Research Design Sample Clauses

Research Design. The data generated by excavations at the prehistoric site(s) will be used to examine at least three topics: (1) chronology; (2) technology; and (3) subsistence practices. Insights into changing patterns of community organization may also be granted, as may insights into changes in social organization. The data recovered will then be compared to data from other regional sites.

Research Design. Theories of foreign policy should be tested by empirical analysis. But why do case studies? According to ▇▇▇ (2003, 58), not only would ‘the demands of a case study burden [one’s] intellect, ego, and emotion far greater than those of any other research strategy’ due to non-routinized data collection procedure whereby there is a ‘continuous interaction between the theoretical issues being studied and the data being collected,’ but a case study would be the best research strategy to ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions over a set of contemporary events whereby the researcher has very little or no control (▇▇▇ 2003, 9). The cases chosen should cut across several themes. The themes must encompass issues that are politicized, or belong to the political system (Falkemark 1982, 46). Or, as ▇▇▇▇ puts it, an issue must be the object of conflicting preferences and of material importance (Falkemark 1982, 35). Employing such parameters, obvious cases would include nationally prominent issues involving the interests of many elements of society. These issues may include banal but strategically important issues for the country, or issues that could be regarded as a crisis. Recalling ▇▇▇▇’▇ strict test for determining the presence of a ruling elite, implementation thereof requires that a series of concrete cases where key decisions are made be examined (▇▇▇▇ 1958, 469). Hence, the dynamics of decisions must be analyzed. This step involves paying attention to the saliency of the elites, for saliency is extremely important in shaping organized and structured opinion, and subsequently, the elite perceptions of this opinion. While contents of attitudes and opinions tend to remain stable over time, saliency fluctuates considerably, influencing in turn the ‘perception of the content of opinion’ (Everts 2002, 48). Data for these selected cases shall be primarily obtained by personal interviews with members of the political elite groups (bureaucratic, members of parliament, military, and civil society comprising academic, religious, and interest groups, and media), specifically those who were involved with policy discussions or deliberations. The names of those interviewed are included in the Bibliography of this study. The purpose of the interviews was to obtain insight into the mind of the particular elites (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2001, 94), individually or collectively, so that their attitudes and opinions are identified, and, ultimately, their policy preferences on the politicized foreign policy ...

Research Design. Since I tried to explore both teachers’ perceptions of teacher autonomy and to find any existing statistical correlations between teacher autonomy and job satisfaction and motivation, I decided to choose mixed methods approach in my study. I analyzed the qualitative and quantitative data separately, and compared the results to each other. This approach is known as convergent parallel mixed methods design (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2013). According to ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (2011, such an approach is considered to be a strong one because (a) words and narratives contribute meaning to numerical data, and numbers add precision to words and narratives; (b) a wider range of research questions can be covered; (c) a more reliable conclusion can be drawn; (d) cross validation of data can provide higher validity; (e) more understanding can be obtained rather than when single method is used; (f) the results have a better capability of being generalized (as cited in ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2013, p.115). The qualitative data was gathered using interviews, the most common data collection method in qualitative research design (Jamshed, 2014). Due to the nature of my study, I used semi-structured interviews with pre-set open-ended questions. Even though it might lead to some discomfort between the interviewer and the respondent, during such interviews audio-recording is usually preferred since handwritten notes are considered “unreliable” and the recording allows the interviewer to focus more on the conversation rather than taking notes (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2014). However, I had no issues with getting permission to record the interviews, and signed consent forms were obtained from each participant. The basis for the questions was taken from a study on ‘scope for decision-making’ by ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (1970), who did a study on how teachers in different districts perceived their freedom to make decisions. As for the quantitative part, the data obtained helped me explore whether there are any substantial links between teacher autonomy and job satisfaction and motivation. To collect the data I used a cross-sectional survey. Surveys allow researchers to “generalize from a sample to a population so that inferences can be made about some characteristic, attitude, or behavior of this population” (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2013). In my case, I attempted to make inferences about teacher autonomy and its link to job satisfaction and motivation. There are many ways to administer a survey: via telephone, on paper, personal interviews or mass ...

