Secondary research methodology dissertation

Questions further sibility in the research ision of the g the ping your academic style of way you approach your question will have a profound effect upon the way you construct your dissertation, so this section discusses the types of research you might undertake for your dissertation. The use of literature and case studies is considered and the merits of primary research are debated and advice is given on the use of existing research data. You may not be fond of statistics, but the potential relevance of a quantitative approach should be considered and similarly, the idea of qualitative analysis and conducting your own research may yield valuable data. Approach' means something more than the type of data you use – it refers to your overall orientation to research and the type of claims you will make for your study. Dissertations can be based on either quantitative or qualitative data, or on a combination of both. Qualitative data is particularly useful when you wish to find out why people engage in such about the research methods modules you have taken so far. Quantitative dissertations are likely to be nearer to the lower end of the range of approved lengths for the dissertation (e. If the length is to be 5,000-8,000 words, dissertations based on quantitative analysis are likely to be closer to 5,000 words in length). Qualitative dissertations will include descriptive material, usually extracts from interviews, conversations, documents or field notes, and are therefore likely to be nearer to the upper limit of your word range (e. The types of method suitable for a dissertation could include content analysis, a small scale ethnographic study, small scale in-depth qualitative r you choose qualitative or quantitative analysis will depend on several things:Your preferred philosophical approach (realist, phenomenologist or constructionist). Skills and abilities with methods of data collection (if needed) and topic or issue you are interested you frame your research i combine qualitative and quantitative methods? You will analyse each type of data and describe this, and then write a discussion that shows how each piece of analysis contributes to the overall picture of what is going supervisor or research methods tutor may be able to give you detailed examples of these or other ways to combine my dissertation be entirely literature-based? If you decide to do a primarily theoretical dissertation, it is almost certain that your dissertation will be entirely literature-based. This is likely to be the methodology of theoretical analysis: selection and discussion of theoretical material and descriptive material, in context, and detailed comparison of theories in terms of their applicability. Remember that theoretical studies, like data-based studies, need to have their research design spelled out from the even if your dissertation is more empirically focused, it could still be entirely literature-based. While all dissertations will include a literature review, it is possible to produce a dissertation that is entirely based on a review of the literature. You might, for example, explore empirical debates in your chosen field across different countries or time is case study research? It is possible for dissertations to be entirely literature-based, the most common form of dissertation takes the form of a case study. The attraction of this kind of dissertation is that it stems from empirical curiosity but is at the same time practical. A major challenge in case study dissertations is connecting your own primary research or re-analysis with the broader theoretical themes and empirical concerns of the existing 's an empirical study? The reason for this is that the questions dissertations usually address take the following form: is x happening? These questions demand primary or secondary analysis of study 9 think hard before you decide to undertake empirical research: a student's is secondary analysis? It allows the researcher to explore areas of interest without having to go through the process of collecting data themselves in the field. The problem with using fieldwork methods in an undergraduate dissertation, however, is that they are costly in terms of time (which is relatively scarce in your final year! You may choose, therefore, to undertake secondary research, analysing existing do i find existing research data? Here you would not be collecting your own data but instead would be analysing existing ad case study 6 media you are interested, for example, in doing historical research, you may need to visit archives. Research methods tutors on your course will be able to advise on the availability and accessibility of such data are some advantages of doing secondary analysis, particularly if you are doing a quantitative study. Smaller, more targeted datasets may also be ary analysis has disadvantages also: the data were collected for a purpose different from have to find out something about that purpose, as well as the methods of collection, in order to justify your use of a secondary ting you own data - primary tative data may also result from non-participant observations or other measurements (e. Your research methods tutor can give you further information on these types of data, but here are some common quantitative data collection methods and their definitions:Self-completion questionnaires. Prior to the observation, an observation schedule will be produced which details what exactly the researcher should look for and how those observations should be you are conducting a qualitative analysis you are likely to wish to use at least some original material. Below are some data collection methods that you might want to use for your dissertation:A way of asking questions which allows the interviewee to have more control of the interview. The researcher will observe behaviour, listen to conversations, and ask some time looking at general books about research - they will give you an overview of the data collection methods available and help you to make the best choice for your project. Bryman (2004) would be a useful starting any piece of research you conduct, be it empirically based (quantitative or qualitative) or library based, its methods must be justified. You need to show in the final dissertation how you have given consideration to different methods, and why you have chosen and eliminated t voice: findings from our our study, supervisors saw part of their role as someone who draws out students’ reasons for choosing a particular research approach. Reasons for data collection is literature based as my research question involved sensitive subjects which would have been unsuitable for primary data collection. Will involve primary data, secondary data, quantitative and qualitative research methods, lit reviews, theory and policy studies and an exploration of alternatives. My dissertation is to be based around the experience of 'poverty', as poverty is the experience. Research must be conducted in a sensible and ethical manner; data must be analysed and presented in a rational manner. It is important that students do not expose themselves or others to dangers or risks when conducting research. Students need the approval of their dissertation supervisor before embarking on any type of fieldwork (see the section on research ethics for more information). Often people link deductive research with quantitative experiments or surveys, and inductive research with qualitative interviews or ethnographic work. These links are not hard and fast – for instance, experimental research, designed to test a particular theory through developing a hypothesis and creating an experimental design, may use quantitative or qualitative data or a combination. If your research starts with a theory and is driven by hypotheses that you are testing (e. At the start of your research you need to set down clearly:Your research focus and research you propose to examine the topic:Methods of data s of data types and sources of information you you will access these sources of information (be they people, existing datasets, biographical accounts, media articles or websites, official records).

