Research methodology chapter for a dissertation

The last post of the year begins with a new chapter...Research methodology ( chapter III). Here I am going to give a detailed section on producing a good research methodology chapter. let us look in to the basic elements in a research methodology.

The process of research can be carried out only with the help of data's. there are mainly two type of data such as primary data and secondary data. Primary data is like a fresh fruit grown in your backyard and the secondary data is fruits bought from a shop. I am sure that you can answer any question on how you have grown the fruits in your back yard.  you are most probably in a position to tell me what sort of fertilizers you have used , the age of the tree , variety , when you plucked the fruit , any artificial methods for preservation and so on. This is exactly what we mean by a primary data .

The primary data is collected directly from the research environment, and the researcher will be able to answer questions on various tools and techniques used for the collection of data. This means you should be able to tell me how you collected the data , tools an techniques , nature of data ( quantitative or qualitative) , time period, participants in the process of collecting this data , whether the data is collected using random sampling ( this is important for making statistical inferences) and various other procedures. 

The secondary data is like the fruits that are bought from a shop, some times you can provide certain amount of information on the source and variety , but we get that information from a secondary source such as packaging or the shop keeper. However , we cannot personally guarantee any of these information. Also the quality is also at risk when it is bought without a label or packaging. 

So that is the best idea I can give about the data, but what is research methodology?

The methodology of the research provides a detailed explanation on the structure of research process along with a step by step representation of various tools and techniques used in the research. The methodology of the research is best explained using a research onion. ( Search for a research onion image in Google). There are five layers for a research onion......

Research philosophy .

Research approaches.

Research strategies .

Time horizon.

Data collection methods. 

Once you are finished with the above five layers , we still have some more subsections .....such as 

Reliability .

Validity .

Ethical considerations .

Time scale . 

...........and as I told you in the earlier posts an introduction and conclusion to the chapter ( compulsory for all chapters). 

All the above subsections and detailed explanation of it will  produce a good research methodology chapter. however , the most important part is in integrating the   above methods with the research under consideration. 

Some times the students prefer the qualitative , quantitative approach along with an explanation of the research such as exploratory , explanatory so on . however I prefer this method since you cannot miss out any thing and the methodology is crystal clear to the evaluator. 

I will give detailed explanation on the subsections in later posts....

                               Cheersssssssssss.  ;)