Research Methodology MGT 440 Critical Literature Review A literature review is a critical and in depth evaluation of previous research.

It is a summary and synopsis of a particular area of research, allowing anybody reading the paper to establish why you are pursuing this particular research program. A good literature review expands upon the reasons behind selecting a particular research question. What is a literature review? It is a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic. Its purpose is to summarise, synthesise and analyse the arguments of others. (It is not an academic research paper, the main purpose of which is to support your own argument.) ou should describe and analyse the nowledge that e!ists and what gaps occur in research related to your field of interest. (!his should clarify the relationship between your own research and the wor" that has previously been done.) It should reveal similarities and di""erences, consistencies and inconsistencies and controversies in previous research. !hus, following the description of what constitutes an effective literature review combined with the definition of process proposed here, literature review is briefly defined using these "eywords in sequence# $. !o collect %. !o "now &. !o comprehend '. !o apply (. !o analyse ). !o synthesise *. !o evaluate quality literature in order to provide a firm foundation to a topic and research method. Why Conduct a Critical Literature Review? A research must enhance the scientific community+s current understanding of a phenomenon. It also must communicate what was 1
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discovered in the new study to the scientific community. literature review accomplishes this step by#

A critical

$. ,elping the researcher understand the existing body of "nowledge including where excess research exists (i.e. what is already "nown-) and where new research is needed (i.e. what is needed to be "nown-) %. .roviding a solid theoretical foundation for the proposed study (related to /what is already "nown-0) &. 1ubstantiating the presence of the research problem (related to /what is needed to be "nown-0) '. 2ustifying the proposed study as one that contributes something new to the body of "nowledge (3o4). (. 5raming the valid research methodologies, approach, goals, and research questions for the proposed study.

#$$roaches in Critical Literature Review !here are five stages to your literature review# % &ind models 6oo" for other literature reviews in your discipline and read them to get an idea of the types of themes you might want to include in your research or ways in which you could organise your final review. ou can do a database search to find models 7 put the words /literature review0 along with your "eywords to retrieve references to articles of this type. ' (roblem "ormulation ou should try to construct a wor"ing statement that will form the basis of your literature review. !he statement does not have to argue for a position or an opinion. It will rather argue for a particular slant on the material. ou formulate a topic for you. ) Literature search !he literature search will help you identify scope and "ey issues. 8fficient searching will help you# Identify which authors are interested in your specialism and those who ta"e a generalist+s view. !race authors who are prominent in your sub9ect and who can help you 9ustify the importance of your research idea.

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 Include the authors would or could contradict your ideas. ,aving a different or contradicting idea builds further understanding of the problem. 4 *valuation o" "indings :eading research articles is different from other types of reading. ou must develop a good understanding of the research literature to be able to write a competent literature review. ;nderstanding the literature requires you to read, re<read and assimilate complex ideas. Read the easier articles first =ifficult or badly written articles will probably be easier to understand if you read them last when you have gained familiarity with your sub9ect. 1tarting with easy articles ma"es you understand the sub9ect matter step by step. +can the article 5or the preliminary scan, do not read the articles closely so as to avoid getting stuc" in detail. It may help to note down the "ey points for each article. >hen reading you should "eep the following in mind# >hat are the authors+ academic reputation Identify the research question and the specific hypotheses, the findings and how the findings were interpreted. Are the authors ob9ective or does their wor" appear to have a particular bias Is contrary data considered and discussed or is it ignored, #nalysis and inter$retation o" the literature After you have an idea of the main ideas in each article, identify the precise methods used and the theories tested. >hen you are comparing the wor" of a number of researchers some of whom have a different ta"e on the problems of the research question, you will need to have an in< depth understanding of their wor". A close reading may reveal differences in theoretical outloo". ,ow do different authors cite the same wor"- ?ne author may explain the method of an earlier study, describe its results in great detail and cite it repeatedly while another may give it only a passing reference. #llow enough time 3efore you can write about your research pro9ect you must have evaluated the existing literature properly. so you need to allow yourself sufficient time to do this. +ources o" Literature Review !hese are boo"s, 9ournals, dissertations, proceedings etc that a researcher reads in order to acquaint him@herself with the topic he@she wants to 3
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study. !hey build up "nowledge in the area concerning what has already been done so that the researcher finds an area that is yet to be done !here are three types of sources of literature %- (rimary sources .wor s that are based on hands/on e!$erience0 !hese are direct descriptions of research studies or other events written by an individual who actually conducted the study or witnessed the event. !hey are materials that you are directly writing about, the raw materials of your own research. !hey include the facts the researcher themselves observed and recorded during carrying out a study. 5or example, academic 9ournal articles that report research studies are typically written by the scientist or team who conducted the research. ?ther examples of a primary source include letters, novels, biography, notes etc. '- +econdary sources .wor s that are based on $rimary sources0 !hese are documents written by an author who did not directly observe or participate in the events described or who was not the originator of the concepts outlined. !hey include boo"s, textboo"s, articles and reviews of research in which other researchers report the results of their research based on (their) primary data or sources. !hey are reports and interpretations of the wor" of others. )- Tertiary sources .wor s that are based on secondary sources0 !ertiary sources are boo"s and articles based on secondary sources, on the research of others. !hey synthesiAe and explain the wor" of others and might be useful early in your research, but they are generally wea" support for your own arguments. !hey can provide general bac"ground information to help narrow or broaden the focus of a topic, define unfamiliar terms, and offer bibliographies of other sources. 1ome wor"s include an index, which will provide excellent access to a sub9ect. 8xamples of tertiary sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides, mannuals and handboo"s.

