Reference no: EM132490330

Assignment: Part 3: Research Methodology

For this assignment, you will complete a research methodology that is the part of the research report in which you thoroughly and specifically discuss the methods that you will use to evaluate your research questions and/or hypotheses. It is in the methodology that the researcher is able to present his or her study design so it is clear to the reader how the data will be collected to allow the researcher to explore his or her topic as discussed in the previous sections of the research report.

To prepare your research methodology, complete the following tasks:

1) Begin your research methodology with a very brief discussion of your research focus and a list of your related questions and/or hypothesis.

2) Discuss the main variables that will be explored in your study. Be sure to specify how those variables will be measured.

a) For example, if you were interested in studying the relationship between sex and illegal drug use, you would need to make sure to specify what information you want to collect for each variable. For sex, you could choose to measure it as having the attributes of a male or female. For illegal drug use, you could choose to measure it by looking at the number of times someone was arrested for possession of illegal drugs. You could further distinguish that by only looking at the amount of drugs that someone was arrested with and determining based on the weight, whether it was considered possession for personal consumption or distribution. This is just a brief example of how the variables could be measured. There are a variety of other ways in which these two variables could be measured. Thus, you can see why it is important to not only identify the variables but to also specify how the variables will be measured.

3) Present your research methodology. You need to ensure that the specific steps you will follow to explore your research questions and/or hypotheses are clear to the reader. Avoid the use of general statements and direct quotes from the textbook about what should be included in the research methodology. Your task is to discuss in your own words what you would specifically do to study your research topic. What steps would you engage in to ensure that your proposed study properly explores the research questions and/or hypotheses that you developed? In your methodology, you need to discuss the following concepts:

1. Research design

a) Note: Remember to refer back to Unit II Assignment, Part 1C where you discussed your research design.

b) Include a discussion of the methodological approach (i.e., qualitative, quantitative, or mixed method).

c) Include a discussion of how threats to internal and external validity are addressed.

2. Participant selection process

3. Include a discussion of the participant characteristics and related ethical considerations.

4. Data collection process

a) Include a discussion or an example of the data collection techniques (e.g., surveys, case studies, participant observation, unobtrusive measures, and secondary data).

b) Include a discussion of the step-by-step procedures you will follow to collect the data from your study participants using your data collection technique.

c) You will be formulating your data collection techniques but not actually collecting the data.

5. Protection of human subjects

a) Include a brief discussion about how your research study's methodology will ensure human subject(s) protections (e.g., minimal harm to participants, consent, and confidentiality). Such statements may address the submission of your study protocol to an institutional review board (IRB), or a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) review, or compliance with National Institute of Justice (NIJ) human subject requirements.

6. Study timeline

a) Include a brief sketch of the anticipated timeline associated with conducting your study from the IRB review to the completion of data collection.

Cite all your sources in APA format, both in-text and in the reference list.

Ensure the research methodology is a minimum of four double-spaced pages.