A session with Neil and Clive – Methodology

The session today I found useful, I think I found it helpful as it allows collaborative work to be carried out on our Independent Studies. It allows me to gain some reassurance about my ideas and work. The sessions have a sense of ‘togetherness’ about them and I feel this to be good as it shows to me that I am not alone on this project.

Literature Review

• What is it you’re reading?
• Who wrote it?
• Why did they write it?
• When did they write it?
• Select and sample research
• Page numbers for citations and Journals needed

The decision NOT to read is as important as the decision to read a piece of text.

Methodologies

• Who has researched into the area before
• Epistemology – the study of knowledge
• Why would it be researched in this way?
• Positivistic/ Interpretivistic
• Do ‘you’ want to find a definite answer or discussing what is already known and creating further areas of study? Exploratory versus Explanatory
• The ‘thinking’ behind the research
• Why are ‘you’ choosing this particular method?
• Ontology
• Nomological/ Positivist – could be followed by everyone, underlying laws
• Idiographic/ interpretivistic – expect to see differences between people’s views (specific understanding)
• Empirical – doing, creating your own research. Generating ‘your’ own data
• Inductive – theory then data
• Deductive – data then theory
• Reliability/ Truth/ Validity/ Collection
• Power
• Ethics – why one way and not another/ be critical and reflective

In your appendix you can explain methodology and do a paragraph explaining certain aspects of the area, for example, paradigms.

Question and Answer

Rachel: If we use an online journal do we have to state in our references that it was found online or can we just simply give the full reference of the journal if it is available?

Clive: You do not have to state that it was found online; you do not have to actually touch the journal!

Useful question that I would have and have already thought to myself!

Check out Bibliographies advice on WebCT