Summary Research Methods for
Analyzing Complex Problems 2018-
2019
By: Itske Smit
Master student Biomedical Sciences, major Science in Society at the University of Amsterdam
,Index
Index....................................................................................................................................................... 1
Lecture 01: Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 3
Research goals................................................................................................................................... 3
Real world research............................................................................................................................ 3
Designing real world research........................................................................................................ 3
Product........................................................................................................................................... 3
Principles of doing research............................................................................................................ 4
Selecting a topic............................................................................................................................. 4
Research Objective......................................................................................................................... 4
(main) Research Question.............................................................................................................. 5
Next step: Literature review................................................................................................................ 5
Context............................................................................................................................................... 5
Lecture 02: Concepts Theory Design..................................................................................................... 6
Concepts............................................................................................................................................. 6
Role of the conceptual framework.................................................................................................. 6
Conceptual framework in the research project................................................................................7
The vague thing in between................................................................................................................ 7
Theory and concepts...................................................................................................................... 7
Creating a conceptual framework....................................................................................................... 7
Delineation.......................................................................................................................................... 8
Tool: unraveling key concepts........................................................................................................ 8
Deductive vs inductive........................................................................................................................ 8
Sensitizing concepts........................................................................................................................... 9
Operationalization............................................................................................................................... 9
Lecture 03: Methodology...................................................................................................................... 10
Quantitative vs Qualitative................................................................................................................ 10
1. Epistemology................................................................................................................................ 10
2. Reasoning..................................................................................................................................... 10
Qualitative studies......................................................................................................................... 10
Qualitative methods...................................................................................................................... 11
Quantitative methods.................................................................................................................... 13
Mixed methods............................................................................................................................. 14
Lecture 04: Questionnaires................................................................................................................... 16
Why questionnaires.......................................................................................................................... 16
When to use vs when not to use....................................................................................................... 16
What to do?...................................................................................................................................... 16
1. Use existing questionnaire........................................................................................................ 16
1
, 2. Adapting existing questionnaire................................................................................................ 16
3. Designing a new questionnaire................................................................................................. 17
Lecture 5: Interviews............................................................................................................................. 20
Qualitative interviewing..................................................................................................................... 20
Semi-structured............................................................................................................................ 21
Unstructured................................................................................................................................. 21
Designing the interview..................................................................................................................... 21
Validity and reliability.................................................................................................................... 22
Cross-cultural aspects.................................................................................................................. 22
The interviewer needs................................................................................................................... 22
Interviewing is a social interaction................................................................................................ 22
Affecting factors............................................................................................................................ 23
Opening, developing, closing........................................................................................................ 23
Lecture 06: Ethics & Planning............................................................................................................... 25
Ethical principals............................................................................................................................... 25
2
,Lecture 01: Introduction
Research goals
Research is something that people undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way, thereby
increasing their knowledge.
We research…
Measuring the world to understand the world to transform the world
Measuring the world
o Survey research
o Experimental research
Understanding the world
o Case study
o Ethnography
Transforming the world
o Action research
o Transdisciplinary research
Real world research
Society is our laboratory
Doing research in an uncontrolled environment
Focus on change
Designing real world research
Why (is this a problem?)
o My contribution
o What I want to achieve
What (are you going to study?)
o The concepts I will study
How (to proceed)
o The way I collect material
o The way I analyze it
The perspective that you take
Linearity is design as a product
Research design is developed through a process
of research
Designing is a iterative process, but the product is
linear
Product
Introduction (problem statement)
Theory and concepts (objective)
Research questions
Methodology
Work schedule
3
,Principles of doing research
First principle
o Research is being a designer
Designing is defining
New insights revise your definitions
o Iterative process
Of coming to understand your research object
Second principle
o Problematizing
Not taking anything for granted, curiosity
The third principle
o Interpreting is relating to your data
Interpretation steps are standardized
Standardization of interpretation steps is impossible
Interpretation steps have to be made explicit (perspective)
Selecting a topic
What is a good topic?
Interesting
Meets academic requirements
Accessible information, material and data
Avoid research disasters:
Too big
Too trivial
Lack in resources, materials and people
Research topic provides knowledge, insight, information contributes to problem solving,
addressing a situation has practical and theoretical relevance research objective
Research Objective
The research objective is … (a)… by …(b)…
a) External objective = contribution of your research project to the solution of the problem/what
results can be expected.
b) Internal objective = The way in which this will be done/insights, information, knowledge
needed.
