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Researcher Development

Researcher Development

Research questions and hypotheses

 

Methods

Here we will approach the following questions. You may already have answers for some!

  • What data will you collect?
  • How will you collect it?
  • Where from?
  • How will you record it?

Both quantitative and qualitative data can be split into the further categories below. Each part of your research might include a different category (I think my thesis will include all five!).

Remember back to section 2b: Before you go ahead with data collection, make sure you do a pilot study (also called pre-testing or rehearsal) to practice your method and overcome any unforeseen issues.

 

Making sense of your data

If you remember only one thing from this course, I urge it to be this: decide how you are going to process your data before you start collecting it. This will direct you towards what you need to answer your research question, i.e., how many variables? Repeated measures or individual data?

Have your spreadsheets with columns and headings (or equivalent) ready before you start.

Will you be running statistical analysis? Decide on it now (see resources in the next subsection). Find some example data, or generate your own, and practice it. Try out making figures from this example data. Know exactly how you will proceed before you start collecting your data.

From this, if it is not working out the way you expected, now is a great time to chat with your supervisor or other researchers about how to straighten it out. If you wait to do this after you have already collected data, you may have to reformat everything, or at worst… the data itself may be unusable. Getting prepared with stats and analysis before you start is a superb way of mitigating this.

Resource Link

 

Simplistic research design flowcharts and templates

 

Free to download and editable in Microsoft Word https://www.template.net/editable/research

 

Agile Gantt Chart template on Microsoft Excel

 

Available on university computers

https://templates.office.com/en-gb/agile-gantt-chart-tm55723235

 

Research Design and Statistical Analysis

By Jerome L. Myers, Arnold D. Well, Robert F. Lorch Jr

Available via university VPN https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203726631/research-design-statistical-analysis-jerome-myers-arnold-well-robert-lorch-jr

 

Qualitative research design PowerPoint presentation template

 

Free; useful if you need to present your research design https://www.slideteam.net/qualitative-research-design-ppt-powerpoint-presentation-portfolio-information-cpb.html

 

Research Design (in: Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods) by Sema A. Kalaian Available via university VPN

https://methods.sagepub.com/reference/encyclopedia-of-survey-research-methods/n471.xml

 

Guide for creating and using surveys.

 

Surveys by Neil J. Salkind. In: Encyclopedia of Research Design

 

Free; http://208.88.132.60/sage3g/sage-uk.war/chamblissintro/study/materials/handbook_encyclo/ref_02survey.pdf

 

Designing a Qualitative Study by John W Cresswell and Cheryl N Poth (includes exercises) https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/46924_CH_3.pdf

 

Designing a Qualitative Study by JA Maxwell (includes exercises)

 

https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/23772_Ch7.pdf

 

Researching Across Cultures: Issues of Ethics and Power by Anne Marshall & Suzanne Batten https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/572/1241

 

Accountability by Lisa M. Given. In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods https://methods.sagepub.com/reference/sage-encyc-qualitative-research-methods/n3.xml

 

Better Safe than Sorry: Planning for Safe and Successful Fieldwork by Lori D. Daniels and Suzie Lavallee

 

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/0012-9623-95.3.264

 

Writing Field Notes and Using Them to Prompt Scholarly Writing by Raul Pacheco-Vega https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1609406919840093

 

The Future of Field Notes (for biologists) by Patrick Cooney https://thefisheriesblog.com/2017/04/10/the-future-of-field-notes/

 

Basic Biology, Good Field Notes, and Synthesizing across Your Career by William Matthews

 

DOI:10.1643/OT-15-296

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