31 Jan Explain why this method is the be

DOC670 Applied Statistics for Research

Module 1 Case

ASSESSMENT OF DATA SOURCES FOR THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Assignment Overview

You will be working from the statement of intent about your project and the introduction that you originally prepared in DOC650 along with the literature review that you prepared in DOC660. By now, you should have a pretty good idea of the structure of your project, what you hope to accomplish with it, who you will be working with on it, and what you will actually be doing. The purpose of this methodology statement is to describe systematically what you will be doing in your research and how you will be doing it.

In the Case for this module, you will be reviewing numerous readings relating to different kinds of studies and how they are structured, the relationship between research questions and study design, and the constraints on research posed by different kinds of designs. You will then be asked to review your study and your research questions in light of this material, and to select and describe an appropriate study design that you believe will help you answer the research questions you have posed. This will constitute the first section of your project methodology.

As the course progresses, you will be making a series of decisions in which you will increasingly specify the structure of your project. These decisions build on each other in critical ways. However, you are not locked into previous decisions if you subsequently decide you need to change direction. In each subsequent module, as you build up your methodology, you will have an opportunity to go back and revise and/or extend the sections completed in previous modules. Case grades given for the first four modules will be advisory rather than final. Your ultimate grade will be based on the completed methodology at the end of the course.

Case Assignment

Prepare a 5- to 7-page paper in accordance with the Assignment Expectations below, describing the basic research design for your project, in accordance with the following outline:

Restate your research question(s), simply and directly.

Describe your basic assumptions about the project, the research site, and the participants, as well as the role that you hope to play.

Describe the goal(s) you hope your project will achieve.

Describe the general methodology you chose for your study, in terms of the various categories of research described in the module readings:

Relative mix of quantitative and qualitative data

Exploratory vs. descriptive

Other categories

Explain why this method is the best for your purposes.

Identify your research partner(s) and the role they will play in the project.

List any specific deliverables that you will provide to your research partner(s) at the end of the project.