Research Methodology Report: Migrant Children's Educational Challenges

This report outlines the research methodology employed to investigate the educational challenges faced by migrant children in the United Kingdom. The study utilizes a qualitative research approach, emphasizing the understanding of beliefs, attitudes, and experiences through a multi-method, interpretive approach. The methodology encompasses research strategy, design, data sources, and ethical considerations. Semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis are key methods for data collection and interpretation. The sample includes Indian migrant families and students aged 18-25, with a focus on their experiences in primary and secondary education. Pilot interviews are conducted to refine the research instruments and ensure the study's validity and reliability. Ethical considerations, including informed consent and participant privacy, are strictly adhered to throughout the research process.

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Research Methodology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Research Methodology
For this research, the qualitative research is being selected because most of the studies
mentioned in the literature review are based on the quantitative method along with the
longitudinal study. Also, the qualitative research is the multi-method which is in the focus having
involved a naturalistic, an interpretive approach to the subject matter as found from Dharssi and
Perry (2017). This research method will be useful for this research as it focuses on the
understanding of a research query in the form of an idealistic approach. Although the
quantitative method is one extremely reliable method and it is founded on the numeric which can
be propagated by all other researchers, the qualitative method is further used for the
understanding of the beliefs of people , the attitudes, the experiences , the interactions and the
behaviors. It will help in generating the non-numerical data and the integration of the qualitative
integration in a research strategy which is gaining enhanced attention in all of the disciplines.
The research methodology is the specific procedure or the technique that is used for the
identification, the selection, the processing and analyzing information regarding a particular
topic. In a particular research, the section of methodology allows the readers to evaluate critically
the overall validity and the reliability of the study (Kumar 2019). It is the path used by the
researchers in conduct the research. It further depicts the ways through which the researchers
will formulate their issue and the objectives for presenting the outcome from the data that is
obtained at the time of the study(Dharssi and Perry 2017). The methodology further shows the
way the outcomes of the research will be obtained with the meeting of the study objectives. The
chapter is dedicated to discussing the research methods which were used at the time of the entire
research process. It consists of the study from the research strategy to the dissemination of the
result. In here, the research strategy is outlined along with the research design, the study area, the

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data sources such as the primary or the secondary data , the consideration of the population, the
sample size, the questionnaire sample size determination, the data collection through survey ,
questionnaire, the interviews and others which enhance the reliability of the data, its validity, the
inclusion criteria, the ethical consideration and the like. The methodology section will cover the
process of collecting data through which the research questions can be answered. The aim of the
study is to examine the educational challenges faced by migrant children in the United Kingdom.
The qualitative research is also used as the strategy that is philosophically incongruent
with all of the experimental research. Moreover, the qualitative research has contributed hugely
in the health research. Also, in the clinical trials, the qualitative research leaves a great impact on
the collection of data, the analysis along with the interpretation of the outcomes. A short case
study and the semi-structured interview will also be used in this research because the semi-
structured interviews will be helpful because the respondents will avail the opportunity of
delivering insightful responses without going off the topic (Berger 2018). The semi-structured
interview occurs when the interviewer does not follow a formalized list of the questions. They
ask for open ended questions, allow for a discussion with the interviewee instead of a
straightforward question and answer format. This method will be useful because the questions
will be prepared ahead of the time and allow the interviewer to become prepared and appear
quite competent at the time of the interview. It will also provide freedom to the informants for
expressing their opinions according to their wish (Haghi et al. 2018). The thematic analysis will
also be used in this research. This type of analysis is considered as the most significant form of
the analysis related to the qualitative research. It usually elaborates on the identification, the
analysis and the interpretation of the patterns of meaning. The analysis is further understood
being a method or the technique in contrast to the qualitative approaches. It will be helpful as it

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will analyse both the small and the large sets of data and it can focus on the subjective
experiences of the participants along with the sense-making.
Sample size and characteristics
The sample selection is one significant and underestimated aspect of a specific research
study. The theory of sampling elaborates two of the sampling domains such as the probability
and the non-probability. The probability samples consist of the randomized, stratified and
systematic types whereas the non-probability samples are in want of the randomization
(Korstjens, and Moser 2018). There is a primary distinction between two of the domains and the
findings of the probability sampling can become generalized to the target population. The
nonprobability study findings can be generalized where the sample was properly studied. The
sample size will be selected from the families and the students that have migrated from India to
the United Kingdom (Haghi et al. 2018). The Indian communities will be contacted and the
participants will be selected and the inclusion criteria will be among the youngsters ageing
between 18-25 years and no children will be included. As per the report of 2018, it is found that
the Indians had continued to account for largest migrant group from outside of the EU or the
European Union. The estimated migration of the Indians to the United Kingdom annually is
100,000. Most of them are found to be having the ability to speak English, belonging from
wealthy family migrating to the United States for job purpose (Timesofindia.indiatimes.com,
2020). Those people will be selected who have come to the United Kingdom from India as the
immigrants and then studying in the United Kingdom.
The exclusion of the age will be over 25 years because they are unlikely to remember
their past. A table will be prepared where the details of the participants will be noted down
including their current age, the section/class in which they study, their age of coming to the

