2 Building models 77
5.3 Formulating assumptions based on your model 79
5.4 The place of theory in applied research 81

6 Research proposal 83
6.1 Looking back on the design process 83
6.2 Starting points for the research proposal 85
6.3 From main question to data collection 87
6.4 Compiling a research proposal 92
6.5 Time schedule 94
6.6 Preparing the report 96
6.7 Assessing research proposals 98

Part 2 Data collection 101
7 Quantitative data collection methods 105
7.1 Surveys 105
7.2 Secondary analysis 109
7.3 Experimental research 111
7.4 Monitor 120
7.5 Combination of methods 121

8 Qualitative methods of data collection 125
8.1 Observational research 126
8.2 Interviews 131
8.3 Qualitative desk research 135
8.4 Case studies 140
8.5 Action research 143
8.6 Design-oriented research 147
8.7 Decisions, decisions: choosing the right method 149

9 Research quality 153
9.1 Reliability 155
9.2 Validity 157
9.3 Reliability as a condition for validity 163
9.4 Usability 164

10 Sampling 167
10.1 Population and sample 167
10.2 Random samples 171
10.3 Non-probability samples 175

11 Operationalization 179
11.1 Operationalization of quantitative research 179
11.2 Designing questionnaires 182
11.3 Operationalization in qualitative research 191

12 Going into the field: conducting surveys and interviews 195
12.1 Fieldwork for surveys and interviews: practical decisions 195
12.2 Digital data collection 199
12.3 Respondents and surveys 204
12.4 Interviews: working on rapport 210

Part 3 Analysis 221
13 Processing quantitative data: preparation 225
13.1 Preparing the analysis 225
13.2 Measurement levels of variables 231
13.3 The next step in the preparation: formulating hypotheses 236

14 Quantitative analysis 239
14.1 Systematic approach to descriptive analysis 239
14.2 Frequency tables and percentages 242
14.3 Graphs of one variable 244
14.4 Summary measures 249
14.5 Cross tabulations 260
14.6 Graphs of two variables 263

15 Qualitative analysis 269
15.1 Software as a tool for qualitative analysis 269
15.2 Assumptions for qualitative analysis 272
15.3 Grounded theory approach 273
15.4 Thematic analysis 275
15.5 Tools for qualitative analysis 280

16 The quality of research results 283
16.1 Quality of quantitative analyses 283
16.2 Quality of qualitative analyses 288

Part 4 Evaluation and recommendations 295
17 Conclusions, discussion and recommendations 299
17.1 Drawing conclusions 299
17.2 Discussion 302
17.3 Research quality revisited 304
17.4 Recommendations and advice 308
17.5 Professional products and applied research 310

18 Compiling a report 313
18.1 Compiling a research report 313
18.2 Writing an executive summary 325
18.3 Writing tips 326

19 Source references and list of references 331
19.1 Rules for citing literature 331
19.2 Source references in the main body of text 334
19.3 Guidelines for the reference list 337
19.4 Tools for managing changes and references 342

20 Presentation and evaluation 345
20.1 Presenting your findings 345
20.2 Assessment criteria for your research report 351
20.3 Communicating and publishing about research 355

References 359
Index 369
About the author 381