Analysis of Research Methods



Analysis of Research Methods

Introduction

The assignment aims at analyzing, comparing and contrasting research methods including the discourse analysis, the grounded theory and the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The assignment will begin with a description of the three methods and will then proceed to the part of comparison and contrast between the three methods. Finally, the application of the methods discussed will be provided in which the research articles that have used these methods will be highlighted.

Discussion

Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis is based on the belief that when people communicate with each other, there is a lot going on than just the transfer of information. The researchers make use of this fact to understand many things during their research. This is one of the widely used methods of qualitative research. The researchers make use of selected texts. Texts here include a wide range of data sources that include movie scripts, recorded interviews, and internal documents of a company or advertisements. The texts that are selected in discourse analysis include the ones that are complete. Incomplete texts are included in this method of research. The data collected is then interpreted making use of analysis, discourse and reasoning. The interpretation of the data collected can be called an interpretation based on the perception of the researcher and not those of the discourses of the subject (Smith & Osborn, 2003).

Discourse is understood as a social practice that includes discursive events, real situations, institutions and social structures. The practice engages in the discourse, in turn, changed the situation and structures. Discourse is socially constitutive as well as socially conditioned.

Discourse analysis cannot be called a qualitative or a quantitative research method in its true sense because of the fact that this method is an approach that questions the basic approach and assumptions that are made in the qualitative and quantitative research methods. This is the way of approaching a problem and then thinking about it to solve it using the perceptions, judgment and discourse. The discourse analysis helps in revealing the true meanings and motives behind a text. The discourse analysis also helps in the interpretation of the texts or problems. This method of research helps in providing tangible answers to the research problems based on the research based on scientific principles.

Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is the method of research in which the data is the methodology of finding out the theory that is used in the research. This is done by analyzing the data and then interpreting it. This is a unique method because of the fact that this method operates in the reverse fashion than many other research methods that are typically employed in research. The first step here is not the problem or the hypothesis; rather, it is the collection of data making use of a variety of methods. When the data is collected, the key points are marked and noted down making sue of codes from the text. This theory is based on the belief that the there are multiple vies ...