What are research methods?

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Sherman Hoover
What are research methods?

What are research methods?

We call research methods the steps that we must follow in a study, so that its results are recognized as valid. The methods include tools to get the information, such as interviews, questionnaires, samplings, experiments, etc..

Let us remember that an investigation is a study that is carried out to clarify a problem or confirm a theory, applying a set of techniques and tools to obtain results that provide reliable information that can be analyzed..

The research method is chosen according to the topic or subject you are going to study and the results you hope to obtain. Taking into account the type of data to be studied and the type of object of study, the research methods can be classified as quantitative, qualitative and mixed..

Quantitative research methods

They are methods used to analyze the object of study from a numerical or statistical point of view. This method can work with surveys, questionnaires, interviews, laboratory analysis, research plots, etc..

Quantitative methods generate information that can be translated into comparative charts and tables. For example: an evaluation of a drug for covid-19 applying it to a thousand volunteers and recording its effects.

The results can be taken to numbers and percentages, according to the numbers that the tests give.

Qualitative research methods

These methods are based more on observation and contact with the object of study, than on the collection of numerical data. They are more frequent in the field of science and social studies (sociology, anthropology, marketing, psychology, etc.).

Frequent tools of these methods are field work (such as that of anthropologists), interviews (as in psychology), surveys, review of documentary material, etc..

Historians also use qualitative research methods, reviewing documents, testimonies, images and, when possible, conducting interviews with witnesses or survivors..

Mixed research methods

They are those studies that combine qualitative and quantitative techniques. An example is population censuses, which combine statistical information (number of children, income, number of rooms, ages, etc.) with interview data (opinion on public services, on the quality of education, etc.) ).

Large-scale studies, such as those carried out around world hunger, global warming or the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, are carried out with mixed research methods.

Types of research methods

Qualitative and quantitative research can be approached in different ways, depending on the objective of the study, its depth, the data to be collected and analyzed, etc..

Here we show you some approaches or types of research methods.

Randomized controlled trial

This method is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry when new drugs or medications are being tested. Its use was part of the news during the development of vaccines for Covid-19.

A group of volunteers is taken, divided into two, one is given the drug and the other is given a placebo (a harmless substance), without informing them, and then the results are evaluated.

Experimental method

It is the most used method in all branches of science, and the first that comes to mind when talking about the scientific method. It involves taking a situation where you can control all the factors and modify one, the one that you are interested in studying..

For example, if the objective is to know what type of food increases the weight of a certain animal, several individuals with the same characteristics are taken and in a controlled situation (a laboratory, for example), they are given rations of different foods, and they are weighed periodically.

The experimental method has been the fundamental tool of science to confirm or discard theories.

Ethnographic method

It is the method used mainly by ethnologists and anthropologists, destined to the study of culturally defined groups, such as the American indigenous peoples, although these techniques are also used to analyze urban or regional groups..

The ethnographic method includes direct observation (the so-called field work), interviews, questionnaires, community workshops (which include participatory diagnoses, mind maps, among other activities), etc..

Deductive method

From observations or general principles, individual behaviors or processes are deduced. For example, resembling the behavior and structure of an atom with that of the solar system.

Inductive method

It is when from an experiment or a particular observation, it is generalized or considered valid for an entire group or species. In anthropology, for example, taking the behavior of a small community as that of its entire ethnic group. Generalize a specific behavior.

Focus groups

It is a social science method of addressing issues where you can share information with affected or interested groups, who may be more open speaking in a group, rather than individually.

In focus groups, the researcher interacts with a group of individuals to address various issues, such as drug addiction, alcoholism, access to housing, unemployment, loneliness, etc..

Focus groups can also be helpful when trying to reconstruct the history of a community, or resolve conflict situations..

Convergent mixed method

We speak of a mixed convergent method when qualitative data (interviews, observations) and quantitative data (statistics, censuses or inventories) are processed separately, and the information is crossed to confirm the results..

For example, the data and conclusions of a community census (quantitative) are contrasted with interviews and field inspections (qualitative method).

Explanatory sequential mixed method

In this approach, the quantitative analysis precedes and conditions the qualitative approach. Returning to the previous example of the census: the census figures indicate in which areas to investigate (conduct interviews, or document).

Mixed sequential exploratory method

It works in reverse of the explanatory sequential method; in the exploratory, the qualitative analysis (visits to the community, field work) serves to prepare the questions to be asked in the quantitative research (the census, data collection).

Embedded mixed method

We speak of an embedded mixed method when a qualitative analysis arises from the quantitative data, or vice versa, when quantitative conclusions can be drawn from a qualitative study.

For example: a qualitative study on people over 65 years of age in a sector, who could be affected by the coronavirus, makes it possible to extract quantitative data on older people in need of special attention in that sector.

Test, surveys and questionnaires

They provide quantitative and qualitative data and are used in the social sciences, advertising, and marketing. They are useful tools to collect statistical data first hand, and also to have a deeper knowledge of the research subjects.

It is very important to be clear about the object of the research to design the questions of the surveys and questionnaires, and thus obtain the information sought.

Case studies

This approach is common in areas such as medicine, psychology, sociology and anthropology, and consists of taking a particular individual or community and studying it from different perspectives, and then extrapolating the results to larger groups..

The case study involves field work, diagnosis, interviews and surveys. It can be considered as an inductive method (from the individual to the general).

Documentation and information gathering

It is an essential phase in both qualitative and quantitative research, and consists of collecting and processing all the prior information about the object of study, present in libraries, documentation centers and other institutions..

Currently, digital knowledge networks, through the internet, facilitate this task, although they do not completely exclude the search for physical information (books, newspapers and magazines).

Interview

It is an essential tool when working with social groups or communities, and consists of structuring a conversation with the subjects of interest, focusing on the aspects that interest us..

Interviews can be rigid or structured (like questionnaires), semi-structured (general questions that allow dialogue) or individualized (directed to each individual, specifically).

Observation and field work

In disciplines such as biology or sociology, observation, trying not to interfere or go unnoticed, is a very useful tool.

A global example of what observation and field work can do has been provided by chimpanzee specialist Jane Goodall, who has observed this species for more than 60 years..

Meta-analysis

It is a research method based on the review and analysis of a set of studies that have been carried out using the same parameters (remember that you do not have to compare pears with apples).

An example of meta-analysis could be the study of the different evaluations carried out by researchers to an experimental vaccine in different countries, comparing results and observations.

Themes of interest

Scientific method

Types of scientific research

Investigation project

Applied research

Scientific investigation

Field research

Basic investigation

Quantitative investigation

Qualitative research

References

  1. Vásquez Hidalgo, I. (2005). Types of study and research methods. Taken from ugto.mx.
  2. Five Basic Types of Research Studies (2020). Taken from researchautism.org.
  3. Castillo, B (2020). 6 types of research methods. Taken from guiauniversitaria.mx.
  4. Examples of qualitative and quantitative research (2021). Taken from tipodeinvestigacion.org.

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