Proposed outcome of this research (in your case, a dissertation) and the form it will take. Time-frame for all and your supervisor will discuss your design and decide whether the research is 'do-able'. An empirical study could involve close analysis of statistics or some form of qualitative research. However, a theoretical study brings its own challenges, and you may be called upon to compare theories in terms of their you have decided upon your approach, you can write out a research design, i. How you are going to approach the look a little at the research methods that you have studied. Apart from matching your research to your general sense of objective/subjective reality, it is important to ensure that you match your methodology to the problem you are kind of data do you need to answer your question/test your hypothesis? The ability to manage your time will be directly related to your ability to control the boundaries of the study – especially if it is closely linked to your that you have got so far, try to write up your research proposal as far as you can. You will find it helpful to plot your research questions on the chart on the next page and ensure that your plans for collecting data really answer the question as well as avoiding ethical this stage you must be really ruthless with yourself. A survey which includes interviews or a case study that looks at a situation from numerous factors may limit the scope of your research? London, fying a research topic:A template for structured observation:A site devoted to survey design:A chapter on structured interviewing:A chapter on qualitative interviewing:An introduction to ethnographic research:Materials for focus group interviews:1. This resource has been developed in partnership by the higher education academy and sheffield hallam university spinouts damaging uk research? Freshers’ guide to money and writing ge essays icant sity ultimate guide to writing a to do your dissertation secondary research in 4 you are reading this guide, it's very likely you may be doing secondary research for your dissertation, rather than primary. If this is indeed you, then here's the good news: secondary research is the easiest type of research! Like recruiting your participants, choosing and preparing your measures, and spending days (or months) collecting your said, you do still need to know how to do secondary research. So, go make a decent-sized mug of your favourite hot beverage (consider a glass of water, too) then come back and get 's what we'll cover in this guide:The basics: what's secondary research all about? Secondary ages of secondary antages of secondary s and purposes of secondary of secondary s of secondary ary research process in 4 1: develop your research question(s). 2: identify a secondary data 3: evaluate a secondary data 4: prepare and analyse secondary basics: what's secondary research all about? As you probably already know, primary research is when the researcher collects the data himself or herself. The researcher uses so-called “real-time” data, which means that the data is collected during the course of a specific research project and is under the researcher’s direct contrast, secondary research involves data that has been collected by somebody else previously. This type of data is called “past data” and is usually accessible via past researchers, government records, and various online and offline to recap, secondary research involves re-analysing, interpreting, or reviewing past data. The role of the researcher is always to specify how this past data informs his or her current contrast to primary research, secondary research is easier, particularly because the researcher is less involved with the actual process of collecting the data. You don’t need to provide your participants with compensation for participating or pay for any other costs of the research). 1 outlines the differences between primary and secondary research:Involves collecting factual, first-hand data at the time of the research es the use of data that was collected by somebody else in the researcher himself/ses specific needs of the not directly address the researcher’s cher is very cher is less ages of secondary er type of research you are conducting, always be aware of its strengths and limitations. If you look at the table above, you should already be able to discern some advantages of secondary of the most obvious advantages is that, compared to primary research, secondary research is inexpensive. Although researchers may need to purchase secondary data sets, this is always less costly than if the research were to be conducted from an undergraduate or graduate student, your dissertation project won't need to be an expensive endeavour. Thus, it is useful to know that you can further reduce costs, by using freely available secondary data this is far from the only students value another important advantage of secondary research, which is that secondary research saves you time. Primary research usually requires months spent recruiting participants, providing them with questionnaires, interviews, or other measures, cleaning the data set, and analysing the results. With secondary research, you can skip most of these daunting tasks; instead, you merely need to select, prepare, and analyse an existing data er, you probably won’t need a lot of time to obtain your secondary data set, because secondary data is usually easily accessible. In most cases, you can find your secondary data through online search engines or by contacting previous researchers via email. Third important advantage of secondary research is that you can base your project on a large scope of data. What's more, if you were doing primary research, you would never be able to use longitudinal data in your graduate or undergraduate project, since it would take you years to complete. This is because longitudinal data involves assessing and re-assessing a group of participants over long periods of using secondary data, however, you have an opportunity to work with immensely large data sets that somebody else has already collected. Thus, you can also deal with longitudinal data, which may allow you to explore trends and changes of phenomena over secondary research, you are relying not only on a large scope of data, but