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This PowerPoint presentation by Roger Pence explores the characteristics, types, and differences between quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research. It covers topics such as variables, experimental and non-experimental research, research paradigms, and the benefits of mixed research.
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Chapter 2: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Research A PowerPoint presentation by Roger Pence
Learning Objectives • Describe the characteristics of quantitative research • List and explain the different types of variables used in quantitative research • Explain the difference between experimental and nonexperimental research • Describe the characteristics of qualitative research • List and explain the differences among the different types of qualitative research • Describe the characteristics of mixed research
What is a research paradigm? • The set of shared perspectives, values, assumptions, concepts and practices shared by a community • An approach to thinking about and doing research
What is meant by the “incompatibility thesis”? • A notion or belief that both quantitative and and qualitative research cannot exist in the same research study. (An either-or position) • The incompatibility thesis has been pushed out of favor by pragmatism, which states that whichever approach, even a mixture, that best answers the question should be used.
Quantitative Research Methods Terms • Variable: Condition or characteristic that can take on different values or categories • Constant: A single category of a variable • Quantitative Variable: Varies by degree or amount (e.g. income) • Categorical Variable: Varies by type or kind (e.g. religion) • Independent Variable: Presumed to change another variable • Dependent Variable: Influenced by independent variable
Quantitative Research: Cause and Effect • Changes in independent variable produce changes in dependent variable (one changes causes another) • Example: More fertilizer produces bigger plants
Quantitative Research Terms: Other Variables • Intervening Variable: A variable that stands between the independent and dependent variable and may also explain changes observed in the dependent variable Moderator Variable: Changes the relationships between other variables (e.g. teaching delivery and personality style)
Quantitative Research:Experimental Research • Used to determine cause and effect relationships through manipulation of independent variable. • Must consider extraneous variables (a variable that may compete with the independent variable and change the experimental outcome) • What if the results are due to some other factor?! • Must also consider confounding variables (variable that was not controlled) • Sorry, we couldn’t do anything about that!
Quantitative Research:Non-Experimental Research • No manipulation of the independent variable and no random assignments to groups • Causal-comparative research: Primary independent variable of interest is a categorical variable (like religion, gender, etc.) • More difficult to establish cause and effect relationships • Correlational research: Primary independent variable of interest is quantitative (how does an amount of an independent variable change the dependent variable?)
Quantitative Research:Correlation Coefficients • Positive correlation: When the variable move in the same direction • Negative correlation: When the variables move in opposite directions • Strength of correlation: Ranges from +1 to -1 with 0 representing no correlation at all
Qualitative Research Methods • Phenomenology: How does the experience of a phenomenon affect something? • Example: How does divorce affect learning? • Ethnography: Interest in how a group’s culture influences a question. • Example: Do skateboarders have a better innate understanding of physics?
Qualitative Research Methods • Case Study Research: Detailed account(s) of one or more cases • Example: Students using filmmaking to learn science • Grounded theory: Generating and developing a theory from qualitative research • Example: Factors that affect student’s homework turn-in rate • Historical Research: Research about people, places and events from the past • Example: How did Sputnik affect science education?
Mixed Research • Fundamental principle of mixed research: It is wise to collect multiple sets of data using different research methods to “cover holes” that might exist with only one type of research. • Allows confidence to be placed in findings arrived at from more than one angle. • If data suggests conflicting conclusions, then more research will be needed to explore the phenomenon. • The mixed approach often best answers questions in a complex and ever-changing world.