Resource Packs

The general purpose of a research project is to gather information about an issue or problem and construct a report or article to disseminate the outcomes of the appropriate research process.

This resource pack gives help in writing up a research project and includes some tips on seeking publication of the final report .It covers the writing of reports, dissertations, abstracts, executive summaries as well as giving presentations of the research.

This resource packs suggests further reading and resources. 
 

Qualitative data analysis describes and summarises the mass of words generated by interviews or observational data. It allows researchers to seek relationships between various themes that have been identified or relate behaviour or ideas to biographical characteristics of respondents. Implications for policy or practice may be derived from the data, or interpretation sought of puzzling findings from previous studies. Ultimately theory could be developed and tested using advanced analytical techniques.

This resource pack discusses some of the theoretical models within which qualitative data can be analysed, and helps researchers select the most appropriate one for their particular piece of research. The stages involved in qualitative data analysis, as well as coding and developing categories are described, and a discussion of processes that can help ensure rigour is included. Finally some of the practicalities of qualitative analysis are addressed , including the use of computer software programmes.

This resource pack suggests resources as well as supplying a glossary of terms. 

Sampling and sample size are crucial issues in pieces of quantitative research, which seek to make statistically based generalisations from the study results to the wider world. To generalise in this way, it is essential that both the sampling method used and the sample size are appropriate, such that the results are representative, and that the statistics can discern associations or differences within the results of a study.

The first part of this pack looks at how to gather a "representative" sample which gives a study external validity and permits valid generalisation. While the second half of the pack considers the issues of sample size, and how to calculate an adequate size for a study sample.

This resource packs suggests further reading and resources as well as supplying a glossary of terms. 

Research can be defined as a process of systematic investigation of a subject for the purpose of adding to the body of knowledge about that subject. It is made up of a number of stages that the researcher must proceed through for the research project to be completed satisfactorily.

The purpose of this pack is to introduce the reader to the major features of the research process. This includes identifying the research problem, reviewing the literature, planning the methodology, considering data access and ethical issues as well as carrying out the pilot study, data collection and analysis and drawing conclusions.

This resource packs supplies a glossary of terms. 

The survey is probably the most commonly used research design in health services research and the social sciences. The survey is a flexible research approach used to investigate a wide range of topics and often employ the questionnaire as a tool for data collection. They are particularly useful for non-experimental descriptive designs that seek to describe reality.

This resource pack looks at the advantages and limitations of using surveys and the methods of collecting survey data. It examines sampling and sample sizes needed for surveys, and factors which may increase participation and response rate. Additionally it looks at questionnaire design and data analysis.

This resource packs suggests further reading and resources as well as supplying a glossary of terms.