1m$ortance o" Literature Review 6iterature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. 6iterature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone. 5or scholars, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasiAes the credibility of the writer in his or her field. 6iterature reviews also provide a solid bac"ground for a research paperBs investigation. Comprehensive "nowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers. !he following are some reasons for carrying out a literature reviews. $. 6iterature review is conducted to ensure that the researcher is not reinventing something that has already been done by other researchers. At the very best, this will save time and it can stop the 4
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researcher from ma"ing the same mista"es others researchers have made. It is a way of showing the researcher is coming up with something new. %. Another reason for carrying out a literature review is to carry on from where others have already reached. :eviewing the field allows you to build on the platform of existing "nowledge and ideas. It is li"e in relay race where runners of one team ta"e turns, the latter carrying on the speed and distance covered by the former. &. Another reason is to demonstrate researcher+s understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to his@her research question. 3y doing literature review a researcher critically demonstrates that he@she has read previously published and unpublished materials and has come up with or decided on his@her own theoretical and methodological approaches. It shows researcher+s mastery of the field. '. 6iterature review is also underta"en to indentify gaps in the existing literature. !his convinces the readership that researcher+s proposed topic will ma"e a significant and substantial contribution to the literature. !his means it aims at resolving an important theoretical issue or filling a ma9or gap in the literature. It shows that there really is a need to carry out a study and add to the existing world of "nowledge. (. Another reason for underta"ing literature review is to provide the intellectual context for researcher+s own wor", enabling him@her to position his@her pro9ect relative to other wor"s. It creates researcher+s angle of the field. ). 6iterature review is underta"en to identify information and ideas that may be relevant to researcher+s pro9ect. >hen a researcher embar"s on a study little is usually "nown for the topic. As he@she reads other researchers+ wor"s he@she also unearths "nowledge that is useful and relevant to the study. *. 6iterature review also gives credits to those who have laid the groundwor" for researcher+s study. :esearchers and writers feel respected when their wor" is recognised and used in other researchers+ wor"s. D. 6iterature review is underta"en to identify other people wor"ing in the same field. As a beginner in research one may happen to be unaware of who other researchers and experts in the same field are. 3ut as he@she reads boo"s and 9ournals he@she identifies them. A researcher networ" is a valuable resource as that can be a way of communicating with each other. 5
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(lagiarism Definition .lagiarism is the act of plagiarising, which means to appropriate (ideas, passages, etc) from (another wor" or author). .lagiarism involves literary theft, stealing (by copying) the words or ideas of someone else and passing them off as one+s own without crediting the source. It is the misuse of the writings of another author including the limited borrowing, without attribution, of another+s distinctive and significant research findings, hypotheses, theories or interpretations. (lagiarism by +tudents !he core business of the "nowledge industry is handling information and ideas from different sources, so there is inevitably great scope for plagiarism within the academic world. ,ere plagiarism occurs in a variety of settings, including collaboration or cooperation between students wor"ing together, unattributed use of other people+s writings by undergraduates , Easter+s students and .h= students, copying of graduate students+ wor" by supervisors or other members of academic staff and ta"ing credit in research grant applications for wor" done by someone else. &orms o" (lagiarism 1tudents plagiarise in four main ways# $. 1tealing material from another source and passing it off as their own, e.g. (a) 3uying a paper from a research service, essay ban" or term paper mill (either pre< written or specially written), (b) Copying a whole paper from a source text without proper ac"nowledgement, (c) 1ubmitting another student+s wor", with or without that student+s "nowledge (e.g. by copying a computer dis"). %. 1ubmitting a paper written by someone else (e.g. a peer or relative) and passing it off as their own. &. Copying sections of material from one or more source texts, supplying proper documentation (including the full reference) but leaving out quotation mar"s, thus giving the impression that the material has been paraphrased rather than directly quoted. '. .araphrasing material from one or more source texts without supplying appropriate documentation (ac"nowledging). (ara$hrasing 6
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A =efinition .araphrasing is the use of another+s ideas to enhance your own wor". In a paraphrase, you rewrite in your own words the ideas ta"en from the source. .araphrases avoid excessive reliance on quotations and demonstrate that you understand the source author+s argument. A paraphrase always has a different sentence structure and word choice. >hen done well, it is much more concise than the original. ;nli"e in plagiarism, in paraphrasing you ac"nowledge the source. Food writers signal paraphrases through clauses such as />erner 1ollors, in Beyond Ethnicity, argues thatG.0 !hese phrases indicate the source of the paraphrase and help integrate the borrowed ideas into your own wor". 3ecause a paraphrase is your restatement of a borrowed idea, it is not set within quotation mar"s. !hough the ideas may be borrowed, your writing must be originalH simply changing a few words or rearranging words or sentences is not paraphrasing. The Right Way to (ara$hrase !he main way to paraphrase is to#

