Research methods workshop delivered by Alyssa Meyer

1. A L Y S S A M E Y E R
V I S I T I N G R E S E A R C H F E L L O W
T I A N S H A N P O L I C Y C E N T E R
The Fundamentals of
Conducting Research

2. Why Do We Research?
 Research allows you to pursue your interests, to
learn something new, challenge yourself in new
ways.
 Every academic field of study utilizes research to further
investigate or find answers to new questions.
 As a researcher you seek to find answers to questions of
interest to you.

3. Research Topic
 A research topic is the subject that you are
researching.
 For example, I’m researching Kyrgyzstan’s energy
crisis.
 But just knowing my topic does not tell you want I am trying to
learn about the topic...

4. Research Question
 A research question summarizes what you are trying
to understand about your topic as you conduct your
research.
 It allows you to narrow the scope of your topic.
 A strong research question can help you better
understand what kind of information you should
include in your paper, which sources you should look
at.

5. Example Research Question
• Research topic:
Kyrgyzstan’s energy crisis
• Research question:
How does Kyrgyzstan’s
energy crisis impact the
everyday life of the
population?
Within the text of your
paper, you might express
your research question as:
“This research seeks to
illustrate how
Kyrgyzstan’s on-going
energy crisis has impacted
the everyday living
conditions of its
population.”

6. Your Research Question Might Change...
 Why?
 You discover lack you information that you thought you
understood about your research topic
 You find new sources that reveal a new perspective on your
topic
 Your work on the original question raises a more interesting,
new question
 The setting in which you are researching changes

7. 2012-2013 2015-2016
 Given Kyrgyzstan’s
energy crisis, could
small-scale renewable
energy provide a
potential solution?
 How does
Kyrgyzstan’s energy
crisis impact the
everyday life of the
population?
Example From My Work

8. Research Methodology
 How will you go about answering your research
question?
 What kinds of sources will you use?
 There are two main types of research methodology
 Quantitative
 Qualitative

9. Quantitative Research
 Main purpose: The quantification of data or relationships.
 Quantitative researchers seek to measure effects,
relationships, or impacts using numbers.
 Often times they are using quantitative data—data in the form
of numbers
 Your shoe size
 How many times you got sick in the last year
 Large quantitative project often require data analysis program
such as SAS, STATA, or SPSS
 Examples of quantitative research questions might include
 What is the impact of climate change on commercial energy
consumption?
 Does GPA impact a recent graduate’s ability to get a job?

10. Qualitative Research
 Main purpose: Gaining an in-depth understanding of
underlying reasons and motivations. It provides insights
into the setting of a problem and potential solutions.
 Often times you are utilizing descriptive or qualitative
data. This data is observed, but not measured.
 People’s thoughts or feelings
 Accounts of events
 Sometimes qualitative studies will proceed quantitative
work so that the researcher has a clearer idea of what to
measure.
 Examples of qualitative research questions:
 How has the sale of Kyrgyzgaz impacted gas contracts and delivery in
Kyrgyzstan?
 Why do parents in Kyrgyzstan chose to homeschool their children?

11. Research Methodology Example: My Current Research
 Research question: How does Kyrgyzstan’s energy
crisis impact the everyday life of the population?
 Methodology: Both qualitative and quantitative!
 Sources: Newspaper articles, daily journals of 30
participants, reports of governmental and non-
governmental organizations, academic analyses

12. What about my current
research is qualitative?
What makes it
quantitative research?
 It will use quotes from
the daily journal
entries and interviews
from participants will
describe problems
experienced by
participants
 It will also attempt to
measure the impact of
shutoffs of
gas/heat/electricity on
participants’ lives by
inputting the data into
statistical software.
 Does a person become sick more
often when the heat in his house is
frequently shutoff?
 How significant are the economic
losses suffered by a household
whose electricity goes out often?
 Spoiled groceries
 Inability to complete work
Example (cont.)

13. Literature Review
 A literature review is intended to help you better
understand what kind of research has been done on
your topic before.
 Who else has tried to answer your research question before?
 How did they answer it?
 What was their research methodology?
 What sources did they use?

14. Literature Review Concerns
• How far do you extend the scope of your literature
review?
• Look at research that has answered similar questions as yours
• Think about key pieces about your research topic you need to
understand to be able to answer your research question
• Look at the sources cited in your sources!
• When do you stop reading sources?
• A general rule for beginners is that you should include at least
ten sources.

15. Literature Review Example
 Possible sources:
 Kyrgyzstan’s energy crisis
 Causes
 Regional reserves
 Geopolitics
 Infrastructure
 Impacts
 Crisis and everyday life
 Energy shortages and
their impacts
Research question:
How does Kyrgyzstan’s
energy crisis impact the
everyday life of the
population?

16. General Formatting
 Abstract: Summarizes the research’s main
questions and findings in a few paragraphs
 Introduction: Introduces your research question
and some of the previous work on the topic from
your literature review
 Body: The majority of the content of your research
 Conclusion: Reminds the reader of the overall
conclusions made in the body, discusses unfinished
work or unanswered questions for further research
 Bibliography: Provides a full list of all of the
sources you read and referenced

17. If you have questions…
WARC: Room 237
warc@auca.kg
12/9/2015