Exploring Mentoring Strategies for Secondary School

Running head: DISSERTATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Exploring Mentoring Strategies for Secondary School Students in Risk of Exclusion
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1DISSERTATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Table of Contents
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
Outline of the research.................................................................................................................2
Research paradigm.......................................................................................................................2
Approach of the research.............................................................................................................3
Design of the research.................................................................................................................4
Strategy of the research...............................................................................................................5
Research sample technique and size............................................................................................6
Method of data collection............................................................................................................6
Technique of data analysis...........................................................................................................7
Ethical considerations..................................................................................................................8
Summary......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

2DISSERTATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology
Introduction
The dissertation research methodology focuses on the variants of research tools those can
be utilized while commencing with any research work. This research methodology is constructed
with the aim of exploring the mentoring strategies for secondary school students those are in the
risk of exclusion. There can be various risks of exclusions such as ethnicity, gender, socio-
economic background and special educational needs. As a result, the secondary school students
are often at the risk of exclusion that is a matter of concern because the after effects on the
students are severe. This methodology lists the most suitable types of research tools for
investigating the topic so that the challenge can be acknowledged and mitigated suitably.
Outline of the research
As the topic intends to explore the mentoring strategies for secondary school students in
the risk of exclusion, positivism paradigm, deductive approach, descriptive design, survey
strategy and probability sampling technique are the most suitable ones. Hence, 50 secondary
school teachers can be selected using the mentioned sampling technique and large number of
opinion can be collected easily in the light of the research topic. In accordance with the
aforementioned tools, the method of collecting and analyzing used are primary and quantitative.
The list of methodological tools mentioned is appropriate and enables to explore the research
topic in detail and contribute quality information to the existing secondary resources.
Research paradigm
Research paradigm is said to be wide framework dealing with perception, belief and
understanding within which practices and theories operate. Hence, research paradigm indicates

3DISSERTATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
the pre-structural perceptions, understanding and conceptualizations (Kumar 2019). The main
components of research paradigm are ontology, epistemology and methodology. Epistemology is
defined as the philosophical branch that is dealing with the origin, nature, methods and limit of
knowledge of research whereas ontology is concerned with being or the reality (Ledford and
Gast 2018). From the definition of epistemology, it can be said that this philosophy is more
concerned with knowledge in respect to the methods, its validation and the probable ways of
gaining knowledge in respect to the social reality. On the other hand, methodology is said to
constitute the general principles that determines the way social world is investigated (Fletcher
2017).
In the light of the current research topic, the most suitable one is positivism philosophy.
This is because according to the positivism philosophy, reality is independent and research
conducting research any time and any place are ought to come to similar conclusions (Cuervo-
Cazurra et al. 2017). The probable risk of exclusion for the secondary school students is more or
less similar and so are the mentoring strategies those can be used for preventing the exclusion.
Positivism philosophy for this research facilitates use of established facts such as the probable
risks of exclusion and the reasons as well thereby, explaining the aim of investigation (Snyder
2019).
Approach of the research
Inductive approach believes that sciences begin with observations with secure basis from
which knowledge can be obtained followed by reality impinging directly. Inductive approach for
researches give rise to generalized ideas out of the observations made that begins with singular
statements and ends up with universal propositions (Walliman 2017). Deductive approach is said
to highlight opposite characteristics from the inductive approach. For deductive approach, it