Week 6 - Overview of Quantitative Research

Quantitative Approach

its methods are predetermined, instrument-based questions, statistical analysis, etc.

Qualitative Approach

uses emerging methods, open-ended questions, text and image analysis, etc,

Numerical

type of data that quantitative research gathers

Narrative

type of data that qualitative research gathers

Descriptive and inferential statistics

analysis of quantitative research

Identification of Major Themes

analysis of qualitative research

Specific questions or hypotheses

scope of inquiry of quantitative research

Broad thematic concerns

scope of inquiry of qualitative research

Large sample, statistical validity

Primary advantage of quantitative research

Rich, in-depth, narrative description

Primary advantage of qualitative research

Superficial understanding of participants’ thoughts and feelings

Primary disadvantage of quantitative research

Small sample, not generalizable to the population at large

Primary disadvantage of qualitative research

Closed

type of questions of quantitative research

Open

type of questions of qualitative research

Testing hypotheses and proving causality

focus of quantitative research

Making connections, finding meaning

focus of qualitative research

hypothesis

proposition that implies a relationship between two or more concepts

less abstract, provisional

Two distinguishing features of a hypothesis

Theory

set of organically connected propositions that are located at a higher level of abstraction and generalization than empirical reality

Concepts

refers to the semantic content (the meaning) of linguistic signs and mental images; abstract mental constructions that are impossible to observe directly

categories

Variable are further operationalized into [term]; are assigned with symbolic values

variables

property so operationalized

Operationalization

translation from theoretical language to empirical language; making abstract concept measurable by assigning numerical values to properties

unit of analysis

social object to which the properties investigated are being assigned

Individual

Type of Unit of Analysis - smallest type

Collectives

Type of Unit of Analysis - found in statistical sources such as territorial aggregates (municipalities, countries, etc.)

Group-Organization-Institution

Type of Unit of Analysis - when the variable are recorded at the group level.(e.g. number of classes, number of students, type of management

Event

Type of Unit of Analysis - e.g. political unrest

Symbolic representation or cultural product

Type of Unit of Analysis - usually used in content analysis (e.g. audio-visual output, electoral propaganda, photographs, television programmes

Discrete States

property takes on a range of finite states

Nominal Variable

names; processed by classification

Dichotomous variable

nominal variable in which there are only two categories; treated with statistical techniques which cannot be applied to other nominal variables

Ordinal Variables

Numbers with only ordinal properties; existence of order (hierarchy); assigned to the categories to indicate sequence, and nothing else; processed through ordering

Interval Variable

Numbers with cardinal properties; distance between categories are known; Values assigned to numbers are not merely labels but have ‘full; numerical meaning

Reliability

reproducibility’ of the result; Consistency; repeatability

Measurement Reliability

refers to the dependability or consistency of the measure of a variable

Stability Reliability

measurement reliability across time

Representative Reliability

measurement reliability across groups

Equivalence Reliability

measurement reliability across different indicators

Multiple indicators

the use of multiple procedures or several specific measures to provide empirical evidence of the levels of a variable

Validity

refers to the degree to which a given procedure for transforming a concept into a variable actually operationalizes the concept that it is intended to; Truthfulness

Random Error

type of error that reliability is associated with

Systematic Error

type of error that validity is associated with

Measurement validity

refers to how well an empirical and the conceptual definition of the construct that the indicator is supposed to measure ‘fit’ together

Face validity

type of validity in which an indicator ‘make sense’ as a measure of a construct in the judgment of others, especially in the scientific community

Content validity

type of validity that requires that a measure represent all aspects of the conceptual definition of a construct

Criterion validity

type of validity that relies on independent, outside verification

Construct validity

type of validity that uses multiple indicators

Factor Analysis

technique used to test for the unidimensionality of data

Mutually Exclusive Attributes, Exhaustive Attributes, Unidimensionality

Three Principles of Good Measurement

Unidimensionality

all indicators of a construct must fit together