Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods

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Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods
Gillian Livesey LTSN-ICS University of Ulster

• TEACHING RESEARCH METHODS
• LTSN-BEST/ICS Workshop
• 3rd October 2003

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Overview

• Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• Purpose of Research
• Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
• Teaching
• Resources
• Assessment

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Research Methods

• Research methods are generally categorised as
  being either quantitative or qualitative.
• What matters is that the methods used fit the
  intended purposes of the research!

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Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms

• The qualitative paradigm concentrates on
  investigating subjective data, in particular, the
  perceptions of the people involved. The intention
  is to illuminate these perceptions and, thus,
  gain greater insight and knowledge.
• The quantitative paradigm concentrates on what
  can be measured. It involves collecting and
  analysing objective (often numerical) data that
  can be organised into statistics.

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Qualitative and Quantitative Research
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Research

• The purposes of research can be categorised as
• Description (fact finding)
• Exploration (looking for patterns)
• Analysis (explaining why or how)
• Prediction (forecasting the likelihood of
  particular events)
• Problem Solving (improvement of current practice)
  

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Descriptive Research

• Seeks to accurately describe current or past
  phenomena - to answer such questions as

• What is the absentee rate for particular
  lectures?
• What is the pass rate for particular courses?
• What is the dropout rate on particular degree
  programmes?
• What effect does a particularly quality audit
  process have on teacher morale?

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Analytical Research

• Seeking to explain the reasons behind a
  particular occurrence by discovering causal
  relationships. Once causal relationships have
  been discovered, the search then shifts to
  factors that can be changed (variables) in order
  to influence the chain of causality. Typical
  questions are

• Why is there a preponderance of female students
  on 1st level teacher training programmes?
• What factors might account for the high drop-our
  rate on a particular degree programme?

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Predictive Research

• Seeks to forecast the likelihood of particular
  phenomena occurring in given circumstances. It
  seeks to answer such questions as

• Will changing the start time achieve a higher
  attendance rate at our lectures?
• Will introducing anonymous marking reduce the
  gender imbalance in the achievement of 1st class
  degrees?
• Will increasing the weighting for course work
  encourage students to adopt deep learning
  strategies?

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Problem Solving Research / Action Research

• Action-research is a form of problem solving
  based on increasing knowledge through observation
  and reflection, then following this with a
  deliberate intervention intended to improve
  practice.

• Educational action-research describes a family of
  activities in curriculum development,
  professional development, school improvement
  programmes, and systems planning and policy
  development.
• Participants in the action being considered are
  intricately involved with all of these activities.

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Typical Methods
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Research Methods Categorised by Activity
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Teaching Elementary Concepts

• What is a Variable?
• Scales of Measurement
• Qualitative -v- Quantitative
• Continuous -v- Categorical / Dichotomous
• Independence -v- Dependence

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Teaching Selecting Statistics
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• William Gossett - nicknamed Student was a
  chemist at the Guinness brewery in Dublin and
  developed the student t-test in 1908 to ensure
  that each batch of Guinness was as similar as
  possible to every other batch! The t-test is used
  to compare two groups and comes in at least 3
  flavours.

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Teaching Software

• Spreadsheets
• EXCEL
• Statistical Software
• SPSS (http//www.spss.com/)
• MINITAB (http//www.minitab.com/)
• SAS (http//www.sas.com/)

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Resources
http//trochim.human.cornell.edu/
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Resources
http//www.socsciresearch.com/
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Assessment

• Written a report, research proposal or
  evaluation
• Group Work interdisciplinary groups
• VLE internet
• Peer Tuition
• Peer Assessment
• Multiple Choice maybe online
• Exam written or using computer
• CAA, QTI

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Conclusion

• What matters is that the methods used fit the
  intended purposes of the research!