Design And Built Environment Research Methods: Research Paper

Introduction

In Assessment 1, you identified knowledge gaps and formulated a research problem. You then considered strategies of research methods to design possible research approaches and evaluated their respective strengths and weaknesses in Assessment 2. This final assessment focuses on research designs and, more precisely, on designing research tools and evaluating them.

Overview

For this assessment, you are required to choose one of the research tools you identified in Assessment 2, which aims to collect primary data, and develop it fully. You will submit the assessment in a report style. The structure of the report is as follow:

1. Research Framework Assessment
2. Tool design and Evaluation
3. Ethical Consideration

Below you will find a detailed description of the content for each section. Please read it carefully and refer to it when completing your assessment.

a. Research framework assessment

(800 words).

This section is an introduction to the tool design section. It has two main parts: the explanation and justification of the methodological/tool chosen and its contextualization in the literature. In part one, you are expected to describe the method you have chosen and explain why it is appropriate to address its related objective, demonstrating a clear understanding of this method and its possibilities. You are asked to expand on the benefits and limitations identified in the previous assessment (Assessment 2). You will need to develop further the justification of the research tool provided in assessment two. If needed, you can reassess the choice you have made in Assessment 2. If so, you must provide a clear argument to sustain such a decision.

In the second section, you are required to discuss further your methodological research approach and design in relation to the current literature on the topic (refer to the literature you identified in Assessment 1). To guide your argument/choice, you can ask yourself: Is this a standard methodology in your field that is used to analyse/address specific problems? Do studies on this topic/issue mostly use a qualitative/quantitative/mixed approach? Why? How does your suggested approach align/compare? Or are you referring to a specific study and building on it, therefore using the same methodological approach? If so, why?

b. Research Tool Design.

In this section, you must fully develop your selected research tool and explain how you turn the “abstract” concept expressed in your objectives into measurable variables. There are three main components to this section:

Sampling and Administration (300 words). Explain how you will identify (and recruit) potential participants and/or chosen specific site/s for analysis. Give details and justify your sample (sampling size method or inclusion/exclusion criteria) and describe the process through which you will use your instrument to generate data.

Tool Design. You must provide the data generation tool (for primary data!); this could be audits, use surveys, observational surveys etc. (any site observations tool), questionnaires, in-depth- interviews, focus groups, text analysis etc. Using marginal comments (available in word), provide concise explanations of your specific choices in designing the instrument. Some of the issues you might comment on:

• Adjustments you have made to a standardised instrument (e.g. an audit)
• How parts of the instrument contribute to addressing your objective(s)
• The wording of questions in a questionnaire (e.g. to avoid bias; to ensure lay understanding; to focus on participant’s knowledge or experience etc.)
• Use of probes in a semi-structured interview
• The order in which questions or themes appear and how these contributes to clarity or scaffolding and cross-referencing of data collected.

Data analysis.

(300 words).

Explain how you will analyse the data generated by your tool, appropriately referencing the relevant methodological literature. Please note the analysis should be:

• consistent with the methodological framework implicit in your selected data collection instrument.
• appropriate to address the objective

c. Ethical Consideration

(600 words).

Ethical Considerations are one of the most important parts of any research, as ethical principles guide both research design and practice. When developing a full research proposal, you will need to address many ethical issues, and you will be required to seek ethical approval from the institution you are working within. In the context of this assessment, you will discuss and reflect upon the ethical implications of your research topic. You are asked to choose an aspect related to possible ethical issues raised by your topic as well as the research tool you have designed and discuss it—in the context of the literature and in relation to the research main ethical principles such as (but not limited to):

• Beneficence,
• Justice,
• informed Consent;
• Rights to Privacy;
• Risk/Benefit;
• Research with Marginalised communities