Change the structure of the paragraph Change the words.

Original Passage: /!he :epublican Convention of $D)I, which adopted plan"s calling for a tariff, internal improvements, a .acific railroad and a homestead law, is sometimes seen as a symbol of >hig triumph within the party. A closer loo", however, indicates that the >hig+s triumph within the party was of a very tentative nature.0 Paraphrase: Contrary to many historians, 8ric 5oner argues that the :epublican platform of $D)I should not be understood as an indication of >hig dominance of the party ($*(). Explanation: !his paraphrase is properly cited and represents an accurate and concise summary of the source.

#(# .#merican (sychological #ssociation0 #(# Recording .in/te!t citation0 A.A+s in<text citations provide at least the author+s last name and the year of publication. 5or direct quotations and some paraphrases, a page number is given as well. 7
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A.A style requires the use of the past tense or the present perfect tense in signal phrases introducing cited material# Smith (2005) reported; Smith (2005) has argued. $. 2asic "ormat "or a 3uotation # ?rdinarily, introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author+s last name followed by the year of publication in parentheses. .ut the page number (preceded by /p.0) in parentheses after the quotation. Critser (%II&) noted that despite growing numbers of overweight Americans, many health care providers still /remain either in ignorance or outright denial about the health danger to the poor and the young0 (p. (). If the author is not named in the signal phrase, place the author+s name, the year, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation# (Critser, %II&, p. (). 45T*6 A.A style requires the year of publication in an in<text citation. =o not include a month, even if the entry in the reference list includes the month. '- 2asic "ormat "or a summary or a $ara$hrase # Include the author+s last name and the year either in a signal phrase introducing the material or in parentheses following it. A page number is not required for a summary or a paraphrase, but include one if it would help readers find the passage in a long wor". anovs"i and anovs"i (%II%) explained that sibutramine suppresses appetite by bloc"ing the reupta"e of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain (p. (J'). 1ibutramine suppresses appetite by bloc"ing the reupta"e of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain ( anovs"i K anovs"i, %II%, p. (J'). )- Wor with two authors# Lame both authors in the signal phrase or the parentheses each time you cite the wor". In the parentheses, use /K0 between the authors+ namesH in the signal phrase, use /and.0 According to 1othern and Fordon (%II&), /8nvironmental factors may contribute as much as DIM to the causes of childhood obesity0 (p. $I'). ?bese children often engage in limited physical activity (1othern K Fordon, %II&, p. $I'). 8
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4- Wor with three to "ive authors # Identify all authors in the signal phrase or the parentheses the first time you cite the source. In %II&, 3er"owitA, >adden, !ersha"ovec, and Cronquist concluded, /1ibutramine . . . must be carefully monitored in adolescents, as in adults, to control increases in Nblood pressureO and pulse rate0 (p. $D$$). In subsequent citations, use the first author+s name followed by /et al.0 in either the signal phrase or the parentheses. As 3er"owitA et al. (%II&) advised, /;ntil more extensive safety and efficacy data are available, . . . weight<loss medications should be used only on an experimental basis for adolescents0 (p. $D$$). ,- Wor with si! or more authors # ;se the first author+s name followed by /et al.0 in the signal phrase or the parentheses. Ec=uffie et al. (%II%) tested %I adolescents, aged $%<$), over a three<month period and found that orlistat, combined with behavioral therapy, produced an average weight loss of '.' "g, or J.* pounds (p. )')). 7- Wor with un nown author # If the author is un"nown, mention the wor"+s title in the signal phrase or give the first word or two of the title in the parenthetical citation. !itles of articles and chapters are put in quotation mar"sH titles of boo"s and reports are italiciAed. Children struggling to control their weight must also struggle with the pressures of television advertising that, on the one hand, encourages the consumption of 9un" food and, on the other, celebrates thin celebrities (/!elevision,0 %II%). 8- 5rgani9ation as author # If the author is a government agency or another organiAation, name the organiAation in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source. ?besity puts children at ris" for a number of medical complications, including type % diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and orthopedic problems (,enry 2. 4aiser 5amily 5oundation, %II', p. $). If the organiAation has a familiar abbreviation, you may include it in brac"ets the first time you cite the source and use the abbreviation alone in later citations.

