Types of Research

1. Defining Research
Research is the systematic
process of collecting and analyzing
information to increase our
understanding of the world in
general and of the phenomenon
under study in particular.

2. Research
Research is an iterative process
that eventually seeks to
explain or solve an identified
problem.

3. Types of research
Primary research -collection of
data that does not yet exist
Secondary research -
summary, collation and/or
synthesis of existing data

4. Basic research – to discover
new knowledge and develop
new methods and systems
Applied research – to interpret
and use these knowledge,
methods and systems in
individuals, institutions and
communities

5. 
Qualitative research - involves
analysis of data using words
(e.g., from interviews), pictures
(e.g., video), or objects (e.g.,
an artifact).
Quantitative research -
involves analysis of numerical
data.

6. Research in any field of
endeavour
 Business research
 Educational research
 Social research
 Biological research
 Legal research
 Health research
 Agricultural research
Research is a
basic and
essential
component of
every
profession and
of life itself

7. Disciplinary research
Single disciplinary
Multidisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Transdisciplinary

8. A particular problem is considered
only from the point of view of a
single discipline.
-limited account of the problem.
SINGLE DISCIPLINARY

9. •Members belong to different disciplines.
•Each member studies the issue
independently.
•No or minimal element of team work.
•A central person collects, summarizes
and integrates the work of each member.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY

10. • Members belong to different disciplines
•“Openness” to other disciplines
• Higher level of teamwork
• Each member still maintains own
disciplinal perspective when analyzing
and solving the issue at hand

11. Common
framework
TRANSDISCIPLINARY
• Members belong to different disciplines
• Active, open collaboration
• Intensive brainstorming about the issue
• Results in a common conceptual
framework that provides new insights
about the problem.

12. BEHAVIORAL
SCIENTIST
HEART
DISEASE
EPIDEMIOLOGIST BIOSTATISTICIAN
EDUCATION
CARDIOLOGIST
Common
framework

13. SOCIAL
FACTORS
Family
practices
Social
support
Social
influence
Media
Social class
Policies
SOCIO-
CULTURAL
FACTORS
Community
beliefs
Traditional
practices
PSYCHO-
BEHAVIORAL
FACTORS
Diet
Smoking
Physical
inactivity
Stress
Coping skills
BIOLOGICAL
RISK
FACTORS
Cholesterol
Blood
pressure
Weight
CORONARY
HEART
DISEASE
CORONARY HEART DISEASE

14. A ‘tree chart’ of changing
consumer behavior
Customers
Changing
customers
Experience Values Lifestyles Demographics
Product
expectations
Quality Price Purchasing Information
Physical Service
Ease Flexibility
Range
Individuality
Health
Age
composition
Security
Loss of
loyalty
Value Image
Priorities
Expectations
Knowledge Access
Currency
Variety

15. A mind map
Travel
Type s of
tourists/
trav e lle rs
Type s of
tourism
Are cruise rs
tourists or not?
SOCIAL CONTINGENCY
THEORY
Who ge ts to go?
He ge mony class
Indiv idual not part of mass
POST STRUCTURALISM
Foucault - fre e dom and control
Knowle dge - powe rs
POST M ODERNISM
Baudsilard - Hype s re ality
Goffman - frontstage /
Backstage authe nticity
Culture/
places
People
Environment
Cruise r impacts
Adv antage s Disadv antage s
Why not
mass tourism
What type of impact
and
what type of tourist?
Jennings 2001

16. The Research Process
Initial Phase:
Identify a
research
idea
Review related
literature and
do exploratory
interviews
Finalize
research
problem
Formulate
research
objectives/
hypotheses
Establish
conceptual
framework
Formulate
an initial
research
problem

17. The Research Process
Mid-Phase:
Select an
appropriate
research
design
Recruit
study
participants
Develop
data-
collection
tools
Collect
data Encode data
Identify
target
population

18. The Research Process
End-Phase:
Perform
data
analysis
Do write
up
Discuss
results
Summarize
salient
findings
Make
Recommen-
dations
Present data
in table,
graph,
textual
forms

19. Conceptualizing the
research idea
The research idea must be
researchable.

20. An idea is said to be
researchable if:
 research problem can be subjected to
empirical testing;
 study can generate realistic,
 observable, measurable and verifiable
information
 data can be systematically collected,
described or analyzed using available
methods and techniques.