also on professionally collected data. For instance, data that you will use for your secondary research project has been collected by researchers who are likely to have had years of experience in recruiting representative participant samples, designing studies, and using specific measurement you had collected this data yourself, your own data set would probably have more flaws, simply because of your lower level of expertise when compared to these professional antages of secondary now you may have concluded that using secondary data is a perfect option for your graduate or undergraduate dissertation. However, let’s not underestimate the disadvantages of doing secondary first such disadvantage is that your secondary data may be, to a greater or lesser extent, inappropriate for your own research purposes. This is simply because you have not collected the data you collect your data personally, you do so with a specific research question in mind. However, secondary data was always collected for the purposes of fulfilling other researchers’ goals and , although secondary data may provide you with a large scope of professionally collected data, this data is unlikely to be fully appropriate to your own research question. However, your secondary data may have focused on a slightly different population, may have been collected in a different geographical region, or may have been collected a long time from being potentially inappropriate for your own research purposes, secondary data could have a different format than you require. But the secondary data set may contain a categorical age variable; for example, participants might have indicated an age group they belong to (e. Differences such as these mean that secondary data may not be perfectly appropriate for your above two disadvantages may lead to yet another one: the existing data set may not answer your own research question(s) in an ideal way. As noted above, secondary data was collected with a different research question in mind, and this may limit its application to your own research unately, the list of disadvantages does not end here. An additional weakness of secondary data is that you have a lack of control over the quality of data. But if the original researchers did not establish the reliability and validity of their data, this may limit its reliability and validity for your research as well. To establish reliability and validity, you are usually advised to critically evaluate how the data was gathered, analysed, and here lies the final disadvantage of doing secondary research: original researchers may fail to provide sufficient information on how their research was conducted.

This may require you to take extra steps to obtain such information, if that is possible at 2 provides a full summary of advantages and disadvantages of secondary research:Inexpensive: conducting secondary research is much cheaper than doing primary opriateness: secondary data may not be fully appropriate for your research time: secondary research takes much less time than primary format: secondary data may have a different format than you ibility: secondary data is usually easily accessible from online not answer your research question: secondary data was collected with a different research question in scope of data: you can rely on immensely large data sets that somebody else has of control over the quality of data: secondary data may lack reliability and validity, which is beyond your sionally collected data: secondary data has been collected by researchers with years of of sufficient information: original authors may not have provided sufficient information on various research s and purposes of secondary far, we have defined secondary research and outlined its advantages and this point, we should ask: “what are the methods of secondary research? Here, we can differentiate between three methods of secondary research: using a secondary data set in isolation, combining two secondary data sets, and combining secondary and primary data sets. Let’s outline each of these separately, and also explain when to use each of these lly, you can use a secondary data set in isolation – that is, without combining it with other data sets. You dig and find a data set that is useful for your research purposes and then base your entire research on that set of data. You do this when you want to re-assess a data set with a different research question in ’s illustrate this with a simple example. Suppose that, in your research, you want to investigate whether pregnant women of different nationalities experience different levels of anxiety during different pregnancy stages. It would take you at least a year to complete this research d of undertaking this long endeavour, you thus decide to find a secondary data set – one that investigated (for instance) a range of difficulties experienced by pregnant women in a nationwide sample. The original research question that guided this research could have been: “to what extent do pregnant women experience a range of mental health difficulties, including stress, anxiety, mood disorders, and paranoid thoughts? The original researchers might have outlined women’s nationality, but weren’t particularly interested in investigating the link between women’s nationality and anxiety at different pregnancy stages. You are, therefore, re-assessing their data set with your own research question in research may, however, require you to combine two secondary data sets. You will use this kind of methodology when you want to investigate the relationship between certain variables in two data sets or when you want to compare findings from two past take an example: one of your secondary data sets may focus on a target population’s tendency to smoke cigarettes, while the other data set focuses on the same population’s tendency to drink alcohol. In your own research, you may thus be looking at whether there is a correlation between smoking and drinking among this is a second example: your two secondary data sets may focus on the same outcome variable, such as the degree to which people go to greece for a summer vacation. By comparing these two data sets, you can investigate which nation tends to visit greece y, your research project may involve combining primary and secondary data. You