OPINIONs for 7.1 AND 7,2

Re:Module 7 DQ 1 Maren A.

Discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research methodology for your dissertation topic or topic area.

Because I am interested in the experience of being a single parent in the workforce, doing qualitative research would have some significant advantages.  One of those would be that working one on one with single parents would help me get a full picture of the struggles that person is facing in regards to being a productive member of the workforce and in gaining the skills and training necessary to have a job that provides a decent income in order to support a family.  I read an interesting article that advocated for learning and reflection within qualitative research, which would also be a benefit to my interest in the obstacles faced by single parents (Kragelund et al, 2015).  The main disadvantages I see to qualitative research would be time factors and generalizability.  While a case study or individual observation can bring great knowledge about a particular case, it is time consuming, and is not very generalizable to others. 

Kragelund, L., Moser, A., & van Zadelhoff, E. (2015). Using the Obser-View in Qualitative Research: Benefits and Challenges. International Journal Of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1-9. doi:10.1177/1609406915621426

Brian Cicero 

1 posts

Re:Module 7 DQ 1

Discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research methodology for your dissertation topic or topic area.

Coming from a business background, I believe that it is critical to tie a number to evaluate everything.  I would much more likely trust a statistical analysis than a report with observations only.  Therefore, I have struggled to find out how I can effectively incorporate qualitative research into my design. Since I am dealing with a multicultural employee, possibly who are non-native English speakers, I do have a concern about accuracy of a quantitative method.  Using a qualitative approach would allow me to spend time interviewing the individual to ensure that they have an understanding of my questions.  Another advantage of this method would be that I could observe the interactions of the team to see if I can witness engaged employees, versus just trusting a number attached to a survey result.  de la Cuesta Benjumea (2015) also suggests that a true qualitative study must be well thought out, have closed tools, checklists, and contain a large number of items to observe a small number of actions, all to ensure accuracy and consistency in the observations.  However, on the negative side, I do believe that quantitative research has the potential for researcher bias. A researcher who is attempting to view or observe a certain action may fixate on that item and miss other clues.  I do think that the suggestion of de la Cuesta Benjumea made would help ensure that there was consistency.  Again, I struggle to trust the results of a 100% qualitative study, one option would be a mixed-method approach.

References

 

de la Cuesta Benjumea, C. (2015). The quality of  quantitative research: from evaluation to attainment. Text Context Nursing,  24(3), 883-890.

Maren Alitagtag 

1 posts

Re:Module 7 DQ 2

The reading, “Measurement of perceived organizational readiness for change and employees' attitudes toward change in the public sector” presents an application of qualitative research methodology. Discuss whether or not qualitative research methodology is appropriate to this study.

As I read the research in the study, I think that it was appropriate to use qualitative research in this study because it was hoping to see if the particular organization in question was ready for change (Cinite, 2006).  Looking at all the aspects of an organization can certainly be beneficial in the process of bringing change into the organization.  I came across an article that helped me because it emphasized the idea that there is no perfect research for any one question, and that all methods have their benefits and downfalls (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). While the qualitative approach helped examine the organization in question, I am not sure if the results will be able to be applied to other organizations and other change situations. That is where I think a mixed study would perhaps have been a better approach, in order to increase the likelihood of generalizability.  However, there may have not been the appropriate resources to convert the study into a mixed study. 

 

Cinite, I. (2006). Measurement of perceived organizational readiness for change and employees' attitudes toward change in the public sector (Order No. NR13391). Available from ProQuest Central; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (305357913). Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/docview/305357913?accountid=7374

McCusker, K., & Gunaydin, S. (2015). Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), 537-542 6p. doi:10.1177/0267659114559116