Lecture 1 in the Research Methods series. See also notes for the Research Methods series: http://www.slideshare.net/lenallis/research-methods-lectures-notes This lecture series aims to cover the basics of research methods for undergraduate students. By the end of the series students should understand: -Why research is important -How to identify good and bad sources of information -How read critically -How to write clearly -Quantitative and Qualitative research -The basics of experimental method The overall point should be for students to take the activity of research seriously, but also to be motivated to go and conduct research and engage critically with material.

1. Research of the Day
Genes determine grades more than teaching
does.
Shakeshaft, N.G et al.‘Strong genetic influence on a UK nationwide test of educational achievement at the end of compulsory
education at age 16’ PLOSONE
Magic Mushrooms could help you quit smoking.
Johnson M. W. et al. Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction J Psychopharmacol
September 11, 2014

2. Research
1. Knowledge
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.
by Helena Hollis, 2014

3. Course Overview
1. Knowledge
2. Scepticism
3. Argument
4. Experimentation

4. Research Methods
“The method of science, as
stodgy and grumpy as it may
seem, is far more important
than the findings of science.”
(Sagan, 1996, p.26)

5. Intro to Research
Why do research?

6. ...to be informed, not
ignorant.
(OptionGradius, 2011)

7. F***ing magnets, how do
they work?
Things we do not understand should inspire
curiosity and motivate research.
Never accept answers without good reason.

8. Knowledge
Write down a definition of
‘knowledge’

9. What is Knowledge?
In groups, compare your definitions.
Are they all very similar?
Come to an agreement of a ‘knowledge’
definition as a group.

10. Knowledge
Knowledge can be thought of as ‘Justified True
Belief’ (Ichikawa and Steup, 2013)
Research provides justification.
Without it, we cannot have real knowledge.

11. What is Research?
“In the broadest terms, we do research whenever we
gather information to answer a question that solves a
problem.”
(Booth et al, 2008)
“The systematic investigation into and study of materials
and sources in order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions”
(Oxford Dictionary, 2011)

12. Research is not...
1. Research is not mere information gathering.
2. Research is not mere transportation of facts from
one location to another.
3. Research is not merely rummaging for information.
4. Research is not a catchword used to get attention.
(Leady and Ormrod, 2010, pp 1-2)

13. Research is...
1. Research originates with a question or problem.
2. Research requires clear articulation of a goal.
3. Research requires a specific plan for proceeding.
4. Research usually divides the principal problem into more
manageable subproblems.
5. Research is guided by the specific research problem,
question, or hypothesis.

14. ...
6. Research accepts certain critical assumptions.
7. Research requires the collection and interpretation of
data in an attempt to resolve the problem that initiated the
research.
8. Research is, by its nature, cyclical or, more exactly,
helical.
(Leady and Ormrod, 2010, pp 2-3)

15. Learning spiral or helix
Jean Piaget proposed
that learning happens
on a spiral, with re-
acquisition of
knowledge along the
way.
It is vital to revisit and
build on existing
knowledge.
(Piaget, 1970)

16. Research topics
Even assignments with a set topic come with
some freedom. They still require imagination,
as you will need to think of ideas, angles, and
arguments with which to approach the topic.

17. Generating Ideas
(Riverhead Books, 2010)

18. Give yourself time
Give your ideas the chance to incubate and
develop.
You will revisit them as you learn more, and
they will develop (remember the learning
spiral).
Trying to produce an essay at the last minute
means missing out on this process.

19. Some ways to think of
topics...
●What are you interested in?
●What are you curious about?
●What do you enjoy talking about?
●Is there a problem you wish to solve?
●What are your career goals or objectives?
●Do you have anything you think you can
contribute?
●Do you have knowledge or experience to
share?

20. ...
●What do you strongly disagree with?
●What do you want to change?
●What side do you typically take in debates?
●Have you noticed flaws in common
approaches or theories?
Or maybe there is something you find puzzling,
don’t know about, and wish to learn about.

21. Brainstorming

22. Scope
Your research (and essays) need to be limited
to a reasonable scope.
You need to think about how you will break the
topic down, how many chapters it will need,
how much there is to say, etc.

23. ...
Don’t be over-ambitious
with what it is feasible for
you to achieve.
Most real-world research
happens with very limited
scope, with researchers
each only working on a
small piece of the puzzle.
Image: http://xkcd.com/683/

24. Question/Title
You will often be able to make up your own
question or title.
Try to be clear, to the point, but also creative
with this.
Remember to consider scope when making an
overall question or title.

25. Research Questions
Your main question needs to be broken into
smaller sub-questions, which build up your
overall answer.
Research questions are extremely important,
from the brainstorming stage, through
researching, essay planning, and writing.