may decide to do this when you want to obtain existing information that would inform your primary ’s use another simple example and say that your research project focuses on american versus british people’s attitudes towards racial discrimination. Let’s also say that you live in london and that it would be difficult for you to assess americans’ attitudes on the topic, but clearly much more straightforward to conduct primary research on british this case, you can simply reuse the data from the american study and adopt exactly the same measures with your british participants. Alternatively, you may combine these types of data when the role of your secondary data is to outline descriptive information that supports your research. For instance, if your project is focusing on attitudes towards mcdonald’s food, you may want to support your primary research with secondary data that outlines how many people eat mcdonald’s in your country of 3 summarises particular methods and purposes of secondary research:Using secondary data set in -assessing a data set with a different research question in ing two secondary data igating the relationship between variables in two data sets or comparing findings from two past ing secondary and primary data ing existing information that informs your primary of secondary two most common types of secondary research are, as with all types of data, quantitative and qualitative. Secondary research can, therefore, be conducted by using either quantitative or qualitative data have already provided above several examples of using quantitative secondary data. This type of data is used when the original study has investigated a population’s tendency to smoke or drink alcohol, the degree to which people from different nationalities go to greece for their summer vacation, or the degree to which pregnant women experience all these examples, outcome variables were assessed by questionnaires, and thus the obtained data was tative secondary research is much more common than qualitative secondary research. However, this is not to say that you cannot use qualitative secondary data in your research project. This type of secondary data is used when you want the previously-collected information to inform your current research. More specifically, it is used when you want to test the information obtained through qualitative research by implementing a quantitative instance, a past qualitative study might have focused on the reasons why people choose to live on boats. In your own research, you can therefore reuse this qualitative data to form a questionnaire, which you then give to a larger population of people who live on boats. This will help you to generalise the previously-obtained qualitative results to a broader antly, you can also re-assess a qualitative data set in your research, rather than using it as a basis for your quantitative research. Let’s say that your research focuses on the kind of language that people who live on boats use when describing their transient lifestyles. The original research did not focus on this research question per se – however, you can reuse the information from interviews to “extract” the types of descriptions of a transient lifestyle that were given by 4 highlights the two main types of secondary data and their associated purposes:Both can be used when you want to (a) inform your current research with past data, and (b) re-assess a past data can be used when you want to (a) inform your current research with past data, and (b) re-assess a past data s of secondary two most common types of secondary data sources are labelled as internal and al sources of data are those that are internal to the organisation in question. For instance, if you are doing a research project for an organisation (or research institution) where you are an intern, and you want to reuse some of their past data, you would be using internal data benefit of using these sources is that they are easily accessible and there is no associated financial cost of obtaining al sources of data, on the other hand, are those that are external to an organisation or a research institution. The benefit of external sources of data is that they provide comprehensive data – however, you may sometimes need more effort (or money) to obtain ’s now focus on different types of internal and external secondary data are several types of internal sources. For instance, if your research focuses on an organisation’s profitability, you might use their sales data. Here, you may focus on outlining the safest and most effective transportation routes or vehicles used by an atively, you may rely on marketing data, where your goal would be to assess the benefits and outcomes of different marketing operations and other ideas would be to use customer data to ascertain the ideal type of customer, or to use safety data to explore the degree to which employees comply with an organisation’s safety list of the types of internal sources of secondary data can be extensive; the most important thing to remember is that this data comes from a particular organisation itself, in which you do your research in an internal list of external secondary data sources can be just as extensive. Government agencies tend to conduct a lot of research, therefore covering almost any kind of topic you can think r external source of secondary data are national and international institutions, including banks, trade unions, universities, health organisations, etc. As with government, such institutions dedicate a lot of effort to conducting up-to-date research, so you simply need to find an organisation that has collected the data on your own topic of atively, you may obtain your secondary data from trade, business, and professional associations. These usually have data sets on business-related topics and are likely to be willing to provide you with secondary data if they understand the importance of your research. If your research is built on past academic studies, you may also rely on scientific journals as an external data you have specified what kind of secondary data you need, you can contact the authors of the original a final example of a secondary data source, you can rely on data from commercial research organisations. These usually focus their research