Research Methodology Consulting
Design, sampling, instruments and analysis plan checked before you collect data, while changes are still easy.
Our research methodology consulting checks your study design, sample, instruments and analysis plan before you collect data, when changes are still easy. Many problems examiners find in the results chapter started much before it was written. The sample was too small to pick up the effect the study was looking for. The questionnaire was taken from three sources and nobody piloted it. Objectives say “what influences” something, but the design chosen can give association only. Or the analysis was chosen after the data came, because that was the test which gave a result. By then every fix costs a lot. Mostly the scholar goes back for more data, or rewrites the objectives to match what the study can say.
The right time for methodology consulting is when these problems can still be corrected without much pain. That means the proposal or synopsis stage, before the ethics application, or at the latest before the main data collection starts. We go through everything from your research questions to the design, the sample, the instruments and the analysis plan. At each step we check that it connects with the next.
You and your guide take the final call on every point. From our side you get a second reading of the method by someone experienced, and the reason for each point is written down. You also get documents that you can place before your doctoral committee and defend in the viva-voce.
Quick answers
- What does a methodology consultation cover?
It can cover any of five stages. These are design review, sampling with the sample-size calculation shown, instrument design and validation, ethics application documents, and a written analysis plan. At the end of every consultation you get a table that traces each objective to its variables, instruments and planned analysis.
- How long does methodology consulting take?
Design review takes 4–7 working days. Sample size needs 3–5 working days, and instrument design 1–2 weeks. Expert validation and the pilot usually go to 3–6 weeks, because there you are waiting for other people to reply.
- Will you design my study, or adjust results until they are significant?
No to both. We give advice with written reasons, and you decide after discussing about it with your supervisor. Collected responses are never changed. Running test after test till one shows p < 0.05 is the exact thing a fixed analysis plan stops.
- Can I book just one small piece, like a sample-size calculation?
Yes, you can. One calculation alone, or a review of one analysis plan, can be quoted as a small fixed piece of work.
- How do I start?
Send us your proposal or synopsis, along with any draft instrument you have, for a free consultation. We will revert with a written scope. That scope fixes the price and the revision rounds for each stage, and work starts only after you accept it.
Scope
What’s included
Take one stage or a few together. If the committee has already approved your proposal, mostly the instrument and analysis-plan stages are what you will need. If you are still working on the synopsis, the design review may be the place to start.
Design review
We check which design your objectives actually call for. It may be experimental, quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal, case study, qualitative or mixed-methods. We also explain what each choice will let you claim about cause and effect, and what it will not.
Sampling and sample size
First your sampling frame and technique, and who is included or left out. Then a sample size you can justify. This comes from a power analysis (for example in G*Power), or from the conventions of the analysis you plan, like structural equation modelling, or saturation for qualitative work.
Instrument design and validation
Building a new questionnaire, interview guide or observation schedule, or adapting one that exists. The work covers item wording, scales, permissions for adapted instruments, translation and back-translation, expert content validity, pilot testing and reliability analysis.
Ethics application support
Preparing the documents your institution’s ethics committee expects. This means a study summary, a participant information sheet, an informed consent form in the participants’ language, a data protection plan and a risk assessment.
Analysis plan
A written plan linking each objective and hypothesis to a variable, its level of measurement and a specific test or approach. The assumptions to be checked are listed too. The full plan is fixed before data collection starts.
Quality
How quality is verified
These are the checks every piece of work goes through before it reaches you.
Objective-to-analysis traceability table
At the end of every consultation we give a table mapping each objective to its variables, instruments, items and planned analysis. Gaps and mismatches show up quickly there, and your committee can check it too.
Power calculations shown in full
For each sample-size calculation we write down the effect size, significance level, power and the test used. We also mention where the assumed effect size was taken from, so anyone can rerun the number and question it.
Instrument validity evidence documented
Content validity from an expert panel (for example an item-level content validity index), the pilot results and reliability figures like Cronbach’s alpha are all reported with their limits. We do not give only the headline figure.
Reviewed by a methodologist in your discipline
Survey design in management follows different norms from a clinical study in nursing. So your design is reviewed by a person who knows the rules your examiners will apply in your subject.
Written reasoning, not just recommendations
Every point we raise has its reason written next to it. Where useful, we add a method reference that you can cite. Then you can explain the choice in your own words.
Time
Realistic timelines
Our part of the work takes days to a few weeks. Waiting for committee approval, ethics clearance and pilot participants usually takes longer than work itself. So better to start early.
| Stage | Typical time | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Design review | 4–7 working days | How far your objectives and proposal are developed |
| Sampling and sample size | 3–5 working days | Whether prior studies are available to base the effect size on |
| Instrument design | 1–2 weeks | Whether the items are new, adapted or translated |
| Expert validation and pilot | 3–6 weeks | How fast experts reply and pilot participants can be reached |
| Ethics application documents | 1–2 weeks | Your institution’s forms and the risk level of the study |
| Analysis plan | 4–7 working days | Number of objectives and how complex the models are |
Instruments
Validity and reliability without the jargon
Every examiner asks these two questions about a questionnaire. Be ready with a proper answer for both.
Does it measure what you say it measures?
