LESSON 1: FIELD METHODS

Overview of Research

1. Formulate the idea

2. Formulate the design

3. Collect the data

4. Analyze the data

5. Communicate the findings

Formulate the idea

Introduction:

• Presentation of the Problem

• Rationale

• Significance of the Study

• Purpose Statements

• Research Questions

• Hypothesis/es

• Theoretical

• Conceptual Framework

• Literature Review

Formulate the design

• Research Methodology:

• Research Design

• Participants

• Research Instrument

• Data Gathering Procedure

• Data Analysis/es

• Ethical Considerations

Collect the data

• Research Methodology

• Data Collection (Field Work)

Analyze the data

• Research Methodology:

• Data Analysis (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)

Communicate the findings

• Results and Discussions

• Conclusions

• Recommendations

Research approaches

• These are plans and the procedures for research that spans the steps from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

• Decisions should be the philosophical assumptions the researcher brings to the study.

Three Approaches to Research

Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed-Methods

Qualitative and Quantitative

• These should not be viewed as rigid, distinct categories, polar opposites, or dichotomies.

• They represent different ends on a continuum (Newman & Benz, 1998).

Qualitative Research Design

• An approach for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem.

• An approach for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem.

• The focus is on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering the complexity of a situation.

• Words

Qualitative Research Design

These design honors an inductive style.

Quantitative Research Design

• An approach for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables.

• These variables can be measured using an instrument, (standardized questionnaire) so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procedures.

Quantitative Research Design

Researchers’ form of inquiry have assumptions about testing theories deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for alternative explanations, and being able to generalize and replicate the findings.

Mixed-Methods Research Design

• An approach to inquiry involving collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, integrating the two forms of data, and using distinct designs.

• The philosophical assumption is that the combination of quan and qual provides a more complete understanding of a research problem.

Philosophical Worldviews

1. Postpositivist

2. Constructivist

3. Transformative

4. Pragmatic

Research Approaches

Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods

Example of Quantitative Designs

• Experiments

• Quasi-experimental

• Descriptive

• Correlational

Example of Qualitative Designs

• Ethnographies

• Phenomenological

• Case Study

• Grounded Theory

• Focus Group

Example of Mixed Methods Designs

• Explanatory Sequential

• Convergent Parallel

• Embedded Design

• Transformative Design

• Multiphase Design

Worldview

• a basic set of beliefs that guide action” (Guba, 1990, p. 17).

• Others called it paradigm, epistemologies and ontologies or broadly conceived research methodologies

Worldview

This is “a general philosophical orientation about the world and the nature of research that a researcher brings to a study”

Postpositivism

• Determination

• Reductionism

• Empirical observation and measurement

• Theory verification

Constructivism

• Understanding

• Multiple participants meanings

• Social and historical construction

• Theory generation

Transformative

• Political

• Power and justice oriented

• Collaborative

• Change-oriented

Pragmatism

• Consequences of actions

• Problem-centered

• Pluralistic

• Real-world practice oriented

Postpositivist Worldview

• This worldview is sometimes called the “scientific method”, or doing “science research”.

• It is also called positivist/postpositivist research, empirical science, and postpositivism.

Postpositivist Worldview

• This represents the thinking after positivism, challenging the traditional notion of the absolute truth of knowledge (Phillips & Burbules, 2000) and recognizing that we cannot be positive about our claims of knowledge when studying the behavior and actions of humans.

• It also hold a deterministic philosophy in which causes (probably) determine effects or outcomes. Thus, the problems studied by postpositivists reflect the need to identify and assess the causes that influence outcomes, such as found in experiments.

Postpositivist Worldview

• It is also reductionistic in that the intent is to reduce the ideas into a small, discrete set to test, such as the variables that comprise hypotheses and research questions.

• In a scientific method - the accepted approach to research by postpositivists—(1) a researcher begins with a theory, (2) collects data that either supports or refutes the theory, and (3) then makes necessary revisions and conducts additional tests.

Postpositivist lens

is based on careful observation and measurement of the objective reality that exists “out there” in the world.

Postpositivist Worldview

• Knowledge is conjectural (and antifoundational)— absolute truth can never be found.

• Thus, evidence established in research is always imperfect and fallible.

• It is for this reason that researchers state that they do not prove a hypothesis; instead, they indicate a failure to reject the hypothesis.

• Objectivity

Constructivist Worldview

• Social _________ believe that individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live and work.

• Subjective meanings of their experiences— meanings directed toward certain objects or things.

• The goal of the research is to rely as much as possible on the participants’ views of the situation being studied.

Constructivist Worldview

• The questions become broad and general so that the participants can construct the meaning of a situation, typically forged in discussions or interactions with other persons.

• The more open-ended the questioning, the better, as the researcher listens carefully to what people say or do in their life settings. – Interview, Focus Group Discussion, etc.

Constructivist Worldview

• They emphasize that subjective meanings are not just imprinted on individuals but are formed through interaction with others (social constructivism).

• Also, researchers recognize that their own backgrounds shape their interpretation, and they position themselves in the research to acknowledge how their interpretation flows from their personal, cultural, and historical experiences.

Constructivist Worldview

Crotty, 1998; Human beings construct meanings as they engage with the world they are interpreting

Humans engage with their world and make sense of it based on their historical and social perspectives - we are all born into a world of meaning bestowed upon us by our culture.

They also interpret what they find, an interpretation shaped by the researcher’s own experiences and background.

Transformative Worldview

• This position arose during the 1980s and 1990s from individuals who felt that the postpositivist assumptions imposed structural laws and theories that did not fit marginalized individuals in our society or issues of power and social justice, discrimination, and oppression that needed to be addressed.

• There is no uniform body of literature characterizing this worldview, but it includes groups of researchers that are critical theorists; participatory action researchers; Marxists; feminists; racial and ethnic minorities; persons with disabilities; indigenous and postcolonial peoples; and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and queer communities.

Transformative Worldview

• This philosophical worldview focuses on the needs of groups and individuals in our society

• Mertens, 2010 - study of lives and experiences of diverse groups that have traditionally been marginalized.

• _____ research uses a program theory of beliefs about how a program works and why the problems of oppression, domination, and power relationships exist.

Pragmatic Worldview

This sees as a worldview arises out of actions, situations, and consequences rather than antecedent conditions (as in postpositivism).

Instead of focusing on methods, researchers emphasize the research problem and use all approaches available to understand the problem (see Rossman & Wilson, 1985)

Pluralistic Approaches

This is the approach use in Pragmatism to address research problems

Pragmatism Worldview

• Mixed methods research in that inquirers draw liberally from both quantitative and qualitative assumptions when they engage in their research.

• do not see the world as an absolute unity. In a similar way, mixed methods researchers look to many approaches for collecting and analyzing data rather than subscribing to only one way.

• Truth is what works at the time.

• Mixed methods researchers need to establish (1) a purpose for their mixing, (2) a rationale for the reasons why quantitative and qualitative data need to be mixed in the first place.

Mixed-methods equation

1 + 1 = 3