Hey I need to know which test would be best for my case. I have 50 respondents forming 2 groups of managers and employees. I need to compare them and find the association between them. What test would be the best? Chi-square, T-Test or ANOVA?
Hello Friends. I have been feeling demotivated lately. I am in my second year of PhD and have just decided my methods for conducting my research (I am not sure if I am lagging behind or not). My supervisor is okay, he doesn’t bother himself much. I am someone who always works on the edge, […]
Continue reading Second Year PhD Blues
I can understand that you are a person who loves challenges and is confident to handle situations but Ph. D. is not a game, it’s a life changing opportunity which can turn you from a waitress to a highly renowned academician. It’s your second year and you have just decided your methods. I don’t want to scare you but it’s a piece of advice that you need to gear up and not drag it further. Try to hold yourself and spend more time in completing your research work. You can attend some conferences or try to write a journal paper maybe? That will be a bit different and an added point to your research.
I think that feeling demotivated is the most normal thing in a PhD. I get these waves of laziness and boredom that I can’t concentrate on anything. What I do is “let it be”! I go to the gym, eat lots of hamburgers and chill out at my place. Then when I feel energized, I sit on my favourite spot and carry out my work. The key to this second year PhD blues is – not thinking about it. Don’t think that something is wrong with you and it’ll be okay when this thing turns out its course.
Thank you for your replies, I really appreciate that. Thank god I am not alone, but still don’t know what to do. My head can’t seem to let it go, or gear up, as a matter of fact. Also, my professor is a real pain and keeps bothering me with asking for updates, which is a no-show. So, what should I do, go to a psychiatrist?
P.S. To top it all, my supervisor rejected the methods which I had decided to work on.
Hi Jorja! I think more than a psychiatrist you need a consultant who will better help you in your drenched situation. You are already occupied with lots of work and there’s no point in being further depressed. As your supervisor has already rejected your methods there is no point in wasting more time .I’ll suggest you to check out with some educational consultants who can help you out with your research. You can check out with http://ukdissertations.in/writing.html
I took their help in preparing my research paper and I must say that their subject experts will help you to gain conceptual clarity and further resort all your worries.
Thank you Jillian for providing me with the link of PhD consultants. I checked their reviews and testimonials, which are mostly good, so I have left a query on their website. Lets see how that goes. But, for the time being, can you tell me more about them? Their process and charges? Their turn-around time?
Hi Jorja! Like all other PhD consultant services they have customized rates which entirely depends upon the kind of work which you want them to do. As for my case, I had the requirement of scientific editing of my paper and they charged me reasonably. It basically depends upon the word count, your research area and deadline as well. As far as the quality of work is concerned, I found them comparatively better than the other available services but you can still hunt for some more. I would say that the best part of their services is on time delivery of work and I suggest you clear all your doubts by contacting them.
Hey, I wanted to post that I have been in contact with the consultants. The subject matter experts are helping me in finalising the research methods. They presented me with a draft that I showed to my supervisor, who is still not okay with it. So, I have sent the draft for further corrections to the consultants. They seem determined to help me out. I’ll keep updating the progress. Thanks Jorja, for your help.
So this is surely an update, a wonderful one actually. Finally after two corrections, the methods are accepted, and the work is in progress. I am really in love with the idea for seeking help with the consultants. And I am going to work with them now and hope that it goes the right way down.
Hi all. Hope you guys out there are doing great. 🙂 I need to prepare a mixed questionnaire (quantitative and qualitative) to assess the factors and measures for attracting FDI in a country. As this is my data collection method, my analysis and results are completely relying on it. I am simply looking for guidance […]
Continue reading Developing questionnaire
I developed my questionnaire from my conceptual framework; I think that’s how you can do it. I had four independent and one dependent variable. It was really not that difficult. If you don’t understand, how about you check on with the related studies?