4
,‘b’ provides an indication of the kind of knowledge, information and/or insights that is needed to meet
‘a’
Quality criteria for effective RO:
Useful (relevance)
Realistic
Feasible (time, knowledge, resources)
Clear
Informative
Demarcation is key
(main) Research Question
Efficiency
Provides direction (‘Steering’)
Fluid/hypothesis
Next step: Literature review
A substantive and thorough literature review is a precondition for doing substantive and thorough,
sophisticated research
Not a complete review at this stage
Purpose: Demarcation
o Demonstrate key theories, arguments and controversies in the field
o Highlight ways in which the topic has been investigated to date
o Identify inconsistencies and gaps in knowledge that are worthy of further investigation
Consider
What literature is relevant?
What is the relationship of the proposed study to its research literature?
How will the proposed study use literature?
Context
Specific aspects you (and your reader) needs to know to understand the complexity of the research
eg:
Relevant stakeholder and their positions
Relevant political, economical, social developments (laws, policies)
Demographics
Type of organization
5
,Lecture 02: Concepts Theory Design
Concepts
Concepts provide a perspective: what do we mean by?
A concept is:
Something conceived by the mind
An abstract notion or idea that we use to apply general terms to things/persons, events etc
(abstract, but needs to be made concrete)
Examples
Research object Research concepts
The fairness of a hockey game Fairness
The efficiency of the solar panel efficiency
Concepts are:
Observable
Distinguishable
Variable
The building blocks of thought
Role of the conceptual framework
Theoretical background Contextual Background
Theoretical perspectives What is happening out there?
Existing knowledge Data specific to your problem
Scientific literature What do you need to know about your context?
Actors (who? What have they been
doing?)
What is ‘topic’
What are…
Mechanisms
Influences
Contextual factors
Conceptual models:
Pro’s Con’s
Allow us to think Might also stop thinking
6
, Structure research Create selective view/bias
Avoid misunderstanding Make research less open and flexible
Avoid misunderstanding
It helps you to:
Understand your main RQ/objective
Formulate empirical/sub questions that guide your data collection (field work)
Analyze your results
Make your research understandable to others (especially the scientific community)
o Embed in current knowledge
o Allows for generalization
Conceptual framework in the research project
Theory and concepts: (implicit) Theoretical questions
Research questions: (explicit) Empirical questions (sub questions)
Theory + concepts + context = conceptual framework
The vague thing in between
Theory and concepts
In the biomedical sciences the concepts are agreed upon
In social sciences concepts and their relations are more often differently interpreted
In a research design a conceptual framework is often an extensive argumentation of choices. To point
out the conceptualizations made, but also to clarify what other conceptualizations (theories) have been
assessed.
Research is being a designer
Contextualize: adopt concepts and theory to your research context
Delineation
Operationalization
Linking up RO, RQ and theory
Creating a conceptual framework
1. Ask theoretical questions, mind map your concepts in relation to your RQ/RO starting point
for literature explorations
2. A conceptual framework (theory/model) that exactly fits your research topic exists in literature
3. Multiple theories from literature need to be combined
4. Several concepts can be derived from literature, a model needs to be created
7
, 5. There is no available framework or framework has to emerge from the data
Conceptualizing is not a trick, it involves knowledge and experience
Delineation
Start with your RO/RQ
Keep the size of your research project within feasible limits
Size of your research: domain x assertion
o Domain: part of the world you want to say something about
o Assertion: what you want to know
Tool: unraveling key concepts
Unfolding a particular phenomenon, labeled by a core concept, in more specific subunits
Deductive vs inductive
Deductive vs Inductive
General to specific Aim is to explore ideas
Narrow minded Open minded
Testing hypothesis Research to find a
hypothesis
8
, Sensitizing concepts
Define concepts: clear definition in terms of attributes, providng a description of what to see
Sensitizing concepts: interpretive devices: suggests directions along which to look
Used when: you don’t want to impose a framework on the situation
Sensitizing concepts
Show you in what direction to look
Are effective in providing an analytical framework
Help you to a deeper understanding of phenomena
Operationalization
Unraveling and clarifying measurable or observable
The translation of concepts into indicators
o Observable variables
Reason for operationalizing concepts:
They are associated with prevailing opinions
They are often too abstract
9
Analyzing Complex Problems 2018-
2019
By: Itske Smit
Master student Biomedical Sciences, major Science in Society at the University of Amsterdam
,Index
Index....................................................................................................................................................... 1
Lecture 01: Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 3
Research goals................................................................................................................................... 3
Real world research............................................................................................................................ 3
Designing real world research........................................................................................................ 3
Product........................................................................................................................................... 3
Principles of doing research............................................................................................................ 4
Selecting a topic............................................................................................................................. 4
Research Objective......................................................................................................................... 4
(main) Research Question.............................................................................................................. 5
Next step: Literature review................................................................................................................ 5
Context............................................................................................................................................... 5
Lecture 02: Concepts Theory Design..................................................................................................... 6
Concepts............................................................................................................................................. 6
Role of the conceptual framework.................................................................................................. 6
Conceptual framework in the research project................................................................................7
