Graduate Student Library Resources

"Research methods are the strategies, processes or techniques utilized in the collection of data or evidence for analysis in order to uncover new information or create better understanding of a topic."  -Research Methods, University of Newcastle Library Guides

Types of research methods include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. See below for resources including qualitative and quantitative research software, tools, and information about archival and primary source research. 

• What are research methods?

  University of Newcastle's guide to different types of research methodologies and data collection for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.

• Research Methodologies guide

  Iowa State University's overview of many different types of research methods in the humanities and society sciences, including action research, content analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, participant observation, and usability studies.

• Qualitative Research gathers data about lived experiences, emotions or behaviors, and the meanings individuals attach to them. It assists in enabling researchers to gain a better understanding of complex concepts, social interactions or cultural phenomena. This type of research is useful in the exploration of how or why things have occurred, interpreting events and describing actions.
• Quantitative Research gathers numerical data which can be ranked, measured or categorized through statistical analysis. It assists with uncovering patterns or relationships, and for making generalizations. This type of research is useful for finding out how many, how much, how often, or to what extent.
• Mixed Methods Research integrates both Qualitative and Quantitative Research. It provides a holistic approach combining and analyzing the statistical data with deeper contextualized insights. Using Mixed Methods also enables Triangulation, or verification, of the data from two or more sources.