Research Methodology

Welcome to the World of Research

Welcome to the wonderful world of research. Most learners find research to be intimidating at first, but it is like any other field of study. During this course, you will encounter many new concepts and vocabulary terms but before long, they will become familiar to you.

In order to help you understand how important research is for all of us I would like to present an analogy. As you know, we live in a physical world but we also live in a social world. Our physical world includes the soil we stand on and the air that we breathe. Our social world includes the culture we are part of and the knowledge we learn.

Just as we are embedded in a blanket of air in the physical world, we are also embedded in a blanket of knowledge in our social world.

Unfortunately, we are all familiar with air pollution. In some places in our physical world, the air is not safe to breathe. In major cities or around highly industrialized areas the air might be filled with particulate matter and toxins that are dangerous to our health.

Likewise, our social world is filled with what I will call knowledge pollution. Not everything we read or hear is accurate. It might contain misperceptions, intentional distortions, incomplete understandings and other forms of error.

Would it not be nice if we could remove all the pollution from the air? It would be hard to do. We would need giant filters all over the planet with huge fans that would circulate the air through giant filters that would remove the pollutants.

Although that would be very hard to achieve in the physical world, we can do it in the social world. We already have a very effective way of filtering out misperceptions, distortions, incomplete understandings and other forms of error. It is called research and there is a lot of it going on right now because there is a lot of error to deal with. Knowledge pollution is even more dangerous than air pollution and it is vital that we have as many capable researchers as possible.

During this course, you will be introduced to the many forms of research and the steps by which it is carried out. We will only have time to scratch the surface but it will be a very important scratch for your development as a scholar who can help eliminate knowledge pollution.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Approaches

What is the purpose of the research?

Quantitative: To explain and predict To confirm and validate To test theory

Qualitative: To describe and explain To explore and interpret To build theory

What is the nature of the research process?

Quantitative: Focused Known variables Established guidelines Predetermined methods Somewhat context-free Detached view

Qualitative: Holistic Unknown variables Flexible guidelines Emergent methods Context-bound Personal view

What are the data like and how are they collected?

Quantitative: Numeric data Representative, large sample Standardized instruments

Qualitative: Textual and/or image-based data Informative, small sample Loosely structured or nonstandardized observations and interviews

How are data analyzed to determine their meaning?

Quantitative: Statistical analysis Stress on objectivity Deductive reasoning

Qualitative: Search for themes and categories Acknowledgement that analysis is subjective and potentially biased Inductive reasoning

How are the findings communicated?

Quantitative: Numbers Statistics, aggregated data Formal voice, scientific style

Qualitative: Words Narratives, individual quotes Personal voice, literary style

References

Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical Research, Planning and Design. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN: 9780137152421.

Quantitative Versus Qualitative Research

There has been a rift in the world of scholarly research for many years. The struggle is between proponents of the quantitative and qualitative research methods, two research approaches with very different techniques and goals. Can this schism between quantitative and qualitative techniques ever be bridged? How can we know which technique is most appropriate for our research efforts?

The quantitative mode of research uses statistical tests to analyze research data. We find rigid rules for the use of tests and interpretation of test results. This orientation developed from many decades of successful use of the scientific method. For researchers using the quantitative technique, data is primary and context is secondary. That is, researchers gather data that can be counted, but the context in which the data is observed is not very important to the process. The data is analyzed and rational conclusions are drawn from the interpretation of the resulting numbers.

The qualitative mode of research uses context and a non-judgmental approach to attempt to understand the phenomena in question from the subject's point of view. This technique is derived from the histographs of social anthropologists at the beginning of the twentieth century. A sociologist studies a subject culture for several years, living among the people of the studied society in an attempt to truly understand their world view.

The greatest distinctions between these two fundamentally different research techniques are the genesis of theory and the role that theory plays in the mechanics of research. In the quantitative technique, the research effort begins with a theory: a statement that tries to explain observed phenomena. The theory is then operationalized (that is, stated in terms that can be statistically tested) through hypothesis. Data is gathered, statistical tests are completed, and the results are interpreted. The results either support the hypothesis or they do not.

How does a quantitative theory evolve? It develops from the researcher's professional experience in the field and the scholarly literature on the particular topic of interest. At the beginning of the research effort, the researcher reviews all pertinent previous work. The theory is formed from this immersion in the professional literature.

The role of the theory is quite different in the qualitative approach. The researcher has no theory at the beginning of the process. Research questions are asked based on the researcher's interests. Data is collected by prolonged engagement: the researcher observes and takes notes for an extended period of time. The data in this type of research is contained in the notes that the researcher records throughout the process. The theory will emerge from the data in these notes. Hence, qualitative theory is called emergent theory. This type of theory is also called grounded theory because it is grounded in the data collected. In addition to using histographs, qualitative data can be gathered using case studies and focus groups.

What will the future hold for researchers and the methods we use? We are now seeing a trend where the two methods are sometimes used together. The term mixed method is appearing with greater frequency in professional journals. Some researchers want the robustness and specificity of the quantitative mode plus a relative context for the reader. Other researchers have used the qualitative approach to generate theory, then tested the theory with empirical methods. Perhaps the schism between these modes will be bridged in the future and researchers will be free to fit the appropriate tool to the particular situation. Time will tell.