- •Research process: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches
- •Select The Topic
- •Determine The Paradigm (positivism or interpretivism)
- •Determine The Focus Of The Study.
- •Draft a Research Title.
- •Make Sure If The Topic Is Researchable
- •Formulate the Background of the Study
- •Formulate the Research Question(s)
- •Formulating Theoretical Perspectives: Qualitative vs Quantitative Research
- •A comparison of quantitative research and qualitative research
A comparison of quantitative research and qualitative research
AXIOMS |
QUANTITATIVE |
QUALITATIVE |
Paradigm |
Positivistic |
Interpretivism
|
The nature of reality |
Reality is objective and singular, apart from the researcher |
Reality is subjective and multiple as seen by participants in a study |
The Relationship of the Researcher to the Researched object |
Researcher is independent from the object being researched |
Researcher interacts with the object being researched |
The Role of Values in Describing Reality
|
Value-free and unbiased |
Value-bound and biased |
The Process of Research |
- Deductive process - Cause and effect - Context-free - Static Design : categories isolated before study - Generalizations leading to prediction and explanation - Accurate, and reliable through validity and reliability |
- Inductive process - Mutual simultaneous shaping of factors - Context –bound - Emerging design : categories identified during research process - Patterns- theories developed for understanding - Accurate and reliable through verification |
The Language of Research |
Formal - - Based on set definitions - Impersonal voice - Use of accepted quantitative words or terms (such as affect, influence, determine, cause, relate, compare, correlate, and impact) |
Informal - - Evolving decisions - Personal voice - Accepted qualitative words or terms (such as understanding, discovering meaning,) |
The Process of Formulating the Problem |
From literature, information to the related object is provided, variables are known, theories are tested |
The problem needs to be explored, as little information exists on the topic, the variables are unknown, the theories are generated |
Research Design |
1. Surveys 2. Experiment 3. Ex Post facto research (also called a causal comparative research ) 4. Historical research |
1. Ethnography 2. Grounded Theory 3. Case Study 4. Phenomenology 5. Historical research |
Research Criteria to Fulfill |
Validity Reliability Objectivity Generality |
Credibility Dependability Confirmability Transferability |
Research Sequence
|
|
|
The Objective in relation to theory |
To test or verify theory |
To develop, to generate or to construct theory |