Research Methodology

Running Head : RESEARCH METHODLOGY
Research Methodology
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RESEARCH METHOLOGY1
Research Methodology
The research methodology can be considered to be the specific procedure or
technique used for identifying, selecting, processing and analysing information regarding a
particular topic. In a particular research paper, the methodology is a section which allows the
reader to evaluate critically a study’s overall reliability and validity (Ardani, Sulistiyorini &
Shulhan, 2019). There are usually three types of research methodologies such as the
qualitative, quantitative and the mixed.
The qualitative research methodology is about inquiring different researches founded
on the academic projects. Most of this is applied in the projects related to social sciences
along with the market based ones. The aim of the qualitative research methodology is to
study the human behaviours. There are varied researches which can be studied through the
qualitative research method. It also helps in assessing the human behaviours with an in-depth
view. Specifically, it can be said that the qualitative research methodology talks about why
certain decisions come forwards in specific circumstances (Grant-Muller et al., 2018). For
inquiring on the human behaviours, samples are taken from the population. In most of the
researches, small sample sizes are taken because small sample sizes are thought to be more
focused on the topic. The topics such as cultural, historical, comparative, descriptive, action
based and evaluative are studied under the qualitative research methodology.
On the other hand, the quantitative research methodology is another type which is
rather a systematic investigation in the social sciences consisting of mathematical, statistical
and computational techniques. The objectives of the quantitative research methodology are to
develop the mathematical models and theories for the study hypothesis. A methodology data
which is enclosed in numeric form comes under the category of the quantitative method. It is
the widely used methodology in the area of psychology, political studies, economics and

RESEARCH METHOLOGY2
sociology (Ibrahim, 2016). In the anthropological sciences, this study is not quite preferable.
This methodology helps in producing data and information regarding some specific cases.
The third method is the mixed method.
The mixed method helps in conducting the research which involves gathering,
analysing and integrating the quantitative and the qualitative research. The quantitative
method includes the surveys and experiments and qualitative method includes the interviews
and the focus groups. This particular research approach is used when there is better
understanding required of the research problem possible through this integration. This
method is used when one needs to validate or correlate the findings of other methods (Grant-
Muller et al., 2018). It is further used when one method is utilized for informing another
method. Additionally it is used when one tries to have a look into the research question from
various aspects and clarify the potential contradictions and unexpected findings. Any single
methodology alone cannot provide sufficient and reliable data on a given research question.
Through mixing both the qualitative and quantitative data and research, the depth of
understanding can be reached while offsetting the weaknesses which are inherent to using the
approach itself.
In this study, the quantitative method will be used as it will help in gaining in-depth
data on the research question that is How does Information technology contributing to the
Timor Leste infrastructure development?. There are valid reasons of rejecting the other two
methods. Although the mixed method helps in gaining combined strength of both the
qualitative and quantitative research methods, there are some of the drawbacks too. The
mixed method helps in gaining answers for a complex range of research questions.
Unfortunately, it is a difficult method to be handled by a single researcher. Furthermore, it
requires in-depth knowledge of multiple approaches and methods along with the technique to
mixing them. The mixed method becomes more expensive and time consuming too (Hum,