Introducing Research Methodology. A Beginner's Guide to Doing a Research Project

Abstract

Post-modern society has experienced profound changes due to the development of the technology and it made sense for scientific research to follow the same course. [...]online research is a new approach found in scientific research. First of all, researchers need to make sure that their empirical research is reliable, design, instruments and indices are valid and the objectivity criterion is followed.

Uwe Flick, Introducing Research Methodology. A Beginner's Guide to Doing a Research Project, Sage Publications, 2011, 296 p.

As the title suggests, Flick's book provides the reader an introduction to research methodology, presenting in a friendly manner the approach that young researchers must follow for the implementation of their social research projects. What makes this guide special is the way in which it is structured and the style used for explanations and clarifications. If, in other handbooks, the abundance of details and the cumbersome presentation style produce fears and resistance toward research methodology, the work of Flick, throughout the richness of examples, develops from the first pages a friendly and understanding relationship between the reader and the subject in question. The book enjoys the benefits of Flick's personal research experience, but also his personal experience in teaching research methodology and supervising students' research projects.

The book is addressed to young researchers at the beginning of their career. It represents a clear overview of the main approaches used in social research. Even though research methodology specific to social sciences can be seen as overwhelming in the eyes of the beginners, this book manages to overcome this drawback and create a positive orientation for readers to learn. It offers logical and clear guidance, revealing the route that any high quality research needs to follow.

Being primarily a specialist in qualitative research field, Uwe Flick, author of several books on qualitative methodology, succeeds in this guide to combine in a clear and comprehensive manner both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This feature is extremely important because the relationship between the two methodologies has been discussed in great details and has raised many questions and challenges for social sciences researchers.

Flick wants this guide not only to make readers understand the results of available researches in social sciences, but also to allow them to plan their own research. For this reason, the book has a logical structure that makes it comprehensible and enjoyable. The book is structured on the four main steps necessary for the successful completion of a research project: orientation - deciding, planning - designing, working -analyzing and writing - reflecting. Throughout the guide these steps are found in each chapter, detailed as follows: Orientation: What is social research?, Research question, Literature review; Planning and design: Planning research, Designing research, Deciding research; Working with data: Gathering data, Analyzing data, E-research, Integrated research; Reflection and writing: Evaluating research, Ethics, Writing and using research. Each chapter begins with the presentation of the main objectives, clarifying what the chapter is designed for. In this way the reader is informed from the beginning about the information that is expected to be learned after reading the chapter and the role of this information in conducting a research project. Each chapter has a navigator which guides the young researcher on the stage as to the location of his/her research (You are here in your project!). At the end of each chapter readers can find a checklist and key points that are very useful for a quick review and final structuring of information. Each chapter has suggestions for further readings and for young researchers the glossary at the end of the book may also come in handy. The whole guide is filled with boxes; tables and figures to structure the information, explaining social research methodology issues in an attractive manner.

The first part of the book refers to the stage where the researcher needs to pick his/her research topic and decide further approaches. This is the step where the research idea is emerging. In order to stimulate and ambition students to engage in research projects, from the beginning Flick reveals the differences between everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge. The first chapter of this part aims to introduce the beginner in the field of social research. "Social research is the systematic analysis of research questions by using empirical methods" (p. 6). Social researchers need to describe, understand and explain.

We draw special attention to the section where Flick presents the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies together. This kind of approach is found throughout other chapters where the author decides to clear out the qualitative-quantitative dilemma in a comparative manner. After describing each research types, Flick draws the differences, the common aspects and the advantages and disadvantages of using one or other research approach. The bottom line is that the researcher is responsible for deciding which of the two research methodologies he/she will use based on the research questions. Also, he/she might combine the two of them and thus overcome the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

Young researchers at the beginning of their research projects need to establish and formulate their research questions. These questions have to be clear and goal-oriented because it depends on them how the investigation will occur (p. 24). Also a good research question will lead to a more explicit hypothesis that will be tested empirically. Before beginning planning and designing their research, young researchers should search for and read about other studies relevant in their research field. In order to make progress in the research field, a line has to be drawn between what is already known and what needs to be revealed. Documentation and theoretical synthesis clears the link between the research questions and the empirical stage of the research project.

The second part of Flick's book deals with the planning and designing of research projects. This is the intermediary stage in the research activity, planning before involving the empirical study in the actual work. At the beginning of the 4th chapter, Flick presents an overview of the research process. He stresses out 19 steps for the quantitative research: selection of a research problem, systematic searching of the literature, formulation of the research question, formulating a hypothesis, operationalization, developing a project plan or research design, sampling, selecting the appropriate methods, access to the research site, data collection, documentation of data, analyzing the data, interpretation of results, discussion of the findings and their interpretations, evaluation and generalization, presentation of the results and the study, using the results, develop new research questions, a new study (pp. 48-53). For a non-standardized qualitative research steps are discussed in a more condensed manner. There are: steps 1-6: selection of a research problem, searching the literature, research question, access; step 7: sampling, collection, documentation and analysis of data, Step 8-13: discussion, generalization, use of results and new research questions (pp. 54-56) (for a comparative overview see table from p. 58).

