My choice
For my second artefact I chose the first assignment containing a comparison of the qualitative research method with the quantitative research method.
To do this assignment, I first had to sift through the textbook (Neumann, 2011, pp. 26-52) with given research methods. Next I created a table with all specified methods for a quick review from the textbook. The description is taken from the little grey boxes out of the textbook from the respective page. The intention of this list is to show the research methods at a glance and also having a deployment method at hand.
Overview
Artefact # 2 – Research Method
Assignment 1 of MDDE 602 Research Methods in Distance Education
Overview
MDDE 602 Research Methods in Distance Education was the second course I took in the M.Ed. (Distance Education) program. The course is concerned with research design and data collection methods. It deals with research and knowledge development in DE. Especially a project or the thesis route will draw from this class.
Competencies:
- 5.1 Frame effective and meaningful research questions
- 5.3 Access and critically evaluate sources and content for quality, applicability and relevance
- 5.4 Critically review literature both broadly and in-depth
- 5.5 Formulate questions and reasoned arguments, leading to rational conclusions
- 5.6 Summarize and synthesize information with a view to pursuing deeper understanding
- 5.8 Critically analyze the issues and discuss the wider implications affecting the use of information
Reflection
Research Design Evaluation and Critique
A research design evaluation and critique needs a lot of reading. After having procured an overview about qualitative and quantitative research methods I created the above table to have an overview at a glance. If I was to conduct a research I had to decide on a method to acquire data. It also depends on the field of studies like basic research or applied research to figure out the method. Framing effective research questions (5.1) leads inevitable to the method. Open ended questions lead to explanations which need to be analysed and coded (qualitative) while closed questions lead to yes or no answers (quantitative).
For the assignment I had to read the given literature and to decide on an argument in favour for my chosen way (5.3, 5.4). That way I came up with comparing qualitative with quantitative research methods. In market research in business (1988 - 1992) I was used to a quantitative method and the qualitative method also only came up 1994 / 1995.
One question came up: Could quantitative methods deliver qualitative research results as well (5.5, 5.6)? Mixed methods are the solution as there is rarely a single research method involved. Looking back now to the task it seems so clear but back then it was a struggle to arrive at a deeper understanding despite job experience.
An important issue is misuse of information (5.8). In the assignment I introduced an own method, the non-manipulative qualitative and quantitative combined research method. It takes up the cudgels for honest and true research results.
What have I learned about qualitative and quantitative methods
One of the most impressive parts in studies is the research methods. When I was working in Market Research 1988 through 1992 I had “only” experienced quantitative research methods. And because we got most of the time bought studies to look through and to use for creating statistics for the company I did not care too much for research methods. Also, qualitative methods have not been used back then at all. In creating a study I was only once or twice involved, more as an assistant.
However, using existing numerical data was still exciting; at least for a person who loves mathematics and statistics more than any other school subject. But using a special method to get the data you need was not intense known to me. While my first statistics class at the college was not concerned about methods too much, the statistics class MDDE 602 taught me almost the dread; at least, when I was to fear the maths.
When looking at my table below and it might not even be complete, an innocent person can get intimidated.
Moreover, most studies combine features from several methods. The methods consist of and belong to two main lines, qualitative and quantitative research. While I preferred for not knowing it better the quantitative method I had in my studies to cope with the other until then unknown method, the qualitative one in which I was to conduct a thesis about learning with fifty and above. That will be looked at in artefact # 5.
For research methods in general, when it is not commissioned research where the conductor has no or limited control over the research question, the research question determines the method. Depending on the needs of a researcher respectively her or his company or other like scientific institution, the data needed decide the way a research is to be conducted. Data, as banks or insurances need them, consist of information about age group, professional working group, and other characteristics to form probabilities of interests. An example would be, that men in North America in ages of 20 to 30 play base ball while men in Europe in the same age group play soccer. Women in that age group in North America engage in cheer leading while women in Europe prefer horseback riding. When riding, men prefer show jumping while women prefer dressage. When drawing conclusions from results it sounds like prejudice but we look at generalization from given answers from questionnaires. Of course, a person that plays base ball could additionally also play soccer, tennis, and bridge. Everything is interpretable and we still can predict usual behavior.
When I got offered a job in market research, a dream came true as I always preferred numbers over text. If the company had kept the market research instead of buying already reground data, I probably would still work there. Fiddling around with computers was rather playing to me than working. Making a hobby a profession can destroy the fun but in my case it did not, I still love it. The same is with writing programs for getting needed numbers from existing data; it is rather hobby than work for me. Who can remember the Commodore C64? Once I wrote a program to figure the tax to pay, another one to find out the cost of house prices. Unfortunately, the C64 is not there anymore.
