ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines options and related issues to help you choose the research methodology for your dissertation. We discuss some of the theoretical ideas that shape concepts and models to do with research methods in the social sciences. We show you that research is a complex and ‘messy’ business with lots of questions and issues to consider. However, we also want to show you how to think through these complexities without feeling overwhelmed. We want to give you information to help you feel confident to develop a research strategy suited to your question(s). Designing a research strategy necessitates a systematic and rigorous approach but one that is sufficiently flexible to be responsive to the resolution of tensions inherent in the actual practice of doing the research.