The vague thing in between................................................................................................................ 7
Theory and concepts...................................................................................................................... 7
Creating a conceptual framework....................................................................................................... 7
Delineation.......................................................................................................................................... 8
Tool: unraveling key concepts........................................................................................................ 8
Deductive vs inductive........................................................................................................................ 8
Sensitizing concepts........................................................................................................................... 9
Operationalization............................................................................................................................... 9
Lecture 03: Methodology...................................................................................................................... 10
Quantitative vs Qualitative................................................................................................................ 10
1. Epistemology................................................................................................................................ 10
2. Reasoning..................................................................................................................................... 10
Qualitative studies......................................................................................................................... 10
Qualitative methods...................................................................................................................... 11
Quantitative methods.................................................................................................................... 13
Mixed methods............................................................................................................................. 14
Lecture 04: Questionnaires................................................................................................................... 16
Why questionnaires.......................................................................................................................... 16
When to use vs when not to use....................................................................................................... 16
What to do?...................................................................................................................................... 16
1. Use existing questionnaire........................................................................................................ 16
1
, 2. Adapting existing questionnaire................................................................................................ 16
3. Designing a new questionnaire................................................................................................. 17
Lecture 5: Interviews............................................................................................................................. 20
Qualitative interviewing..................................................................................................................... 20
Semi-structured............................................................................................................................ 21
Unstructured................................................................................................................................. 21
Designing the interview..................................................................................................................... 21
Validity and reliability.................................................................................................................... 22
Cross-cultural aspects.................................................................................................................. 22
The interviewer needs................................................................................................................... 22
Interviewing is a social interaction................................................................................................ 22
Affecting factors............................................................................................................................ 23
Opening, developing, closing........................................................................................................ 23
Lecture 06: Ethics & Planning............................................................................................................... 25
Ethical principals............................................................................................................................... 25
2
,Lecture 01: Introduction
Research goals
Research is something that people undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way, thereby
increasing their knowledge.
We research…
Measuring the world to understand the world to transform the world
Measuring the world
o Survey research
o Experimental research
Understanding the world
o Case study
o Ethnography
Transforming the world
o Action research
o Transdisciplinary research
Real world research
Society is our laboratory
Doing research in an uncontrolled environment
Focus on change
Designing real world research
Why (is this a problem?)
o My contribution
o What I want to achieve
What (are you going to study?)
o The concepts I will study
How (to proceed)
o The way I collect material
o The way I analyze it
The perspective that you take
Linearity is design as a product
Research design is developed through a process
of research
Designing is a iterative process, but the product is
linear
Product
Introduction (problem statement)
Theory and concepts (objective)
Research questions
Methodology
Work schedule
3
,Principles of doing research
First principle
o Research is being a designer
Designing is defining
New insights revise your definitions
o Iterative process
Of coming to understand your research object
Second principle
o Problematizing
Not taking anything for granted, curiosity
The third principle
o Interpreting is relating to your data
Interpretation steps are standardized
Standardization of interpretation steps is impossible
Interpretation steps have to be made explicit (perspective)
Selecting a topic
What is a good topic?
Interesting
Meets academic requirements
Accessible information, material and data
Avoid research disasters:
Too big
Too trivial
Lack in resources, materials and people
Research topic provides knowledge, insight, information contributes to problem solving,
addressing a situation has practical and theoretical relevance research objective
Research Objective
The research objective is … (a)… by …(b)…
a) External objective = contribution of your research project to the solution of the problem/what
results can be expected.
b) Internal objective = The way in which this will be done/insights, information, knowledge
needed.
