MOD2: Quanti, Quali and Mixed Approaches

What is Research?
 Meaning-making
 Systematic Gathering of evidence.
 It is one thing to gather people’s reality (method), it’s another to interpret (results).

Three Questions in Research Design

 What knowledge claims are being made by the researcher (including a theoretical
perspective)?
 What strategies of inquiry will inform the procedures?
 What methods or techniques of data collection and analysis will be used?

Assumptions in Research

Alternative Knowledge Claims Quantitative Questions

Strategies of Inquiry Qualitative Theoretical Lens
Method Mixed Data Collection
Data Analysis
Write-up
Theory or Practice or Validation
Conceptualization Application

Elements of Inquiry Research Approaches Designing the Study

Alternative Knowledge Claims

 What is knowledge? (ontology)
 How do we know? (epistemology)
 What values go into knowledge? (axiology)
 How do we write about knowledge? (rhetoric)
 What processes do we adopt in studying knowledge? (methodology)

Postpositivism
 The “scientific method”, “science”, empirical science, positivism, postpositivism,
quantitative research
 Comte, Mill, Durkheim, Newton, Locke
 Determination: Examine causes that influences outcomes.

 Reductionism: Reduce ideas into variables that constitute hypothesis for

testing.
  Empirical Observation for Measurement: Carefully observe objective
reality “out there”; develop numeric measures to capture reality;
researchers examine methods and findings for bias.

 Theory verification/falsification: Laws or theories govern behavior;

begin with a theory; collect data to support or refute theory; revise
theory.

Constructivism
 Berger & Luckmann’s “The Social Construction of Reality” (1967)
 Lincoln & Guba’s “Naturalistic Inquiry” (1985)
 Understanding: Individuals seek to understand the world they live in;
open-ended questions so participants can express their views.

 Multiple and diverse participant meanings: Individuals develop subjective

meanings of their experiences; meanings as varied, multiple and complex.

 Social and historical construction: Subjective meanings are negotiated

socially and historically through interaction with others; standpoint and
reflexivity - researcher’s experiences shape their interpretation; positioning
in the research.

 Theory generation: Research aims to develop a theory or pattern of

meaning.

Advocacy/Participatory
 Change-oriented; aims to give voice to the marginalized.
 Your participants are not respondents but “collaborators”
 Feminist perspectives: Problematize women’s diverse situations,
oppressive contexts, and the institutions that support these.

 Racialized discourses: Question control & production of knowledge,

especially knowledge of people of color.

 Critical theory: Asks how human beings can be empowered and transcend
constraints due to race, class, and gender.

 Queer theory: Gives voice to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, & transgendered

(LGBT) people.
  Disability inquiry: Addresses the meaning of inclusion for individuals with
disabilities.

Pragmatic
 Peirce, James, Mead, Dewey, Rorty, Murphy, Patton, Cherryholmes
 Consequences of actions: Knowledge claims arise out of actions,
situations, and consequences rather than antecedent conditions (as in
postpositivism).

 Problem-centered: Concern is on “what works” or on applications and

solutions to problems.

 Pluralistic: Researchers use all approaches to understand the problem,

address needs and purposes; establish rationale for mixing methods.

 Real-world practice oriented: “Truth is what works at the time”; different

worldviews, assumptions, methods; stop asking questions about reality
and laws of nature – the point is to change situation / subject.

Summary of Alternative Knowledge Claims

Quantitative Qualitative Mixed
Post positivism Constructivism Pragmatism
-Determination -Understanding -Consequences of actions
-Reductionism -Multiple meanings -Problem-centered
-Empirical Observation & -Social and Historical -Pluralistic
Measurement Construction -Real-world practice
-Theory Verification -Theory Generation oriented

Advocacy/Participatory
-Political
-Empowerment
-Collaborative
-Change-oriented

Strategies of Inquiry
Quantitative
 Experiments: True experiments, quasi-experiments, correlational studies,
factorial designs, path analysis, structural equation models.