You can definitely find developed-questionnaires online pertaining to your topic. On typing a query on how to develop a questionnaire in Google, you will get ample amount of information. You can find the basics of questionnaire on wiki how article:
http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Questionnaire-for-Research
Also, this PDF is quite elaborative on how to get on with a questionnaire:
I came across this blog on how to design a questionnaire, found it useful and maybe you’ll too!
http://www.fivevidya.com/blog/how-to-proceed-while-designing-a-questionnaire/
Hey all, thank you so much for your replies. I have started making my questionnaires on the basis of my variables. The resources were useful. But I still have doubts. How long should I make it? I know that there shouldn’t be any redundancy, but my topic is vast and to cover it all, I need to gather more information.
There is no straight answer to that. I developed my questionnaire on the basis of my variables (5 independent and 1 dependent). I formulated 8 to 10 questions each for all the variables, which was a lot I guess, as now I am finding it quite difficult to analyse the data. So, what I mean to say that the exact length can’t be told but it should be as precise as it can be while keeping a check on the relevancy.
Pilot testing. That’s the way to ensure that your questionnaire is appropriate. Take only few people from your sample and distribute your developed questionnaire among them. Check for their responses and if it’s giving you the relevant information, then it’s correct. If it’s not, then you gotta make revisions.
Deciding on the length of questionnaire is a fundamental question; the number of questions that are sufficient in a questionnaire method to good Ph.D. Research work depends on the study, the field, and the budget of the study. It should also be compared to similar studies in the field and trying to surpass previous and existing studies. So, you can check out the thesis or papers pertaining to your filed and refer their questionnaires.
As your questionnaire will be developed on the basis of social marketing research, you can check out the following article http://www.social-marketing.com/research.html . This article will give you an insight on how to develop a questionnaire which will articulate both qualitative and quantitative questions which will help you to develop an in depth questionnaire.
Who knew that developing a questionnaire can be so tedious. I made a tentative questionnaire that seems to be ‘less’ (as per my professor). I have developed 4 questions each for each variable, which are 6. So that makes 24 questions apart from the questions related to demographics. Won’t the addition of more questions backfire on me?
Length of the questionnaire may be okay but its analysis will be too much. You can go with it though, if you have enough time.
How much time can your respondents give to you? That is the question you should ask before determining the length of your questionnaire. Analysis can be tedious, true, but it can be done with careful evaluation. The length however, should be appropriate as per the respondents.
Okay, thanks for the advice, I think that nobody really has that much time to give to a questionnaire. Moreover they can get bored and not answer the questions seriously. What I am thinking is to conduct pilot testing of the questionnaire that I have already built and then I’ll make the necessary changes.
I have signed up for a part time PhD course in Oil and Gas Management. I am looking for a research topic related to Refinery and Petrochemical section. I have been a Mechanical engineer and have 10 years of experience in Refinery and Petrochemical plants in Maintenance and Reliability departments. Still I find it difficult […]
Continue reading Need a PhD Topic for Oil and Gas Industry, Please Help!
A topic has to be generated from the research gap. For that you need to study a lot of literature that is available pertaining to maintenance issues in oil refineries and what has been done in it. A research gap could be anything, lack of research or poor techniques. When you find that gap, you need to propose how you will fill it. Your topic should be related to that. That’s what I think.
It’s good that you have already narrowed down your research area. What you can do is search the websites of the companies in this domain. See their content, and look for what they are currently working on, their divisions and the work they are doing in it. That will tell you the current progression of your industry. You can get topic ideas from there.
Congratulations for your first step 🙂
There are a lot of things that are to be considered before settling for a topic.
First, you got to narrow down your research area first and then you have to find what nobody has found up till now.
Get on some data and then work on refining your topic.
A topic has to be doable, which can be completed within the time allotted. Don’t take on something that you won’t be able to do.
Write a problem statement, get it checked with your supervisor.
That’ll do.
There are so many papers, it’s impossible to read down every research. I am somewhere around the line: “evaluating challenges and recommending strategies for oil refinery industries”. Now, there are so many research papers that relate to this, so I can write literature review on it, but how do I get something new?
