4. The Nature of Quantitative Research

Question 1

Quantitative research entails what two philosophical assumptions?

Answer 1

• Epistemologically positivist
• Ontologically objectivist

Question 2

what kind of relationship does quantitative research have between theory and research?

Answer 2

a deductive relationship: theory then observation (top to bottom)

Question 3

quantitative research has a preference for positivism (natural science approach to research) and what conception of social reality?

Answer 3

objectivist

Question 4

What is the main major concern for quantitative research?

Answer 4

measurement validity (whether an indicator devised to gauge a concept really does so)

Question 5

what are the twelve steps of quantitative research?

Answer 5

1. theory
2. hypothesis
3. research design
4. devise measures of concepts
5. select research site(s)
6. ethics review
7. select research participants
8. administer research instruments/collect data
9. process data
10. analyze data
11. findings/conclusions
12. write up findings/conclusions

Question 6

Operationalization

Answer 6

the process of converting concepts into indicators or into specific questions in a questionnaire or an interview

Question 7

Concepts

Answer 7

The ideas or mental representations of things (ex. academic achievement, leadership, crime, research ethics, gatekeepers)

Question 8

concepts may be either independent (the variable that is manipulated) or…

Answer 8

…dependent variables (the variable that is being measured)

Question 9

review of independent variables/dependent variables. definition and an example.

Answer 9

Independent variables are manipulated to see if they have an impact on dependent variables

Dependent is the outcome (like headache pain)
Independent is the manipulated variable (like taking Tylenol or not)

Question 10

why do we measure concepts? (3)

Answer 10

• finding delineation of small or fine differences between variables
• gauge those differences with consistency
• correlation

Question 11

what are the two types of definition of concepts and how do you define it?

Answer 11

1. nominal: dictionary definition
2. operational: describes how the concept is to be measured (ex. political party may be measured by asking people xyz questions)

Question 12

Indicators

Answer 12

tell us (indicate) that there may be a link and indicate how strong that link may be

Question 13

usually, how many indicators are adequate for each concept?

Answer 13

one, but it is advantageous to use more than one indicator of a concept (often done in survey)

Question 14

what gets these results?

• reduces the likelihood of misclassifying some people
• ensures definition of the concept is understood correctly
• gets a wider range of issues related to concept and allows the researcher to make finer distinctions
• allows for factor analysis
• helps weed out response sets

Answer 14

using multiple indicators (more than one variable) to measure a concept

Question 15

what are basic principles to observe when as a researcher, you derive codes (labels or titles given to the themes or categories) (4)

Answer 15

• assign numbers to the codes
• categories must not overlap
• categories must be exhaustive
• there must be clear rules for how codes are applied

Question 16

What is reliability concerned with?

Answer 16

Would we get the same results if done again? the consistency of measures

Question 17

what are the three different meanings of reliability?

Answer 17

1. stability over time
2. internal reliability (would we get the same results?)
3. inter-observer consistency (will multiple tests get the same results?)

Question 18

Whether the results of a measure fluctuate as time progresses, assuming that what is being measured is not changing

can be measured using the test-retest method

It is extremely difficult to quantify this over time because of the number of factors that may come into play over the passage of time

Answer 18

stability over time (factor of reliability)

Question 19

Whether multiple measure that are administered in one sitting are consistent

can be measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0-1) or the split-half method

Answer 19

internal reliability/internal consistency

Question 20

what’s considered a generally accepted minimum of internal reliability (cronbach’s alpha coefficient)

Answer 20

0.8 on a scale of 0-1

Question 21

All observers should classify behaviour or attitudes in the same way.
ex. if two observers are recording the amount of aggression children display on a particular playground, their estimates should agree

Answer 21

Inter-observer Consistency

Question 22

concerned with whether one is measuring what one wants to measure

Answer 22

Measurement validity

Question 23

what are four types of validity?

Answer 23

1. Face validity
2. Concurrent validity
3. Construct validity
4. Convergent validity

Question 24

Established if, at first glance, the measure appears to be valid

Answer 24

Face validity

Question 25

Established if the measure correlates with some criterion thought to be relevant to the concept

Answer 25

Concurrent validity

Question 26

Established if the concepts relate to each other in a way that is consistent with the researcher’s theory. Confirmed by seeing that the results match what would be predicted given the theory

Answer 26

Construct validity

Question 27

Established if a measure of a concept correlates with a second measure of the concept that uses a different measurement technique

Answer 27

Convergent Validity

Question 28

A measure that is not reliable will not be…

Answer 28

…valid (An inconsistency in the way the data was gathered makes the data more or less unusable)

Question 29

A measure may be invalid but still be…

Answer 29

…reliable. (invalid because it didn’t “fit” with the project, but may be useful for a different kind of study)

Question 30

• measurement
• establishing causality (internal validity)
• generalization of findings to those not studied
• representative sample
• probability sampling
• replication

Answer 30

the main goals of quantitative research

Question 31

What is a critique of quantitative research from a qualitative standpoint?

Answer 31

Quantitative researchers fail to distinguish people and social institutions from “the world of nature” (we cannot test humans the same way we test natural sciences)

Question 32

second critique of quantitative research

Answer 32

The measurement process produces an artificial and false sense of precision and accuracy (For example, problems can arise if people interpret the same survey item differently)

Question 33

third critique of quantitative research

Answer 33

Reliance on instruments and procedure produces a disjuncture between research and everyday life

Question 34

fourth critique of quantitative research

Answer 34

The analysis of relationships between variables ignores people’s everyday experiences and how they are defined and interpreted

Question 35

fifth critique of quantitative research

Answer 35

Explanations for findings may not address the perceptions of the people to whom the findings purportedly pertain