MA Seminar Week 5 Qualitative & Quantitative Methods

Week 5
Course Title: Seminar
Course Credit Hrs.: 3 per week
Level: 3
Program: MA in educational technology
Term: 1st
Sem. 2015
Instructors: Dr. Noora Al-Malki & Dr. Amal Alshusha
Credits of images and online content are to their original owners
Copyright (a) noora malki 2014

Presentation Content
- Learning Outcomes
- Quantitative Methods
- Qualitative Methods
- Questionnaire Design (e-
Questionnaires)
- NEXT Week
09/07/15 Dr. Noora Malki, al (c) all rights reserved 2

Learning Outcomes
Upon completing this part of the module, students will be able
to:
•distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research
methods
•use select methods for their research proposals
•Apply the knowledge presented in this module to write the
methods section of their proposals

Research Methods
Qualitative research is characterised by its aims, which focus
on understanding some aspects of social life. Methods used in
such research generate descriptive data in the form of words
whether oral or written, rather than numbers. Quantitative
methods, on the other hand, aim to measure something (such
as the percentage of people with a particular disease in a
community), the aims and methods of qualitative research
can seem imprecise.

Research Methods
Common criticisms of Qualitative Research include:
Small Samples,
Samples not reprsetative of population,
Cannot generalise results,
Findings are biased.

Qualitative Methods
Qualitative methods generally aim to answer questions about
the ‘what’, ‘how’ or ‘why’ of a phenomenon rather than ‘how
many’ or ‘how much’, which are answered by quantitative
methods.

Qualitative Methods

Qualitative Methods
Examples of topics that qualitative methodologies can address
include: People’s experiences of health needs, health care,
accessing care and keeping healthy. Understanding different
perspectives, such as those of professionals and patients. How
experiences, attitudes and life circumstances affect health
needs and behaviours.

Qualitative Methods
Two key ethical issues that should be considered in any
project are consent and confidentiality.

Qualitative Methods
(i) Consent
Everyone who participates in your study should have freely
consented to participation, without being coerced or unfairly
pressurised. This means they should be well-informed about
what participation entails, and reassured that declining will
not affect any services they receive. While written consent
may in some situations frighten the individuals you are talking
to, you should at the very least obtain verbal consent.

Qualitative Methods
(ii) Confidentiality
It is not always easy or even possible to measure the dangers
of a certain context to a given population, let alone to
individuals. It is therefore essential to protect the identity of
the person from whom you gather information. If collected,
the identity of the participants must be protected at all times
and not be left lying around in notebooks or un-protected
computer files.

Qualitative Methods
(iii) A word on sampling
It is important to select your sample in a systematic way so as
to ensure that the community/users/external actors see it as a
credible and indicative sample. However, statistical
representativeness is not the aim. Instead, samples in
qualitative research are usually purposive. This means
participants are selected because they are likely to generate
useful data for the project.

Qualitative Methods: Interview
Interviews enable face to face discussion with human
subjects. If you are going to use interviews you will have to
decide whether you will take notes (distracting), tape the
interview (accurate but time consuming) rely on your memory
(foolish) or write in their answers (can lead to closed
questioning for time’s sake).

If you decide to interview you will need to draw up an
interview schedule of questions which can be either closed or
open questions, or a mixture of these. Closed questions tend
to be used for asking for and receiving answers about fixed
facts such as name, numbers, and so on. They do not require
speculation and they tend to produce short answers.

With closed questions you could even give your interviewees a small selection of
possible answers from which to choose. If you do this you will be able to manage
the data and quantify the responses quite easily. If you ask open questions such as
‘what do you think about the increase in traffic?’ you could elicit an almost endless
number of responses. This would give you a very good idea of the variety of ideas
and feelings people have, it would enable them to think and talk for longer and so
show their feelings and views more fully. But it is very difficult to quantify these
results. You will find that you will need to read all the comments through and to
categorise them after you have received them, or merely report them in their
diversity and make general statements, or pick out particular comments if they
seem to fit your purpose.

If you decide to use interviews:
•Identify your sample.
•Draw up a set of questions that seem appropriate to what you need to find out.
•Do start with some basic closed questions (name etc.).
•Don't ask leading questions.
•Try them out with a colleague.
•Pilot them, then refine the questions so that they are genuinely engaged with your research
object.
•Contact your interviewees and ask permission, explain the interview and its use.
•Carry out interviews and keep notes/tape.
•Transcribe.
•Thematically analyse results and relate these findings to others from your other research methods.

Quantitative Methods
1. Your goal in conducting quantitative research study is to determine the relationship between one
thing [an independent variable] and another [a dependent or outcome variable] within a
population. Quantitative research designs are either descriptive [subjects usually measured
once] or experimental [subjects measured before and after a treatment]. A descriptive study
establishes only associations between variables; an experimental study establishes causality.
2. Quantitative research deals in numbers, logic, and an objective stance. Quantitative research
focuses on numberic and unchanging data and detailed, convergent reasoning rather than
divergent reasoning [i.e., the generation of a variety of ideas about a research problem in a
spontaneous, free-flowing manner].

1. Its main characteristics are:
2. The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.
3. The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population.
4. The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability.
5. Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are sought.
6. All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.
7. Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures, or other non-textual
forms.
8. Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or investigate causal
relationships.
9. Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to collect numerical data.
10. The overarching aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features, count them, and construct
statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

1. Things to keep in mind when reporting the results of a study using quantiative methods:
2. Explain the data collected and their statistical treatment as well as all relevant results in relation to the
research problem you are investigating. Interpretation of results is not appropriate in this section.
3. Report unanticipated events that occurred during your data collection. Explain how the actual analysis
differs from the planned analysis. Explain your handling of missing data and why any missing data does
not undermine the validity of your analysis.
4. Explain the techniques you used to "clean" your data set.
5. Choose a minimally sufficient statistical procedure; provide a rationale for its use and a reference for it.
Specify any computer programs used.

1. Describe the assumptions for each procedure and the steps you took to ensure that they were not violated.
2. When using inferential statistics, provide the descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, and sample sizes
for each variable as well as the value of the test statistic, its direction, the degrees of freedom, and the
significance level [report the actual pvalue].
3. Avoid inferring causality, particularly in nonrandomized designs or without further experimentation.
4. Use tables to provide exact values; use figures to convey global effects. Keep figures small in size;
include graphic representations of confidence intervals whenever possible.
5. Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figures.

Quantitative Methods: Questionnaires
1. Practical
2. Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and
in a relatively cost effective way
3. Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited affect to its validity and
reliability
4. The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified by either a researcher or
through the use of a software package
5. Can be analysed more 'scientifically' and objectively than other forms of research
6. When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other research and may be used to
measure change
7. Positivists believe that quantitative data can be used to create new theories and / or test existing hypotheses
Positive Points

Quantitative Methods: Questionnaires
1. Is argued to be inadequate to understand some forms of information - i.e. changes of emotions, behaviour,
feelings etc.
2. Phenomenologists state that quantitative research is simply an artificial creation by the researcher, as it is
asking only a limited amount of information without explanation
3. Lacks validity
4. There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being
5. There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has put in
6. The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full context of the situation
7. People may read differently into each question and therefore reply based on their own interpretation of the
question - i.e. what is 'good' to someone may be 'poor' to someone else, therefore there is a level of
subjectivity that is not acknowledged
8. There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when developing the questionnaire, the researcher is
making their own decisions and assumptions as to what is and is not important, therefore they may be
missing something that is of importance.
Negative Points

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MA Seminar Week 5 Qualitative & Quantitative Methods

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