Chapter 4 Rubin & Babbie: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods of Inquiry
Connection of Inductive and Deductive reasoning to mixed methods
Collects both qualitative and quantitative data and integrates both sources of data at one or more stages of the research process so as to improve the understanding of the phenomenon being investigated---Qualitative methods emphasize inductive reasoning and quantitative methods emphasize deductive reasoning. ---In addition to gathering both forms (qual and quant), mixed methods research must integrate them in a way that strengthens the study. ---mistake to label it as "mixed methods" if the different forms of data collected were ALL qualitative or all quantitative--must be BOTH, which integrates BOTH inductive and deductive reasoning. ---Both Qualitative and Quantitative need to be collected AND integrated to merit the MIXED METHODS label. ---The mixed-methods label doesn't imply that the scope or rigor of the qualitative or quantitative approach can be reduced.
Benefits of mixed methods of inquiry
Emphasizes the importance of combining the qualitative and quantitative research methods within the same studies --Not only collects both qualitative and quantitative data but also integrates both sources of data at one or more stages of the research process so as to improve the understanding of the phenomenon being investigated ---In addition to collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, the mixed methods design also must integrate them in a way that STRENGTHENS the study.
Purpose of Mixed Methods of Inquiry
Emphasizes the importance of combining the qualitative and quantitative research methods within the same studies-------------------------------+One can use one set of methods to illustrate cases or provide numbers for the findings of the other set, use one set to initiate ideas or techniques that subsequently can be pursued by the other set, and see if the two sets of findings corroborate each other. --Not only collects both qualitative and quantitative data but also integrates both sources of data at one or more stages of the research process so as to improve the understanding of the phenomenon being investigated ---In addition to collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, the mixed methods design also must integrate them in a way that STRENGTHENS the study.
Example of a quantitative research question
Examining whether the rates of child maltreatment in official records decline after a child welfare program's onset while also examining whether the program's clients score better after treatment on a test of knowledge of positive parenting. ---asking the closest family member of a hospice patient to complete a standardized list of interview questions about the degree of pain the patient expressed feeling, the frequency of undesirable side effects associated with medical technology, the patient's mood, the patient's activities, etc. An effort would be made to find an instrument that scored each question, and these scores could be summed to produce an overall quality of life score
Example of a qualitative research question
Seeking to identify all of the complex dimensions of quality of life specifically for patients in hospice versus standard hospital care for terminally ill patients, the ways the two forms of care differentially affect quality of life, in order to understand what patients experience and what those experiences mean to them: proposing a deep, empathic understanding of how the two forms of care had different implications for quality of life. ---A qualitative inquiry into the experience of being homeless might combine conducting unstructured, open-ended interviews of homeless people with having the researchers live homeless themselves to observe the behaviors of other homeless people with whom they hang out and to get a subjective sense of how it feels to live on the streets.
Aim of Qualitative research method
More likely to tap the deeper meanings of particular human experiences and generate theoretically richer observations that are not easily reduced to numbers. ****Aims: deeper understandings, describing contexts, generating hypotheses, discovery --Typically begin with a more flexible plan, one that allows the research procedures to evolve as more observations are gathered. ---Typically permit the use of subjectivity to generate deeper understandings of the meanings of human experience: often with a much smaller sample of research participants than is typically the case with quantitative studies. ----These kinds of methods may be more suitable when flexibility is required to study a new phenomenon about which we know very little or when we seek to gain insight into the subjective meanings of complex phenomena to advance our conceptualization of them and build a theory that can be tested in future studies. ***Can pave the way for quantitative studies of the same subject*** *****sometimes produce results that are sufficient in themselves ***Rich descriptions with more contextual detail ***lengthier and less structured observations and interviews +Deeper findings, less generalizable ++Typically uses ethnography, case studies, life history, focus groups, participatory action research, and grounded theory in their methodology +++++Smaller sample size, Inductive theoretical approach, Subjectivity +++more time consuming +Search for patterns and meanings in narratives, not numbers ++Harder replication by other researchers ++utilizes interpretivist, social constructivist, critical social science, and feminist paradigms are commonly used +++Setting for data gathering: natural environment of research participants +Investigates phenomena early in order to gain familiarity with phenomenon ****Data-gathering methods are lengthier and less structured observations and interviews
Aim/Goal of Quantitative Research Method
Precision, generalizability, and testing hypotheses; Emphasize the production of precise and generalizable statistical findings. ---When we want to verify whether a cause produces an effect in general, we are likely to use this method. ----Typically attempt to formulate ALL or MOST of their research procedures in advance and then try to adhere precisely to those procedures with maximum objectivity as data are collected. ++Examples: Experiments, quasi experiments, and surveys; experiments and quasi experiments in sw will typically divide clients into two comparable groups and each group will receive a different program, policy, or intervention condition. Objective measures are taken to assess whether on program, policy, or intervention appears to be more effective than the other. Surveys will typically administer closed-ended questionnaires to a sample of people in an attempt to develop findings that can be generalized to a larger population than the sample represents. +++Research procedures are typically identified and specified in advance +++++Data are usually gathered in an office, agency, or via mail or Internet ++Deductive theoretical approaches are commonly employed ++Larger sample size typically ++++Typically later in investigating phenomenon, after familiarity with it has been established +++++++Objectivity is emphasized +Numbers are emphasized in data ++Findings are more superficial but also more generalizable ++Less contextual detail +Various but highly structured data-gathering methods emphasized ++++Experiments, Quasi experiments, single-case designs, and surveys are used *******Closed-ended items in questionnaires and scales +Less time consuming ***Data analyses process includes statistics being calculated that can describe a population or assess the probability of error in inferences about hypotheses ++Easier to replicate findings by other researchers
