Introduction to

Research, Research
Structure and Content
ACRES 3255
 CONTENTS
The Selection of a Research Design

Review of the Literature

The Use of Theory

Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations

 I.
The Selection of
a Research Design
 Types of Research Designs

Qualitative research
is a means for exploring and
understanding the meaning individuals or
groups ascribe to a social or human
problem. The process of research involves
emerging questions and procedures, data
typically collected in the participants’
setting, data analysis inductively building
from particulars to general themes, and
the researcher making interpretations of
the meaning of the data.
 Types of Research Designs

Quantitative research
is a means for testing objective theories by examining the
relationship among variables. These variables, in turn,
can be measured, typically on instruments, so that the
numbered data can be analyzed using statistical
procedures. The final written report has a set structure
consisting of introduction, literature and theory, methods,
results and discussion (Creswell, 2008).
Like qualitative researchers, 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.
 Types of Research Designs

Mixed Methods research

is an approach to inquiry that combines or associates
both qualitative and quantitative forms. It involves
philosophical assumptions, the use of qualitative and
quantitative approaches, and the mixing of both
approaches in the study. Thus, it is more than simply
collecting and analyzing both kinds of data; it also
involves the use of both approaches in tandem so that
the overall strength of the study is greater than either
qualitative or quantitative research (Creswell & Plano
Clark, 2007)
 Selected Strategies of Inquiry
Qualitative Strategies
Philosophical Views (e.g., ethnography)
Postpositive Quantitative Strategies
Social construction (e.g., experiments)
Advocacy/Participation Mixed Methods Strategies
(e.g., sequential)
Pragmatic Research Designs
Qualitative
Quantitative
Mixed Methods

Research Methods
A Framework for Design – Questions
Data Collection
The Interconnection of Worldviews,
Data Analysis
Strategies of Inquiry, and Research Interpretation
Methods Write-up
Validation
 Philosophical Worldviews

Worldview is the basic set of beliefs that guide actions, also known as
paradigms, epistemologies and ontologies or broadly conceived research
methodologies.

Although philosophical ideas remain largely hidden in research, they still

influence the practice of research and need to be identified. By making the
larger ideas a research intend to espouse in a research proposal, it will provide
the idea on why either qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods is the right
approach for the study.
 Four Elements of Worldviews
POSTPOSITIVISM ADVOCACY/
 Determination Postpositivists hold Advocacy/Participator PARTICIPATORY
 Reductionism a deterministic y Worldview holds that  Political
 Empirical observation philosophy in which research inquiry needs  Empowerment Issue-
and measurement causes probably to be intertwined with oriented
determine effects or politics and a political  Collaborative
 Theory verification
outcomes. agenda  Change-oriented

CONSTRUCTIVISM PRAGMATISM
 Understanding  Consequences of
Social  Multiple participant Action
Constructivists hold meaning  Problem-centered Pragmatism arises out
assumptions that of actions, situations
 Social and historical  Pluralistic
individuals seek and consequences
understanding of the
construction  Real-world practice rather than antecedent
world in which they  Theory generation oriented conditions.
live and work
 Strategies of Inquiry are types of
qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
designs or models that provide specific
direction for procedures in a research design,
also known as research methodologies