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:- #uthors with the same last name# !o avoid confusion, use initials with the last names if your reference list includes two or more authors with the same last name. :esearch by 8. 1mith ($JDJ) revealed that . . . ;- Two or more wor s by the same author in the same year # >hen your list of references includes more than one wor" by the same author in the same year, use lowercase letters (/a,0 /b,0 and so on) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. ;se those same letters with the year in the in<text citation. :esearch by =urgin (%II&b) has yielded new findings about the role of counseling in treating childhood obesity. %0- Two or more wor s in the same $arentheses # >hen your parenthetical citation names two or more wor"s, put them in the same order that they appear in the reference list, separated with semicolons. :esearchers have indicated that studies of pharmacological treatments for childhood obesity are inconclusive (3er"owitA et al., %II&H Ec=uffie et al., %II%). $$. (ersonal communication (ersonal interviews, memos, letters, e/mail, and similar unpublished communications should be cited in the text only, not in the reference list. (;se the first initial with the last name in parentheses.) ?ne of At"inson+s colleagues, who has studied the effect of the media on children+s eating habits, has contended that advertisers for snac" foods will need to design ads responsibly for their younger viewers (5. 2ohnson, personal communication, ?ctober %I, %IIJ). %'- *lectronic source6 >hen possible, cite electronic sources, including online sources, as you would any other source, giving the author and the year. At"inson (%II$) found that children who spent at least four hours a day watching !P were less li"ely to engage in adequate physical activity during the wee". 8lectronic sources sometimes lac" authors+ names, dates, or page numbers. Unknown author If no author is named, mention the title of the source in the signal phrase or give the first word or two of the title in the parentheses 10
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!he body+s basal metabolic rate, or 3E:, is a measure of its at<rest energy requirement (/8xercise,0 %II&). Unknown date >hen the date is un"nown, use the abbreviation /n.d.0 (for /no date0). Attempts to establish a definitive lin" between television programming and children+s eating habits have been problematic (Eagnus, n.d.). No page numbers A.A ordinarily requires page numbers for quotations, and it recommends them for summaries and paraphrases from long sources. >hen an electronic source lac"s stable numbered pages, your citation should include information that will help readers locate the particular passage being cited. If the source has numbered paragraphs, use the paragraph number preceded by the abbreviation /para.0# (,all, %IID, para. (). If the source contains headings, cite the appropriate heading in parenthesesH you may also indicate the paragraph under the heading that you are referring to, even if the paragraphs are not numbered. ,oppin and !averas (%II') pointed out that several other medications were classified by the =rug 8nforcement Administration as having the /potential for abuse0 (>eight<6oss =rugs section, para. )). 45T*6 8lectronic files in portable document format (.=5) often have stable page numbers. 5or such sources, give the page number in the parenthetical citation. %)- 1ndirect source6 If you use a source that was cited in another source (a secondary source), name the original source in your signal phrase. 6ist the secondary source in your reference list and include it in your parenthetical citation, preceded by the words /as cited in.0 In the following example, 1atcher is the original source, and Critser is the secondary source, given in the reference list. 5ormer surgeon general =r. =avid 1atcher described /a nation of young people seriously at ris" of starting out obese and dooming themselves to the difficult tas" of overcoming a tough illness0 (as cited in Critser, %II&, p. ').

