Module 1: The Selection of Research Approaches
- 2. MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES After completion of module 1, you should: 1. Know the four philosophical worldview assumptions related to the research design: (a) positivism, (b) constructivism, (c) transformative, (d) pragmatism 2. Be able to identify the research approaches: (a) qualitative, (b) quantitative, and (c) mixed methods 3. Understand the research designs for each approach: a. Quantitative: experimental designs, and nonexperimental design such as surveys b. Qualitative: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnographies, and case studies c. Mixed methods: convergent; explanatory sequential; exploratory sequential; and transformative, embedded, or multiphase
- 4. In planning a study, researchers need to think through the philosophical worldview assumptions that they bring to the study, the research design that is related to the worldview, and the specific methods or procedures of research that translate into the approach into practice. The four worldviews are: 1) postpositivism, 2) constructivism, 3) transformative, and 4) pragmatism.
- 5. THE POSTPOSITIVIST WORLDVIEW The postpositivist worldview holds true more for quantitative research than for qualitative research. Postpositivists hold a philosophy in which causes determine effects or outcomes. Thus the problems studied reflect the need to identify and assess the causes that influence outcomes and reduce the ideas into a small and discrete set to test. A researcher begins with a theory, collects data that either supports or refutes the theory, and then makes necessary revisions or conducts additional tests. This worldview is sometimes called the scientific method, positivist, empirical science, and postpositivism.
- 6. THE CONSTRUCTIVIST WORLDVIEW Constructivism or social constructivism is typically seen as an approach to qualitative research. Social constructivists believe that individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live and work. The goal of the research is to rely as much as possible on the participant’s views of the situation being studied. 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 researcher’s intent is to make sense of (or interpret) the meanings other have about the world.
- 7. THE TRANSFORMATIVE WORLDVIEW The transformative worldview holds that research inquiry needs to be intertwined with politics and political agenda to confront social oppression at whatever level it occurs. Thus, the research contains an action agenda for reform. This philosophical worldview focuses on the needs of groups and individuals on our society that may be marginalized or disenfranchised. Therefore, theoretical perspectives may be integrated with the philosophical assumptions that construct a picture of the issues being examined, the people being studied, and the changes that are needed, such as feminist perspectives, racialized discourses, critical theory, queer theory, and disability theory.
- 8. THE PRAGMATIC WORLDVIEW Pragmatism as a worldview arises out of actions, situations, and consequences rather than antecedent conditions. Instead of focusing on methods, researchers emphasize the research problem and use all approaches available to understand the problem. The pragmatic worldview is the philosophical underpinning for mixed methods studies.
- 10. Research approaches are plans and the procedures for research that span the steps from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
- 11. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Qualitative research is an approach of exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. This process of research involves: ● Emerging questions and procedures ● Data typically collected in the participant’s setting ● Data analysis inductively building from particulars to general themes ● The researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data Those who engage in this form of inquiry support a way of looking at research that honors an inductive style, a focus on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering the complexity of a situation. The final written report has a flexible structure.
- 12. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Quantitative research is an approach for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables. These variables, in turn, can be measured, typically on instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procedures. The final written report has a set of structure consisting of: 1. Introduction 2. Literature and theory 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Discussion Those who engage in this 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.
- 13. MIXED METHODS RESEARCH Mixed methods is an approach to inquiry involving collecting both quantitative and qualitative data, integrating the two forms of data, and using distinct designs that may involve philosophical assumptions and theoretical frameworks. The core assumption of this form of inquiry is that the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches provides a more complete understanding of a research problem than either research alone.
- 14. RESEARCH DESIGNS
- 15. Researchers not only need to select a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods study to conduct; the type of study also needs to be decided. Research designs are types of inquiry within qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches that provide specific direction for procedures in research.
- 16. QUALITATIVE DESIGNS These are some of the viable ways to conduct qualitative studies: 1. Narrative research 2. Phenomenology 3. Grounded theory 4. Ethnographies 5. Case study
- 17. QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS These are some of the viable ways to conduct quantitative studies: 1. Experimental designs 2. Non-experimental designs such as surveys