Critical Evaluation for the Presentation of Research Data in Essay

Critical Evaluation for the Presentation of Research Data in Architecture - Essay Example Qualitative Research: Context There has been a substantial growth in qualitative inquiry within social sciences over the past two decades. Miles and Huberman (1994: 1) suggest a tripling of papers and find evidence of significant growth in academic texts. The reasons for this may be clear, as Cassell and Symon (1995: 2) point out that research in social sciences is mostly concerned with people, organizations, and social interactions, and is not well disposed to positivist / scientific philosophy. There are some risks and challenges facing the researcher adopting this methodology. Some academics are dismissive of the methodology, mostly on grounds of the validity of the approach and consequently the reliability of the findings; whereas, there are arguments that the methods are non-scientific, open to personal opinions, biases, and subjective interpretations. Qualitative Research: Philosophy Research philosophy entails the examination of beliefs, both our own, as well as those of other s, on how knowledge is developed. A discussion on research philosophy usually commences with a consideration of two opposite research perspectives, positivism and phenomenology as elaborated by Saunders (2008: 120). There are clear rules and statistical procedures, which can be followed to produce objective and generalisable findings in quantitative techniques; on the other hand, qualitative research has to tackle issues of 'subjectivity', and 'social construction', which are concepts far more difficult to pin down with basic rules and procedures, and where results may be more open to 'interpretation' (Miles, 1994: 591). These issues lead to the important areas that a qualitative research design must tackle, namely; validity, reliability, and bias. According to Miles et al (1994) the task for the qualitative researcher is to build in robustness (will the design stand up in different and difficult situations) and rigor (will the design demonstrate comprehensive attention to detail) i nto the research design. This will involve careful attention to planning, data collection, data analysis and presentation. These issues will be considered within units 9 and 10 when we go on to look at the process and procedures involved in planning, data collection, analysis and presentation. In quantitative based studies, a key objective is often to design the study to precise statistical rules so that results from samples can be generalised to a wider population. In qualitative research, this can not be claimed. Results are subject to interpretation. The real value of qualitative research according to Thomas (2004: 131) lies not in generalisation but particularisation. In other words, the richness and knowledge derives from understanding a situation or case, in greater depth. Quantitative Research: Approach The implications for the research process are now examined with a look at the processes for inductive and deductive approaches to research. Within the deductive approach, rese arch flows from developing a single hypothesis or multiple hypotheses concerning the association or relationship between data. Often such studies seek to establish cause and affect relationships between

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 48

History - Essay Example During this time, there were all sort of corrections that were made concerning to ensure that it is made to fit the motion of the planets to Ptolemy’s ideas. According to the Copernicus, he proposed an alternative theory that showed that the Earth was a planet moving around the sun and all planets were said to move in circular motion in form of a circle, one side to the other, he also made observations that Mercury and the Earth are close to the sun since they were smaller than the earth(Kidner, Bacur and Mathisen 502).Therefore out of discoveries that were made concerning the distance between earth and sun, it made ease estimations of distance of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn toward sun thus creating idea in mind that they had bigger circles than earth and seemed to move backward since they were said to move more slowly(Kidner, Bacur and Mathisen 502). In 16th century, Galileo an Italian mathematician and philosopher made the first observation, that is, he observed the planets through a telescope he built in 1609 and what he saw convinced him that Copernicus observations and discoveries toward the planets and dun was right. Galileo through hi aggressive defense over the Copernican theory was defended by the Catholic Church and therefore this cost him his freedom. Here are the discoveries that were made by the Galileo, he observed the moon and came to discover that it is like a world with mountains and â€Å"seas†(Kidner, Bacur and Mathisen 505). And later he observed the sun which was a risking act due to blindness since the sun should never be looked at through a telescope and he saw the sunspots. After making this discoveries, later he turned to the planet Jupiter, during this time he saw four moons orbiting around the Jupiter. Out of this discovery, he saw that the four moons are in the same plane, and close to their ecliptic and also seemed to be collinear(Kidner, Bacur