Aim:
A general statement of why the research is being conducted.
Hypothesis:
Formulated at the beginning of the research, a hypothesis is an idea for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved. It is a clear statement predicting the outcome of the research. A hypothesis can be directional or non-directional. A directional hypothesis states that there will be a difference between two results and predicts that difference. A non-directional hypothesis states that there will be a difference between the two results, but not what that difference will be. A null hypothesis predicts that any differences or similarities between the sets of results in an experiment are due to chance alone.
Non-Experimental Research Methods:
Surveys
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observations
Experimental Research Methods:
Laboratory Experiments
Field Experiments
Naturalistic Experiments
Quasi-Experiments
Pilot Studies:
Pilot studies allow the researcher to discover any particular problems in the design before the main study is conducted.
Qualitative Data:
Data in numerical form.
Qualitative Data:
Any data that is not in numerical form.
