Creating Postgraduate Collaborations › Forums › CPC Supervision Development Course 2 › Module 3 › Module 3, Session 3: Research approach and design
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Share your input on the questions for reflection regarding research approach and design.
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I would regard the Research Approaches as the foundation upon which the whole frame of research is built, given the fact that it encompasses the plans and procedures and the whole gamut of research processes from start from finish. Furthermore, these research approaches are embedded within the philosophical worldviews of researchers within specific disciplinary boundaries. Of course, there are other approaches that seek to transcend the rigid disciplinary boundaries – hence the need for mixed-method research. The Research Designs are DEPENDENT on the chosen APPROACH. It then follows that if a researcher strictly falls within the Qualitative approach, they are somewhat arm-twisted to employ the narrative design, phenomenology, grounded theory and some of such qualitative designs. The flip side of this is that the Quantitative researcher has at his/her disposal experimental designs as well as nonexperimental designs among others. Exploratory sequential and explanatory sequential among others are earmarked for use by the mixed-method researchers. It is a fact that the approach to teaching needs to be further simplified to a level where students can relate because the sad truth is that even postgrad students are faced with an insurmountable hurdle of unpacking these concepts that are largely theorized. Research must be practical – and less theoretical when it’s taught.
I believe that research approaches and designs provide one with the opportunity to apply and think creatively about how one wants to approach their research. It is here that the researcher gets to make informed choices and also try out new methods. For example for my PhD, I was keen to try an interdisciplinary methodology, which meant that I had to first do a lot of reading on what that would look like and how to go about it. I know from my experience that words like interdisciplinary can gain attention in institutions but not much effort is put into supporting research designs of this nature because disciplines are still too mainstream. Unless one finds a supervisor or a team that is willing to work together on this approach, then it’s almost like one is swimming against the tide, especially here in South Africa. I also believe that the challenge of finding examiners of said disciplines who would also be open to marking an interdisciplinary study. Unless a supervisor finds like-minded (open-minded) examiners who embrace this approach, then the student is at risk of being marked down by ‘experts’ who only see their fields of study from a purist mindset.
For me, I think interdisciplinarity has provided me with a wider scope of understanding methods and theories, as such I will continue to advocate for it because it also challenged me to think of ways I was going to share my research findings. I am left thinking, however, whether this method will gain more popularity beyond being the buzzword, and actually get students and supervisors at Rhodes University for example to truly embrace it in their practices.
I totally agree with the above comment from Phemelo on the importance of interdisciplinary approach. It provides a wider scope of understanding theories and on the other hand, has a wider audience as other people can relate and understand your research making it comprehensive. I also wish that it gains popularity it academic and non academic set up globally and specifically in Africa.
From this side of the scope, mostly researches are based on disciplinary approach. Tending to focus majorly within specialization areas offered in respective departments. A times is also determined by faculty specialty within the institutions. Funding and capacity availability like instrumentation and consumable would influence the extend of research within the sciences. Research teams or groups are yet fully embraced due to different reasons. My inclination would be on interdisciplinary research approaches, which certainly when well coordinated and facilitated would give researchers a bigger platform to share knowledge and networks. For this to be optimized, challenges of supervision resource availability have to forethought.
I think the worldview and the research approach are the foundation upon everything else is to be developed. I think this main point we will also lead to ask certain questions and to choose the methods. I consider essential to take the time to reflect on these points before starting an investigation and also to encourage these reflections in the students with whom we work.
The research approach is a systematic way used to direct research. The approach also guides which design and blueprint can be used to undertake the study. it guides the selection of participants tools, and process of data analysis. Worldview too influences the approach to be selected.
My reflection regarding the four world view is that they just need to be applied relevantly to research areas by the PhD students I supervise and this can only be achieved when my students are well grounded in what positivism, transformative, constructivism and pragmatic entails. It came out clearly that the natural sciences lean more on experimental designs nd none experimental designs where as the social science embrace the narrative, ground theory, among others, the so called qualitative and mixed methods. I am a social science person and the PhD students I supervised and graduated last year used the mixed method because it take care of the strength and weakness of the other when it comes to methodology application.
My input on the questions for reflection regarding research approach and design is that they were quite challenging because they meant application of what I had listed to. It is indeed true that research design is a road map that needs to be used relevantly depending on the issue under study for the effective analysis and completion of the research. I am trying to think of if I use a wrong map to give direction to my destination. It may not be easy for me to reach where I wanted to go
The need to understand the research approach and research design is well emphasized in the presentations here. Cleary without a proper conceptualization of the research approach and design, it would be impossible to complete any research project. A well knitted mix of the particular world view(s), research approach and research design makes conducting of a research project almost seamless, enjoyable and easy. It however takes lots of reading and reflections to fit the research problem to the research approach and design.
The best approaches that would address questions on the “Effectivene Measures for COVID -19 control” in my opinion would be the mixed methods apporach.
First because COVID-19 is a new disease, scientists will need laboratory experiments first to decipher the DNA and RNA characteristics of the virus in order to come up with an effective vaccine.
Second as a result of the above tests, scientists would be in the laboratory to come up with appropriate vaccines hat can be able to halt the spread of the virus in the human body, wchich they would need to test on lab rats before using it on Humans.Social Scientists would use qualitative approaches to determine human characteristics and behaviour predispose them to COVID-19
Additionally governments will have to grapple with the legal issues surrounding the surveilance of people and how the disease is spresding and the implications on human rights.Overall the approach to COVID – 19 control is pragmatic in nature and therefore has to be apporached from multiple fronts
The presentation is very informative. Research approaches and designs are influenced by several factors as clearly brought out in the presentation. The way the presentation is organized makes it is easier to finally bring out the important elements in determining which is the appropriate design depending on the philosophical world view of the researcher, how knowledge is structured in the area of research and how this influence the selection of the research approach and finally the specific methods that are used in the study.
social scientists can use the mixed methods approach to understand phenomena better than using only the qualitative approach. In this way studies can benefit from the two approaches.The presentation of research designs and methods is very informative. Its important for one to understand which of the design and methods would be best for particular research question to be solved. Incase of Effective measures for COVID-19 mixed method research strategy which would incorporate qualitative and quantitative data.
The approach and design of a research depend majorly on the discipline. For research questions on COVID 19, mixed methods of research approach and design need to be employed. This is because the dynamics of the COVID 19 virus cuts across all disciplines. Quantitative approaches need to be used because testing for the virus needs to be done to confirm its spread while the qualitative approach helps in showing clearly how the virus spread. These two approaches will help in developing effective ways how to stop the spread of the virus.
The mixed approach can be put into practice by involving different disciplines to work together to come up with effective measures to stop the spread. The physical scientist will test while the social scientist will look at the patterns of how the virus spread through the population.Being a social scientist I believe horizontal knowledge structures is the most applicable in my discipline.
Each world view may be applicable to different research problems however I feel that the pragmatism approach is the most ideal in social sciences especially wheñ research funds are available. It is ideal because it integrates multiple research methods hence helps in gaining a better understanding of the problem of study.
When it comes to disciplinary perspective, I would prefer the interdisciplinary approach since it may help in solving complex research problems whose solutions are beyond the scope of one discipline
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