Ways to Conduct Research for Your Dissertation

Choosing the Right Research Methodology

Before going into the nitty gritty, we’ll begin with the all-important step of choosing the right methodology for your dissertation.

Understanding Your Research Question

When you want to start gathering data for your research, make up your mind whether you are exploring a new concept, testing a hypothesis, or understanding an experience.

Types of Primary Research Methods

Here are the three major types of research methodologies you can choose from.

Qualitative Research

This research approach is based on emotions, experiences, and things that cannot be measured. If you’re doing qualitative research, here are some ways to collect data.

Interviews:

These are one-to-one conversations to understand people's opinions. The questions are either structured (following a certain pattern) or unstructured (more conversational and open-ended). After obtaining consent, you can record the conversation as well.

Focus groups:

A focused group is where a set of individuals respond different, keeping within a relevant context. In this form of data collection, you need to analyze a pattern in the responses.

Ethnography:

The data is taken from self-observation in a cultural or social setting based on interactions. This can be a proper data collection method if you’re studying a group, instead of human behavior.

Quantitative Research

Unlike qualitative research, where the data is based on experiences and emotions, quantitative research can be measured in numbers. Here are some ways to get the required data for quantitative research.

Surveys:

This is data gathered from a large audience. You can use tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey to collect the data you’re looking for. To make it easy for people to access the survey platform, we suggest using a QR code, which people can just scan and fill out the survey.

Experiment:

These are designed to get clean and measurable results after the cause-and-effect relationship. Some tools to conduct experiments and achieve the desired results include SPSS, Excel, and Python. 

Mixed Methods

This is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research, which can be measurable and descriptive at the same time. Going for a mixed method is a good option when the research problem is complex and can’t be solved by just one method.

Here are some ways to do research with a mixed method.

Convergent Parallel Design:

This is where qualitative and quantitative data are collected simultaneously, but analyzed separately. The results are either compared or combined.

Explanatory Sequential Design:

It starts by collecting and analyzing quantitative data. After that, the quantitative results are further explained using qualitative methods.

Exploratory Sequential Design:

An exploratory sequence design starts with qualitative research to understand the topic. Once you’re through, quantitative methods are used to test the findings.

Secondary Research Methods

Now that we’ve discussed the primary research methods, let’s talk about the secondary research. This research uses existing data and information to get the required results. Here are some ways to do the secondary research.

Literature Review

You can get the literature review for your research paper by exploring existing sources like books, journals, and past studies that have been done in the same context. This can help you understand the current available knowledge, along with research gaps that can be filled with your dissertation.

Document and Archival Research

Try going through the public record and organizational documents that can support your research and what you’re mentioning in it.

Online and Digital Sources

Academic databases such as JSTOR and Google Scholar are reliable sources for collecting secondary data. 

Ethical Considerations in Dissertation Research

Remember, when you’re collecting data, it’s not like your usual everyday interaction. Here are some ethical guidelines to keep in mind when you’re collecting data.

Ask for Permission

If you’re collecting qualitative data through interviews and recording it, make sure the subject (responder) knows about it. Similarly, if it’s quantitative data through tools like Google Forms, have clear disclaimers about the purpose of the data provided.

Assure About Confidentiality

Suppose you’re conducting a study about Employee Happiness, the subject/responder should know that you’ll maintain confidentially and ensure others (like their employers) won’t know the answers you’ve given. This sense of privacy will give you a more unbiased review for a desirable result.

Inform About Study Being IBR-Approved

Make sure your research study is IBR-approved to build higher authority and eliminate potential concerns for the responder. The institutional review board (IRB) approves or rejects studies that need responses from subjects.

Tips for Effective Research Planning

As we move towards the end of this article, let’s see how you can manage the entire dissertation writing process, from selecting a topic, writing the chapters, conducting the research, to proofreading at the end before submission.

Creating a Research Timeline

Break the entire dissertation writing process into milestones and stages. Celebrate each deadline you achieve to motivate yourself for the next milestone to come. Also, make sure to have a buffer time to deal with unforeseen delays.

Keeping Organized

Use research logs to manage your workflow, along with tools like Zotero and EndNote to seamlessly manage citations.