Research Methodologies

​Research Methodologies

UAL Level 3, Unit 2, Week 2​.

Aims and Objectives:

• ​Define Qualitive Research 

• Explain the uses of Qualitive Research 

• Define Quantitative Research 

• Explain the uses of Quantitative Research 

• Use Quantitative/Qualitative to formulate argument. 

Unit 2​

Multiple Choice

Why do we research?

• To find out information on a topic?

• To learn something new?

• To develop your problem-solving skills?

• All of the above?

Open Ended

Now we have discussed why we research but are they're different ways of researching? Please give details here:

The answer is yes...

There are many different ways of researching and different types of research. We will focus on the following:​

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• Fundamental research​

• Applied research​

• Qualitative research​

• Quantitative research​

• Mixed research​

Unit 2​

​To understand the different types of research we will associate it back to a games. ​

Fundamental, or basic, research is designed to help researchers better understand certain phenomena in the world; it looks at how things work.

This research attempts to broaden your understanding and expand scientific theories and explanations.

For example, we could develop our understanding on violence within video games. ​

Fundamental Research

Applied research is designed to identify solutions to specific problems or find answers to specific questions. The research is meant to offer knowledge that is applicable and implementable. For instance, applied research may include a study on ways to increase players involvement in E Sports Tournaments.

Applied research

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Qualitative research involves nonnumerical data, such as opinions and literature. Examples of qualitative data may include:

• Focus groups

• Surveys

• Participant comments

• Observations

• Interviews

Businesses often use qualitative research to determine consumer opinions and reactions.​

Qualitative research

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Quantitative research depends on numerical data, such as statistics and measurements. For example, a game manufacturer may compare the number of sales of one game compared to another. The research uses objective data—the sales figures for both games to draw conclusions.

Quantitative research

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Mixed research includes both qualitative and quantitative data. Consider the game company - Rockstar Games. The company could also ask game buyers to complete a survey after buying a game that asks how much the cover art impacted their decision to buy the game and other opinion-based questions.

Mixed Research

Task: On your blog Powerpoint you will explain types of research we have discussed are and how and why they would be used when researching.

• Primary

• Secondary

• Qualitative research

• Quantitative research​​

Try to give examples like we discussed. ​

Uses and Approaches to Qualitative Data

Unit 2

Open Ended

Having discussed approaches to Qualitative research, how do you think you could obtain qualitative data?

​Qualitative research methods

Each of the research approaches involve using one or more data collection methods. These are some of the most common qualitative methods:

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• Observations: recording what you have seen, heard, or encountered in detailed field notes.

• Interviews: personally asking people questions in one-on-one conversations.

• Focus groups: asking questions and generating discussion among a group of people.

• Surveys: distributing questionnaires with open-ended questions.

• Secondary research: collecting existing data in the form of texts, images, audio or video recordings, etc.

Open Ended

in thinking about what we have just discussed, what are some of the Pros and Cons of Qualitative research in your opinion?

​Advantages of qualitative research

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Qualitative research often tries to preserve the voice and perspective of participants and can be adjusted as new research questions arise. ​

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Qualitative research is good for:

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Flexibility - The data collection and analysis process can be adapted as new ideas or patterns emerge. They are not rigidly decided beforehand.

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Natural settings - Data collection occurs in real-world contexts or in naturalistic ways.

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Meaningful insights - Detailed descriptions of people’s experiences, feelings and perceptions can be used in designing, testing or improving systems or products.

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Generation of new ideas - Open-ended responses mean that researchers can uncover novel problems or opportunities that they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Disadvantages of qualitative research

​Researchers must consider practical and theoretical limitations in analysing and interpreting their data. Qualitative research suffers from:

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Unreliability - The real-world setting often makes qualitative research unreliable because of uncontrolled factors that affect the data.

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Subjectivity - Due to the researcher’s primary role in analysing and interpreting data, qualitative research cannot be replicated. The researcher decides what is important and what is irrelevant in data analysis, so interpretations of the same data can vary greatly.

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Limited generalisability - Small samples are often used to gather detailed data about specific contexts. Despite rigorous analysis procedures, it is difficult to draw generalisable conclusions because the data may be biased and unrepresentative of the wider population.

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Labour-intensive - Although software can be used to manage and record large amounts of text, data analysis often has to be checked or performed manually.

Uses and Approaches to Quantitive Data

Unit 2

Open Ended

Having discussed approaches to Quantitive research, how do you think you could obtain quantitive data?

Quantitative data analysis

Once data is collected, you may need to process it before it can be analysed. For example, survey and test data may need to be transformed from words to numbers. Then, you can use statistical analysis to answer your research questions.

Descriptive statistics will give you a summary of your data and include measures of averages and variability. You can also use graphs, scatter plots and frequency tables to visualise your data and check for any trends or outliers.

Open Ended

What would be the Pros and Cons in your opinion?

​Advantages of quantitative research

Quantitative research is often used to standardise data collection and generalise findings.

Strengths of this approach include:

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Replication - Repeating the study is possible because of standardised data collection protocols and tangible definitions of abstract concepts.

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Direct comparisons of results - The study can be reproduced in other cultural settings, times or with different groups of participants. Results can be compared statistically.

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Large samples - Data from large samples can be processed and analysed using reliable and consistent procedures through quantitative data analysis.

Disadvantages of quantitative research​

Despite the benefits of quantitative research, it is sometimes inadequate in explaining complex research topics. Its limitations include:

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​Superficiality - Using precise and restrictive operational definitions may inadequately represent complex concepts. For example, the concept of mood may be represented with just a number in quantitative research, but explained with elaboration in qualitative research.

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Narrow focus - Predetermined variables and measurement procedures can mean that you ignore other relevant observations.

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Structural bias - Despite standardised procedures, structural biases can still affect quantitative research. Missing data, imprecise measurements or inappropriate sampling methods are biases that can lead to the wrong conclusions.

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Lack of context - Quantitative research often uses unnatural settings like laboratories or fails to consider historical and cultural contexts that may affect data collection and results.