Many students find the process of conducting primary research to be so hard on them. In this article, we shall be reviewing the tips on making sure it is not hell for you.
There are several reasons why students dread conducting primary research. These can range from the lack of knowledge on the methods of study to the absence of proper statistics or lack of fundamental skills. Here are the steps to achieving good primary research.
It is the first step to doing your primary research. There are three fundamentals of data, and they are primary data, secondary data, and big data.
When conducting primary research, students can choose between quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method. Students get advised to select the method which best suits their flow of research to have the maximum benefits.
For qualitative research, you have a strength of scouting the topic in great detail since you focus on either people or events. Through having an in-depth look into it, you can capture meaning, occurrences, thoughts, and behaviors that are in association with your topic. There is a huge difference in information in research done qualitatively compared to a quantitative one.
For qualitative research, there are several methods you can apply to achieve your desired goals. The most common are case studies, focus groups, interviews, and observation.
Before making a selection, you need to ask yourself who the participants are. They can be a group or a single person depending on the target of your work. Consult the research question of your project to help you determine the individuals. Have an idea about the number you want, which should be low in a qualitative setting. Be wary of the connectors and differences between them and their backgrounds.
The measures used in qualitative research, when compared to a quantitative one, are simple. For observations, you will need a checklist to note the sightings, whereas, for interviews, focus groups, and other methods employ the use of structured and sometimes semi-structured types of interviews. Interviews that are structured depending on a set of questions that have already gotten chosen.
When you choose observations as your method, you will have to come up with a checklist of your own, and for interviews, you will need to formulate your questions. Make sure you consult your research question when coming up with the queries.
The process of analyzing qualitative research results does not necessarily demand the application of complex stats since you do not use numerical data in such instances. Your analysis solely relies on the process of coding and pinpointing themes in the data you have collected.
The process should not have many bends and should be clear to the reader. Go through your checklist or interview questions and map out the fascinating views or answers.
For you to find themes in your research, all you need to do is group the answers or observations that are coded and put them in patterns. It is a bit of work, but it is interesting.