20.3 The research process  (Page 2/2)

The place and time frame

The place and time frame will, of course, depend on the problem and the resources available. For a large–scale project a researcher might have to interview people all over the country and it might take many months to complete each phase of the project. For a class projects you could formulate a problem that requires you to interview only three or four people and the whole project could be completed in a few weeks.

The methodology

When we speak about the methodology of a research project we do not only refer to the methods of gathering data but also to the ways in which we will ensure that the data is valid. It will furthermore include the process that we will follow in order to analyse the data.

The methods

Ensuring validity

For instance, the image that the researcher projects can be a deterring factor. Imagine how inappropriate it would be for a middle–aged white woman to arrive in her German luxury car to do research on working-class street culture. There is no way that she will get valid results – if she gets results at all. Much more subtle effects can also get in the way when a participant feels intimidated by the position of a researcher as a university professor.

Another problem that can arise from the researcher is over–identification. When the researcher gets so caught up with the lives of the participants that she cannot stand back and take an objective perspective, the results will be influenced. This process is sometimes called "going native".

The participant can also be the source of effects on the data when he tries to give answers that he thinks will impress or please the researcher. Alternatively he might be a person who believes that he has all the answers or sometimes a participant might deliberately give inaccurate data – just to be difficult.

Instrument effects can arise from a badly prepared questionnaire or questions that are asked in such a way that only one reasonable answer can be given. Imagine that a questionnaire asks "How often do you work on your car engine?". Surely it should first have asked "Do you have a car?", and then "Do you work on the engine yourself?" and then only could it ask the "how often" question!

Analysing the data

Once all the data have been collected the enormous task of systematising, analysing, and interpreting has to begin. In large projects this step can take months and the use of computers is often necessary. In the projects that you will have to take on, this process will be less complex but it will still be characterised by the same steps.

In order to analyse, one has to take something apart into the parts that make up the whole. So the data which the researcher has collected will have to be systematised or categorised into logical sub–categories or topics in order to understand the sub–parts. It will then be assembled into a whole and this will involve the interpretation.

Case study

Among the women who had left you found that there were much more discontent about their role and this centred around a number of different issues. You had then considered all these issues separately and combined the findings in a summary which you compared to the insiders' and outsiders' views on the same topics.

Your last step was to find out what the basis (like sacred scriptures) for the different roles for men and women in the movement was. You were now ready to write a report in which all the different issues received separate consideration but all were eventually put together to come to a conclusion about the question you had posed at the start of the project. During this process you analysed, integrated and interpreted.

Relevance of the findings

In formulating the research project at the outset of the project the researcher will also explain why it is important to have answers to the research questions. At the end of the analyses and interpretation the researcher will write a report on the findings of each separate issue in the research and come to a number of conclusion. It is important that the research report also include a history of the research process so that the readers can decide for themselves whether the results are valid and reliable.