Research MethodsQualitative vs. Quantitative ApproachWANG YanUIBEWhat is qualitative research?Definition:?An in-depth study of a social phenomenon or an aspect of educational life.?Goal:?to find out an answer to the underlying nature of somethingProcedures of a qualitative research?Research design?Fieldwork?Collecting data?Data analysis?Data interpretation1
Features of qualitative study?Naturalistic??Actual situations as the direct source of dataThe researcher is the key instrument and goes to the ?particular setting under studyConcerned with the context and process?Descriptive?Everything could be a clue to a more comprehensive understanding of what is under study?Inductive?Start with no hypothesis (no presuppositions about the subject)??Putting the pieces together to find out the whole?Let the understanding evolve through the processBottom up?Concerned with Meaning??Interested in the life as well as the understanding of peopleHow do people negotiate meaning?Important Important issues about qualitative researchissues about ?Generalizability: ?Qualitative research findings are generalizableto some extent?Effecting changes is more important than generalizability?Subjectivity:?As a researcher, you should reduce your opinions, prejudices, and other biases as much as possible.?Get rid of the assumptions before you start?Try to minimize and overcome your prejudice which may haveeffect on the data.?Process is more important than prediction and verification?Making adjustments if necessary?Truthful to the findingsMore about qualitative research?Relationship between the researcher and the researched?Full respect for the participants?Cooperation?Going along with the research and the researched ?Presence of the researcher:?The researcher should try to make the subjects forget the existence of the camera, recorder, etc.?Different researchers:?They may not come up with exactly the same results, but they surely share some similarities.2
What is a quantitative research?Definition:?an inquiry into a socialbased on testing a theoryor human problem variables, measured with numbers, and composed of analyzed with statistical procedures, into determine whether the predictive order generalizations of the theory hold true?It is a formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical data are utilized to obtain information about the worldFeatures of Quantitative Study?Quantitative research is about quantifying the relationships between variables. ?The researcher knows in advance what he or she is looking for.?Goal: Prediction, control, confirmation, test hypotheses.?All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data are collected. ?The researcher tends to remain objectively separated from the subject matter.?Deductive --to test theory/hypothesis8Comparison between qualitative and quantitative research1.Terms/phrases associated with the approach2.Key concepts associated with the approach3.Theoretical affiliation4.Academic affiliation5.Goals6.Design7.Data 8.Sample9.Techniques or methods10.Relationship with subjects11.Instruments and tools12.Data analysis13.Written research proposals3
论文写作research method汇编
