DESIGN RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION

02/10/18 - 06/11/18 (Week 6 - Week 11)

Yeap Phay Min (0331073)

Design Research Methodology

Research Implementation

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LECTURE NOTES

02/10/18 (Week 6)

For this week, we got a lecture on research strategy. The first part we discussed about was two types of research method which are quantitative and qualitative. The difference is that quantitative can be measured while qualitative can be subjective.

Examples of the difference between the two research methods

PDF of lecture slides

16/10/18 (Week 8)

This week, we got a lecture on the various research methods for data collection. These methods of research through primary sources include observation, interview as well as questionnaire.

PDF of lecture slides

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INSTRUCTIONS

02/10/18 (Week 6)

The task for this week is to start thinking about the research designs to collect the necessary data. 

09/10/18 (Week 7)

This week we were mainly focused on completing our critical reviews in project 2 . Nonetheless, Ms Jinchi advised us to continue thinking about our research methods. While coming up with ideas, we should also take into consideration of what are the questions asked, why do I want to conduct such methods, who are going to be involved, how am I going to conduct it and so on.

After some thinking and planning, I decided to go with qualitative methods such as interview and visual analysis, and write my ideas into a document to show Ms Jinchi in the next class.

PDF of initial notes of ideas

16/10/18 (Week 8)

In this class, I got to share with Ms Jinchi what I'm thinking of doing for the data collection methods.

FEEDBACK: For the research method of interview, Ms Jinchi mentioned that I could conduct the interview on designers and companies that are related to packaging to promote environmental sustainability, instead of just sticking to Lush Cosmetics as my only interviewee. When I mention about packaging, I should also be clear of what level of packaging it is, such as primary, secondary and tertiary. Overall, the research methods I want to conduct are relevant and I can proceed with thinking deeper on them and justify them. She also mentioned that it is possible to conduct a questionnaire.

My initial thoughts were just on two research methods which are visual analysis and interview. Currently, I am questioning of the outcome of my interview as I am unsure if my selection of interview participants are going to respond to me or not. I have not given up on it completely, and I'm still having hopes that this method of research will work out. However, I am also planning to conduct a questionnaire as suggested by Ms Jinchi. This will help me gather more relevant and sufficient data,   so just in case the interview doesn't go as plan I still have the questionnaire to help collect more data.

I started updating my thoughts and ideas onto a Google Docs. I also decided to separated the documents as it felt cluttered when it was all in one document.

Here are my initial plans for each of my methods of research.

Qualitative Research: Visual Analysis

Qualitative Research: Email Interview

Quantitative Research: Questionnaire

23/10/18 (Week 9)

This week I got to have a one-to-one consultation with Ms Jinchi regarding my updated plans for the research methods.

FEEDBACK: For the method of observation, it is clearly written and I can proceed with conducting it. For the interview, my questions are good and relevant, so for now I have to focus on getting the interviewees to participate. And lastly for the questionnaire, the questions are generally okay but I should add some follow up questions and focus them on my research objectives. Overall, she mentioned that my methods were well prepared and elaborated. 

With the feedback received, I started making the minor adjustments to my overall research methods to improve on it, find more possible interviewees to contact them and proceed with my questionnaire and visual analysis.

Here are my updated plans for my methods of research.

Qualitative Research: Visual Analysis

Qualitative Research: Interview

Quantitative Research: Questionnaire

30/10/18 (Week 10)

Since I had already cleared up and asked about most of the things I want to know, I mainly only needed to consult with Ms Jinchi on my questions prepared for the questionnaire before I start sending it out. While I was talking to her, I also mentioned about the progress on my other two research methods. 

FEEDBACK: The questions in the questionnaire are relevant to my research question and I can proceed with it. For the interview, it is good that I’ve sent out more emails as that will gain more chances of getting a response back. As for the visual analysis, it is good that I’ve briefly started to observe and study the packagings. It is also possible for me to do my visual analysis on two beauty brands. 

Since I'm unsure of how the research method of interview will go since I do not have any confirmed interview participants, I decided to do my visual analysis on another brand and that is Burt's Bees. This will allow me to collect more data needed.

In class, I created my questionnaire and started to get responses for it.
Link to questionnaire: https://goo.gl/forms/DKlufxUwe1nED0z63

Screenshot of Questionnaire 

Before ending the class, Ms Jinchi also mentioned that we should have our blogs updated with the slides that include all the research methods that we will be conducting.

I proceeded to transfer the notes I have written in Google Docs to my slides. From there, I updated the content and made any necessary changes in the slides itself.

Here are my slides regarding the research methods I've chosen to carry out. (not final)

6/11/18 (Week 11)

This week is an e-learning week so we got to work from home. I emailed Ms Jinchi the link to this blog post where she could view the slides with the content on my research methods. Then, I proceeded with collecting my data.

Email Interview
Due to the fact that no brands accepted my interview request, I decided to not proceed with this research method and focus on my questionnaire and visual analysis.

Questionnaire
Continued to get more responses...

Visual Analysis
Since it is a holiday, I got to take this chance to head out to the mall and go into the Lush store as well as Sephora to view Burt's Bees. This is so I can observe the primary packaging of the products in person. I got to take some pictures of the place and the packaging designs while I was there.

With all the data gathered, I proceeded to roughly type them out on google sheets so I can clearly see the similarities and differences between the different packagings.

*this table guides as my notes, it is not the final visual analysis



I also needed to move on with the second part of the visual analysis and that is to browse through the internet and search up the ways the sustainable primary packagings are being promoted. I also wrote some notes down in another google sheet.

*this guides as my notes, it is not the final visual analysis




Once I gathered these information I could start writing my visual analysis in a google docs.

1. Lush



2. Burt's Bees



I complied the survey responses and the visual analysis into a set of slides.

Here is the initial set of slides.



In the next class, I will show Ms Jinchi what I've done and get feedback on it so I can further update on the content in my slides.

13/11/18 (Week 12)

FEEDBACK: For the questionnaire, it’s good that I’ve gotten sufficient amount of responses, and I can probably get another 10 responses and start to analyse the responses. As for the visual analysis, the process is going well and for now, I can further elaborate on my explanation and analysis of what I observed. I can also include my own interpretations of it as well.

With the feedback received, I proceeded to update on the contents in my visual analysis and continue to receive more survey responses.

Since I am no longer conducting an email interview, I removed it from my slides.
Here is the updated slides for the research methods.




I've managed to collect all the necessary data in the past weeks and complied it all in the slides.
Here are my updated slides of my data collection and data analysis for the research methods.





20/11/18 (Week 13)
It is a public holiday so we got to work from home and go online as our class replacement. We were told to update our blog with the latest information for the data collection and data analysis, as well as an update on our presentation plan, and email it to her.