Engineering Research Skills Guide: Research methods
This guide offers practical tips to help you search effectively, find reliable information, and choose sources that support your study and assessment tasks. It’s designed to support your learning in the Bachelor or Master of Engineering (Civil).
Research methods are the structured techniques used to collect and analyse data for your research or thesis. They help you explore a research question in a reliable and systematic way.
Common methods include surveys, yarning, interviews, experiments, case studies and observations. These can be quantitative (focused on numbers and measurements) or qualitative (focused on meaning and experience).
Choosing the right method depends on your topic, goals and the type of evidence you need.
Types of research methods
Research methods are often grouped into three main types, depending on how data is collected and analysed. These are qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.
Qualitative methods are usually used when the research is focused on aspects of social life that can't easily be measured with numbers. It draws on different theoretical perspectives and uses methods like interviews or observations to explore meanings, experiences and social processes within their specific contexts.
Quantitative methods are used for research based on collecting numerical data for statistical analysis. This includes data such as counts, ratings, scores, or durations, gathered in labs, field settings, or through surveys. The key feature is that the data is in numerical form, whether recorded directly or converted during analysis, e.g. content analysis.
Mixed methods is a research approach that combines both qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study to answer one research question more comprehensively.
The SAGE Research Methods (SRMO) database can give you information about research methods and literature reviews, plus help you design, run and write up your research project. The database focuses on methodology that can be used across multiple disciplines.
SRMO provides access to:
Full text content from over 720 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks
The Little Green Book (qualitative research methods) series
The Little Blue Book (quantitative applications in the social sciences) series
A selection of journal articles and specially commissioned videos.
A collection of Datasets taken from real research projects.
An online research tool which assists in the understanding of research methods and in the actual selection, design, and application of a research method. It contains full-text content from books, journals, and reference resources.
This resource should be of interest to anyone involved in any form of qualitative or quantitative research. It assists in the understanding of research methods and in the actual selection, design, and application of a research method.
Content is sourced from book and reference material on research materials, together with editorially selected material from SAGE journals. More than 120,000 pages of SAGE's book and reference material on research methods are available.
Searching and browsing features include:
* a browsing tool to allow users to explore related material hosted within the product;
* a visual "methods map" exploring connections between more than 2,000 methods, theories, and terms;
* the "SRMO lists" function, which enables users to store and share selected content;
* links to Web Resources.
This is an introductory resource to major research methods.
Sage Research Methods Foundations provides a concise introduction to research methods and terms for those who are new to research in general or new to a particular method.
It covers qualitative and quantitative methods; key research studies; profiles of important researchers; and the history, development, and debates around the major topics in research methods.
You can search using a basic search box, or browse in various categories including Foundation Entries, Pioneers, Other Entries, and Series.
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