ABSTRACT
This chapter stands as the central bridge between the essentially theoretical considerations of Chapter 1 and the entirely practical focus of Chapter 3. As a consequence, the chapter is (perhaps unsurprisingly) half-theoretical and half-practical. As explained in Chapter 1, the key to the sort of academic work that underpins most dissertations is the ability to tie together both theoretical and empirical worlds in a clear and reasoned manner. Moreover, as also noted in Chapter 1, the deductive-inductive dichotomy that permeates academic research, although resulting from philosophical underpinnings, is important in determining what type of study it is that you will undertake for your dissertation. It is from these underpinnings that the qualitative and quantitative traditions of research have taken root, and this chapter will, in the first instance, elucidate further the basic distinctions between these methodological traditions. The remainder of the chapter
will be given over to outlining the four key research design principles (validity, reliability, representativeness and ethical conduct) to which due consideration must be given before beginning the detailed planning of a dissertation.