*L*M*4T+<C5M(5+1T154 5& # (R5(5+#L 11

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1- 1ntroduction (art !he introduction is the part of the paper that provides readers with the bac"ground information for the research reported in the paper. Its purpose is to establish a framewor" for the research, so that readers can understand how it is related to other research In an introduction, the writer should $. create reader interest in the topic, %. lay the broad foundation for the problem that leads to the study, &. place the study within the larger context of the scholarly literature, and '. reach out to a specific audience. '- Theoretical &ramewor (art If a researcher is wor"ing within a particular theoretical framewor"@line of inquiry, the theory or line of inquiry should be introduced and discussed. !he theory@line of inquiry selected will inform the statement of the problem, rationale for the study, questions and hypotheses, selection of instruments, and choice of methods. )- +tatement o" the (roblem (art !he problem statement describes the context for the study and it also identifies the general analysis approach. A problem might be defined as the issue that exists in the literature, theory, or practice that leads to a need for the study It is important in a proposal that the problem stand outQthat the reader can easily recogniAe it. 1ometimes, obscure and poorly formulated problems are mas"ed in an extended discussion. 4- (ur$ose o" the +tudy (art !he purpose of the study provides a specific and accurate synopsis of the overall purpose of the study. If the purpose is not clear to the writer, it cannot be clear to the reader.!he researcher defines and delimits the specific area of the research. ,- Review o" the Literature (art !he review of the literature provides the bac"ground and context for the research problem. It should establish the need for the research and indicate that the writer is "nowledgeable about the area. !he literature review accomplishes several important things. $. It shares with the reader the results of other studies that are closely 12
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related to the study being reported. %. t relates a study to the larger, ongoing dialogue in the literature about a topic, filling in gaps and extending prior studies. &. It provides a framewor" for establishing the importance of the study, as well as a benchmar" for comparing the results of a study with other findings. '. It /frames0 the problem earlier identified. 7- =uestions or >y$othesis (art Questions are relevant to normative or census type research (,ow many of them are there- Is there a relationship between them-). !hey are most often used in qualitative inquiry, although their use in quantitative inquiry is becoming more prominent. ypotheses are relevant to theoretical research and are typically used only in quantitative inquiry. >hen a writer states hypotheses, the reader is entitled to have an exposition of the theory that lead to them (and of the assumptions underlying the theory). 2ust as conclusions must be grounded in the data, hypotheses must be grounded in the theoretical framewor". A research !uestion poses a relationship between two or more variables but phrases the relationship as a questionH a hypothesis represents a declarative statement of the relations between two or more variables 8- The ?esign//Methods and (rocedures (art !he methods or procedures section is really the heart of the research proposal. !he activities should be described with as much detail as possible, and the continuity between them should be apparent !he reseacher indicates the methodological steps he will ta"e to answer every question or to test every hypothesis illustrated in the Ruestions@,ypotheses section. !his section contains activities such as sampling, instruments to be used and outlines how data will be collected and analysed. :- Limitations and ?elimitations A "imitation identifies potential wea"nesses of the study. It discusses about wea"eness in data analysis, the nature of self<report, data collecting instruments, the sample. 13
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A de"imitation addresses how a study will be narrowed in scope, that is, how it is bounded. !his is the place to explain the things that you are not doing and why you have chosen not to do themQthe literature you will not review (and why not), the population you are not studying (and why not), the methodological procedures you will not use (and why you will not use them). ;- +igni"icance o" the +tudy (art !his part indicates how the researcher will refine, revise, or extend existing "nowledge in the area under investigation. 1uch refinements, revisions, or extensions may have either substantive, theoretical, or methodological significance. %0- Re"erences (art !his section list all the sources of material that the researcher has read in preparation of the proposal. It lists the boo"s that have been used to broaden the reseachers+s "nowledge on the problem to ba carried out. !here are different listing styles depending of the requirements of reseach commitee such as A.A and E6A