21. Where to get researchable ideas
 Keen observation
 Own experiences
 Reading, reading, reading
 Personal, informal conversations
 Conversations with experts and
professionals, from formal meetings and
conferences
 Problems at work, in the community, in
the country

22. A good research idea must be:
Interesting: the strength of your
desire to learn more about the topic;
Significant: its perceived relevance
and usefulness to your academic
discipline, profession, personal
needs and/or community and
societal demands;

23. A good research idea must be:
Based on own competence: your
ability to implement the proposed
methods of data gathering and data
analysis;
Feasible: your likelihood of
completing the study within the time
and resources available.

24. Identifying the research problem
That portion of the research idea that
is problematic and needs a solution
or answer.
It is determined by the process of
probing and clarifying various issues
and aspects of a research idea.

25. A good research problem is
one that is solvable through
current methods and
resources.

26. Steps in identifying a good research
problem
1. Learn as much as possible about the
problem.
-read the literature
-do exploratory interviews
2. Look for a problematic issue about
the research idea. Consider what is
still unknown or doubtful

27. 3. Consider available resources in
terms of money, time and
manpower.
It would be unwise to spend a large
sum for a complicated research
problem of minuscule dimension

28. State the research problem in the
form of a question showing what
the investigator wants to explore,
describe, test, explain or predict.

29. Formulating the research
questions or objectives
The research objective is a statement of
what one wants to achieve.

30. Types of research objectives
General objectives - statement of
the long-term or overall goal of
the study;
Specific objectives - specific
statements or questions derived
from the general objective which
are to be answered by the study.

31. EXAMPLE
Research idea: Vandalism in
schools
Research problem: Why is
vandalism common among university
students?
General Objective: To explain why
university students engage in
vandalistic acts in schools?

32. Specific objectives
1. To determine the prevalence of
students who admitted that they
have committed some vandalistic
acts at least once in their high school
life.
2. To describe the socio-demographic
and psychographic profile of this
group of students.

33. Specific objectives
3. To identify the types of vandalistic acts
committed by these students.
4. To understand the reasons why they
committed such acts.
5. To recommend ways to help reduce
vandalism in schools.

34. Specific questions
1. What is the prevalence of
students who admitted that they
have committed some vandalistic
acts at least once in their high
school life?
2. What is the socio-demographic
and psychographic profile of this
group of students?

35. Specific questions
3. What types of vandalistic acts
committed by these students?
4. What are the reasons why they
committed such acts?
5. What can be recommended to
help reduce vandalism among
high school students?

36. Research
Designs/Approaches
Type Purpose
Time
frame
Degree
of
control
Examples
Experimental
Test for
cause/
effect
relationships
current High
Comparing
two types of
treatments for
anxiety.
Quasi-
experimental
Test for
cause/
effect
relationships
without full
control
Current
or past
Moderate
to high
Gender
differences in
visual/spatial
abilities

37. Research
Designs/Approaches
Type Purpose
Time
frame
Degree
of
control
Examples
Non-
experimental
correlational
Examine
relationship
between two
variables
Current
(cross-
sectional
) or past
Low to
medium
Relationship
between
studying style
and grade
point average.
Ex post facto
Examine the
effect of past
event on
current
functioning.
Past &
current
Low to
medium
Relationship
between
history of
child abuse &
depression.

38. Research
Designs/Approaches
Type Purpose Time
frame
Degree
of
control
Examples
Non-
experime
ntal -
corre-
lational
Examine relat.
betw. 2 var.
where 1 is
measured
later.
Future -
predictive
Low to
moderate
Relat. betw.
history of
depression &
development
of cancer.
Cohort-
sequen-
tial
Examine
change in a
var. over time
in overlapping
groups.
Future Low to
moderate
How mother-
child
negativity
changed over
adolescence.