This first question is about validity. For a new or adapted instrument, you build validity from more than one kind of evidence. Content validity is the first step. You give the items to some experts in the subject and they score each one on relevance. Items where the experts don’t agree are revised or removed. Once the main data are in, construct validity is usually checked with factor analysis (exploratory, confirmatory or both). Convergent and discriminant validity are added where the analysis needs them.
Does it measure consistently?
This one is about reliability. For multi-item scales the usual first figure is Cronbach’s alpha. Values of about 0.70 or above are commonly treated as fine for research use. But one alpha figure alone does not prove much, because alpha goes up when the number of items goes up. A very high value can even mean that some items are near-duplicates of each other. Depending on the instrument, composite reliability, test–retest reliability or inter-rater agreement may suit you better.
Why the pilot matters
A pilot with a small group from your target population show you whether people understand the items, how long the instrument takes, and whether any scale is behaving strangely. Translation problems also come out in the pilot. Skip the pilot to save a few weeks and many times you end up repeating the full data collection.
Ethics approval
Research with human participants generally needs approval from your institution’s ethics committee before any data are collected, and that includes pilot data. In India, committees for biomedical and health research follow the ICMR National Ethical Guidelines. Clinical trials have extra registration requirements. Data already collected without approval cannot be cleared by the committee afterwards.
After the data are collected, our statistical analysis and qualitative data analysis services carry on from the plan you fixed at this stage. If your design is still inside a proposal, look at our research proposal and synopsis support.
Pricing
How pricing works
We give the quote after reading your proposal or synopsis and any draft instrument you have. One survey is small work, a multi-phase mixed-methods study is much more. You get a fixed quote for the stages you choose, and it is agreed in writing before we begin.
Short one-time consultations can also be quoted as a small fixed piece of work. For example, a single sample-size calculation, or a review of your analysis plan.
What the quote depends on
- The stages you need
- How many objectives, variables and study phases there are
- Whether the instruments are new, adapted or translated
- Your discipline and the specialist knowledge it needs
- Deadline for your committee or ethics submission
Every quote includes
- A written scope listing exactly what will be delivered
- A fixed price agreed before any payment
- Payment in stages, tied to delivery
- Revision rounds stated in the scope
Process
How it works
Free consultation
A call or message with a specialist in your subject. We review your material and say plainly whether we are the right fit.
Written scope and quote
You get a written scope, a timeline and a fixed price. Work and payment begin once you agree to it.
Staged delivery
Work arrives in stages you review, each with a similarity report where text is involved. You pay stage by stage.
Revisions and hand-over
Revision rounds are included. At the end you get the final files, and an explanation of anything you’ll need to defend.
Keep reading
Guides and related services
How to write the research methodology chapter
Design, sampling, instruments, analysis and ethics, and how to justify each choice.
Research Proposal and Synopsis
A proposal that states a real gap, answerable objectives and a method your committee can approve.
Statistics Training and Analysis Review (SPSS, R, AMOS, SmartPLS)
Learn the right tests on your own data, run them yourself, and get your output and interpretation checked.
PhD timeline and milestones in India
Coursework to viva under the UGC 2022 regulations, year by year, with the usual sticking points.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
My data are already collected. Is it too late for methodology help?
No, it is not too late. The help is still useful in a different form. Your design cannot change now. So we help you describe it correctly, pick analyses your data can actually support and write the limitations plainly. Examiners react much better when you admit a limitation yourself than when they find it on their own.
Can you tell me the sample size my committee will accept?
What we can give is a sample size you are able to justify, with the reasoning written out. The number comes from a power analysis, from what your planned analysis needs, or from accepted practice in qualitative work. Accepting it is your committee’s decision. But a number with its working shown is harder to object to than some round figure.
My Cronbach’s alpha is 0.62. Can you get it above 0.7?
We will not touch the responses. Whatever the participants answered stays as it is, since changing even one response is falsifying data. What we do is look at the item statistics. Maybe one item is poorly worded or reverse-coded and that is the cause. If yes, can you justify removing it on content grounds as well as on the numbers? Any item you remove is reported. Sometimes the right thing is to report the value as it is and discuss it.
Will you design the whole study so I can just follow it?
No, we only advise and the deciding is with you. At the viva you have to defend the method line by line, so you must understand it well. The design choices should also come from your research question and not from ours. So we write the reasoning under each suggestion, and the method becomes your own.
Do you help with the ethics committee application?
Yes, we do. We help prepare the protocol summary, the information sheet, the consent form and the data management plan, in the format your committee asks for. The application is submitted by you and your supervisor. What the committee decides is its own decision.
What if the examiner questions my method?
The traceability table and the written reasoning are there for exactly this situation. You will know the reason behind every choice and which method sources support it, and you can tell the examiner that. We can also add method questions to a mock viva.
Is my proposal kept confidential?
Yes. Your proposal and instruments are seen only by the consultant working on them. We use them for your project alone and delete them on request after the work is over. If you want an NDA, we will sign one.
Talk it through with a specialist for free
Send us where you are and what you need. We’ll reply within one working day with clear advice, a written scope and a fixed quote. No obligation.
Book a free consultation