PRACTICAL RESEARCH

• In qualitative research, the scope of the study refers to the “domain” where the study will be conducted.
• Factors that are out of control of the researcher, such as funding , time, or logistics, are the limitations that may impose constraints on the research process.
• Delimitation are constraints imposed by the researcher on him/herself and the research. These include sample and population on the study, methodologies, number of results, statistical analysis, and focus of the research
• Citation Defined After choosing a research topic and developing sections of our research, including a literature review, we will now learn how to cite our sources and list our references
• There are several formats or styles used for citing sources. We will discuss the three most common styles.

  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Modern Language Association (MLA)
  • Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)
• • The APA style, published by the American Psychological Association, is the most commonly used style for social science research.
• The latest version (7th edition) was published recently in 2019.
• The Modern Language Association style is another accessible format for citing sources and references.
• Article Author (last name, first name). “Title of the article.” Name of the publication. Year of publication in parenthesis. Volume and issue number. If the page number is given, it is written after the issue number, separated by a colon.
• Book Author(Last name, First name). Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.
• Author-Date Style. if the page number is used, then it would come after the date, separated by a comma.
• Note and Bibliography Style.

  • It uses an incrementing number superscripted to the text to indicate the cited material.
• Before we start with data collection for the research project, we should discuss the ethical issues that we might encounter during the course of our research
• Merriam and Webster defines ethics as the principles of conduct governing an individual or group.
• Ethical standards have been developed over the years to govern endeavors and fields such as business and finance, medicine, psychiatry, teaching, and even the conduct of warfare.
• • Ethical considerations are also taken into account on issues such as global warming, population control, economics, the media, and the like. 
• Structured interview have a set of predetermined, standard questions, which are given in the same order every time. This makes it easy to collect the data from the interviews.
• Semi-structured interview use a list of general topics and questions that direct the interview session called an interview guide. The interviewer may pick up on a respondents' answers and ask follow-up questions to probe a topic further. This type of interview also allows the respondents to express their perspectives and experiences about a topic freely.
• Unstructured interview impromptu and informal interviews. It is more conversational, and are the spontaneous nature of the conversation is how the questions are developed. 
• Focus groups are interviews done with a small group of people, between six to ten participants. It is led by a moderator. The setting is interactive, and the members of the group are free to give their responses and opinions. 
• In the 1920s, Margaret Mead, an American anthropologist, lived among the Samoans for several months at a time in order to observe their society and culture up close.
• Direct observation gives the researcher a holistic view of the dynamics of an individual or group. It is useful in situations where the participants may filter their responses according to what is happening. Thus this method may be the best way to record them. 
• Content analysis involves examining printed or visual documents and texts for qualitative research.
• Public records are official records, e.., annual reports, transcripts, handbooks, census records, newsletters, and meeting minutes.
• Personal or private documents are records of first-person mount un in dares al experis, lo, sol, and actions, the emails, and other personal correspondence, incident reports, and newspaper reports.
• Physical evidence or artifacts, are objects found within the study area that give information about an individual and provide evidence or context to an event or group. 
• Documents and artifacts are excellent sources for the chronology of events, retrospective information, insights, and beliefs. They can also be used as a sole source of data or in conjunction with other sources.
• The interviewer rarely goes beyond the set questions, which also makes it rigid and leaves no opportunity to do follow-up questions. This type of interview is primarily used in quantitative research
• When a researcher actively participates in the group's activities to observe them up close, the method is called participant observation. Immersing in a community and joining their rituals and practices to observe the behavior of indigenous people is an example of participant observation.