39. Research
Designs/Approaches
Type Purpose
Time
frame
Degree
of
control
Examples
Survey
Assess opinions
or
characteristics
that exist at a
given time.
Current
None or
low
Voting
preferences
before an
election.
Qualitative
Discover
potential
relationships;
descriptive.
Past or
current
None or
Low
People’s
experiences of
quitting
smoking.

40. Non-experimental Research
Designs
 Describes a particular situation or
phenomenon.
 Hypothesis generating
 Can describe effect of implementing actions
based on experimental research and help
refine the implementation of these actions.

41. Correlational Design
Measure two variables
– Study methods and grade-point average
Determine degree of relationship between them
– Correlation coefficient (e.g., r = 0.50)
Allows description and prediction of the
relationship

42. Correlational Studies
 Type of descriptive research design
– Advantage is that it can examine variables that
cannot be experimentally manipulated (e.g., IQ
and occupational status).
– Disadvantage is that it cannot determine
causality.
– Third variable may account for the association.
– Directionality unclear

43. Origins of the Correlation
Coefficient
64” 65” 66” 67” 68” 69”
70” 2 4 5 5
69” 2 3 5 8 9 9
68” 3 6 10 12 12 2
67” 7 11 13 14 13 10
66” 6 8 11 11 8 6
65” 3 4 6 4 3 2
Children’s height
Correlation between parent’s height and children’s height

44. Correlation Scatterplot
Strong Positive Relationship

45. Correlation Scatterplot
Strong Negative Relationship

46. Correlational Designs
 What are some correlational studies that
you can do?

47. Ex Post Facto Study
 Variable of interest is not subject to direct
manipulation but must be chosen after the
fact.
 E.g., Define two groups of people according
to a certain characteristic (e.g., history of
trauma) and measure how they respond in
terms of anxiety to a certain stimulus (e.g.,
watching violent film).
 Limitation – self-selection bias, cohort
effects may explain the effect.

48. Personality and Hypertension,
Effect of Hypertension Awareness
Hypertension Study - Screened 10,500 Employees
Personality
Study
2nd BP
Screen
Matched
Normotensive
5th BP Screen
5 months
Mean DBP >= 90 mmHg
4th BP Screen
4 months
3rd BP Screen
3 months
Personality
Study
2nd BP Screen
2-3 weeks later
1st BP Screen
Hypertensive DBP

49. Personality and Hypertension: Effect
of Hypertension Awareness
Variable Group 1
Aware
Hyper-
tensive
Group 2
Normo-
tensive
Group 3
Unaware
Hyper-
tensive
Group 4
Normo-
tensive
% Male 75 75 89 89
Age
Mean*
(SD)
46.2
(9.2)
46.2
(8.2)
46.4
(8.3)
45.8
(8.0)
SBP/DBP
Mean*
(SD)
135.1/
93.9
(9.2/5.1)
118.7/
76.3
(11.5/5.5)
135.8/
93.8
(8.2/3.4)
118.5/
75.7
(10.3/4.8)

50. Personality and Hypertension: Effect
of Hypertension Awareness
Variable Group 1
Aware
Hyper-
tensive
Group 2
Normo-
tensive
Group 3
Unaware
Hyper-
tensive
Group 4
Normo-
tensive
Neuro-
ticism
Mean*
(SD)
12.0
(5.3)
9.3
(5.3)
9.7
(4.8)
9.5
(4.6)
Type A
Mean*
(SD)
0.79
(8.5)
-3.0
(9.4)
-2.0
(9.4)
-2.6
(8.2)
* Group 1 > Group 2 & Group 3 (p < 0.01)

51. Personality and Hypertension:
Effect of Hypertension
Awareness
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Neuroticism
Aware Hyper
Normot
Unaware Hyper
Normot
Aware hypertensive > normotensive & unaware hypertensive,
P < 0.001

52. Personality and Hypertension:
Conclusion
Do hypertensives have a different personality
than those with normal blood pressure?
– No, because the unaware hypertensives did not
differ from the normotensives.
Why did the aware and unaware hypertensives
differ?
– Possible explanations?

