Overview Research Methods

• Quantitative research

  • Experiments

  • Surveys/questionnaires

    • How to design a survey:

      • Why do you want to send it? What you want to find out will be your research inquiry.

      • What questions and what types of questions will help you explore your research inquiry.

      • Pinpoint target demographic - should it be sent out to everyone or are you targeting a specific age group, sex, race, etc.

      • Identify number of respondents

      • Pick the right moment to conduct survey - make sure you are spending money on getting the most people you can and if you are targeting a specific demographic make sure to send out the survey when they are available.

  • Interviews and observations

  • Numeric information - based on quantifiable data

  • Ex. Banksy art. Locations of his artwork can be qualitative data points.

• Qualitative research

  • Field research - not based on numerical data

    • Ethnography - studying a culture

    • Autoethnography - studying a culture through personal experience and anecdotes

  • Participant observation

  • Interview - different types of questions than quantitative

  • Historical comparative

  • Banksy example - how do people feel about his art work? Asking questions that where the answers can’t be quantified.

    • Ethnographic study can be conducted by asking how people in different cities respond to Banksy’s art. You can compare their answers and learn about each culture that way.