SV Wetenschappelijke onderzoeksmethoden
Isabelle van Aard
College 1 - Introduction & Designing a Research Project
Fundamental vs applied research
➢ Verhoeven: 2 types of research
o Fundamental (empirical) research → guided by theoretical questions
▪ Theoretical questions leads to knowledge
o Applied research → guided by practical questions
▪ Practical questions leads to solutions
Deductive vs inductive research
➢ Inductive research: develop theory based on observed data → theory-building
➢ Deductive research: the formulate assumptions on the basis of (existing) theories and test
whether the theories hold using new empirical data → theory-testing
o Pattern (theory) – observation - conclusion
College 2 - Research Proposal & Quantitative Data Collection Methods
Concept demarcation
➢ = Clarifying the concepts used in your research → concept-as-intended
➢ Concepts that are too generic and/or subjective require definitions
➢ The meaning of the concept is fixed and is clear throughout the research
➢ You clearly delineate the boundaries of your research, what you intend to research and what
you don’t
➢ Demarcating the concept determines what information needs to be collected during data
collection
➢ RQ as an example: Do female students receive good grades more frequently than male
students? → Define ”students” and define “good”
o For example: A student is someone who is registered at an University.
A good grade is a grade >= 8
➢ Stipulative definition = definition of a concept that is given especially for a specific research
o For example, when dividing sick leave into three types:
▪ White: there are demonstrable health problems - Gray: unclear whether there
are demonstrable health problems, but they are felt as such - Blue: health
problems are not the cause of sick leave
➢ When using a Stipulative definition, use a sentence like: ‘In this research a ‘football’ is defined as
a ball that is being used during a soccer game’. Do not only define the concepts, also make the
discussion explicit. Why is it that you define the concept in this way? What are your
considerations? Be critical!
1
, Model building
➢ Conceptual model consists of three parts (Basically an overview of your research):
1. Elements of the demarcated domain
2. Building blocks: all important concepts (variables) that play a role in the central question
3. All possible relationships that you can expect to find between these factors (for example
hypotheses)
➢ Two-way relationship = correlation between two variables (level of educ <> income)
➢ Causal relationship = cause and effect relationship between two variables(level of educ>income)
➢ Independent variable = used to manipulate the situation and to cause a change (effect)
→Stays the same (time spent studying)
➢ Dependent variable = changes under the influence of the independent variable(s)
→Changes (statistics exam grade)
➢ Hypothesis
o Overview of the concepts (variables)
o Possible relationships
o Present your hypotheses (H1: There is a relationship between time spent studying and
academic performance)
Research proposal
➢ Types
o Qualitative methods (interviews)
o Quantitative methods (experiment)
o Mixed method design (combination of qualitative and quantitative methods)
▪ Qualitative: used focus groups to identify relevant variables
▪ Quantitative: used a survey to test the hypothesized relationships between the
variables
➢ Types of research based on method →Triangulation = analysis of a problem from several
perspectives
o Method triangulation
o Data triangulation
o Triangulation of researchers
o Theoretical triangulation
➢ Types of research based on time
o Cross-sectional = research at any given point in time (questionnaire)
o Iteration = process of repetition during the research (multi-case study)
o Longitudinal = research that is repeated at several points in time (trend research)
➢ Make an overview of research methods + discuss why u chose this research approach for this SQ
➢ Conceptual Research Framework
o Draw in broad lines how to achieve the research objective.
o The Conceptual Research Framework can help to define the
research questions
o The framework is a schematic and highly visualized
representations of the steps to take
2
Isabelle van Aard
College 1 - Introduction & Designing a Research Project
Fundamental vs applied research
➢ Verhoeven: 2 types of research
o Fundamental (empirical) research → guided by theoretical questions
▪ Theoretical questions leads to knowledge
o Applied research → guided by practical questions
▪ Practical questions leads to solutions
Deductive vs inductive research
➢ Inductive research: develop theory based on observed data → theory-building
➢ Deductive research: the formulate assumptions on the basis of (existing) theories and test
whether the theories hold using new empirical data → theory-testing
o Pattern (theory) – observation - conclusion
College 2 - Research Proposal & Quantitative Data Collection Methods
Concept demarcation
➢ = Clarifying the concepts used in your research → concept-as-intended
➢ Concepts that are too generic and/or subjective require definitions
➢ The meaning of the concept is fixed and is clear throughout the research
➢ You clearly delineate the boundaries of your research, what you intend to research and what
you don’t
➢ Demarcating the concept determines what information needs to be collected during data
collection
➢ RQ as an example: Do female students receive good grades more frequently than male
students? → Define ”students” and define “good”
o For example: A student is someone who is registered at an University.
A good grade is a grade >= 8
➢ Stipulative definition = definition of a concept that is given especially for a specific research
o For example, when dividing sick leave into three types:
▪ White: there are demonstrable health problems - Gray: unclear whether there
are demonstrable health problems, but they are felt as such - Blue: health
problems are not the cause of sick leave
➢ When using a Stipulative definition, use a sentence like: ‘In this research a ‘football’ is defined as
a ball that is being used during a soccer game’. Do not only define the concepts, also make the
discussion explicit. Why is it that you define the concept in this way? What are your
considerations? Be critical!
1
, Model building
➢ Conceptual model consists of three parts (Basically an overview of your research):
1. Elements of the demarcated domain
2. Building blocks: all important concepts (variables) that play a role in the central question
3. All possible relationships that you can expect to find between these factors (for example
hypotheses)
➢ Two-way relationship = correlation between two variables (level of educ <> income)
➢ Causal relationship = cause and effect relationship between two variables(level of educ>income)
➢ Independent variable = used to manipulate the situation and to cause a change (effect)
→Stays the same (time spent studying)
➢ Dependent variable = changes under the influence of the independent variable(s)
→Changes (statistics exam grade)
➢ Hypothesis
o Overview of the concepts (variables)
o Possible relationships
o Present your hypotheses (H1: There is a relationship between time spent studying and
academic performance)
Research proposal
➢ Types
o Qualitative methods (interviews)
o Quantitative methods (experiment)
o Mixed method design (combination of qualitative and quantitative methods)
▪ Qualitative: used focus groups to identify relevant variables
▪ Quantitative: used a survey to test the hypothesized relationships between the
variables
➢ Types of research based on method →Triangulation = analysis of a problem from several
perspectives
o Method triangulation
o Data triangulation
o Triangulation of researchers
o Theoretical triangulation
➢ Types of research based on time
o Cross-sectional = research at any given point in time (questionnaire)
o Iteration = process of repetition during the research (multi-case study)
o Longitudinal = research that is repeated at several points in time (trend research)
➢ Make an overview of research methods + discuss why u chose this research approach for this SQ
➢ Conceptual Research Framework
o Draw in broad lines how to achieve the research objective.
o The Conceptual Research Framework can help to define the
research questions
o The framework is a schematic and highly visualized
representations of the steps to take
2