53. Personality and Hypertension:
Conclusion
 Awareness of hypertension status
confounds assessment of the association
between personality characteristics and
hypertension.
– Due to hypertension labeling effect; or
– Due to self-selection bias

54. Cross-Sectional Study
Designs
 Compares groups at one point in time
– E.g., age groups, ethnic groups, disease groups.
 Advantage is that it is an efficient way to
identify possible group differences because
you can study them at one point in time.
 Disadvantage is that you cannot rule out
cohort effects.

55. Longitudinal Design
 Gathers data on a factor (e.,g. confidence) over time.
 Advantage is that you can see the time course of the
development or change in the variables
– Confidence increasing with age.
– Confidence increasing at a faster rate in the 30’s than the
40’s.
– Confidence decreasing in the 50’s and 60’s.
Disadvantage is it is costly and still subject to bias

56. Cohort-Sequential Design
 Combines a bit of the cross-sectional design and
longitudinal design
– E.g., Different age groups are compared on a variable over
time.
 Advantage – very efficient and reduces some of the
biases in the cross-sectional design since you can see
the evolution of change over time.
 Disadvantage – cannot rule out cohort bias or the
problem of the ‘unidentified’ third variable
accounting for the change.

57. Naturalistic Observation
 Aims to unobtrusively observe behaviour in
the natural setting.
 Observing in the natural setting enables one
to minimize or eliminate the problem of
artificial behaviour in response to being
studied (i.e., reactivity effects).
 One variation is being a participant observer
(e.g., undercover agent).

58. Naturalistic Observation
 Advantages
– Observe the natural phenomena (not artificial)
 Disadvantages
– Observer bias
– Reactivity in subjects
– Ethics

59. Meta Analysis
(Glass 1976)
 Quantitative approach to integrate and
describe results across a range of
independent studies.
 Enables you to combine the probability (p)
value for statistical tests over a number of
studies.
 Enables you to determine the effect size of
the independent variable (e.g., treatment
group) across studies.

60. Survey Research
 Collecting standarized information from
people using an interview or self-report
format.
 Typically survey knowledge or opinions.
 To standarized the information one uses a
questionnaire with set questions.
 Ideally the questionnaire has been validated.
 Representativeness of the sample is very
important.

61. Survey Methods
 Interviews
– Advantage - Comprehensive, ensure participant
understands the question, minimizes missing
data, enables clarification of unclear responses
– Disadvantage – expensive, people more like to
refuse participation, can be risky for interviewer,
interviewer may bias the responses.

62. Types of Survey Methods
 Face-to-face interviews
– Expensive and time-consuming
 Telephone interviews
– Need to use random-digit dialing to reach both
listed and unlisted numbers.
 Mail
– Return rate is usually low (20-30%).

63. Types of Questions
 Open-ended
– E.g., Can you tell me about your typical
experience with dating?
 Close-ended
– E.g., How do you typically meet someone to date?
 Introduced by someone
 Social event
 In university class or place of work
 At a bar
 Through sports or other athletic events

64. Sampling
 Population is everyone in your population
of interest.
 Sample is some proportion of the
population.
 Haphazard sampling – convenience sample
 Random sampling
– There is always some degree of sampling error.

65. Qualitative Methods
 Multimethod approach to studying people in
their natural environment
– It is interpretive – researcher has to make sense
of the data
– Multimethod – can use interviews,
photographs, natural observation, archives, etc.
– It is typically conducted in person’s natural
environment.
 Valuable to use when phenomenon not fully
defined.

66. Qualitative Methods
Limitations
 Participant’s observations and accounts can
be biased. For example, filtered by his/her
style of expression, gender, social class,
race, age, ethnicity, etc.
 People are seldom able to provide a true and
full account of their experience.
– Defensive
– Lack insight
– Unaware

67. Qualitative Methods
Transcripts

68. Experimental Designs
 Examines differences between experimentally
manipulated groups or variables (e.g., one
group gets a certain drug and the other gets a
placebo).
 At minimum, experimental (independent)
variable has two levels (e.g., drug vs.
placebo).
– Advantage is that you can determine causality.
– Disadvantage is cost and many variables cannot
be experimentally manipulated (e.g., smoke
exposure over time).

