Module 2: Types of Research

Question 1

What is quantitative research?

Answer 1

• Deductive process (general to specific)
• Collection and analysis of quantitative data in identifying statistical relationship of variables

Question 2

What is Qualitative Research?

Answer 2

• Inductive research process (specific to general)
• Collection and analysis of qualitative data to search for patterns, themes, holsitic features/characteristics

Question 3

What is Mixed Research?

Answer 3

• Combines or mixes quantitative/qualitative research techniques within or across phases of the study

Question 4

What are the types of Quantitative Research?

Answer 4

1. Experimental - examine cause and effect relationship
   - actively manipulating independent variable
   - random assignment is used
   - changing something to see what happens
   Ex. Testing a new drug on one group of people and comparing the results to a group that didn’t get the drug
2. Non-Experimental - no manipulation, no random assignment
   - cannot jump to cause and effect
   - seeing things as they are without changing anything
   Ex. Impact of people’s income level on their happiness

Question 5

What are the types of qualitative research?

Answer 5

1. Phenomenology - attempts to understand and explain a phenomenon as described by individuals

• explains how we experience things
  ex. The thoughts and feelings behind being sad and how it affects our body, experience of being in nature, the sounds and feelings of being in it, etc

2. Ethnography - describes the culture of a group of people through observation and interaction with these people in their natural environment

• Techniques: indepth interview, highly detailed, continual or ongoing observation of the situation

3. Historical - studying events that occurred in the past using information from that time to interpret the conditions that existed
4. Case Study - providing a detailed account of one or more cases of interest (person, group, event, or situation)

• exhaustive and intensive to allow the researcher to fully understand the behavior of the case of interest and pattern in similar cases

Question 6

What are the types of Mixed Research?

Answer 6

1. Mixed Method Research - Researcher uses qualitative research in one phase and quantitative research in another phase
2. Mixed Model Research - mixes both qualitative and quantitative research approaches to within a stage or two stages of research