Research Designs--A Review

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and contrasts qualitative research as opposed to quantitative research by reviewing two articles. The first article entitled "The Qualitative-Quantitative Debate" by A.K. Trochim argues that there is very little difference between the two types of research, despite the conflict, since all qualitative data can be coded quantitatively. S. Ferch also explores the difference between quantitative and qualitative research in the article "Quantitative versus Qualitative Research: An Attempt to Clarify the Problem." The writer feels the most insightful finding Ferch discovers is that research is conducted in the real world, and therefore often does not fit into the ideal paradigms of either/ or research methodology exactly. The reviewer concludes that the debate over qualitative versus quantitative is moot, since both authors found those who rely on qualitative measures must use quantitative measures in their analysis and vice versa.

Outline:
Introduction
Literature Review
Method
Results
Discussion
References

From the Paper:

"The researchers both used qualitative and quantitative methods for proving their point that neither research type can stand alone in the real world; however no data, other than their own experiential data was collected. Therefore, the sample size was considerably small. They used this data to generalize their unique findings to demonstrate the connectivity between the two methods."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ferch, S. (11 Feb 1998). Quantitative versus qualitative research: An attempt to clarify the problem. Retrieved October 2, 2006, from http://home.comcast.net/~lady.socrates/qvq.html.
• Trochim, M.K. (10 Aug 2006). The qualitative-quantitative debate. Retrieved October 2, 2006, from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualdeb.htm

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