2 Research methodology

General

After formulating a research question – or in case of engineering projects the aims and objectives – you need to decide how this investigation can be undertaken, the type, quantity and quality of data you need to answer the research question or to achieve the objectives.

Quantitative or qualitative methods

In research we distinguish between  quantitative (concerned with numbers) and qualitative methods. Research of scientists and engineers involving experimental design, measurement and numerical data processing is called quantitative. Mathematical (statistical) methods are then used to find for example correlations of or interrelations between behaviour, measurements or responses from questionnaires.

Qualitative research on the other hand is concerned with opinion, experience and meanings and perceptions, and is often based on data from observations, surveys or interviews. Data can be used in many ways: for example to provide background information, to identify a problem or to support your arguments or as evidence. If used properly they will improve the quality of your work. A ‘case study’ is a likely place to use qualitative research: here often a question is posed, followed by research; results are obtained and tentative conclusions drawn.

In social and natural sciences research is often referred to as empirical research, which is the scientific method of testing a hypothesis through observation and experiment. This can be done with quantitative or qualitative methods.

Some methods of research:

• Literature research to find out what other authors or researchers have written about a topic related to your research (secondary data). Guidelines of how to conduct such research and how to integrate other authors’ work into your work can be found in the sections on Literature based research, Literature review and Avoiding plagiarism.
• Surveys or interviews, two instruments of empirical research (primary data). For more details go to Writing up surveys and interviews in the Results chapter.
  
• Site visits/ site analysis to for instance take photographs, take measurements or make sketches.

The choice of methods has to be connected to a consideration of what to do with the data after collecting them,  how to analyse them.

Since these methods can be established evaluation instruments such as the morphological box, statistical methods or other instruments and differ between disciplines to a great extent, this writing guide does not provide more details.