Research Design. This research aimed at providing an in depth understanding of the ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ University strategic motive/s of forming strategic alliances with middle level colleges and the challenges encountered in the management of the alliances from the point of view of JKUAT. When selecting the case, the researcher used information- oriented sampling as opposed to random sampling. A case study research design was found to be the most ideal as it would allow in depth examination of the problem and also because the study is of qualitative nature. This would help the researcher to find the underlying principles as it would provide a systematic way of looking at the event /s, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting results. It is said that case studies provides insight for problem solving, evaluation and strategy (▇▇▇▇▇▇ and Emory, 1996). This research design was used by ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (2002), Koigi (2002), Musyoki (2003) and Owour (2004) among others with good results.

Research Design. This chapter will describe the methods used in this study. This chapter will present in paragraph 3.1what the case study is and justify why it chose for a case study. Furthermore, it will discuss the qualitative research design of this study and why this design fits best in this study. Paragraph 3.2 will discuss the data collection method (document analysis) and the types of data that were used in this study. Paragraph 3.3 will operationalize the concepts and present how the relevant documents were collected. Paragraph 3.4 will discuss the limitations of this study. This chapter will end with a summary of the research design.

Research Design. The research design for this dissertation was formulated following sustained inquiry into the challenges of researching the Tajik civil war. It was quickly established that a quantitative approach would not be feasible. Data on civilian casualties, always problematic in civil wars, is practically non-existent in the case of Tajikistan. Even the most utilised and authoritative conflict datasets – such as the PRIO and Uppsala datasets – contain only sparse references to the Tajik conflict. (For example, the UCDP One-Sided Violence Dataset, which reportedly includes civilian deaths by government and rebel forces in intrastate wars from 1989 to 2010, has but a single listing for Tajikistan: 34 civilians killed by government forces in 1992, a year in which it is estimated that actually tens of thousands of people were killed.37) Accumulating such data, for even a small area, is extremely difficult due to a noted reticence among Tajiks to discuss the war – a silent testimony to both the emotional trauma of the war and the need to continue living amongst its worst perpetrators.38 However, a qualitative approach faced issues of its own. As will be discussed in greater detail in the next section, there is a serious lack of secondary and scholarly literature on the Tajik civil war. The literature that does exist tends to focus on the more documented aspects of the war, namely the diplomatic efforts to end it and the complex machinations of regional states drawn into the conflict. Information on the actual military conduct of the war and the strategic behaviour of its participants is extremely thin – a few pages here, a paragraph there. Taken together, however, it formed a skeleton of the conflict’s trends and events. This was then fleshed out by a comprehensive review of contemporary media reportage of the conflict, using Tajik, Russian, European and American sources (including newspapers, wire services, news magazines, and TV and radio transcripts). Fortunately, with the Tajik war occurring at the end of the Cold War period, I was able to take advantage of the then still- copious translations of Russian and Tajik news sources into English (particularly by the BBC’s ‘Summary of World Broadcasts’ service). This constituted the bulk of the primary source research for this dissertation, as I reviewed an estimated 5,000 articles and wire reports. Because of the inherent flaws in the source material – given the difficulties of accurate reporting in the midst of a conflic...

