Methodology Flashcards
Read, review, and remember the various types of research methods!
Ethnography
This approach involves studying people in their natural environment, observing and interpreting their cultural practices and daily life. Researchers often immerse themselves within a community or group for an extended period.
Phenomenology
Focused on understanding lived experiences, phenomenological research explores how individuals perceive and make sense of particular phenomena, often through in-depth interviews.
Case Study
This method involves an in-depth exploration of a single case (or a small number of cases), which could be an individual, group, organization, or event. It’s used to understand complex issues within real-life contexts.
Grounded Theory
Grounded theory seeks to develop new theories by systematically gathering and analyzing data. Researchers often use this method to generate a theory based on patterns they observe in the data.
Narrative Research
This type focuses on collecting and analyzing individuals’ stories or personal accounts to explore how people interpret their experiences and give meaning to their lives.
Action Research
In action research, the researcher collaborates with participants to solve a problem or improve a situation. It’s a cyclical process of planning, action, and reflection, often used in educational or organizational settings.
Discourse Analysis
This type examines language and communication in various forms, focusing on how language is used in social contexts. It’s often used to study power dynamics, identities, and social interactions.
Content Analysis
While sometimes considered mixed methods, qualitative content analysis focuses on interpreting textual or visual data, identifying patterns, themes, and meanings from written or recorded content.
Descriptive Research
This type focuses on describing characteristics or phenomena as they exist. It often involves surveys, questionnaires, or observations to collect numerical data that provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs.
Correlational Research
Correlational studies explore relationships between two or more variables to determine whether and how they are related. However, this type of research does not establish causality—just whether a relationship exists (positive, negative, or none).
Causal-Comparative/Quasi-Experimental Research
This method attempts to identify cause-and-effect relationships by comparing groups based on an independent variable, though without random assignment. Quasi-experiments are useful when randomization isn’t possible but still seek to understand relationships.
Quantitative research
A systematic investigation primarily focuses on quantifying data and applying statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques to analyze it. This type of research is often used to test hypotheses, establish patterns, and generalize findings from a sample to a larger population.
Experimental Research
Experimental research involves manipulating one variable (independent variable) to determine its effect on another variable (dependent variable), with strict control over external factors. This method often includes randomly assigning participants to different groups or conditions to establish causality.
Survey Research
Surveys are commonly used in quantitative research to collect data from a large group of people using structured questions. The survey data is then analyzed to make inferences about a population.
Longitudinal Research
This type involves studying the same variables over an extended period to track changes or developments over time. It can help researchers identify trends and patterns that unfold over years or even decades.
Cross-Sectional Research
In cross-sectional studies, researchers analyze data from a population at a specific point in time. It provides a snapshot of a particular phenomenon, often used to compare different groups within a population.
Meta-Analysis
This type involves systematically combining and analyzing results from multiple studies to draw broader conclusions. It provides a statistical approach to aggregating research findings to identify overall trends.
Qualitative Research
This type of research seeks to understand individuals’ experiences, behaviors, and the meanings they ascribe to their surroundings. It is exploratory and often used to gain deeper insights into complex issues that can’t be easily quantified. Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on numerical and statistical analysis, qualitative research uses non-numerical data (such as words, texts, or images) and focuses on subjective experiences.
Exploratory and Open-Ended
It aims to explore phenomena, concepts, or issues in depth rather than test hypotheses. The approach is often open-ended, allowing for rich descriptions and in-depth exploration of participants’ perspectives.
Natural Setting
Data is usually collected in the participants’ natural environment, which helps researchers capture the context of their behaviors and experiences.
Subjectivity
Researchers actively participate in interpreting data, often acknowledging their own influence on the research process. The goal is to understand the meaning of phenomena from the participant’s point of view.
Holistic
Qualitative research looks at the “whole picture” and tries to understand the complexity of a situation, often involving multiple perspectives.
Flexible Methodology
Research design in qualitative research is often adaptive and evolves as the study progresses, allowing researchers to explore emerging themes or insights as they arise.
Data Collection Methods
Common methods include interviews, focus groups, participant observation, document analysis, and open-ended surveys. Data collection is usually intensive and time-consuming.
Non-Numerical Data
The data is usually in the form of words, images, or objects, rather than numbers. Researchers look for patterns, themes, or narratives in the data.
Inductive Analysis
Data analysis in qualitative research is typically inductive, meaning that themes, patterns, and categories emerge from the data rather than being imposed by a prior framework.
Strengths of Qualitative Research
Rich, Detailed Data: Provides deep, contextualized insights that can capture the complexity of human experiences.
Flexibility:
Allows adaptability during data collection and analysis, making it suitable for exploring evolving or complex issues.
Exploration of New Ideas: This is ideal for generating new theories or understanding new areas where little research has been done.
Participant-Centered: Gives voice to participants and allows them to express their perspectives in their own words.
Limitations of Qualitative Research
Subjectivity: The researcher’s interpretations can introduce bias, which may affect the validity of the findings.
Time-Consuming: Data collection and analysis can take considerable time, especially with in-depth interviews or participant observation.
Limited Generalizability: Because the sample sizes are usually small and context-specific, it is difficult to generalize findings to larger populations.
Reliability Issues: The findings may not always be replicable due to the nature of qualitative research, which is often context-specific.
