How to Collect & Analyse Data For Quantitative & Qualitative Research: School Dropout Rate - A Case Study

Research methodology is a philosophical framework within which the research is conducted. It is basically a foundation for the whole book upon which the research is based. A methodology is considered to be most appropriate if it achieves the objectives of the research and replicable in other research areas of similar nature. The procedures of qualitative data analysis are inductive and emerging in collecting and analyzing data. In the inductive method, the researcher starts from the observation and experiences of the participants and discover patterns in them. It is a bottom-up approach in research as compared to the deductive method which is a top-down approach. The inductive approach leads to subjectivism. There must be congruity among the different positions adopted by researcher like ontology, epistemology and philosophical assumptions otherwise it may lead to incommensurability. There are three main approaches to research; the quantitative research approach which is used to test objective theories; the qualitative research approach which explores and understands the meanings behind the problem individual ascribe to them; the mixed method which integrates both.