 Surveys: Use of questionnaires or structured interviews for data collection,

with the intent of generalizing from a sample to a population.

Qualitative
 Ethnographies: Studies of intact cultural groups in their natural setting over a
prolonged period, primarily using observational data.

 Grounded theory: Multiple stages of data collection to derive an abstract

theory of a process or action; constant comparison and theoretical sampling.

 Case studies: In-depth exploration of an event, activity, process, or one or

more individuals; variety of data-collection procedures.

 Phenomenological research: Understanding “lived experiences” or the

“essence” of a phenomenon.

 Narrative research: Re-telling of individuals life stories.

 Discourse analysis: Language as socially constructive and action-oriented.

Mixed
 Sequential procedures: [1] Begin with QUALI to explore then
proceed with QUANTI with large sample; [2] Begin with QUANTI
to test theory then proceed with QUALI to explore a few cases in
detail.

 Concurrent procedures: Collect both QUALI and QUANTI data at

the same time and integrate information in the interpretation of
the results.

 Transformative procedures: The use of a theoretical lens to

provide a framework and methods of data collection that contain
both QUALI and QUANTI data.
Summary of Strategies of Inquiry
Quantitative Qualitative Mixed
-Experimental Designs -Narratives -Sequential
-Non-experimental -Phenomenologies -Concurrent
designs, such as surveys -Ethnographies -Transformative
-Grounded Theory
-Case Studies
-Discourse Analysis

Methods

Quantitative Qualitative Mixed

- Predetermined
- Instrument-based and
close-ended questions
(surveys, checklists)
- Performance data,
attitude data,
observational data, and
census data
- Statistical analysis
-Emerging methods -Both predetermined and
emerging methods
-Open-ended questions
-Both open-ended and
-Interview data, closed-ended questions
observation data,
document data, and -Multiple forms of data
audiovisual data drawing on all possibilities
-Text and image analysis -Statistical and text
analysis

Practices of the Researcher

Quantitative Qualitative Mixed

-Tests or verifies theories
-Identifies variables
-Relates variables in
hypothesis
-Uses standards of
reliability and validity
- Positions self - Collects both
quantitative and
-Collects participant qualitative data
meanings
-Develops a rationale for
-Focuses on a single mixing
phenomenon
-Integrates the data at
-Brings personal values to different stages
study (standpoint,
 -Observes and measures
information numerically
-Uses unbiased
approaches
-Uses statistics
Research Approaches
Quantitative
- Primarily uses post-
positivist claims (cause-
effect, variables,
hypotheses,measurement
test of theories)
-Uses strategies such
as experiments and
surveys
-Collects predetermined
data from instruments that
yield statistical data -Collects open-ended,
emerging data
Research Problems
Quantitative
- To identify factors that
influence an outcome, the
utility of an intervention,
or to understand the best
predictors of outcomes
reflexivity)
-Validates findings
-Interprets data
-Creates agenda or
change
-Collaborates with
participants
Qualitative
-Primarily uses
constructivist (multiple
meanings socially
constructed) or advocacy/
participatory claims
-Uses narratives,
phenomenologies,
ethnographies,
grounded theory, case
studies
Qualitative
- To understand a
concept or phenomenon
given little research on it
-Exploratory, to know
variables to examine
-Presents visual pictures
of procedures
-Employs practices of
both quantitative and
qualitative research
Mixed
- Primarily uses pragmatic
claims (problem-centered)
-Uses strategies
simultaneously or
sequentially
-Collects both statistical
and textual data
Mixed
-To capture the best of
quantitative and
qualitative approaches
-To both generalize
findings and develop a
-To test a theory or detailed view of the
explanation -When topic is new, when meaning of a
topic has not been phenomenon
addressed with a certain
sample or group, or when -To first explore then
theories do not apply with study variables
a particular sample
-To first survey many
then follow up on a few