Select the region where you want to conduct your research. Don’t be too keen on finding the gap first. The topic can be tentative. I read these tips for selecting a topic, have a look:
http://www.thesishelpcenter.com/quick-tips/the-criterion-of-choosing-a-topic.htm
Hi Pankaj! I can suggest you few areas/departments where you can work on maintenance and reliability:
• Oil & Gas and Corporate Social Responsibility
• Oil & Gas Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Oil & Gas Strategic Operations Management
• General Issues in Oil & Gas Operations
You can work in these areas as they don’t really require any lab work. You can easily go for interviews or surveys. Also, as per your convenience, you can merge two of these areas.
I think that settling with a topic that has limited scope will be the most smart option. So I’ll go with “evaluating challenges and recommending strategies for Indian oil refineries: an empirical study”.
Sounds good enough, do prepare your problem statement though. Because that is what will back you topic.
Hey all These titles in the research methodology are blurry for me. I cannot understand when to use what. It would be really helpful if someone could guide me for the same. Thank you
Continue reading Thematic analysis, Grounded theory and Observational theory
1. (Canada, Quebec, Montreal) Danielle25: I think you need a book on qualitative research. There are lots of them but my personal favourite is:
http://www.amazon.com/Qualitative-Inquiry-Research-Design-Traditions/dp/0761901442/ref
For thematic analysis, I find this book really good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transforming-Qualitative-Information-Thematic-Development/dp/0761909613
For others, ever tried searching at Google Scholar? It I’ll give you all the essential information.
I found these books, referred by my friend, regarding research methodology. You can check them out, they might be available online or libraries.
1. Cresswell, J. W. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions
2. Richard E. Boyatzis. Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code Development
You can also check these online resources:
http://www.resourcesvalley.com/the-basics-of-research-methodology/
Thematic Analysis is the most common form of analysis in qualitative research. It emphasizes on pinpointing, examining, and recording patterns (or “themes”) within data.
Grounded Theory is an inductive methodology. Although many call Grounded Theory a qualitative method, it is not. It is a general method. It is the systematic generation of theory from systematic research.
Observational Theory on the other hand, is based on observational learning which occurs through observing the behaviour of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based on various processes.
So, decide on the basis of your research questions, that which methodology will suit best in getting the answers. Take help from your friends or professor, don’t beat yourself much over this. Good Luck!
Thank you everyone I am finally able to differentiate between all the three theories and I am grateful to each one of you. But I have confusion, whether I can use both grounded and observational theory in my research. My topic is based on Ethnography. Kindly give me some suggestions.
Hi Andrew, I think you are still confused about choosing the preferred theory for your research. It’s better if you can first differentiate between Grounded and observational theory.
You will find some authors, such as Creswell, who treat case studies and grounded theory as two separate things, but I personally think of case studies as a way to frame your research questions and grounded theory as a general strategy for conducting qualitative research. So, in my view they are indeed compatible. In particular, you could use grounded theory as the basis for how you collect and analyze the data from your case study.
As for triangulation, that generally involves comparing two different sources of data, with the analogy that if they agree then this is like two separate lines meeting at the point of a triangle. For example, you could triangulate the results from one case study with another, or the results from a qualitative study with those from a quantitative study. So, unless you plan to compare different sets of results, it does not make sense in your case.
That still doesn’t clear my doubt. The difference between grounded and observational theory is okay, I get it. But can I use them both in my study?
Yea, I guess you can. Not an expert but what harm can it do? There are a lot of studies that use more than one approach. It might even authenticate your study.
But why would you want to use two methods of qualitative approach? I am sorry, but it makes little sense to me. Both the methods might generate the same results. If you want to choose more than one method, then I’d like to suggest that you conduct a mixed-method study with both qualitative and quantitative approach. That will give more value as per me.
Hello While writing, grammatical and spelling mistakes are bound to happen and I strongly believe in editing. But with my job and family, I am unable to edit my draft and I can’t send it to my supervisor without an edit. So I am simply writing to inquire about any proofreading service that might be […]
Continue reading Who can help edit my PhD thesis?