Research >y$otheses A hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in your study. 5or example, an experiment designed to loo" at the relationship between study habits and test anxiety might have a hypothesis that states, S>e predict that students with better study habits will suffer less test anxiety.S ;nless your study is exploratory in nature, your hypothesis should always explain what you e!$ect to happen during the course of your experiment or research. :esearch hypotheses are the specific testable predictions made about the independent and dependent variables in the study. ;sually the literature review has given bac"ground material that 9ustifies the particular hypotheses that are to be tested. ,ypotheses are couched in terms of the particular independent and dependent variables that are going to be used in the study. !he .urpose and 5unctions of a ,ypothesis

14

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It offers explanations for the relationships between those variables that can be empirically tested. It furnishes proof that the researcher has sufficient bac"ground "nowledge to enable him@her to ma"e suggestions in order to extend existing "nowledge. It gives direction to an investigation. It structures the next phase in the investigation and therefore furnishes continuity to the examination of the problem.

Characteristics of a ,ypothesis

It should have elucidating power. It should strive to furnish an acceptable explanation of the phenomenon. It must be verifiable. It must be formulated in simple, understandable terms. It should correspond with existing "nowledge.

?ata collection methods =ata Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results. =uantitative ?ata collection methods =uantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into predetermined response categories. !hey produce results that are easy to summariAe, compare, and generaliAe. Ruantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from theory and@or being able to estimate the siAe of a phenomenon of interest. =epending on the research question, participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome, variable. If the intent is to generaliAe from the research participants to a larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select participants. 15
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Ty$ical 3uantitative data gathering strategies include#

8xperiments@clinical trials. ?bserving and recording well<defined events (e.g., counting the number of patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day). ?btaining relevant data from management information systems. Administering surveys with closed<ended questions (e.g., face<to face and telephone interviews, questionnaires etc).

1nterviews In Ruantitative research (survey research), interviews are more structured than in Rualitative research. In a structured interview, the researcher as"s a standard set of questions and nothing more. &ace /to /"ace interviews have a distinct advantage of enabling the researcher to establish rapport with potential participants and therefore gain their cooperation. !hese interviews yield highest response rates in survey research. !hey also allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and when appropriate, see" follow<up information. =isadvantages include impractical when large samples are involved time consuming and expensive. Tele$hone interviews are less time consuming and less expensive and the researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet that has a telephone. =isadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face<to<face interview but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire. !he sample may be biased to the extent that people without phones are part of the population about whom the researcher wants to draw inferences. =uestionnaires (a$er/$encil/3uestionnaires can be sent to a large number of people and saves the researcher time and money. .eople are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. 3ut they also have drawbac"s. Ea9ority of the people who receive questionnaires donBt return them and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected sample. 16
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Web based 3uestionnaires# A new and inevitably growing methodology is the use of Internet based research. !his would mean receiving an e<mail on which you would clic" on an address that would ta"e you to a secure web<site to fill in a questionnaire. !his type of research is often quic"er and less detailed. 1ome disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people who do not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also the validity of such surveys is in question as people might be in a hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate responses. Ruestionnaires often ma"e use of Chec"list and rating scales. !hese devices help simplify and quantify peopleBs behaviours and attitudes. A chec"list is a list of behaviours, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is loo"ing for. 8ither the researcher or survey participant simply chec"s whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa. A rating scale is more useful when a behaviour needs to be evaluated on a continuum. =ualitative data collection methods Rualitative data collection methods play an important role in impact evaluation by providing information useful to understand the processes behind observed results and assess changes in people+s perceptions of their well<being. 5urthermore qualitative methods can be used to improve the quality of survey<based quantitative evaluations by helping generate evaluation hypothesisH strengthening the design of survey questionnaires and expanding or clarifying quantitative evaluation findings. !hese methods are characteriAed by the following attributes#

