Assignment 1.2: Information Detection

The purpose of this second assignment is to distinguish different research methods and to practice selecting appropriate methods for your own research questions of the previous assignment. Don’t worry, the country context analysis has taken place already, so no need for you to conduct an extensive research as follow-up of this module.

Go back to your research questions in the template. In order to find answers, determine:

1. Can you use existing information (secondary data) from studies that have been conducted and reported already?
   • If yes, mark the respective column 1.2.1 behind your research question with an “x”.   
   • If no, continue with the next column 1.2.2 of the assignment.
2. What research methods do you consider most useful to find answers to your research questions?
   • Do you need qualitative in-depth insights? Choose online content analysis (social listening), focus groups or interviews.  
   • Do you need to get more broad quantitative information? Choose a survey or quick poll. 
   • Select the methods based on the insights they allow to find answers and not based on your personal experience or preference.
3. Desk research: Check the list of possible sources for desk research (Column 1.2.1)
   • If in question 1 you selected a.: Do a quick mini online desk research and complete column 1.2.1 with any reports, studies, white papers, or anything else, you find that provides the answers to your research question. Name the resource and add a link in your template.
   • If in question 1 you selected b.: For the project or task you have been working on recently. Do a quick mini online desk research to identify additional relevant sources that give more insights into latest trends or developments and write them in your learning journal.
4. Learning needs feedback: Share your template with someone from your team, your learning group, or your manager, to get one compliment and one tip for improvement.