Concepts about Research
Qualitative and quantitative research
- Qualitative research focuses on issues that are up for discussion and debate. It offers a lot of description of the topics being studied.
- Some of the data collection techniques used in qualitative research include observation, interviews, and surveys (Mr. Sinn, 2019).
- Qualitative research also looks at the artefacts of an area such as ethnicity, language, and religion.
- Quantitative research is conducted to prove a concept or theory. For example, a geographer looking at an area may look at its economic data, political description, and population (Mr. Sinn, 2019).
- Some of the questions posed by qualitative research include “what” and “how.” Additionally, the study tries to find answers to open-ended questions.
- Qualitative research may not have a hypothesis because it does not try to prove anything. Instead, it tries to make people better understand concepts and theories.
- Quantitative research consists of variables and hypothesis. In this case, it focuses on proving or disproving a hypothesis (Mr. Sinn, 2019).
- The questions asked in quantitative research include “what”, “how”, and “does.”
- Statistics and numbers have to be used to answer the questions posed in a quantitative study.
- Qualitative research is usually set into themes when it comes to the analysis and preparation of the final report (Mr. Sinn, 2019).
- A quantitative study will seek to find if the results from the analysis of data have any statistical significance.
How to write a literature review
- Conducting a literature review is essential because it allows the researchers to put their studies into perspective.
- It allows the researchers to develop their critical and analytical skills continuously (Paye, 2017).
- Researchers need to assess a particular field critically to determine the significant contributions from previous studies.
- The first step in writing a literature review involves determining the major databases, central research questions, and matching the title with the objectives.
- When searching for the literature to review, one must develop the central research questions, pick keywords, use appropriate search portal, and use peer-reviewed journals (Paye, 2017).
- It is essential to evaluate the source being reviewed. One must assess the abstract, ensure the theoretical frameworks are sufficiently conceptualized, and continuously question the work.
- One can keep track of the sources being reviewed using programs such as Zotero and Mendeley. These programs keep track of all the sources, allow one to integrate comments, and keep the information logged forever (Paye, 2017).
- When picking the sources, one must pick out key articles, ensure the keywords feature in the article, and ensure established scholars write them.
- It is essential to compare a source to other pieces and ensure it addresses the key issues.
- The structure of a literature review should consist of subheadings, color coding, cross-referencing, essential quotations, footnotes, bibliography, and works cited (Paye, 2017).
- Some of the useful shortcuts when writing a literature review include avoiding reading everything, setting a time limit, and assessing previous reviews in renowned journals.
Qualitative research designs
- Research design describes the methodology and procedures used by researchers to carry out a scientific inquiry.
- The primary worldviews that one can encounter in social research include postpositivism, constructivism, advocacy and participatory, and pragmatism (Ott, 2016).
- Structuralism and poststructuralism argue whether social structure or human agency determines a person’s behavior.
- Qualitative researchers tend to understand a phenomenon using the perspectives of their participants. The researchers serve as data collection instruments in the study, and the research focuses on the happenings in the real world. Qualitative research designs adopt an inductive approach and focus on providing rich descriptions (Ott, 2016).
- Ethnography is a qualitative research design that tries to understand the culture of a people.
- Phenomenology is a research design that dwells on the world experiences of a person.
- The grounded theory allows qualitative researchers to construct or discover a new approach from the collected data. The analysis of the collected data helps in the formulation of new explanation or theory (Ott, 2016).
- The use of case studies helps to determine the characteristics of a single case or comparison cases.
- Discourse analysis is another qualitative research design used by researchers. The analysis helps in the study of micro features associated with communication. It is common to find researchers avoiding this design because it can be tedious.
Mixed methods research designs
- Mixed methods research designs utilize both quantitative and qualitative research designs.
- It can be used when combining the two designs produces stronger results and to build on the strengths of qualitative and quantitative data (Estes, Hapner & O’Konis, 2017).
- It can also be utilized when a single research design is insufficient, and when researchers intend to provide a different perspective in a study.
- Campbell & Fiske, Sieber, and Jick are credited for the development of mixed methods research design (Estes, Hapner & O’Konis, 2017).
- The research had its proponents and opponents in equal share.
- The convergent design collects and merges qualitative and quantitative data sets and explains any discrepancies between the two.
- The explanatory sequential design collects and analyzes qualitative and quantitative data separately (Estes, Hapner & O’Konis, 2017).
- The exploratory sequential design consists of an initial phase of collecting and analyzing qualitative data, followed by a similar step involving quantitative data.
- The experimental design may conduct a study using a quantitative model and utilize quantitative data to address questions arising within the data (Estes, Hapner & O’Konis, 2017).
- The social justice design intends to transform society by addressing injustices faced by specific populations.
- The multistage evaluation design tries to find out the impact of a project or program.
References
Estes, L., Hapner, C. & O’Konis, K. (2017, June 11). Mixed methods research designs. [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7YYA9qQjJA&feature=youtu.be
Mr. Sinn. (2019, October 23). Qualitative and quantitative research. [Video file]. Retrieved from
Ott, M. (2016, July 7). Qualitative research designs. [Video file]. Retrieved from
Paye, M. [Real Smart Media]. (2017, January 17). How to write a literature review (UCD
writing centre). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouY2FH0BKkQ