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Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods

Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods. Gillian Livesey LTSN-ICS University of Ulster. TEACHING RESEARCH METHODS LTSN-BEST/ICS Workshop 3 rd October 2003. Overview. Qualitative and Quantitative Research Purpose of Research Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Teaching

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Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods

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  1. Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods Gillian Livesey LTSN-ICS University of Ulster TEACHING RESEARCH METHODS LTSN-BEST/ICS Workshop 3rd October 2003

  2. Overview • Qualitative and Quantitative Research • Purpose of Research • Qualitative and Quantitative Methods • Teaching • Resources • Assessment

  3. 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!

  4. 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.

  5. Qualitative and Quantitative Research

  6. 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)

  7. 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?

  8. 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?

  9. 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?

  10. 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.

  11. Typical Methods

  12. Research Methods Categorised by Activity

  13. Teaching: Elementary Concepts • What is a Variable? • Scales of Measurement • Qualitative -v- Quantitative • Continuous -v- Categorical / Dichotomous • Independence -v- Dependence

  14. Teaching: Selecting Statistics

  15. 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.

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

  17. Resources http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/

  18. Resources http://www.socsciresearch.com/

  19. 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

  20. Conclusion What matters is that the methods used fit the intended purposes of the research!

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