26. Questions help you
research...
“To use a reference book well, you must, first,
have some idea, however vague it may be, of
what you want to know… Another way to say
this is that you must be able to ask a reference
book an intelligible question. It will be no help to
you if you are wandering, lost, in a fog of
ignorance.”
(Adler and Van Doren, 1940, p176)

27. … and research helps you
form questions.
As you research, your questions will develop.
Some will change, some will be added, and
some may be removed.
Keep track of your research questions in one
place.
It can help to number them, and then make
note of which question you are addressing in
your note taking.

28. Data
To answer our questions and form knowledge,
we need some data.
However, this is often not as simple as it may
seem.

29. Data

30. Understanding data
Approximately 1/100 (1%) of people are born
intersex.
(Fausto-Sterling, 2000)
What does this mean?

31. Hypothesis
“a trial idea concerning the nature and
connection of the observations” (Wilson, 1952, pp 25-26)
“imagination is of the utmost importance.
People differ enormously in their power to
construct useful hypotheses, and it is here that
true genius shows itself.” (Wilson, 1952, p26)

32. Proving hypotheses
Whatever your hypothesis is, it must somehow
be provable, or disprovable.
This is not always absolute. Some hypothesis
can only be supported, not fully proven.

33. ...
Image:
http://www.
smbc-
comics.com
/?id=2959

34. Qualitative Vs Quantitative
Once you have a topic, and some research
questions, and perhaps even a hypothesis, you
should be able to see if you need to do
qualitative or quantitative research, or both.
If you need to make a proposal, you must
mention which of these you will do. Even if the
assignment doesn’t require a proposal, it is still
good to keep this mind.

35. Quantitative
● Quantitative methods analyse ‘hard data’
● Typically involve statistical information, and
numerical data
● Should be as objective as possible
● Aim to classify and seek measurements
● Eg: Experiments, statistics, and quantifiable
questionnaires

36. Qualitative
●Qualitative research aims to analyse
thoughts, feelings, ideas, responses
●It is descriptive and subjective
●Gives an insight into behaviours / reasons
●Eg: Interviews, focus groups, opinion pieces

37. Combined
You can conduct both qualitative and
quantitative research, and bring them together.
Qualitative research can help explain or
rationalise quantitative data, for example.
Depending on your subject, you need to decide
what best helps address your questions and
hypothesis.

38. Answers
You may answer your initial question, or you
may not be able to do so entirely.
You may conclude your hypothesis was true,
false, or could not be fully tested.
What is important is that you recognise which
of these is the case, and conclude your work
honestly.

39. Where to start?
Wikipedia is a good first place to get a sense of the topics
you are interested it. Move away from this quickly though.
Books provide reliable, and readable information, ranging
from basic to advanced levels.
Academic journals are excellent sources. Articles in these
are typically quite specific, and more advanced, so it is best
if you already know what you’re looking for when you
search these.

40. Homework
Hypothesis:
“Subjects exposed to violent video games are
more likely to behave violently in real life.”
What is your view on this?
Find evidence to support it.

41. References
Adler, M. and Van Doren, C. (1940) How to Read a Book. New York: Touchstone
Angier, N. (2000) Do Races Differ? Not Really, Genes Show Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/22/science/do-races-differ-not-really-
genes-show.html (accessed: 12th September 1014)
Booth, W., Colomb, G., and Williams, J., (2008) The Craft of Research. 3rd edn. London: The University of Chicago Press.
Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000) Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. UK: Basic Books
Ichikawa, J. and Steup, M. (2013) "The Analysis of Knowledge", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta
(ed.), Available at:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/knowledge-analysis/ (Accessed: 23rd September 2013).
Leady, P. and Ormrod, J. (2010) Practical Research Planning and Design, 9th edn. Boston MA : Pearson Education
OptionGradius (2011) Insane Clown Posse - Miracle ( With Lyrics ). Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiZR6YbhXgE (Accessed : 23rd
September 2013).
Oxford Dictionary (2011) Available at: http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0703100#m_en_gb0703100 (Accessed: 8 May 2011)
Piaget, J. (1970). The principles of genetic epistemology. London: Routledge.
RiverheadBooks (2010) WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU (Accessed : 23rd September 2013).
Sagan, C. (1996) The Demon Haunted World. London: Headline Book Publishing
The British Library (2013 )Registering With the Library Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdUpu5-
fk54&feature=share&list=PLVRvouzCZmFfbfyyDLJKH7zZ7m40W0pnu (Accessed: 25th September 2013)
Wilson, E. B. (1952) An Introduction to Scientific Research. New York: Dover Publications