RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

MANAGING THE PLANNING OF RESEARCH 93
cell in generalized terms, it would be more useful
if specific, concrete responses were given which
addressed particular issues and concerns in the
research proposal in question.
Many of these questions concern rights,
responsibilities and the political uses (and abuses)
of the research. This underlines the view that
research is an inherently political and moral
activity; it is not politically or morally neutral.
The researcher has to be concerned with the uses
as well as the conduct of the research.
Managing the planning of research
The preceding discussion has revealed the
complexity of planning a piece of research, yet
it should not be assumed that research will always
go according to plan! For example, the mortality of
the sample might be a feature (participants leaving
during the research), or a poor response rate to
questionnaires might be encountered, rendering
subsequent analysis, reporting and generalization
problematical; administrative support might not
be forthcoming, or there might be serious slippage
in the timing. This is not to say that a plan
for the research should not be made; rather it
is to suggest that it is dangerous to put absolute
faith in it! For an example of what to include
in a research proposal see the accompanying
web site: (http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/
9780415368780 – Chapter 3, file 3.2.doc).
To manage the complexity in planning outlined
above a simple four-stage model can be proposed:
1 Identify the purposes of the research.
2 Identify and give priority to the constraints
under which the research will take place.
3 Plan the possibilities for the research within
these constraints.
4 Decidetheresearch design.
Each stage contains several operations (see http:
//www.routledge.com/textbooks/
9780415368780 – Chapter 3, file 3.4. ppt). Box 3.4
clarifies this four-stage model, drawing out the
various operations contained in each stage.
It may be useful for research planners to consider
which instruments will be used at which stage of
the research and with which sectors of the sample
population. Box 3.5 sets out a matrix of these
for planning (see also Morrison 1993: 109), for
example, of a small-scale piece of research.
Amatrixapproachsuchasthisenablesresearch
planners to see at a glance their coverage of the
sample and of the instruments used at particular
points in time, making omissions clear, and
promoting such questions as the following:
Why are certain instruments used at certain
times and not at others
Why are certain instruments used with certain
people and not with others
Why do certain times in the research use more
instruments than other times
Why is there such a heavy concentration of
instruments at the end of the study
Why are certain groups involved in more
instruments than other groups
Why are some groups apparently neglected
(e.g. parents): is there a political dimension to
the research
Why are questionnaires the main kinds of
instrument to be used
Why are some instruments (e.g. observation,
testing) not used at all
What makes the five stages separate
Are documents held only by certain parties
(and, if so, might one suspect an ‘institutional
line’ to be revealed in them)
Are some parties more difficult to contact than
others (e.g. university teacher educators)
Are some parties more important to the
research than others (e.g. the principals)
Why are some parties excluded from the sample
(e.g. school governors, policy-makers, teachers’
associations and unions)
What is the difference between the three
groups of teachers
Matrix planning is useful for exposing key
features of the planning of research. Further
matrices might be constructed to indicate other
features of the research, for example:
the timing of the identification of the sample
the timing of the release of interim reports
Chapter 3