An Overview of the Research Process

Step 1: Motivation

Step 2: Research question(s)

Step 3: Literature review

Step 4: Choose general orientation (Quantitative OR Qualitative)

• Quantitative (choose design)
  • Experiments
  • Surveys
    • Structured interviews
    • Questionnaires
  • Structured observation
  • Case studies
• Qualitative (choose design)
  • Ethnography
  • Participant observation
  • Unstructured interviews
  • Semi-structured interviews
  • Life history
  • Oral history
  • Narrative analysis
  • Focus groups
  • Content analysis
    • Ethnographic
    • Semiotics
    • Hermeneutics
    • Conversation analysis
    • Discourse analysis

Step 5: Ethics review

Step 6: Gather data

Step 7: Analyze data

Step 8: Findings

Step 9: Conclusions

• Conclusions for quantitative orientation
  • Do the findings support the hypothesis?
  • Implications for existing theories?
  • New hypotheses, concepts, or theories gathered?
  • Implications for further research?
• Conclusions for qualitative orientation
  • Do the findings provide a new interpretation of a person, group, setting, event, or text?
  • Implications for existing theories?
  • New hypotheses, concepts, or theories generated?
  • Implications for further research?
  • Do the findings illustrate group processes or social conflict in a new way?