ASSIGNMENT

Assignment

Assignment

Introduction

Applied research projects are more likely follow a triangulation research design than are basic research investigations. Triangulation is the research strategy that uses a combination of multiple data sets, various investigators, various theories, and multiple methodologies to answer research questions. This is largely because of the context that facilitates the need for applied research. Client-driven applied research projects tend to research that analyzes a problem from multiple perspectives in order to address many constituents that may be impacted by the study. In addition, if applied research takes place in a less than ideal research environment, multiple data sets may be necessary in order for the applied investigator to generate a critical mass of observations to be able to make defensible conclusions about the problem at hand (Baily & Burch, 2002, Pp. 44-48).

Quantitative and qualitative researchers work within distinct traditions that the rest on different philosophical assumptions, employ different methods, and produce different products. Qualitative and quantitative distinctions grounded in two contrasting approaches to categorizing and explaining data. There is no denying that there is a greater fitness for a set of techniques to the questions posed by specific theoretical frameworks. Thus, it would be difficult to make estimates of manpower requirements to establish the flow of educational demand without resorting to statistical methods and unbound extensive clusters of quantitative information. Similarly, it would be difficult to prove the advantages of a new teaching method or a new curriculum without access to an experimental design. This study critically compares the qualitative and quantitative research strategies, and studies both the research strategies in a holistic context.

Discussion

Quantitative and Qualitative Data:

Qualitative researchers argue among themselves about how best to evaluate naturalistic inquiry projects, and there is little consensus on whether it is possible or appropriate to establish common standards by which such studies might be judged. However, various characteristics widely considered being indicators of merit in the design of naturalistic inquiry projects.

Different paradigms produce and use different types of data. Early studies distinguished the two methods according to the data collected, whether textual or numerical. The classic qualitative approach includes study of real-life settings, focus on participants' context, inductive generation of theory, open-ended data collection, analytical strategies based on textual data, and use of narrative forms of analysis and presentation. The qualitative method refers to a research paradigm that addresses interpretation and socially constructed realities. The classic quantitative approach encompasses hypothesis formulation based on precedence, experiment, control groups and variables, comparative analysis, sampling, standardization of data collection, statistics, and the concept of causality. Quantitative design refers to a research paradigm that hypothesizes relationships between variables in an objective way.

Quantitative methods related to deductive approaches, positivism, data variance, and factual causation. Qualitative methods include inductive approaches, constructivism, and textual information. In general, quantitative design relies on comparisons of measurements and frequencies across categories and correlations between variables whereas the qualitative method concentrates on events within a context, relying on meaning and process. When the two used together, data can be ...