Microsoft Office Access is able to take data so far, but another program is still needed to get statistical results (for example SPSS).
Table of research methods
|
Connection
|
Research Method
|
Description
|
Page
|
|
|
Basic Research |
Research designed to advance fundamental knowledge about how the world works and build/test theoretical explanations by focusing on the why question. The scientific community is its primary audience. |
26 |
|
|
Applied Research |
Research designed to offer practical solutions to a concrete problem or address the immediate and specific needs of clinicians or practitioners |
27 |
|
Applied RM |
Evaluation Research |
Applied research in which one tries to determine how well a program or policy is working or reaching its goals and objectives |
28 |
|
Applied RM |
Action Research |
Applied research in which the primary goal is to facilitate social change or bring about a value-oriented political-social goal |
30 |
|
Action RM |
Participatory Action Research |
Action research in which the research participants actively help design and conduct the research study. It emphasizes democratizing knowledge-creation and engaging in collective action and it assumes that political knowledge emerges from participating in research. |
30 |
|
Applied RM |
Social impact assessment |
Applied research that documents the likely consequences for various areas of social life if a major new change is introduced into a community. |
31 |
|
Tool in applied RM |
Needs assessment |
An applied research tool that gathers descriptive information about a need, issue, or concern, including its magnitude, scope, and severity. |
33 |
|
Tool in applied RM |
Cost-benefit analysis |
An applied research tool economists developed in which a monetary value is assigned to the inputs and outcomes of a process and then the researcher examines the balance between them. |
34 |
|
Basic RM or Applied RM |
Instrumental Knowledge |
Knowledge narrowly focused to answer a basic or applied research question, issue, or concern with an outcome or task-oriented orientation. |
36 |
|
Basic RM or Applied RM |
Reflexive Knowledge |
Knowledge used to broadly examine the assumptions, context, and moral-value positions of basic or applied social research, including the research process itself and the implications of what is learned |
36 |
|
|
Commissioned Research |
Research funded and conducted at the behest of someone other than the researcher; the person conducting the study often has limited control over the research question, methods of a study, and presentation of results. |
37 |
|
Qualitative |
Exploratory Research |
Research whose primary purpose is to examine a little understood issue or phenomenon and to develop preliminary ideas about it and move toward refined research questions. |
38 |
|
Qualitative Quantitative |
Descriptive Research |
Research in which the primary purpose is to paint a picture using words or numbers and to present a profile, a classification of types, or an outline of steps to answer questions such as who, when, where, and how. |
38 |
|
Qualitative |
Explanatory Research |
Research whose primary purpose is to explain why events occur and to build, elaborate, extent, or test theory. |
40 |
|
Qualitative |
Case-study Research |
Research that is an in-depth examination of an amount of information about very few units or cases for one period or across multiple periods of time. |
42 |
|
Quantitative |
Across-Case Research |
Compares select features across numerous cases (30-3,000). |
43 |
|
Exploratory, Descr., Exp. |
Cross-sectional Research |
Any research that examines information on many cases at one point in time. |
44 |
|
Exploratory, Descr., Exp. |
Longitudinal Research |
Any research that examines information from many units or cases across more than one point in time. |
44 |
|
Descriptive |
Time-series Research |
Longitudinal research in which information can be about different cases or people in each of several time periods. |
44 |
|
Longitudinal |
Panel Study |
Longitudinal research in which information is about the identical cases or people in each of several time periods. |
45 |
|
Longitudinal |
Cohort study |
Longitudinal research that traces information about a category of cases or people who shared a common experience at one time period across subsequent time periods. |
46 |
|
Explanatory, Quantitative |
Experimental Research |
Research in which the researcher manipulates conditions for some research participants but not others and then compares group responses to see whether doing so made a difference. |
47 |
|
Quantitative |
Survey Research |
Quantitative research in which the researcher systematically asks a large number of people the same questions and then records their answers. |
49 |
|
Quantitative |
Nonreactive Research |
Research methods in which people are not aware of being studied. |
49 |
|
Quantitative |
Content Analysis |
Research in which the content of a communication medium is systematically recorded and analyzed. |
49 |
|
Quantitative |
Existing Statistics Research |
Research in which one re-examines and statistically analyzes quantitative data that have been gathered by government agencies or other organizations. |
49 |
|
Qualitative |
Field Research |
Qualitative research in which the researcher directly observes and records notes on people in a natural setting for an extended period of time. |
51 |
|
Qualitative |
Historical-compa-rative Research |
Qualitative research in which the researcher examines data on events and conditions in the historical past and/or in different societies. |
52 |
Excerpted from Neumann (2011, pp. 26-52).
Reference
Neuman, W. L. (2011). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.