What researchers need to do in order to shape up their research plans is to develop the research proposal and the timescale. Research proposals are structured on the following aspects: an introduction (brief description of the background of the project and project's relevance), the research problem (theoretical synthesis, current state of knowledge and gaps in the existing studies), the purpose of the study, the research questions, the methods and procedures (strategy, design, data collection, data analysis, quality issues), ethical issues, expected results, significance and practical implication, pilot study findings, own experience, timeline, budget, references (pp. 62-63). The timescale manages the time needed for each step of the research project.

The research design is essential in research planning. According to Flick, there are two key points in designing a research: to be sure that you answer the research question and to be able to control for external and contextual effects (p.65). In a standardized research one can decide for the following designs: use a control group (it makes possible to measure the real effect attributed to an independent variable), experimental design (use of at least two groups where the researcher has to intervene on the independent variable in order to measure the changing effect), pre-post design (using a pre-test measurement can reveal the effect of the external variables), cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (planning a long-term measurement can reveal the change of the variable overtime; it ensures trends analyses) (pp. 66-68). In a non-standardized research, one can decide to use case studies (describing significant cases for the study), comparative studies (observe several cases and identify differences in particular aspects), retrospective studies (analysis of events and processes relevant to the history of an individual or a community), snapshots (focus at the moment of the investigation) and longitudinal studies (long-term researches) (pp. 68-70). Regardless of the chosen research design, researchers have to assess the sample needed for the study. Most of the researches are based on samples, but following the sampling procedures will ensure later generalization of the research results to the whole population.

After planning and designing, researchers have some deciding to make. Flick presents ten decisions that researchers have to make: deciding the research problem, the aim of the study, the theoretical framework, the research question, the needed resources, the sample and comparison, the methods, standardization and control, generalization and presentation (pp. 82-95). These decisive steps are described both for standardized and non-standardized researches. In the way the chapter section is structured, Flick helps the young researcher to decide between quantitative and qualitative approaches. There are well known debates around this topic, but the fact that Flick prefers to present them together in a comparative manner, succeeds to clarify the advantages of each methodology and to show how the decision for one of them can affect the entire scientific investigation, from the planning stage to the concrete analysis and interpretation of the results.

The 3rd part of the book focuses on the working part of a research project. First Flick presents the gathering data methods for both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data collection can be achieved through questionnaire surveys, interviews or focus-groups, observation, experiments or documentary. For each form, Flick discusses issues regarding measurement, scaling and structure of instruments. Chapter 8 presents the main forms of data analysis. Specific techniques for quantitative as well as qualitative content analysis are described (pp. 133-140). After content analysis, the author turns to the presentation of general aspects regarding quantitative data analysis and qualitative data analysis (interpretative analysis). For quantitative data analysis researchers need to create the database, correct possible errors in the database (missing values, coding errors, etc.) and then conduct univariate (frequencies, central tendency analysis, dispersion), bivariate or multivariate analyses. On the other hand, for the interpretative analysis, researchers can choose from different procedures of working with a text - open coding, axial coding and selective coding (p. 148), thematic coding (p. p. 152) or hermeneutic procedures (narrative analysis, objective hermeneutics, conversation analysis, discourse analysis) (pp. 153-160). Another available design specific to non-standardized research is the case study. Based on case studies, with systematic comparisons, researchers are able to identify relevant dimensions and create typologies.

Post-modern society has experienced profound changes due to the development of the technology and it made sense for scientific research to follow the same course. Therefore, online research is a new approach found in scientific research. The present guide assigns a special chapter to discuss the issues of E-Researching. There are great examples of research topics that can be approached through online surveys.

Considering the limitations of each research method and by combining different types of research approaches, Flick sustains that researchers are not required to restrict themselves to use a one single method. In their research designs, researchers can use mixed methods, conduct integrated social researches or use E-research as a complementary strategy.

It is not enough for researchers to plan their research project and apply the research methods. For a research to be complete, scientists need to reflect upon the results and write the research report. First of all, researchers need to make sure that their empirical research is reliable, design, instruments and indices are valid and the objectivity criterion is followed. Based on these criteria, results can be generalized. A researcher in social sciences field also needs to take into account the ethical principles in quantitative and qualitative approaches that guide the whole research projects. There are rules of data confidentiality, anonymity and data protection that need to be followed when research results are disseminated among the scientific community.

The final chapter of the beginner's guide refers to the communication of the research findings. Quantitative and qualitative research results are important not only for the scientific community, but also participants in the research might be interested in the main findings of the project. Quantitative research reports need to include: presentation of the research problem, the conceptual framework, the research question, method and data collection, analysis, conclusions, discussions (p. 231). Qualitative research reports have the following structure: introduction (general aspects, main contours, collecting materials, setting details, report organization), the situation (analytical categories, contrast between situation and other situations, development of situation over time), strategies of interaction , summary and implications (p. 235).

As the author himself admits, "to learn methods can be exhausting and painful" (p. 15), but the way that the book is organized enables students and young researchers to learn and succeed in making them able to design and implement their own research projects.

Sorana Saveanu