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Queen Mary Academy

Scholarship Methodologies

A research methodology is an approach that you use to acquire the knowledge you have identified in your research question(s). In this section, you will find a number of commonly used methodologies. 

Action Research

Action Research is a methodology that allows you to investigate educational practices as you engage in them (praxis).

There are several ways to help you get acquainted with this methodology in the context of educational scholarship. As a first step, you can self-enrol in our QMplus course Starting your scholarship journey with Action Research.

Action Research plays a large part in the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) offered through the Taught Programmes team. You can learn more about that from the PGCAP web page.

You can contact the Queen Mary Academy to arrange for a workshop on Action Research for your team or explore some of the resources below.

  • Arnold, L. and Norton, L. (2018) HEA Action Research: Practice Guide. York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledgehub/action-research-practice-guide
  • Arnold, L. and Norton, L. (2018) HEA action research: sector case studies. York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/heaaction-research-sector-case-studies
  • Arnold, L. (2015) Action research for higher education practitioners: A practical guide. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/action-research-practiceguide
  • Koshy, V. (2010) Action Research for improving educational practice (2nd edition). London: Sage. 
  • McNiff, J. (2010) Action Research for professional development. Dorset: September Books. Stringer, E. (2014) Action Research (4th edition). London: Sage. 
  • McNiff, J. (2017) Action research: all you need to know. London: Sage. McNiff, J. (2016) You and your action research project (4th Ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. 
  • McNiff, J. and Whitehead, J. (2006) All you need to know about Action Research. London: Sage. 
  • Norton, L. (2009) Action Research in Teaching and Learning. A practical guide to conducting pedagogical research in universities. Abingdon: Routledge

Focus Group

Focus group is a social research method that gather a small group of people to under their views or experiences of a particular topic.

There are several definitions of focus groups, for example organised discussion (Kitzinger, 1994) or collective activity (Powell et al., 1996). Whatever the definition, a focus group is essentially a group interview. It is a quick and effective way to gather qualitative data from a group of people who might share a common topic of interest.  

There are pros and cons to conducting focus groups and you as the researcher play a crucial role in an effective focus group.   

Group size and length of session : 

It is recommended you should have between four to ten participants for up to two hours.   

Your role :

You need to play an active role in a focus group, to encourage active discussions, to ask probing question, to tease out difference of opinions and to critically challenge what is being discussed. Most importantly, you need to control the group and ensure the discussion is on topic, whilst allowing enough freedom so you get the most out of your participants.   

Above all, you must remain impartial; you should not agree or disagree with particular opinions or comments.   

Pro :

  • Quick and effective way to gather qualitative data from multiple people  
  • Could generate data from participants’ reactions to each other, something that Is unique to focus group  
  • Could better qualify and highlight issues if revealed and agreed by several participants  
  • Participants can encourage each other to reveal their feelings in a supportive environment that they might otherwise be unwilling to share  
  • Participants might ask each other questions that you, as the researcher, might omit  

Cons :

  • You don’t have as much control over how the discussion might develop, compared to individual interviews.  
  • Participants might feel the social pressure to not reveal their honest opinions or they might be affected by the behaviours of others.   
  • Due to the time constrain, you might not get as detailed data as you would with individual interviews.   
  • Participants might ask questions that are unrelated or of little use and it could be hard for you to balance controlling the discussion and allowing freedom  
  • You might unavoidably express your opinions leading to participants giving not totally authentic response.   

References:  

Gibbs, A. (n.d.). Social Research Update 19: Focus Groups. Sociology at Surrey. Retrieved 21 May 2024, from https://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU19.html 

Health Liaison Librarians. (n.d.). LibGuides: Qualitative study design: Focus groups. Retrieved 21 May 2024, from https://deakin.libguides.com/qualitative-study-designs/focus-groups 

Kitxinger, J. (1994). The methodology of Focus Groups: The importance of interaction between research participants. Sociology of Health and Illness, 16(1), 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.ep11347023 

Powell, R. A., & Single, H. M. (1996). Focus Groups. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 8(5), 499–504. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/8.5.499 

Survey

Surveys can be useful to general overall opinions from a large group of participants over a short period of time.

When designing a survey, the first thing you should consider is a well-defined purpose of the survey, how the will questions help answer your research question(s) and ideally, identify your target population and sample size to ensure representative result.  

You should develop questions that are clear, concise and relevant. To achieve a balanced result, you could consider using a mix of open-ended and close-ended questions. This approach can achieve depth and quantifiability of your data.  

If time allows, you should pilot test your survey with a small group of people to identify issues and refine your questions.  

You should also give full consideration to ethics, such as how formal consent can be sought and whether you will have a workflow in place for participants to withdraw from your study if they wish to. 

Open-ended questions:

These questions are designed to be answered with free text, either of few words or longer answer, depends on your aims. They are used to collect qualitative data, such as opinions, experiences, accounts and narratives.  

Close-ended questions: 

These questions provide a specific set of predefined responses for your participants to choose from. They can be multiple-choice options, yes/no answers, rating scales or Likert scales. They are used to gather quantitative data, allowing more efficient data analysis and comparison.  

Key challenge: 

A key challenge of surveys is participant recruitment. Plan your publicity carefully before embarking on a large-scale survey. For context, look at your module/programme/school/institute response rates for existing surveys such as module evaluation and NSS. Think about the resource that goes into publicising these. Then consider if you are likely to attract students to completing your (additional) survey and how to ensure you reach your target audience. 

References:  

Deakin University. (n.d.). LibGuides: Qualitative study design: Survey. Retrieved 29 June 2024, from https://deakin.libguides.com/qualitative-study-designs/focus-groups 

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