Research methodology simply refers to the practical “how” of any given piece of research.

More specifically, it’s about how a researcher systematically designs a study to ensure valid and reliable results that address the research aims and objectives. 

For example, how did the researcher go about deciding:

• What data to collect (and what data to ignore)
• Who to collect it from (in research, this is called “sampling design”)
• How to collect it (this is called “data collection methods”)
• How to analyze it (this is called “data analysis methods”)

In a dissertation, thesis, academic journal article (or pretty much any formal piece of research), you’ll find a research methodology chapter (or section) that covers the aspects mentioned above.

Importantly, a good methodology chapter in a dissertation or thesis explains not just what methodological choices were made, but also explains why they were made.

In other words, the methodology chapter should justify the design choices, by showing that the chosen methods and techniques are the best fit for the research aims and objectives, and will provide valid and reliable results. A good research methodology provides scientifically sound findings, whereas a poor methodology doesn’t. We’ll look at the main design choices below.

COURSE CURRICULUM

There are 3 parts in this Research Methodology and Biostatistics – Part 2 online Course:

PART A – Literature Review – This consists of 6 lessons with assignments consisting of 10 multiple-choice, true/false, and missing word questions.

PART B – Writing the Masters/Doctoral Dissertation – This consists of 12 lessons with assignments.

PART C – Biostatistics – each lesson comprises of 3 videos, making a total of  22 short videos – most are 5 – 10 minutes long covering a specific aspect of Biostatistics. There are assignments after each lesson.

PART A – LITERATURE REVIEW

Lesson 1 – Select a Topic – personal interest in the former research topic, choosing a research topic, research bias, selecting the focus of your study, choosing the vantage point for the study, developing your research statement, library use, writing the preliminary research topic statement

Lesson 2 – Search the Literature – search tasks and tools, search the literature to review, conduct a literature search, manage your data, scan the literature, use the Internet and library, map your materials, map by the core idea, refine your topic

Lesson 3 – Develop the Argument – building the case for a literature review, the basics of arguments, teamwork, understanding claims, building evidence, connecting the evidence to the claim, multi-claims argument

Lesson 4 – Survey the Literature – building the argument, assembling and cataloging the data,  reasoning patterns, organizing the information, analyzing the patterns of the data, building the discovery argument, analyzing the argument

Lesson 5 – Critique the Literature – interpreting the literature, implicative  reasoning, argument patterns, backing, evaluating literature critique

Lesson 6 – Write the Review – the writing process, write to understand, literature review format, composing drafts, writing to be understood, completing the final draft, auditing the final draft, tips on writing

PART B – Writing the Master/Doctoral Dissertation

Lesson 1 – What is a Research Proposal – 7 basic questions, the structure of research proposals, the evaluation of research proposals

Lesson 2 – Successful Research Proposals – essential elements of a research proposal, why research proposals may be rejected, exceptional research proposals

Lesson 3 – Selling an Idea – providing information, target audience, the art of persuasion

Lesson 4 – The Aims of the Research – clarity, accuracy, precision, aims, background research

Lesson 5 – Literature Review – what do we already know, what literature to include, literature search, reviewing publications, what should the literature review contain, scoping the research

Lesson 6 – Research Questions – the importance of good research questions, the format of research questions, types of research questions, the difference between aims, research problems, objectives, and research questions, need for an open-minded approach

Lesson 7 – Research Methods – description of the methods, how will the data be analyzed, choice of methods, risk assessment, limitations

Lesson 8 – Planning of Resources – planning the time, the scale of the project, accounting for the costs, research skills

Lesson 9 – Research Ethics – what kind of research need ethical approval, do all research proposals cover research ethics, code of research ethics, principles of research ethics, risk assessment, ethics approval

Lesson 10 – Research Outcomes – value for money, outcomes, and findings, types of outcome, dissemination of findings, impact

Lesson 11 – Management of Dissertation Activities – research records, planning and control of daily work, writing the dissertation drafts, methodological assistance, personal health, and family relationships, writer’s block

Lesson 12 – The Defence and Publishing of the Results – preparing for the defense of the dissertation, journal articles, and books,

PART C – Biostatistics

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Statistics – bar charts, pie charts, histograms, time plots, mode, median, mean, range, and standard deviation

Lesson 2 – The Effects of Transforming Data – on spread and center, the effects of outliers on spread and center, the five-number summary, boxplots, and outliers

Lesson 3 – Percentiles – symmetry, skewness, explanatory and response variables, correlation

Lesson 4 – Regression and R-Squared – residuals, the effects of outliers, and extrapolation on regression

Lesson 5 – Causation and Association – placebo effects, control groups, double-blind experiments, types of experimental designs

Lesson 6 – Types of Sampling Methods – census, density properties, and their properties

Lesson 7 – The Normal Distribution – 68-95-99.7 rule, Z-scores, standardization, standard normal distribution, probability, sample spaces, and complement rules

Lesson 8 – Null and Alternative Hypotheses – statistical hypothesis testing

Course Materials

All of the materials are supplied online and in downloadable .pdf files.