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CHAPTER 8 QUANTITATIVE METHODS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Identify the four primary elements in a quantitative method section. 2. Describe the difference between a survey design and an experimental design. 3. Identify the elements that go into writing a good survey research method plan. 4. Identify the elements that go into writing a good experimental research method plan.

INTRODUCTION We turn from the introduction, purpose, and hypotheses to the method section of a proposal. This chapter presents essential steps in designing quantitative methods for a research proposal or study, with focus on survey and experimental designs. These designs reflect postpositivist philosophical assumptions, as discussed in Chapter 1. For example, determinism suggests that examining the relationships between and among variables is central to answering questions and hypotheses through surveys and experiments. In one case, a researcher might evaluate whether playing violent video games is associated with higher rates of playground aggression in kids, which is a correlational hypothesis that could be evaluated in a survey design. In another case, a researcher might be interested in evaluating whether violent video game playing causes aggressive behavior, which is a causal hypothesis best evaluated by a true experiment. In each case, these quantitative approaches focus on carefully measuring (or experimentally manipulating) a small set of variables to answer theory-guided research questions and hypotheses. This chapter focuses on the essential components of a method section in proposals for a survey or experimental study.

PUTTING QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IN CONTEXT Planning and writing a quantitative method section has a formal structure and intended audience. The structure of the method section has four primary elements: (a) a description of the study population and the sample characteristics (i.e., who are you studying?), (b) a description of the study procedures and variables (i.e., how will you formally test your study hypotheses?), (c) a description of the instruments used (i.e., how will you measure your variables?), and (d) a description of the data analytic plan (i.e., how will you analyze your data?). The intended audience of a quantitative method section is other scientists, and the method section should provide sufficient detail that these other scientists could carry out the same study in their own research setting. This chapter focuses on approaches for drafting a method section plan and writeup by describing two popular quantitative designs (survey design and experimental design) and, in each case, the practical decisions around defining the study sample participants, the variables of interest, study instruments, and intended data analyses. Quantitative methods are a helpful tool for testing formal hypotheses, and the end of each survey and experimental design section offers some discussion of how to interpret and write up research results.

QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS A survey designsurvey design provides a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, and opinions of a population, or tests for associations among variables of a population, by studying a sample of that population. Survey designs help researchers answer three types of questions:

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› OGL 540: Evidence Based Inquiry (2025 Summer A) › Assignments › Module 5: Perusall Reading and Discussion (Chapters 8 & 9) Page 156Perusall° ⎙ 5 6 7 All comments , 8 Thaddeus Cain TC