I don’t know about professional services. Usually people seek help from friends. How much time do you have for editing your document? Maybe you can work through it?
Tip: Try doing it in bits and do not exhaust yourself.
Thank you for replying Anmar, but no, I don’t have the time to do it. That is why I am looking for an editor..
Hey, I don’t know any professional editor, but maybe this might help:
• Ask for your friend, mother, wife or anyone available to edit your work.
• Advise them to use this amazing online editor: Stylewriter (http://www.editorsoftware.com/StyleWriter.html )
• Download its free version which is available for a month.
My English is poor and I too was looking for editing service. There are a lot of online services available for editing. In fact, I sought help from one such company too, dissertationindia.net. They quote as per the requirement (scientific editing, editing or proofreading) and number of words. They took 1 week for editing my thesis of 13,000 words. I was in contact with Astha Sethi.
You can contact them at: +91-11-27355454 and know their terms and prices.
Thanks for the replies. I’ll check out with dissertationindia.net. See if that works or not.
Hey Leonardo, I discussed with Nitisha from Dissertation India. They are charging me with 1300 dollars for the editing in 2 weeks’ time. I first asked them to edit my 1st chapter and see how that goes. It turned out to be really good, so I want to give them my complete thesis. For that I need to make the complete payment, I asked that if I could give them in instalments, but they refused. So I just wanted to ensure that whether I can trust them or not? They seem to be okay but I want to be sure. Thanks.
You have to make the complete payment in the first go. Yes they do offer a free sample editing, to gain trust I guess. You can give them your thesis. They do provide revisions if you are not satisfied with the work.
Freya Rogers 8:51 am on May 9, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I know that chi-square test is used to find the relationship between categorical variables. So I think you can use that and t-test for the comparison.
Alex Kruger 9:42 am on May 17, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
There is this site on statistics which I am simply in love with, phdstatistics.com. Read its blog for information about such statistical problems.
http://www.phdstatistics.com/blog/
Also, take a look of this resource, its’ on inferential statistics and explains parametric and non-parametric tests.
http://www.resourcesvalley.com/learn-inferential-statistics/
PriyaDesai PriyaDesai 4:53 am on May 25, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think ANOVA is the best option. I too need to make a comparison in my study, and my supervisor told me to us ANOVA. I didn’t read much about it, but I guess you can, to be sure. Also, tests are usually decided on the basis of hypothesis, so you need to refer them before settling on the tests.
Maya Verma 5:11 am on May 25, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Chi-square- a statistical method assessing the goodness of fit between a set of observed values and those expected theoretically.
T-Test- A T-test is a statistical examination of two population means. A two-sample t-test examines whether two samples are different and is commonly used when the variances of two normal distributions are unknown and when an experiment uses a small sample size.
ANOVA- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is a statistical method used to test differences between two or more means. It may seem odd that the technique is called “Analysis of Variance” rather than “Analysis of Means.” I hope with the above mentioned details you would be able to extract further clarity and use the same for your research.
Andrew Builder 11:39 am on June 3, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’ll suggest you to use T-test as your research methodology. Which will help you to compare whether two groups have different average value or not as you have 50 respondents forming 2 groups of managers and employees. You can try T-test to arrive at favourable results and avoid ANOVA because it is usually used to compare three or more variables and you have just two variables to compare.
Mats Voesenek 12:32 pm on June 21, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think ANOVA will do as it is one of the best approaches to test hypotheses when two populations are involved. It will tell you the variations between the two samples.
Maya Verma 10:19 am on June 28, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
For determining the tests, you need to first identify the type of variable. Is it categorical, quantitative or nominal? On that basis you can use tests like Wilcoxon, paired t test, one sample t test and chi square test. I know that settling for a test is quite a work, so I would suggest you consult with your teachers on what would be the best option.
Tia Ross 5:36 am on July 1, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
ANOVA test and chi square test, this is what I am settling for, on the basis of the variables. Thank you all for helping me out. I really do appreciate it!