4
,‘b’ provides an indication of the kind of knowledge, information and/or insights that is needed to meet
‘a’
Quality criteria for effective RO:
Useful (relevance)
Realistic
Feasible (time, knowledge, resources)
Clear
Informative
Demarcation is key
(main) Research Question
Efficiency
Provides direction (‘Steering’)
Fluid/hypothesis
Next step: Literature review
A substantive and thorough literature review is a precondition for doing substantive and thorough,
sophisticated research
Not a complete review at this stage
Purpose: Demarcation
o Demonstrate key theories, arguments and controversies in the field
o Highlight ways in which the topic has been investigated to date
o Identify inconsistencies and gaps in knowledge that are worthy of further investigation
Consider
What literature is relevant?
What is the relationship of the proposed study to its research literature?
How will the proposed study use literature?
Context
Specific aspects you (and your reader) needs to know to understand the complexity of the research
eg:
Relevant stakeholder and their positions
Relevant political, economical, social developments (laws, policies)
Demographics
Type of organization
5
,Lecture 02: Concepts Theory Design
Concepts
Concepts provide a perspective: what do we mean by?
A concept is:
Something conceived by the mind
An abstract notion or idea that we use to apply general terms to things/persons, events etc
(abstract, but needs to be made concrete)
Examples
Research object Research concepts
The fairness of a hockey game Fairness
The efficiency of the solar panel efficiency
Concepts are:
Observable
Distinguishable
Variable
The building blocks of thought
Role of the conceptual framework
Theoretical background Contextual Background
Theoretical perspectives What is happening out there?
Existing knowledge Data specific to your problem
Scientific literature What do you need to know about your context?
Actors (who? What have they been
doing?)
What is ‘topic’
What are…
Mechanisms
Influences
Contextual factors
Conceptual models:
Pro’s Con’s
Allow us to think Might also stop thinking
6
, Structure research Create selective view/bias
Avoid misunderstanding Make research less open and flexible
Avoid misunderstanding
It helps you to:
Understand your main RQ/objective
Formulate empirical/sub questions that guide your data collection (field work)
Analyze your results
Make your research understandable to others (especially the scientific community)
o Embed in current knowledge
o Allows for generalization
Conceptual framework in the research project
Theory and concepts: (implicit) Theoretical questions
Research questions: (explicit) Empirical questions (sub questions)
Theory + concepts + context = conceptual framework
The vague thing in between
Theory and concepts
In the biomedical sciences the concepts are agreed upon
In social sciences concepts and their relations are more often differently interpreted
In a research design a conceptual framework is often an extensive argumentation of choices. To point
out the conceptualizations made, but also to clarify what other conceptualizations (theories) have been
assessed.
Research is being a designer
Contextualize: adopt concepts and theory to your research context
Delineation
Operationalization
Linking up RO, RQ and theory
Creating a conceptual framework
1. Ask theoretical questions, mind map your concepts in relation to your RQ/RO starting point
for literature explorations
2. A conceptual framework (theory/model) that exactly fits your research topic exists in literature
3. Multiple theories from literature need to be combined
4. Several concepts can be derived from literature, a model needs to be created
7
, 5. There is no available framework or framework has to emerge from the data
Conceptualizing is not a trick, it involves knowledge and experience
Delineation
Start with your RO/RQ
Keep the size of your research project within feasible limits
Size of your research: domain x assertion
o Domain: part of the world you want to say something about
o Assertion: what you want to know
Tool: unraveling key concepts
Unfolding a particular phenomenon, labeled by a core concept, in more specific subunits
Deductive vs inductive
Deductive vs Inductive
General to specific Aim is to explore ideas
Narrow minded Open minded
Testing hypothesis Research to find a
hypothesis
8
, Sensitizing concepts
Define concepts: clear definition in terms of attributes, providng a description of what to see
Sensitizing concepts: interpretive devices: suggests directions along which to look
Used when: you don’t want to impose a framework on the situation
Sensitizing concepts
Show you in what direction to look
Are effective in providing an analytical framework
Help you to a deeper understanding of phenomena
Operationalization
Unraveling and clarifying measurable or observable
The translation of concepts into indicators
o Observable variables
Reason for operationalizing concepts:
They are associated with prevailing opinions
They are often too abstract
9
