Report on Methodology 2
Introduction 2
Instrument 2
Background 5
Methodology consideration 5
Benefits and Limitations of Methods 5
Sample and Population 5
Data collection 6
Data analysis 6
Ethical considerations 6
Reliability and validity 7
Confidentiality of participants 8
Conclusion 8
References 9
Report on Methodology
Introduction
This report reflects the research strategy and research method selected for the study titled “Benefits of Learning”. The core research question of this study is to investigate the gains that the university students achieve upon completion of a degree/program, other than just having the degree in hand. The learning of the learners is considered as a primary element these days and must be communicated to the stakeholders of a community/society.
Instrument
Interview questionnaire
- What are the benefits of learning via a university degree?
- What are the factors that influence the learning of students?
- How do you consider the fact that learning does no only mean having a degree in hand?
- What are the gains of a university degree?
- How can this learning help in the development of a society?
- Why must the gains and benefits of a university degree be communicated to the stake holders?
- How does university learning help in making students learn about the norms of life?
- How do the university programs help in developing the efficiency of the students?
Survey Questionnaire
Benefits of Learning
[University Name]
Company :
Please answer the following questions (please note that the answers will only be used for academic purposes)
A university degree is something more than just a degree, in terms of learning.
Q1: Demographics
- Gender
- Male
- Female
Q2: The gains of the students are not just limited to the subjects taught throughout the program.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q3: The outcomes of a university program are reflected by the overall personality of the learners.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q4: Learning in an effective university environment is helps in increasing the competency levels of students.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q5: To cope up with the fast paced market, one must have a wide span of learning.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q6: The community must know about the benefits of having a university degree.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q7: Ethics are among the top learning of the learners in a university program.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q8: University programs teach the students about how to spend life effectively and productively.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Q9: The benefits and gains of a university program must be communicated to the stakeholders.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Background
In this modern world, often university programs are just taken as a way of getting degree or qualification. Researchers have highlighted that there are many few ho know the importance of a university degree, in terms of gains that students achieve other than their subjects. This study aims to highlight the gains of the learners who pass out universities in Australia. These gains help in t development of the overall society if properly handled and adequately addressed. Individuals who get passed out after completing university programs have more confidence, have more worth and live happier family lives, because of the learning they absorb.
Methodology consideration
This study will use mixed methodology or hybrid method. This type of approach or research design is regarded as one of the authentic method since it improves he integrity and credibility of the data collected and therefore lead draw more authentic recommendation of the research (Bogdan, & Biklen, 1998). Under the research strategy of this study, both primary and secondary data will be gathered and then assessed (Zachariadis, Scott, & Barrett, 2010). The primary data will be based on the results of the questionnaire survey and secondary data will incorporate interview questionnaire with the existing literature on the theme of the topic (Nilsson, 2005, pp.593-608).
Benefits and Limitations of Methods
The hybrid method of research draws results from two types of data and therefore can be trusted more when it is being compared to using primary or secondary data alone. The researcher has used two different methods in order to analysis these two different types of data (Saunders, Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2011). Limitation can be any possible biasness from the participant side of the study. This will cause the data to fluctuate, but the researcher will filter the data and with the help of informed consent, this limitation will be eliminated (Candy, 1989, pp.1-11).
Sample and Population
For this study, a sample size of 100 will be selected and the focussed groups will be that of students of Australian universities. The graduates and undergrads both will be focussed. For the interview questionnaire, teachers, students and parents of the students will be targeted. This will help in determining a wider perspective of the benefits of student learning.
Data collection
Secondary data, in this study is the first hand knowledge that has been collected by the researcher himself and the primary data is collected from secondary resources which include books, journal, articles and other relevant and up to date publications (Lewin, 2005, pp.215-225). For the collection of secondary data internet databases and libraries have been accessed and used. As far as the primary data is concerned, it is the most important part of the research study which includes interviews and questionnaire surveys (Palinkas, Aarons, Horwitz, Chamberlain, Hurlburt, & Landsverk, 2011, pp.44-53). Google services will be used for conducting online questionnaire survey. The interview questionnaire will be distributed among the aforementioned groups (Merriam, 2002).
Data analysis
The quantitative data will be analyzed with the help of SPSS, on a scale of 0-4, which will highlight their degree of agreement and disagreement (Robson, 2011). The results will be measured on the Likert’s sale according to their frequency distribution and therefore the results will be quantified accordingly. The findings of the study will be depending on the results of the study (Abowitz, & Toole, 2009, pp.108-116). Method of content analysis will be used for analyzing the qualitative data. The interviews will be decoded and the results of the interviews will be summarised. Then results will be triangulated from the results of the questionnaire survey and the literature review.