69. Experimental Designs
Four Canons for Identifying
Causality
 Method of Agreement –
– Observe the element common to several
instances of the event
– Problem is you may inadvertently overlook a
significant variable.
 Method of Difference –
– Identify the different effects produced by two
situations that are alike in all ways but one.
– Fairly robust and strong method.

70. Experimental Designs
Four Canons for Identifying
Causality
 Joint methods of agreement and difference
– Observe the element common to several
instances of the event
– Form hypothesis based on observations
– Test hypothesis using method of difference
 Method of Concomitant Variation –
– Identify the different effects produced by more
than two situations that are alike in all ways but
one.
– E.g., Compare two active drugs to a placebo

71. Experimental Design
 Because it is so difficult with human behaviour
to demonstrate causation unequivocally, some
argue that a theory or prediction can only
achieve the status of “not yet disconfirmed”
(Popper, 1968).
 Our scientific efforts are directed at finding the
causal factors rather than ‘the cause’ per se.

72. Psychological Experiment:
Is Objective
 Researcher strives for freedom from bias.
 Recognize that:
– Mistakes can occur
– Carefully scrutinize all steps of the experiment to
identify where mistakes are likely.
– Take the steps necessary to minimize error.

73. Psychological Experiment:
Focuses on a Phenomenon
 This is a publicly observable behaviour.
– Actions
– Appearances
– Verbal statements
– Responses to questionnaires
– Physiological responses.

74. Psychological Experiment:
Is Done Under Strictly Controlled
Conditions
 Eliminate all factors that could influence the
outcome other than the factor being
manipulated.
 Control is needed to infer causation.
 All conditions are kept constant except one;
the manipulated variable.
 The variable of interest is varied in order to
test its effect.

75. Experimental Method
 Advantages
– Strength with which causal relationships can be
inferred.
– Ability to manipulate one or more variables.
– Proven to be a very useful and robust scientific
method (i.e., withstood the test of time).

76. Experimental Method
 Disadvantages
– Tight controls often produce artificial
conditions that could limit the generalizability
of the findings (i.e., internal vs. external
validity trade-off).
– Time consuming.
– Expensive.
– Human behaviour is very complex and cannot
be fully studied using experimental methods.

77. Experimental Method:
Threats to Internal Validity
 Learning or practice effects
– Scores on a measure change on repeat testing
because participant has more familiarity with
the measure and so answers more truthfully.
 Natural history effects
– Something happens in the social background
(e.g., society because more affluent generally)
and this influences the participant’s responses.
 Maturation
– Natural developments in the participant account
for the changes (e.g., getting older).

78. Experimental Method:
Threats to Internal Validity
 Regression to the mean
– High scores generally move down toward the
mean and low scores move up.
 Instrumentation
– If pre and post tests are not equivalent in all
ways (e.g., difficulty, readability) then
differences observed may be due to
‘instrumentation’ differences rather than due to
your experimental manipulation.

79. Experimental Method:
Threats to Internal Validity
 Subject problems
– Selection bias (e.g., participation rate).
– Attrition (e.g., only motivated subjects stay in
the experiment).

80. Experimental Method:
Threats to External Validity
 Subject variables
– Selection bias.
– Attrition bias
 Artificial conditions
– E.g., In order to measure a subject’s blood
pressure in response to a well-fined stressor you
bring him/her into the laboratory but his/her
response in the laboratory may not reflect how
his/her blood pressure would really respond
under stress in his natural environment.

81. Let me know…
 If there are any topics from today’s lecture that
need fuller explanations.
 Anything you particularly liked about the
lecture (today’s or others as we go along).
 Anything you particularly disliked about the
lecture (today’s or others as we go along).

82. THANK YOU!