on media statistics and consumer information, which may be relevant if, for example, your research is within media studies or you are investigating consumer 5 summarises the two sources of secondary data and associated examples:Definition: internal to the organisation or research institution where you conduct your tion: external to the organisation or research institution where you conduct your es: • sales data • financial data • transport data • marketing data • customer data • safety es: • government sources • national and international institutions • trade, business, and professional associations • scientific journals • commercial research ary research process in 4 previous sections of this guide, we have covered some basic aspects of doing secondary research. We have defined secondary data, outlined its advantages and disadvantages, introduced the methods and purposes of secondary research, and outlined the types and sources of secondary this point, you should have a clearer understanding of secondary research in general it may be useful to focus on the actual process of doing secondary research. At the end of this blog post, in table 6, you will find a summary of all the steps of doing secondary 1: develop your research question(s). An undergraduate thesis, you are often provided with a specific research question by your supervisor. But for most other types of research, and especially if you are doing your graduate thesis, you need to arrive at a research question first step here is to specify the general research area in which your research will fall. Since we have used these examples previously, it may be useful to rely on them again to illustrate our you have identified your general topic, your next step consists of reading through existing papers to see whether there is a gap in the literature that your research can fill. At this point, you may discover that previous research has not investigated national differences in the experiences of anxiety during pregnancy, or national differences in a tendency to go to greece for a summer vacation, or that there is no literature generalising the findings on people’s choice to live on found your topic of interest and identified a gap in the literature, you need to specify your research question. In our three examples, research questions would be specified in the following manner: (1) “do women of different nationalities experience different levels of anxiety during different stages of pregnancy? 2: identify a secondary data we mentioned above, most research begins by specifying what is already known on the topic and what knowledge seems to be missing. This process involves considering the kind of data previously collected on the is at this point, after reviewing the literature and specifying your research questions, that you may decide to rely on secondary data.

You will do this if you discover that there is past data that would be perfectly reusable in your own research, therefore helping you to answer your research question more thoroughly (and easily). How do you discover if there is past data that could be useful for your research? During this process, you will identify other researchers, organisations, agencies, or research centres that have explored your research ere there, you may discover a useful secondary data set. Note, however, that this happens only if you are relying on external sources of secondary data. Within a particular organisation), you don’t need to search through the literature for a secondary data set – you can just reuse some past data that was collected within the organisation itself. Any case, you need to ensure that a secondary data set is a good fit for your own research question. Once you have established that it is, you need to specify the reasons why you have decided to rely on secondary instance, your choice to rely on secondary data in the above examples might be as follows: (1) a recent study has focused on a range of mental difficulties experienced by women in a multinational sample and this data can be reused; (2) there is existing data on germans’ and britons’ interest in greek tourism and these data sets can be compared; and (3) there is existing qualitative research on the reasons for choosing to live on boats, and this data can be relied upon to conduct a further quantitative 3: evaluate a secondary data you recall our previous discussion on the disadvantages of secondary data, you will remember us specifying that: (1) secondary data may not be fully appropriate for your research purposes, (2) secondary data may have a different format than you require, (3) secondary data may lack reliability and validity, (4) secondary data may not answer your research question, and (5) original authors may have failed to provide sufficient information about their e such disadvantages of secondary data can limit the effectiveness of your research, it is crucial that you evaluate a secondary data set. To ease this process, we outline here a reflective approach that will allow you to evaluate secondary data in a stepwise 3(a): what was the aim of the original study? This is important because the original authors’ goals will have impacted several important aspects of their research, including their population of choice, sample, employed measurement tools, and the overall context of the this step, you also need to pay close attention to any differences in research purposes and research questions between the original study and your own investigation. As we have discussed previously, you will often discover that the original study had a different research question in mind, and it is important for you to specify this ’s put this step of identifying the aim of the original study in practice, by referring to our three research examples. Stress, anxiety, mood disorders, and paranoid thoughts) in a multinational sample of pregnant does this aim differ from your research aim? When it comes to the second research example, you are basing your research on two secondary data sets – one that aimed to investigate germans’ interest in greek tourism and the other that aimed to investigate britons’ interest in greek these two studies focused on particular national populations, the aim of your research is to compare germans’ and britons’ tendency to