Research Design. The research design planned in this report uses an initial set of general research questions. The role of these research questions is to guide the WP5 research team members and keep them focused on the evidence and data needed to validate the BlogForever platform features impact (advantages and limitations). Initially, three general research questions were drafted to start the discussion within the WP5 investigators. Those questions were as follows: 1. How fast the BlogForever platform works in terms of its information retrieval functions (focusing on the speed of the repository search and how this is maintain as the volume of content increases)? 2. How intuitive the new features for searching blogs’ information are on the BlogForever repository and do the results match the users’ expectations? 3. Why users will prefer the BlogForever archived blogs instead of referring to the original source blogs when available? The discussion within WP5 partners led to a more organised and concrete set of research design questions. These queries will guide the data collection process in a more objective way. The following table provides details of the set of questions that will be used to collect and analyse relevant data. The questions will help to decide what data should be collected within the six case studies. We are trying to avoid the situation where the evidence gathered does not address any initial queries. Table 3 - Summary of WP5 Research Questions What are the particular problems the implementation is facing? Or are the BlogForever software implementation processes an overall success? RQ1 Overview of specific D4.1 [1] features/requirements ( a specific feature works as expected in D4.1 [1] ) Are complex BlogForever platform search strategies working efficiently when high levels of content are available within the BlogForever platform? RQ2 Successful scalability of the system How useful is the BlogForever platform as a whole? RQ3 Overall Impact: 1. Sustainability of the platform 2. Meet the users’ needs Does the use of the BlogForever repository lead to successful results for the different users? RQ4 Overall success (searched content is found fast and in an organised manner) How user friendly are the BlogForever platform functions for the different designated blog communities? RQ5 Usage satisfaction. Usability. Strengths and weaknesses The queries above tried to direct attention to some elements that should be examined within the case study process. Each case ...

Research Design. An archaeological research design for adversely affected properties eligible for the NRHP under 36 CFR Part 60.4 criteria (d) will be developed. The research design will specify and explain the following: • Where data recovery is determined by NRC, through consultation with the other Signatories, to be appropriate mitigation response. Research questions to be explored through the data recovery efforts (taking into consideration that data recovery is an adverse effect). • Justification of the appropriateness of the chosen research questions. • Data needed to explore the questions posed. • Properties and portions of those properties to be further investigated. • Methods used to collect data needed to explore the research questions posed, where the adverse effect of data recovery is deemed the appropriate treatment. • Laboratory methods used in the examination of the physical material that is recovered. • Proposed disposition of the recovered materials and records. • The timing for the preparation and distribution of reports.

Research Design. The paper relies on data from the INTEREURO Interest Group Survey,26 a tool designed within the INTEREURO-project to examine organizational characteristics and policy activities of interest groups active at the EU level. The survey was conducted from 9 March to 2 July 2015 and targeted senior leaders of the interest groups (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2016). In total, 2,038 interest organizations were selected from the Transparency Register of the EU, the ▇▇▇▇▇ Directory.27 To be included in the sample, the organizations had 83 to fulfil three requirements: (1) EU-level interest organizations which could be EU peak associations or national organizations with (2) a presence in Brussels and (3) that show some interest in EU policymaking processes. The organizations included in the sample fit perfectly the purpose of this study because, due to their layered structure, they require to put in place a certain organizational structure that defines the interaction between members. The last section of the paper discusses how the focus on interest groups active at the EU level may have consequences for the occurrence of our explanatory factors and thus for the generalizability of the results. Despite the hurdles related to gaining the organizational data of interest groups (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2018), 738 groups completed the questionnaire, reaching a response rate of 36.2% (▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2016). To enable the identification of group type (i.e., business vs. non-business groups), only membership-based groups that were accurately categorized are included. Groups that did not provide such information (n=128) were excluded from the sample. Additionally, groups without members (n=48) have been dropped from the database, leading to 559 interest groups for which survey data is available. The bottom-up sampling approach used to obtain the sample of groups included in the survey entails an important limitation, namely that it does not represent a perfect match for studies on interest group influence due to the long chain of intermediate steps between mobilization and final policy outcomes (Berkhout et al., 2018). However, this dataset of 559 groups is combined with the ‘Transparency International EU – Integrity Watch’ database of interest groups with access to public officials of the Commission – i.e., Com- missioners, their Cabinets, and Director-Generals (European Commission, 2014).28 In total, 196 out of the 559 membership-based groups that responded to the INTEREURO survey had at l...