Research Resources

INTRODUCTION

This section contains a collection of notes and documents on research topics of interest. One of the challenges in completing a doctorate is the selection of methodologies, research design options, theories and sources of literature. This section is a collection of resources and practices I've found useful in completing my own doctorate.

Research investigating a phenomena to understand the correlation among several variables, often pursues the reasoning behind the phenomena; understanding the why versus the how . Exploring the causation of a phenomena (where human behaviours/factors prevail) requires an exploratory based approach as in social sciences. The research methodology is primarily qualitative case studies although many exploratory research benefits from mixed methods where qualitative data is also supplemented by quantitative data.

There are many good books on social sciences research planning. One that is frequently cited and also recommended by my dissertation supervisor at Warwick University was Case Study Research - Design and Methods , by Robert K. Yin. Another good book in Practical Research - Planning and Design by Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Another text that I referred to is First Steps - A Guide to Social Research by Michael Del Balso and Alan D. Lewis of Dawson College (Montreal).