visit greece for summer vacation. Finally, in our third example, the original research was a qualitative investigation into the reasons for living on boats. Your research question is different, because, although you are seeking to do the same investigation, you wish to do so by using a quantitative antly, in all three examples, you conclude that secondary data may in fact answer your research question. If you conclude otherwise, it may be wise to find a different secondary data set or to opt for primary 3(b): who has collected the data? Further step in evaluating a secondary data set is to ask yourself who has collected the data. Usually, you will be able to obtain this information through quick online ’s say that, in our example of research on pregnancy, data was collected by the uk government; that in our example of research on greek tourism, the data was collected by a travel agency; and that in our example of research on the reasons for choosing to live on boats, the data was collected by researchers from a uk ’s also say that you have checked the background of these organisations and researchers, and that you have concluded that they all have a sufficiently professional background, except for the travel agency. Given that this agency’s research did not lead to a publication (for instance), and given that not much can be found about the authors of the research, you conclude that the professionalism of this data source remains 3(c): which measures were employed? The study on which you are basing your research was conducted in a professional manner, you can expect to have access to all the essential information regarding this al authors should have documented all their sample characteristics, measures, procedures, and protocols. This information can be obtained either in their final research report or through contacting the authors is important for you to know what type of data was collected, which measures were used, and whether such measures were reliable and valid (if they were quantitative measures). You also need to make a clear outline of the type of data collected – and especially the data relevant for your ’s say that, in our first example, researchers have (among other assessed variables) used a demographic measure to note women’s nationalities and have used the state anxiety inventory to assess women’s anxiety levels during different pregnancy stages, both of which you conclude are valid and reliable tools. For the sake of our examples, let’s say that all three original studies were conducted within this 3(e): what methodology was used to collect the data? Evaluating the quality of a secondary data set, the evaluation of the employed methodology may be the most crucial have already noted that you need to evaluate the reliability and validity of employed measures. Any drawbacks in the original methodology may limit your own research as the sake of our examples, let’s say that the study on mental difficulties in pregnant women recruited a representative sample of pregnant women (i. Finally, let’s assume that our third research example also had sufficient methodology, with a sufficiently large sample size for a qualitative investigation (n = 30), high sample representativeness (participants with different backgrounds, coming from different boat communities), and sufficient analyses (thematic analysis). That, since this was a qualitative investigation, there is no need to evaluate the number of missing values and the use of 3(f): making a final considered all the things outlined in the steps above, what can you conclude regarding the quality of your secondary data set? Again, let’s consider our three would conclude that the secondary data from our first research example has a high quality. Data was recently collected by professionals, the employed measures were both reliable and valid, and the methodology was more than sufficient. We can be confident that our new research question can be sufficiently answered with the existing data. Thus, the data set for our first example is two secondary data sets from our second research example seem, however, less than ideal. Although we can answer our research questions on the basis of these recent data sets, the data was collected by an unprofessional source, the reliability and validity of the employed measure is uncertain, and the employed methodology has a few notable y, the data from our third example seems sufficient both for answering our research question and in terms of the specific evaluations (data was collected recently by a professional source, semi-structured interviews were well made, and the employed methodology was sufficient). Final question to ask is: “what can be done if our evaluation reveals the lack of appropriateness of secondary data? In this instance, you can only note the drawbacks of the original data set, present its limitations, and conclude that your own research may not be sufficiently well 4: prepare and analyse secondary the secondary data evaluation process, you will familiarise yourself with the original research. Having done so, your next step is to prepare a secondary data first sub-step here (if you are doing quantitative research) is to outline all variables of interest that you will use in your study. For instance, in our example of research on anxiety during pregnancy, your data will consist of scores on each item of the state anxiety inventory, completed at various times during pregnancy. You will always need to decide on the most suitable analysis technique for your secondary data set. In our first research example, you would rely on manova (to see if women of different nationalities experience different stress levels at the beginning, at three months, at six months, and at nine months of pregnancy); and in our second example, you would use an independent samples t-test (to see if interest in greek tourism differs between germans and britons). Process of preparing and analysing a secondary data set is slightly different if your secondary data is qualitative. In our example on the reasons for living on boats, you would first need to outline all reasons for living on boats, as recognised by the original qualitative research. Here, you would simply need to recode the interviews and conduct a thematic for doing secondary