The first lecture-seminar of the 13th academic year of the “Student Researcher” scholarship program, initiated and organized by the AMT, was successfully held on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 18:00 to 20:30 at the AMT.

     The guest speaker for the lecture-seminar was Dr. D. Urtnasan, a researcher at the Institute of Language and Literature at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (Ph.D.), who gave a lecture on the topic “Research Methodology in the Humanities,” sharing his theoretical and methodological research experiences.To summarize the content of the lecture:

   The field of research is divided into three branches: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Today’s topic focused on research methodology in the Humanities, which can be understood as human-centered research. In other words, it involves studying aspects related to human nature, life, thinking-language, art, history, religion, and philosophy.Research methodology can be classified into quantitative and qualitative research. The distinguishing feature of quantitative research is that it is viewed as objective and breaks down reality into parts or groups (reductionism), whereas qualitative research views reality as indivisible and studies the overall process.Quantitative research assumes that all humans are the same, neglecting individual emotional differences, while qualitative research assumes that all humans are different in essence and belong to unique categories.

    Quantitative research studies general commonalities among groups rather than specific characteristics, using the nomothetic mode of explanation, which seeks to find and explain the few causes influencing certain conditions or phenomena. Qualitative research, on the other hand, uses the idiographic mode of explanation, which focuses on understanding the unique causes and phenomena specific to certain conditions.A quantitative researcher seeks objectivity, using data and materials. Since measurement tools exist independently of the researcher, they can be re-measured by another researcher. However, a qualitative researcher cannot separate themselves from the study material; the researcher’s initiative and involvement are essential for the material to exist. The researcher is the measuring tool, and another researcher cannot replace them.Traditional research model:

• New idea/interest → Theory → Hypothesis → Study
• Research model:
• Theory → Hypothesis → Study → Experimental results (generalization) → Theory
• To conduct research, specific stages and steps must be followed:
• Identifying the problem
• Conducting theoretical and literature research
• Proposing a hypothesis and asking real questions
• Developing a research plan and methodology
• Collecting materials
• Analyzing and explaining the materials
• Drawing conclusions and recommendations
• What constitutes good research?
• The research topic and objective should be clear.
• The proposed problem should be significant in terms of both theory and application.
• The theoretical research related to the topic should be systematic.
• The new idea in the research should be clearly defined.
• The hypothesis and conclusions should be logically connected and well-founded.
• The measurements should be accurate, reliable, and valid.
• The method of analyzing the materials should be clear.
• When proposing a research problem, it is important to consider the following:
• The researcher’s commitment and whether the problem is truly significant in both theoretical and practical terms.
• Whether the problem can be studied in practice.
• Whether the proposed research problem is not too broad.

   When explaining and analyzing a new idea, it is crucial that the new ideas in research, grounded in practice, be well-defined. The explanation of a new idea refers to the process of transforming the abstract and ambiguous idea into something clear and applicable. Whether quantitative or qualitative, it is essential to establish a systematic foundation for the research theory related to the topic and ensure that the terminology aligns with the “new idea.”Definitions of terms in research:

Explanation and definition (from the perspective of vocabulary).

Naming and defining terms (creating and assigning terms).

Contextual definition (the researcher highlights and explains the specific characteristics of the concept in their research).

   Measurement is a crucial part of research methodology based on experimental techniques, and it is recommended to conduct preliminary experiments to test them. Although the content may seem easy to understand, developing the questions for the research could require significant time, money, and energy.

Level/Limit: Define the boundaries of the concept. Is it unidimensional or multidimensional?

Analysis and observation: Is there a need for analysis, and under what conditions and measures should it be done?

Converting to quantitative data: Transform the data obtained into numerical values.

Calculating the unit of variation: How accurately should the measurement be made?

Measuring causal variation: Whether to negate, invalidate, or conclude.

    When analyzing research materials, it is essential to examine raw data, determine the normal distribution of data, identify central tendencies and deviations, check for reliability and validity, establish statistical methods, and display results through tables and graphs. The results should then be explained as they are.