Types Of Research Paper Methods You Need To Know

There are many methods you can employ for a research paper to conduct your research, and to get results to analyze. The two main aspects of a research paper are the results and your methodology. The methodology you choose to go with largely depends on the type of subject you are studying, however, there are some exceptions to this, and so we will cover all the types of methods you need to know to complete your essay to a high level.

Methodology

A key section of your essay will be concerned about your methodology. In fact, there is a whole section devoted to your methodology in your paper. The reason for this is so that students can analyze the methods they are using, to see how they can improve and whether or not if they methods they are using are the best for the type of research they aim to conduct.

However, the section is not only for the self-reflection of students themselves, but they also give the reader some insight and justification into why you are using such methods to conduct your research. In your methodology section, you are to perform a thorough analysis of your methods, answering questions such as whether or not you feel that you can make any improvements, why you feel that your method is superior to other methods and any constraints to the methods you have chosen.

Quantitative

The first method of research that we will discuss is the qualitative method. As the name may suggest, this method primarily involves working with numbers and data, from which calculations can be done and conclusions can be drawn.

The process of collecting such data involves the writer making one or more hypotheses; these are questions that the writer wants to address through their research. Data is then collected using a strict procedure, and many complex statistical instruments can be used to aid the researcher, such as statistical computer packages.

In this type of method, objectivity is extremely important, and so a lot of steps and care is taken to ensure that results are obtained that measure what the writer intended to research. As you may have guessed, quantitative methods are mainly used in scientific subjects, however this not always the case.

Qualitative

Qualitative methods are primarily used in social science subjects, such as sociology. In this method, the primary aim of the researcher is to analyze human behavior and to gain an understanding of individual people’s experiences.

Unlike in quantitative research, there is no need to have a hypothesis before research paper writing. Much of qualitative research deducts a conclusion once the research has concluded. This is called a bottom up approach. In this method, data is collected based on observation and interaction of other humans.

Mixed Approach

Some research methods utilize both quantitative and qualitative research methods to get the best of both methods.

As you can see, there are two main academic research methods you can use to write my paper, and the one that you choose depends on the type of research you aim to conduct.