e 1: using secondary data in e 2: combining two secondary data e all variables of interest; transfer data to a new file; address missing data; recode variables; calculate final scores; analyse the data. Develop your research women of different nationalities experience different levels of anxiety during different stages of pregnancy? Recent study has focused on a range of mental difficulties experienced by women in a multinational sample and this data can be is existing data on germans’ and britons’ interest in greek tourism and these data sets can be is existing qualitative research on the reasons for choosing to live on boats, and this data can be relied upon to conduct a further quantitative investigation. Prepare and analyse secondary e all variables of interest; transfer data to a new file; address missing data; recode variables; calculate final scores; analyse the e all variables of interest; transfer data to a new file; address missing data; recode variables; calculate final scores; analyse the e all reasons for living on boats; craft a questionnaire that assesses these reasons in a broader population; analyse the might have been a long read to accompany your cup of coffee or tea, but you should, by now, know how to do your secondary research. Just follow the guidelines summarised in table 6 and you are all ultimate guide to writing a all articles in the g up the results section of your tation findings and discussion to correctly reference a tation helpdissertation primary researchdissertation researchdissertation tipsstudy skillsstudy to write a dissertation methodology chapter of the all dissertations require a dissertation methodology section and accordingly you should check with your supervisor and/or course handbook as to whether your individual department expects one to be included.

As a general rule, undergraduate dissertations in subjects such as law, politics and history do not require methodologies (as such dissertations tend to be focused on the reinterpretation of existing data) whereas dissertations that involve the collection of new data, interviews, or experiments, do require explicit methodology sections (for instance, in risk management, business, or chemistry). In dissertations that do not feature a methodology chapter, the word count released is divided among the other are two main research types and three main types of research analysis. These are, respectively, primary and secondary research, and quantitative, qualitative and mixed research analysis y research relates to the collection of primary (new) data or the use, in history, of sources written at the time of the event you are studying by actors within that period. A questionnaire that you conduct as part of your research would be primary research and a letter written by henry viii would be a primary ary research refers to data that has already been published and the re-examination of that data and further utilisation of it within your study. The reusing of a questionnaire and the results that have already been published would be secondary research in the same way that a book explaining the aforementioned letter by henry viii would be a secondary tative research only produces results on the specific issue that is being investigated and uses statistical, mathematical and computational programmes. A closed-ended questionnaire would be analysed using quantitative research if the researcher merely computed the results and produced a series of comments as to the percentages of respondents who gave specific answers. A common programme by which to analyse quantitative research is ative research tends to be used more in the social sciences and arts and is when a research seeks to ask 'why' and 'how' something has happened and explains the reasons with recourse to empirical mathematical models. In a dissertation where one is assessing, for instance, the effects of flooding in the wirral peninsula, it is likely that all the research techniques mentioned above would be used. Secondary data would be used through a literature review, closed-ended questionnaires could be analysed using a statistical panel and interviews with experts would be commented upon with reference to existing literature. Accordingly, both primary and secondary research techniques would be utilised as well as qualitative and quantitative tation methodology approach you use depends upon the subject matter and the means by which primary data will be collected. Clearly, if your dissertation is primarily a review of existing data then your methodology will be centred upon secondary data. It is strongly recommended that you undertake further reading on methods of methodology section will explain why you have chosen to adopt the approach you are using. As with the background section of your dissertation, your methodology section needs to be grounded in existing academic opinion. The following books provide not only an overview of methodological approaches (and the strengths and weaknesses associated with each) but are also the sorts of books that your lecturers may expect to see referenced within your methodology section, depending on the type of course you are , j. For an undergraduate dissertation it would be good practice to include at least five of these books (or their equivalent - depending upon what is available within your library) in your g for inspiration? You need help with your dissertation, or your dissertation methodology, consider hiring one of our qualified dissertation writers to assist g you methodology (or other chapter). Click on the button below to find out more:Dissertation writing addition to the dissertation help guide above we also have a range of free study materials to help you with your own dissertation:Dissertation resources tation proposal dissertation g a dissertation or skillsyouneed:A - z list of learning skills. Types of learning tanding your preferences to aid al thinking al thinking and fake g a dissertation or to write a research l issues in tation: the ching and writing a literature g your tation: results and tation: conclusions and g your dissertation or thesis of the skills you need guide for ng, coaching, mentoring and ability skills for ibe to our free newsletter and start improving your life in just 5 minutes a 'll get our 5 