they tend to be open<ended and have less structured protocols (i.e., researchers may change the data collection strategy by adding, refining, or dropping techniques or informants) they rely more heavily on interactive interviewsH respondents may be interviewed several times to follow up on a particular issue, clarify concepts or chec" the reliability of data they use triangulation to increase the credibility of their findings (i.e., researchers rely on multiple data collection methods to chec" the authenticity of their results) generally their findings are not generaliAable to any specific population, rather each case study produces a single piece of evidence that can be used to see" general patterns among different studies of the same issue 17
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:egardless of the "inds of data involved, data collection in a qualitative study ta"es a great deal of time. !he researcher needs to record any potentially useful data thoroughly, accurately, and systematically, using field notes, s"etches, audiotapes, photographs and other suitable means. !he data collection methods must observe the ethical principles of research. !he qualitative methods most commonly used in evaluation can be classified in three broad categories#

in<depth interview observation methods document review

Ty$es o" ?ata !here are various different types of data that you will encounter when loo"ing at educational statistics or doing research yourself. >hen you are conducting research the nature of the data you collect will depend on both what you are researching and how you collect the data. !he three main types of data are explained below. =uantitative ?ata Ruantitative data is that which can be easily measured and recorded in numerical form. !his is used extensively in education in forms such as exam results, 1A!s results, absence and truancy figures etc. Ruantitative data is collected by testing to an agreed criteria as in exams or by measuring as in height, age etc. ?ften this data is expressed using percentages rather than the actual numbers themselves. =ualitative ?ata Rualitative data is information that is represented by means other than numbers. !his could be data on gender, place of birth, school attended etc. =ata from questionnaires or forms is often of a qualitative nature and categories are often used to group the data together such as questions on racial origin. Rualitative data is often presented in numbers or percentages such as in the statement, B %&M of !IA students come from EbeyaB. ?iscrete and Continuous ?ata >hen measuring to obtain data you also have to consider whether it is of a discrete or continuous nature.

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=iscrete data is anything that can be measured exactly as a whole number such as how many children are attending a class on a particular day. !here can only be %' or &$ children not %'.*() or &$.J)$. Continuous data is that which can be any number on a scale. If you were to measure the heights of the children in the class there would be a range of measurements from the shortest to tallest child and these measurements could be anywhere on the chosen scale. 5or practical purposes the measurements would usually be rounded of to the nearest whole or half unit but could actually be at any point. ?ther examples of continuous data are things li"e rainfall, length of feet and weight. Ty$es o" data based on sources ,ere there are primary data and secondary data .rimary data is data that you collect yourself using such methods as# ?irect observation < lets you focus on details of importance to youH lets you see a system in rea" rather than theoretica" use (other faults are unli"ely or trivial in theory but quite real and annoying in practice)H +urveys < written surveys let you collect considerable quantities of detailed data. ou have to either trust the honesty of the people surveyed or build in self<verifying questions (e.g. questions J and %' as" basically the same thing but using different words < different answers may indicate the surveyed person is being inconsistent, dishonest or inattentive). 1nterviews < slow, expensive, and they ta"e people away from their regular 9obs, but they allow in<depth questioning and follow<up questions. !hey also show non<verbal communication such as face<pulling, fidgeting, shrugging, hand gestures, sarcastic expressions that add further meaning to spo"en words. e.g. SI thin" itBs a F:8A! systemS could mean vastly different things depending on whether the person was sneering at the timeT A problem with interviews is that people might say what they thin" the interviewer wants to hearH they might avoid being honestly critical in case their 9obs or reputation might suffer. Logs (e.g. fault logs, error logs, complaint logs, transaction logs). Food, empirical, ob9ective data sources (usually, if they are used well). !hey can yield lots of valuable data about system performance over time under different conditions.

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.rimary data can be relied on because you "now where it came from and what was done to it. ItBs li"e coo"ing something yourself. ou "now what went into it. 1econdary data is collected from external sources such as#

!P, radio, internet magaAines, newspapers reviews research articles stories told by people you "now

!hereBs a lot more secondary data than primary data, and secondary data is a #ho"e "ot cheaper and easier to acquire than primary data. !he problem is that often the reliability, accuracy and integrity of the data is uncertain. >ho collected it- Can they be trusted- =id they do any pre< processing of the data- Is it biased- ,ow old is it- >here was it collectedCan the data be verified, or does it have to be ta"en on faith?ften secondary data has been pre<processed to give totals or averages and the original details are lost so you canBt verify it by replicating the methods used by the original data collectors. In short, primary data is expensive and difficult to acquire, but itBs trustworthy. 1econdary data is cheap and easy to collect, but must be treated with caution.

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