Research Approaches

Research Approaches

• Deductive/Inductive approach
  • The purpose of research is key in deciding whether to use a deductive or inductive approach.
  • Deductive approaches are best for testing pre-existing hypotheses, while inductive approaches are best for exploring new areas, answering specific research questions, or forming new hypotheses.
• Applied/Basic research
  • Applied research is designed to solve a specific problem or address a particular situation.
  • Basic research is used to improve knowledge generally, without any specific applied purpose.
• Qualitative/Quantitative research
  • Quantitative research focuses on collecting and analyzing numerical data, measuring the scale, range, frequency, etc., of phenomena.
    • Quantitative Research is often structured, detailed, and statistically presentable.
  • Qualitative research examines and reflects on less tangible aspects of a research subject, including values, attitudes, and perceptions.
    • Qualitative research can be difficult to interpret and present findings, and it may be more susceptible to challengers.

Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research is used to understand a subject in-depth.
• It helps develop ideas or hypotheses.
• Qualitative research uncovers trends in thoughts and opinions.
• Common methods include focus groups, individual interviews, and observations.
  • For media studies, individual interviews are used to understand opinions about music magazines.
• Qualitative research is often characterized by:
  • Broad, open-ended questions
  • Data collection in the form of words and text due to open-ended questions.
  • Smaller scale studies to understand individual meanings and opinions.
  • Descriptions and analyses of themes and general trends
• Qualitative research can be biased, as it may be influenced by biases in the research process.

Quantitative Research

• Quantitative research collects and analyzes numerical data that can be converted into statistics.
• It uses measurable data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research.
• Common methods include questionnaires and surveys.
  • In media studies, questionnaires and surveys are used to collect numerical data that can be converted to facts and statistics to understand trends.
• Quantitative research is often characterized by:
  • Specific, closed-ended questions
  • Collection of data from participants
  • Use of numbers that can be analyzed using statistics.
  • Relatively unbiased towards the subject matter.

Research Methods, continued

• Qualitative/Quantitative Research -Purpose of research - Quantitative: To explain, predict, confirm, validate, and test theories. - Qualitative: To describe, explain, explore, interpret, and build theories.
  • Nature of the research process
    • Quantitative: Focused, with known and established guidelines for data collection and analysis. It has a static design with a context-free and detached perspective.
    • Qualitative: Holistic, with unknown variables and flexible guidelines for data collection and analysis. It has an emergent design with a context-bound and personal perspective.
  • Methods of data collection
    • Quantitative: Representative and large samples using standardized instruments.
    • Qualitative: Informative, small samples with methods like observations and interviews.
  • Form of reasoning used in analysis
    • Quantitative: Deductive analysis.
    • Qualitative: Inductive analysis.
  • Communicating findings
    • Quantitative: Numbers, statistics, aggregated data, formal voice, and scientific style.
    • Qualitative: Words, narratives, individual quotes, personal voice, and literary style.

Types of Research

• Conceptual and Empirical Research
  • Conceptual Research:
    • Focuses on abstract ideas or theories.
    • Used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or reinterpret existing ones.
  • Empirical Research:
    • Data-based research involving real-world observations and experiments.
    • Primarily experimental and focused on collecting data directly from the source.
    • Leads to verifiable conclusions through observation or experiment.
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research
  • Quantitative Research:
    • Based on the measurement of quantity or amount, applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.
    • Refers to systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships.
    • Aims to develop and employ mathematical models, theories, or hypotheses related to phenomena.
    • Inferences are largely based on quantitative data.
    • Emphasizes objectivity to ensure replicability of findings.
  • Qualitative Research:
    • Concerned with qualitative phenomena, including quality or kind, e.g., human behavior.
    • Explores why people think or do certain things, attitudes, and opinion research, e.g., what people feel or think about something.
    • Qualitative research presents a non-quantitative type of analysis.
    • It involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what people do and say.
    • Qualitative research is subjective and uses different methods of collecting information, mainly individual, in-depth interviews and focus groups.
    • Qualitative research is exploratory and open-ended.