free 'one minute life skills' and our weekly 'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any g your dissertation: our: dissertation writing guide. Methodology describes the broad philosophical underpinning to your chosen research methods, including whether you are using qualitative or quantitative methods, or a mixture of both, and should be clear about the academic basis for all the choices of research methods that you have made. Is not enough; there must be good academic reasons for your to include in your you are submitting your dissertation in sections, with the methodology submitted before you actually undertake the research, you should use this section to set out exactly what you plan to methodology should be linked back to the literature to explain why you are using certain methods, and the academic basis of your you are submitting as a single thesis, then the methodology should explain what you did, with any refinements that you made as your work progressed. Again, it should have a clear academic justification of all the choices that you made and be linked back to the research methods for the social are numerous research methods that can be used when researching scientific subjects, you should discuss which are the most appropriate for your research with your following research methods are commonly used in social science, involving human subjects:One of the most flexible and widely used methods for gaining qualitative information about people’s experiences, views and feelings is the interview can be thought of as a guided conversation between a researcher (you) and somebody from whom you wish to learn something (often referred to as the ‘informant’). Therefore, interviews are particularly good tools for gaining detailed information where the research question is open-ended in terms of the range of possible iews are not particularly well suited for gaining information from large numbers of people. Interviews are time-consuming, and so careful attention needs to be given to selecting informants who will have the knowledge or experiences necessary to answer the research our page: interviews for research for more a researcher wants to know what people do under certain circumstances, the most straightforward way to get this information is sometimes simply to watch them under those ations can form a part of either quantitative or qualitative research. For instance, if a researcher wants to determine whether the introduction of a traffic sign makes any difference to the number of cars slowing down at a dangerous curve, she or he could sit near the curve and count the number of cars that do and do not slow down. Researcher wanting to know how people react to a billboard advertisement might spend time watching and describing the reactions of the people. Our page: observational research and secondary data for more your intended research question requires you to collect standardised (and therefore comparable) information from a number of people, then questionnaires may be the best method to onnaires can be used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, although you will not be able to get the level of detail in qualitative responses to a questionnaire that you could in an onnaires require a great deal of care in their design and delivery, but a well-developed questionnaire can be distributed to a much larger number of people than it would be possible to onnaires are particularly well suited for research seeking to measure some parameters for a group of people (e. Documentary analysis is the main way that historians obtain data about their research subjects, but it can also be a valuable tool for contemporary social nts are tangible materials in which facts or ideas have been recorded. If such documents are used as data for research, the researcher must come to an agreement with the holder of the documents about how the contents can and cannot be used and how confidentiality will be our page: observational research and secondary data for more to choose your methodology and precise research methodology should be linked back to your research questions and previous your university or college library and ask the librarians for help; they should be able to help you to identify the standard research method textbooks in your field. See also our section on research methods for some further books will help you to identify your broad research philosophy, and then choose methods which relate to that. This section of your dissertation or thesis should set your research in the context of its theoretical methodology should also explain the weaknesses of your chosen approach and how you plan to avoid the worst pitfalls, perhaps by triangulating your data with other methods, or why you do not think the weakness is every philosophical underpinning, you will almost certainly be able to find researchers who support it and those who don’ the arguments for and against expressed in the literature to explain why you have chosen to use this methodology or why the weaknesses don’t matter uring your is usually helpful to start your section on methodology by setting out the conceptual framework in which you plan to operate with reference to the key texts on that should be clear throughout about the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen approach and how you plan to address them. You should also note any issues of which to be aware, for example in sample selection or to make your findings more should then move on to discuss your research questions, and how you plan to address each of is the point at which to set out your chosen research methods, including their theoretical basis, and the literature supporting them. You will also need to discuss this again in the discussion research may even aim to test the research methods, to see if they work in certain should conclude by summarising your research methods, the underpinning approach, and what you see as the key challenges that you will face in your research. Again, these are the areas that you will want to revisit in your methodology, and the precise methods that you choose to use in your research, are crucial to its is worth spending plenty of time on this section to ensure that you get it right. 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