Briefly About Research Methods and Research Methodology

What is Research Method?

In general, the notion of a research method implies the key principles of a research design.

In this case, a design of a particular research study involves different strategies you will use while collecting, compiling, analyzing, and implicating the required data to any business issue. Depending on the nature of your research and its purpose, there are four main categories of the research methods that are usually used in the academic writing.

Types of Research Methods

In general, the scientists distinguish two basic classifications of the research methods. The first one, which is related to the nature of a research paper, includes the analytical and descriptive methods of the research methods. Another category is based on the purpose of a research paper.

Respectively, it can be divided into two sub-categories that involve the applied research and the fundamental one. While the applied research is conducted within a single discipline, the researchers using the fundamental study complete the materials from different sources and make them work together towards finding a proper solution to a given problem.The descriptive method may differ in the qualitative and quantitative approaches to the writing a research paper. For instance, the qualitative-descriptive research method of a study implies a detailed description of different case studies using by means of conducting a document review, an interview, or an observation. In this case, the researchers discuss the various challenges faced by the individuals as well as the perceptions of people.

In turn, the quantitative-description research method includes only the numerical descriptions and the measurement of different variables. Using these methods, the researchers tend to describe the number of the studies’ participants and provide the characteristics of these individuals.Another type of a research design is regarded as a meta-analysis the primary goal of which is to synthesize the multiple studies related to a common issue. Some researchers underline the importance of the correlational analysis for the modern science. Using this common research method, the scientists have a great opportunity to study the relationship between two particular variables. The field of an experiment is the following common aspect of a research paper.

In general, taking into account this research field, a number of scholars underline two different methods that include the quasi-experimental and the experimental research approaches. The only difference between these two types of the research design is the fact that the quasi-experimental methods do not imply the random assignment while the experimental one tends to assign the participants by chance.

What is a Research Methodology?

Research Methodology implies the use of specific techniques in your paper during different stages of the writing process. The important thing is that this section of your paper deals with the critical evaluation of its reliability, validity, and credibility. Hence, a research methodology attempts to answer the questions related to the data collection and its in-depth analysis as well.

Main Types of Research Methodology

In this section, the important issue that should be discussed is the first classification of a research methodology.

In fact, there are two basic approaches used by the academics while conducting their studies. They include a qualitative research happened on-site and a quantitative research that may be conducted indirectly off-site. The first category involves the studies related to the human behavior that offer the interviews and observations as the common research methods. Another one is a quantitative approach that, usually, relies on a long-running data collection process as well as on the analysis of the findingsAccording to another classification, a research methodology may be divided into three categories depending on the field of study. A list of these methodologies includes a library research, a field research, and a laboratory research.

In this case, the first field deals mainly with the data collection and its analysis. Another type known as a field research implies a detailed description of the statistical techniques that are applied to establish the relationship between the data and the unknown elements. The final type is a laboratory research that aims at evaluating the accuracy of the given results.

Differences Between Methods and Methodology

Although research methods and methodology have a common purpose and similar principles, still, these two notions have particular differences. While different research methods are regarded as the tools of the scientific studies, the concept of a research methodology refers to a particular way used by scholars in the attempt to solve a given problem.

How to Write a Research Methodology?

Before you start writing your academic article, look through some dissertations or research papers in order to have a better understanding of a research methodology section.

Then, make an outline that will include a set of research questions as well as a research approach you will use. Make sure that your research methods are relevant and valid.