Regional development benefits of hosting formula one

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Regional development benefits of hosting formula one

Research design

Research design provides the glue that holds our research project of Singapore Formula

One Grand Prix together. A design is used to structure the research, to show how all of the major parts of the research project -- the samples or groups, measures, treatments or programs, and methods of assignment -- work together to try to address the central research questions. Here, after a brief introduction to research design, I'll show you how we classify the major types of designs.

You'll see that a major distinction is between the experimental designs that use random assignment to groups or programs and the quasi-experimental designs that don't use random assignment. [People often confuse what is meant by random selection with the idea of random assignment. You should make sure that you understand the distinction between random selection and random assignment.] Understanding the relationships among designs is important in making design choices and thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of different designs. Then, I'll talk about the heart of the art form of designing designs for research and give you some ideas about how you can think about the design task. Finally, I'll consider some of the more recent advances in quasi-experimental thinking -- an area of special importance in applied social research and program evaluation.

Approach

Structurally, research methodology has been defined as the 'methods', that is, methods, techniques and tools for research. Methods may be 'qualitative' or 'quantitative', or a combination of both, at some level. Also, methods may be 'case studies' or 'comparative' method, 'surveys' or 'experiments', depending upon the need for one or the other form of research. Techniques may include approaches such as, descriptive, analytical, applied (evaluation), predictive, explanatory, exploratory, theoretical, or specific procedures employed in different disciplines of social sciences. Tools may include tools of data collection such as, documents, questionnaires (mailed as well as schedules), interviews, observation, sampling (survey sampling also), Internet (Net), etc. These methods, techniques, and tools indeed provide the foundation for research in a systematic, scientific manner, whether it is required for a research paper or a thesis or a book-length study.

Paradigm

“A paradigm may be viewed as a set of basic beliefs … that deals with ultimates or first principles. It represents a worldview that defines for its holder, the nature of the “world”, the individual's place in it, and the range of possible relationships to that world and its parts … The beliefs are basic in the sense that they must be accepted simply on faith (however well argued); there is no way to establish their ultimate truthfulness. If there were, the philosophical debates … would have been resolved millennia ago.” (Guba and Lincoln, 1994 p. 107-108)

While Henning et al. define a paradigm as “a theory or hypothesis”, a paradigm is rather a framework within which theories are built, that fundamentally influences how you see the world, determines your perspective, and shapes your understanding of how things are ...