From a question to a defensible study.
Research Methods
Make each research choice count.
Frame a worthwhile problem, choose an approach and work carefully with evidence. Follow the research process or open the chapter you need for the task at hand.
Dr. Uma Shankar Pandey profusp.com
Suggested learning routes
A useful place to begin.
These are starting points.
Follow your own question.
Shape the inquiry
Build a question that grows from a clear research problem.
Build a survey
Connect your sample, questions and measures.
Develop an interpretation
Move from an approach to analysis and a comparison of evidence.
Find the chapter you need
Explore all 27 chapters.
Browse by topic.
Chapters run A–Z within each group.
01 / 5 chapters
Research foundations
Turn a broad interest into a clear question and a defensible approach.
- Research foundations
Choosing Research Methods
Match your question with an approach and explain why the chosen methods fit the study.
Open chapter - Research foundations
Literature Review
Bring studies into conversation, compare their claims and build the argument for your own inquiry.
Open chapter - Research foundations
Research Gap
Locate what existing research leaves unanswered and turn that opening into a worthwhile inquiry.
Open chapter - Research foundations
Research Methodology
Connect assumptions about knowledge with research questions, designs and the evidence needed to support a claim.
Open chapter - Research foundations
Research Problem Statement
Turn a broad concern into a focused problem with a clear purpose and researchable boundaries.
Open chapter
02 / 5 chapters
Research design & evidence
Choose a design, identify cases and explain how you will gather evidence.
- Research design & evidence
Case Study Research
Investigate a bounded case through evidence that illuminates its context, relationships and particular conditions.
Open chapter - Research design & evidence
Experimental Research
Plan comparisons that test causal claims and consider control, assignment and alternative explanations.
Open chapter - Research design & evidence
Mixed Methods
Connect quantitative and qualitative evidence through a design that explains how the strands work together.
Open chapter - Research design & evidence
Sampling Methods
Choose whom or what to study, justify the selection and assess the reach of your findings.
Open chapter - Research design & evidence
Survey Research
Plan a survey that connects a defined population, suitable questions and a clear analysis strategy.
Open chapter
03 / 4 chapters
Measurement & statistical analysis
Build instruments and connect quantitative questions with suitable analyses.
- Measurement & statistical analysis
Chi-Square Test
Examine categorical data with chi-square tests and interpret results alongside assumptions and practical meaning.
Open chapter - Measurement & statistical analysis
Hypothesis Testing
Connect hypotheses, evidence and statistical decisions while interpreting uncertainty and the limits of a test.
Open chapter - Measurement & statistical analysis
Questionnaire Design
Write questions that participants can understand and test whether the instrument captures what you need.
Open chapter - Measurement & statistical analysis
Scale Development
Move from a defined construct to items, testing and evidence about measurement quality.
Open chapter
04 / 6 chapters
Qualitative approaches
Explore experiences, practices and meanings in their particular settings.
- Qualitative approaches
Autoethnography
Use personal experience as a starting point for investigating cultural practices and social relationships.
Open chapter - Qualitative approaches
Digital Ethnography
Study digital practices in context and trace the connections between online activity and everyday life.
Open chapter - Qualitative approaches
Ethnography
Enter a social setting, observe everyday practices and build an account informed by sustained engagement.
Open chapter - Qualitative approaches
Grounded Theory
Develop an explanation through iterative collection, comparison and analysis of data.
Open chapter - Qualitative approaches
Phenomenological Research
Explore lived experience and examine how a phenomenon appears to the people who encounter it.
Open chapter - Qualitative approaches
Qualitative Research
Explore meanings and practices through accounts, observations and interpretations grounded in their settings.
Open chapter
05 / 5 chapters
Analysis & interpretation
Move from materials and observations towards an account grounded in evidence.
- Analysis & interpretation
Content Analysis
Build a systematic way to examine messages through explicit units, categories and coding decisions.
Open chapter - Analysis & interpretation
Discourse Analysis
Investigate how language works in context and how accounts organise meanings, identities and relations.
Open chapter - Analysis & interpretation
Narrative Analysis
Examine how stories arrange events, position speakers and make experience meaningful.
Open chapter - Analysis & interpretation
Thematic Analysis
Develop and interpret patterns of meaning through close engagement with qualitative materials.
Open chapter - Analysis & interpretation
Triangulation
Compare sources and perspectives, investigate disagreements and explain how different evidence informs your interpretation.
Open chapter
06 / 2 chapters
Writing & referencing
Shape your argument, present the study and acknowledge your sources.
- Writing & referencing
APA 7th Edition
Work through the conventions for citations, references and the presentation of academic writing.
Open chapter - Writing & referencing
Writing Research Papers
Shape a clear argument and guide readers from the research problem through evidence to the contribution.
Open chapter
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