Survey research provides a quantitative or numeric description of

Quantitative trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of
 Experimental that population. It includes cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
designs using questionnaires or structured interviews for data collection, with
the intent of generalizing from sample to a population.
 Non-experimental
designs, such as
Experimental research seeks to determine if a specific
surveys treatment influences an outcome. This impact is assessed by providing a
specific treatment to one group and withholding it from another and
then determining how both groups scored on an outcome.
Ethnography is a strategy of inquiry in which the researcher studies an
intact cultural group in a natural setting over a prolonged period of time by
collecting, primarily, observational and interview data. The research process
is flexible and typically evolves contextually in response to the lived realities
encountered in the field setting.
Qualitative
Grounded theory is a strategy or inquiry in which the researcher  Narrative
derives a general, abstract theory of a process, action, or interaction Research
grounded in the views of the participants. This process involves using
multiple stages of data collection and the refinement and interrelationship of
 Phenomenology
categories of information . Two primary characteristics of this design are the  Ethnographies
constant comparison of data with emerging categories and theoretical  Grounded Theory
sampling of different groups to maximize the similarities and the differences studies
of information.
 Case Study
Case studies are a strategy of inquiry in which the researcher
explores in depth a program, event, activity, process or one or more
individuals. Cases are bounded by time and activity, and researchers collect
detailed information using a variety of data collection procedures over a
sustained period of time.
Phenomenological research is a strategy of inquiry
in which the researcher identifies the essence of human experiences
about a phenomenon as described by participants. Understanding
the lived experiences marks phenomenology as a philosophy as Qualitative
well as a method, and the procedure involves studying a small  Narrative
number of subjects through extensive and prolonged engagement Research
to develop patterns and relationships of meaning. In this process,
 Phenomenology
the researcher brackets or sets aside his or her own experiences in
order to understand those of the participants of the study.  Ethnographies
 Grounded Theory
Narrative research is a strategy of inquiry in which the studies
researcher studies the lives of individuals and asks one or more  Case Study
individuals to provide stories about their lives. This information is
then often retold or restored by the researcher into a narrative
chronology.
Sequential mixed methods procedures are those in which the
researcher seeks to elaborate on or expand on the findings of one method with
another method. This may involve beginning with a qualitative interview or
exploratory purposes and following up with a quantitative, survey method with a
large sample so that the researcher can generalize results to a population.
Alternatively, the study may begin with a quantitative method in which a theory
or concept is tested, followed by a qualitative method involving detailed
exploration with a few cases or individuals. Mixed Methods
 Sequential
Transformative mixed methods procedures are those in which
 Concurrent
the researcher uses a theoretical lens as an overarching perspective within a  Transformative
design that contains both quantitative and qualitative data. This lens provides a
framework for topics of interest, methods for collecting data and outcomes or
changes anticipated by the study. Within this lens could be a data collection
method that involves a sequential or concurrent approach.
Concurrent mixed methods procedures are those
in which the researcher converges or merges quantitative and
qualitative data in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of
the research problem. In this design, the investigator collects Mixed Methods
both forms of data at the same time and then integrates the  Sequential
information in the interpretation of the overall results. Also, in  Concurrent
this design, the researcher may embed one smaller form of data
within another larger data collection in order to analyze  Transformative
different types of questions (the qualitative addresses the
process while the quantitative, the outcomes).
 Quantitative, Mixed and Qualitative
Methods

Quantitative Methods Mixed Methods Qualitative Methods

 Both pre-determined and
 Pre-determined  Emerging Methods
emerging methods
 Instrument-based questions  Open-ended questions
 Both open-end and closed-
 Performance data, attitude  Interview data, observation
ended questions
data, observational data, and data, document data and
 Multiple forms of data
census data audio-visual data
drawing on all possibilities
 Statistical analysis  Text and image analysis
 Statistical and text analysis
 Statistical interpretation  Themes, patterns
 Across databases
interpretation
interpretation
 Research Designs
as Worldviews, Strategies and Methods

In this scenario, the researcher tests a theory by

specifying narrow hypotheses and the collection
of data to support or refute the hypotheses. An
Quantitative Methods
experimental design is used in which attitudes are
Postpositivist worldview,
assessed both before and after an experimental
experimental strategy of inquiry,
treatment. The data are collected on an instrument
and pre- and post-test measures of
that measures attitudes, and the information is
attitudes
analyzed suing statistical procedures and
hypothesis testing
 Research Designs
as Worldviews, Strategies and Methods
In this situation, the researcher seeks to establish
Qualitative Methods the meaning of a phenomenon from the views of
Constructivist participants. This means identifying a culture-
worldview, sharing group and studying how it develops
ethnographic design, shared patterns of behavior over time. One of the
and observation of a key elements of collecting data in this way is to
behavior observe participants’ behavior by engaging in
their activities.

For this study, the inquirer seeks to

examine an issue related to oppression of Qualitative Methods
individuals. To study this, stories are Participatory
collected of individual oppression using a worldview, narrative
narrative approach. Individuals are design, and open-ended
interviewed at some length to determine relationship
how they have personally experienced
oppression.
 Research Designs
as Worldviews, Strategies and Methods

The researcher bases the inquiry on the

assumption that collecting diverse types of Mixed Methods
data best provides an understanding of a Pragmatic worldview,
research problem. The study begins with a collection of both quantitative
broad survey in order to generalize results to and qualitative data
a population and then, in a second phase, sequentially
focuses on qualitative, open-ended interviews
to collect detailed views from participants.