What Would It Take To Significantly Increase Levels Of Cycling In Urban Areas?

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CHAPTER 02: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a brief analysis on the research methods used in different research studies and research design of this dissertation. The chapter further explores the primary and secondary data collection instruments used in this study, and discusses some of the problems faced while conducting this research.

Research Methods

The aim of the research study is to extract new information or expand the reader's understanding of a certain topic or issue. There are primarily three main forms of a research, which include: Constructive research, Empirical research and Exploratory research.

Constructive research focuses upon testing of theories in order to propose solutions for the research in question. Empirical study uses empirical evidence to test the feasibility of the solution, and exploratory study helps in identifying and defining an issue or question. Moreover, there are two ways to conduct a research, that is, primary research or secondary research. Primary research involves primary sources that include original data collection procedures. Secondary research involves review of secondary resources in order to interpret the discussions on various primary sources used in the secondary resource.

Research Design

There are primarily two research designs that are used in a research study: qualitative research and quantitative research. Often, one of these two research designs are chosen by the researcher, in accordance with the nature and problems of the research in question, to conduct the research study. The research designs are utilized in their best way to answer the research questions of the research in question. However, this dissertation uses qualitative, as well as, quantitative both research designs to conduct the study.

Qualitative research focuses upon understanding human behaviour, as well as, the reasons that administer such human behaviour. The data in broader context is collected and interpreted according to the theme of the research. Qualitative research aims to describe a population without looking into potential relationships between variables or without measuring the variables, through quantitative analysis. This type of research allows more restrictive testing of research hypotheses because it can be very time consuming, costly and limited to a single set of research objectives. However, it is often used as a basis for quantitative research, in exploratory research. The data from qualitative design, in this dissertation, is used to develop a theme for the quantitative research of the study.

The goal of qualitative research is to understand social issues from multiple perspectives to have a comprehensive understanding of a particular event, person, or group. As with quantitative research, there are several key assumptions underlying qualitative research methods (Klenke, 2008, pp.29:

Reality is socially constructed, and there are multiple realities.

The researcher interacts and often works closely with the individuals or groups under study and serves as the primary instrument for data collection and analysis.

The research is value laden, and the researchers become a part of the research, attempting to understand the lives and experiences of the people they study.

Research is context bound and based on inductive forms ...