Dissertation objectives and research methods: steps to study their relationship

In dissertation works, you need to work out the relationship between dissertation objectives and research methods used. And such effort need to be informed with your literature review efforts. Most students find it boring to read textbooks on Research Methods and the materials in Research Methods textbooks appear abstract. I construct the following table for students to examine the relationship between objectives and research methods based on their common sense. (I am aware that the table can be refined.)

First of all, I briefly explain the various items in the table. And then, I ask students to put an X into a cell as if they think that a particular research method can be used to achieve a specific research objective. I indicate that there is a means-end relationship between research methods (as means) and dissertation objectives (as ends). I then ask students to explain their viewpoints (ie why they put Xs in some of the cells).

Ultimately, figuring out the relationship between objectives and research methods cannot soley relay on common sense. You still need to do some reading of Research Methods references to learn the subject. Next, using the table above, try to develop a more specific table with your own dissertation objectives and research methods; in the cells, instead of using Xs, you fill in more specific reasons why you think your research methods are related to your dissertation objectives. At the same time, you try to justify (a) your dissertation objectives in terms of practical and academic values and (b) your specific research methods by relating them to managment theories and notions that have been examined in your literature review. By conducting literature review, you may want to revise and refine your dissertation objectives and research methods from time to time, see the following diagram:

Finally, you assess your research methods in terms of research method criteria such as internal/ external validity, reliability, relevance, feasibility and research ethics.