Ethical considerations
Ethical guidelines are the recommended guidelines for any research. These guidelines incorporate all the processes and operations carried out under the umbrella of a study. These guidelines help in ensuring that the research which is being carried out is ethically sound and strong. These guidelines also help in maintaining the neutrality of the study which is a must as per the standards of research (Merriam, 2002). In every study, the focus is to remove the negative elements so that the research cannot be harmed by any external or internal means. These positive results, once obtained helped in improving the community and the people with respect to the theme of the study, and leave an impact on the society. The results obtained from a study become more dynamic after implementation and thus become ultimately more helpful if the research ethics are addressed comprehensively and acutely (Mertens and Ginsberg, 2009).
The identity of the respondents and participants of this study, including their names, titles, and contact numbers, all have been kept under cover. The consent will also be achieved for all the respondents of the study, so that the data collection process can be maintained adequately and positively. The prime focus of the researcher is to use all the authentic and up to date resources, so that the collected data is the most relevant one to be used in the study. This also makes sure that the results are the best and the most optimum one as the methods used are also the optimum ones. The data used in the study, which is extracted from external resources is thoroughly referenced which adds up to the credibility of the study. Another important factor in this context is that the reliability of the study will be maintained by focusing on the relevance of the topic and by removing all the vague data and responses (Merriam, 2002).
Reliability and validity
The reliability and validity of this study is signified with the help of many different factors. These factors enable the researcher objectives and research questions to explain the research aims and research questions adequately. Along with this these factors also help in highlighting the ability and capacity of the researcher in extracting the facts about a significant phenomenon or theme. For explaining the validity of a research, three factors come into play. These factors are criterion-related validity, construct validity and content validity. Thus study uses different instruments in order to address the validation of the data used. Along with this, accreditation of the data describes the way the content and data are being used in the study (Thanasegaran, 2009, pp.35-40).
This helps in explaining the entire theme of the study in a much proper an effective manner, along with its details. This element assists in the development of a set of effective recommendations which are then practically applied to the study as per the industrial standards. In this study, all the factors are comprehensively addressed and are effectively brought into act. Furthermore, Criterion validity incorporates different cum specific methods for analyzing the data and obtaining the conclusive result. All the research standards will be thoroughly addressed in this study and the researcher will be able to make out effective and acute results because of this. In addition to this, Construct validity creates a strong relation between the selected techniques and the instrument being used, for furnishing the construct of the study (Thanasegaran, 2009, pp.35-40).
Confidentiality of participants
Confidentiality of the personal information of the participants and respondents of the study is one of the most important factors which should be maintained throughout the study and increase the authenticity, dependability and moral considerations of the research. Therefore, to take all the required appropriate steps, and applying all the effective methods for ensuring the confidentiality of the participants are among the primary duties of the researcher. The identities of the respondents and participants, and their names, nothing will be mentioned in any part of the study (Merriam, 2002). This will ensure that the research is ethically sound and strong. In addition to this, the numerical data to be extracted from the interviews and questionnaire survey will be used only for specific informed research purpose (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009).
Conclusion
Aforementioned methodology considerations are a key to conclude the findings and results of this study. Hybrid approach has been widely considered as one of the most appropriate approaches, which brings integrity in the results. The ethical considerations will help in removing any vagueness and errors from the results of the data analysis.
References
Abowitz, D. A., & Toole, T. M. (2009). Mixed method research: Fundamental issues of design, validity, and reliability in construction research. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 136(1), pp.108-116.
Babbie, E. R. (1990). Survey research methods (Vol. 2). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research in education. An introduction to theory and methods. Allyn & Bacon, A Viacom Company, 160 Gould St., Needham Heights, MA 02194; Internet: www. abacon. com.
Candy, P. C. (1989). Alternative paradigms in educational research. The Australian Educational Researcher, 16(3), pp.1-11.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education. Routledge.
Elliott, J. (2005). Listening to people's stories: the use of narrative in qualitative interviews, in, Using narrative in social research: qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage Publications Ltd., London, pp.17-35
Lewin, C. (2005). Elementary quantitative methods. Research methods in the social sciences, pp.215-225.
Merriam, S. B. (2002). Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis.
Nilsson, I. (2005). What Does Good Education Research Look Like?. Journal of In-service Education, 31(3), pp.593-608.
Palinkas, L. A., Aarons, G. A., Horwitz, S., Chamberlain, P., Hurlburt, M., & Landsverk, J. (2011). Mixed method designs in implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 38(1), pp.44-53.
Robson, C. (2011). Real world research: a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings. Chichester: Wiley.
Saunders, M. N., Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2011). Research Methods For Business Students, 5/e. Pearson Education India.
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. Sage.
Thanasegaran, G. (2009). Reliability and Validity Issues in Research. Integration & Dissemination, 4, pp.35-40.
Zachariadis, M., Scott, S. V., & Barrett, M. (2010). Designing mixed-method research inspired by a critical realism philosophy: a tale from the field of IS innovation. Association for Information Systems.
