Question 1: Research Methods



Question 1

Introduction

There are three main objectives of doing research, which are to explore, to describe, and to explain events, people, and situations. The essence of research is to present an examination and an analysis of a professionally significant problem, and answering it logically and systematically connecting the empirical data to a study's initial research question(s) and, ultimately, to its conclusion(s) (Creswell, 2005). Generally, researchers move from a research topic, to a research problem, and then to a problem statement unless a research problem is handed to the researcher by an instructor or research team. Then, of course, the order is modified and would proceed from the research problem directly to the problem statement. Data collection is the one of the most important and critical component of the dissertation. There are three main approaches of data collection methodology, which are qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. The choice of this methodology is based on the research problem (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005).

Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

The most popular research approaches used to make informed scientific decisions include qualitative and quantitative methods (Polit & Beck, 2005). Differences between quantitative and qualitative research lie in their approach to identification of the research problems and reviews of the literature. The two approaches have different strategies in specifying the purpose, data collection, data analysis, reporting, and evaluating research (Polit & Beck, 2005). In identifying a research problem, Creswell (2005) claimed that it is descriptive and explanatory for quantitative but exploratory for qualitative research.

Quantitative research uses scientific methods to investigate phenomena and address issues and problems (Davies, 2007). These methods utilize an objective manner that enhances the reliability of the information and reduces biases (Davies, 2007). Qualitative research answers questions and explores new knowledge in a natural environment (Creswell, 2005; Sanchez, 2006). This approach attempts to understand all aspects of people's behaviors, attitudes, and experiences (Davies, 2007). To address the research questions, the qualitative approach depends on four main data collections strategies: participation, observation, interviews, and analysis (Davies, 2007).

Qualitative research explores a given phenomenon in order to provide further understanding and enhanced knowledge (Polit & Beck, 2005). Qualitative research questions are generally broad and the numbers of subjects in the study can be small (Burns & Grove, 2005). In qualitative methods, the researcher depends on the observations or experiences of the participants (Polit & Beck, 2005). Creswell (2005) stated that numeric data and analysis through statistics formed the basis for quantitative research. Questions were more apt to be specific and involve large numbers of participants (Polit & Beck, 2005). Statistics allowed the researcher to recognize trends and ultimately find ways to explain the relationships of the subjects to the element studied, or vice versa (Creswell, 2005).

In summary, both the quantitative and the qualitative approach proved beneficial to explore and explain important issues within the different disciplines (Burns & Grove, 2005). Both approaches offered important scientific knowledge that answered many questions and addressed multiple issues (Creswell, 2005). Qualitative and quantitative approaches could be complementary to ...