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United Kingdom, their gender. The participants will be asked for retrospecting on their
experiences of childhood along with their experiences from the primary and secondary school
days.
The research participants will be selected from different genders and the interview
conducted on both the genders will have a particular holistic view of the challenge which is faced
by other people (Berger 2018). It will also be evaluated what are the differences in challenges
which are faced by both of the genders. The participants will be allowed to freely express their
experiences and opinions about the experiences. According to the views of Berger (2018), the
selection of the research participants is actually one method of selecting the participants for
study. One may make use of the random selection for obtaining small number of participants
through selecting randomly from a list of the population. The random selection is actually
founded on the basis of obtaining a sample which is representative of the whole population. In
this case, the information will be protected properly with their consent and they will be provided
a comfortable environment to share their experiences (Connelly 2016). This will pave way for a
more in-depth analysis and conversation. The questions of the interview will be prepared
beforehand and the data will be gathered through casual conversation giving a scope of leaving
the question which may appear redundant. The primary aim is to get all the participants talk quite
freely having ensured a bulk of information that is relevant and profound too.
The pilot interview
The pilot interview is not aimed at the collection of data but it is aimed at aiding to the
design of the later research (King, Horrocks and Brooks 2018). The pilot interviews are usually
unstructured, probe for the subjects, the concepts and the languages. However, the later
interviews are for the testing of the suitability of the instrument standards. The pilot interviews

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are usually of two types where the first is the exploratory and the second is the complete pilot.
The exploratory is one initial attempt for seeing whether the subject of investigation is captured
adequately by the interview procedure along with the question schedule which is called the pre-
pilot study aptly. The second is the complete pilot that is also one small scale implementation of
the whole research plan consisting of the data collection, the analysis and the outline of the
report. The pilot interview will be useful in terms of outlining the way the migrants started their
study and how they have performed in the school. It will also collect data on the barriers of
communication faced, the engagement of the parents in the education of child and others. For
this research, the pilot interview will be conducted for the focus group along with the face to face
interview. However, it is quite difficult to do a focus group interview since there are chances of
going off the topic. Notably, the pilot study is the preliminary small scale study conducted by the
researchers for deciding the way a large scale research project can be conducted. The pilot study
helps in identifying and then refining a research question figuring out what methods are best for
the conducting the research (Duffy et al., 2019). There are many advantages of the pilot study
and this study will be helped as a refined research question will be identified along with a refined
hypothesis or the set of hypothesis. It will also help in identifying and then evaluating one
sample population, the data set and the research field site. It has been helpful in the evaluation
and the deciding on the research methods, estimating the time and the cost that is needed for the
project.
Ethical consideration
There are various factors that need to be assessed while carrying out a research. One of
the most important factors refers to ethical considerations (Kumar 2019). Ethics refer to practices
that are characterized by values and principles that address the nature of the behavior of human

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beings. Ethics is the factor that needs to be present within a research, in order to ensure that the
activities within the research are carried out in a manner that ensures certain values are being
complied with such as the research ethics. There are several reasons of adhering to the ethical
norms during research. Firstly, it promotes the research aims as truth, knowledge and the
avoidance of the errors (Berger 2018). The prohibitions against the fabrication, the falsification
and the misinterpretation of the research are also promoted. This is going to help a lot so that the
participants cane have faith on the research authority and be honest to whatever they say in their
answers. The establishment of trust is extremely important between the researcher and the
respondents (King, Horrocks and Brooks 2018). The research is usually conducted involving a
huge coordination and cooperation among different people in different institutions and the ethical
standards can also promote the values which are most important in the collaborative work.
The ethical consideration can be mentioned as the significant part of the research and
according to the principles, the research participants must be protected from any harm in any
ways (Glaser and Strauss 2017). The dignity of the participants will prioritized and maintained
too and the consent of the participants will be taken before the conduction of the study. Also, the
privacy of the research participants will be addressed and there will be adequate confidentiality.
The individual anonymity of the individuals will be maintained. There will be no such
exaggeration regarding the aims and the objectives of the research and the affiliation of any type
of form, the source of the possible conflicts and funding of the interests will be declared. There
will not be any type of communication gap related to the research and transparency will be
maintained with honesty and truth. Also, any kind of the misleading information along with the
focus of the primary data will be highly avoided. According to the adolescent health and the
medical ethics, the adolescents are neither children and nor adults for which they face issues

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related with the decision making which affect them. It is known that the adolescents cannot
always make the good decisions and they participate in crucial condition that can affect them in
future. They usually desire for the privacy and the independence being balanced with the fact
that adolescents are not completely mature and go through the consent, the confidentiality and
the decision making.

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