A Descriptive Research Design for a Study: Methodology, Sources & Analysis

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to present the methodology used, the sources of data, the data collection techniques and methods of data analysis. Also included in the report are the ethical considerations. The chapter also gives a description of the limitations of the study.

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Research Design

The study shall use the descriptive research design. This approach was chosen since the aim of the project deals with the question relating to 'how', 'what' and 'which'. Thus the research design allowed the researcher to examine the consequences of paternity fraud on men and children. This descriptive approach permitted the researcher to conduct a comparative assessment of the way other common law jurisdictions have addressed paternity fraud among married and unmarried couples using the tort of deceit.

Sources of Data

The study is primarily engaged in qualitative research; as such, it totally dependent on the evaluation of secondary sources of data on the research problem. The researcher has a preference for academic works published on the issue of paternity fraud over the last ten years however; older sources were referred to for the sake of clarification. Nonetheless, the researcher focused on keeping these older sources at the minimum for the sake of relevance and current legal analyses. The secondary sources of academic data examined include peer-reviewed journals, books, decided cases, statutes and relevant online sources available in the school library.

Several crucial factors pushed the researcher to adopt a library research secondary approach. One is that it was impossible for the researcher to secure the financial resources needed to conduct the research using qualitative tools. Secondly, time constraints have meant that it would be extremely difficult to conduct my research using primary data collection after the approval of the research proposal. Hence the researcher concluded that an approach that would present academic opinions and findings from previous studies on the research problem identified would satisfy the need for the project to present a comprehensive understanding of the research problem from several perspectives. The use of peer review sources as deemed appropriate as it includes a panel of experts in this field as they explain the two concepts better than having to do primary research.

Data Collection

The current study is qualitative in nature. Data collection is done through an analysis of existing secondary academic materials on paternity fraud. The researcher used background study of existing material and collected only that information that was deemed relevant for the study. As such, the research conducted a background study into academic materials on how English common law has come to view paternity fraud as a form tort of deceit. Data Analysis MethodThe data analysis methods used are aimed at clarifying and the making informed inferences from the collected secondary data on paternity fraud. In this study, the researcher used the content and logical analysis commonly used in a qualitative study. The 'content and logical approach' permitted an examination of existing secondary sources and the determination of which information is relevant and necessary for the realization of the research objectives. The logical analysis branch of the approach demanded the researcher engages in a process of rational reasoning needed to present a systematic assessment of academic literature on paternity fraud and how the law ought to address it.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical Considerations for The Researcher

The study is done to serve a social purpose. It is not aimed at simply helping the researcher realize the partial fulfilment of their academic obligations. Personal gain is not the primary motivation for the study but rather it seeks to add to the literature relating to the research problems identified. Therefore, the fulfilment of social good is a fundamental ethical consideration for the entire study by the researcher.

Ethical Considerations during The Research Process

The researcher considers plagiarism as a critical ethical issue in research which must be avoided at all costs. The school's academic policy take a very dim view of plagiarism. The research will take measures to ensure that the study is reasonably new and authentic to the extent that it doesn't violate the school's anti-plagiarism policy. As such, all the secondary sources that will be used and the information collected from them will be properly cited.

Study Limitations

Three principal issues limited the efficacy of the study. The first primary limitations are concerns about objectivity. Complete objectivity is desirable but hard to because the academic sources relied on reveals biases in designs and theoretical approaches. For example, some feminist scholars accept that to balance women's reproductive right to abortion as a form of birth control, men should have the right to 'financial abortion.' These equality feminists strongly approve of the law stepping in to address paternity fraud. On the other hand, the 'gender studies feminists' don't want the law to empower men to institute civil proceedings against women who have engaged in paternity fraud. Men Rights Activists (MRAs) want family law to have fair outcomes for men and so they strongly favour the use of law to address paternity fraud as well as financial abortions for non-biological children men never gave their informed consent when assuming parental responsibility for. Some legal scholars have invoked public policy as the reason why the law should not be used to address paternity fraud between divorced spouses to prevent a violation of res judicata when a non-biological legal father of a non-biological child seeks to extinguish a child maintenance order.

These biases reveal themselves in the academic literature examined. Since this study has focused on the use of qualitative research approach of collecting information from secondary sources, it is likely that the subjective biases of previous scholars may have covertly impacted the study. The second limitation was that the study exclusively relies on secondary literature on previous rather than current data. Primary sources of data would have generated current information that provides answers to the research questions at the present time.

Summary

This report describes the study's intended methodology to realize its objectives. It has outlined the research design; sources of data; the methods used for data collection; and data analysis. This report has also touched on the ethical considerations which will shape the study.