RESEARCH METHOD OUTLINE: ELABORATION AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The research method outline is the way in which the objectives of an investigation are proposed. Writing the ideas allows you to create a working draft; Ideally, the researcher's sketch should be as complete as possible, so that the investigative process is easier to develop.

The researcher usually starts from a general idea when analyzing a topic of interest, but without being clear about the key points to investigate. At this stage it is very important for the researcher to write their reflections, to record the advances that arise on the subject, to achieve a concrete outline.

The development of a project goes through several stages. Research is not written in a single moment, but requires several approaches and revisions in which the researcher completes and refines the information obtained. However, at the time of writing the project, the ideas are required to be organized.

This step requires reading, as well as carrying out informal observations and dialogues with specialists in the area to be investigated. The outline of the ideas allows to register, organize, relate and outline the investigation.

Preparation of the research outline

This aspect tries to describe what you intend to use and explain the research topic. This topic can be about concepts that have already been investigated or about novel notions or future projections.

Delimitation of the topic

The topic begins to be delimited from the moment in which the research questions begin to be formulated.

Without the delimitations there would not be the necessary criteria to review documentary antecedents or to know if it is necessary to carry out interviews, surveys or any other type of investigative resource, which must be adapted to the nature of the investigation.

When the central theme and the questions are not well defined, it is much more difficult to organize the general concept, the theoretical bases and its objectives.

Therefore, the first step in conducting an investigation is to determine what you want to investigate and how it will be done. Without answering a series of key questions, it is questionable whether the research will make sense and have a logical and definite orientation.

Basic questions at the beginning of an investigation

Some questions to ask at the beginning of an investigation include the following:

- «What?», Suggests the type of research you want to carry out and allows you to visualize the topic to be discussed.

- «Who?», Indicates which are the individuals or groups to be investigated.

- «About?», Refers to the general topic that will be studied in the research process. Talk about the title of the research, the concepts and the theories.

- «Why?», Corresponds to justification, which implies arguing and reasoning the content to be evaluated.

- «For what?», It is about identifying what is the main objective, what you want to achieve with the research.

- "How?" Includes the methods to be treated, and the strategies and techniques to be used during the investigation.

- «When?», Represents the stipulated time for the development of the entire investigative process.

- «Where?», Has to do with the geographical scope, the physical spaces available to carry out the research.

- «With what?», Refers to the resources or materials that are needed to carry out the investigation.

- "How much?", Is the cost, the search for budgets and resources for research.

Information gathering

This step allows the researcher to become familiar with the subject, acquire knowledge, have a broader vision and create criteria to make possible decisions in the course of the investigation. This information can be obtained through a deep reading of referential authors.

Through the outline, the researcher must review and organize the information obtained and identify the most important aspects that are focused on the topic.

The investigative process is similar to a spiral. This means that each turn symbolizes an achievement in research. The research process begins with exploration and observation, which leads the researcher to ask various questions.

How to organize sketch information

The first thing is to have collected all the information through a review of books, degree works, research reports, popular articles, scientific journals, press, among others.

Then the relevant material should be selected and the original sources given priority, the entire material carefully reviewed, and statements not supported by an author excluded.

This is so because the data from the sources that support the research should appear in the bibliographic references; These sources reaffirm the theoretical bases.

The next thing is to carefully review the methodological process to be used to apply the instruments and theoretical bases. In addition to including recent information, it is also valid to add classical authors, in the case of theories.

Records

One of the tools used by researchers is token storage. This format allows the information to be easily managed and located; Each idea must be registered with the author's last name and the year.

Example

Strauss and Corbin, 2012. “When talking about qualitative analysis, we are referring, not to the quantification of qualitative data, but to the non-mathematical process of interpretation, carried out with the purpose of discovering concepts and relationships in the raw data and then organizing them into a theoretical explanatory scheme ”(p.12).

Conceptual scheme

It consists of a system of concepts that, grouped and organized according to universal statutes, allow approaches to specific objects of study.

The conceptual scheme has the particularity of being represented visually -either with drawings, pictures or symbols- and finally develops a general concept that is easy to understand.

In the conceptual scheme of any research, the basic elements that compose it are organized to carry a guide to the entire development and presentation of the subject.

Example

1. Television

1.1. Definition of television

1.2. Children's programming

2. Children's television in Spain

2.1. characteristics

2.2. Educational television

Finally, the research outline must be reviewed, corrected and supported with the previous phases to ensure its perfect logical and argumentative order, and thus write the final ideas based on a traditional research format.

References

1. Research Methods. Source: faculty.webster.edu
2. Eric McConnell. Project Management Methodology: Definition, Types, Examples. (2010). Source: mymanagementguide.com
3. Designing the research. Source: www.nfer.ac.uk
4. Writing Methodology. Source: explorable.com
5. Definition of Research. Source: explorable.com