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This mostly deals with Quantitative Method and Qualitative Research. both has an evaluate each for a good primary approach for my own research ideas. only 2-3 pages. But, please it very important to read all of the attached instructions. week_6.docx_cmp9701p.docx Unformatted Attachment Preview Week 6 - Assignment: Present a Theory/Theoretical Framework Instructions Warm-Up Activity 6.1 Watch the Overview of Quantitative Research Methods video to see characteristics of valid quantitative research. Evaluate your own skills to determine if this might be a good primary approach for your own research ideas. Warm-Up Activity 6.2 Watch The Qualities of a Good Qualitative Researcher to explore different qualitative research approaches. Consider if this method is best suited to answer your research questions. Warm-Up Activity 6.3 Access the Sage Research Methods and explore the methods and design resources available at this site. Consider searching by method or design, and a link to the Methods Map will appear at the top of the search results along with the list of resources available for that specific method and design. From there, explore the Methods Map based on the type of method and design you believe is best to address your research topic. This week you will create a summary of: 1) the research method and design you plan to use to investigate your research topic, and 2) a theoretical framework from which you will work from and contribute to. Your discussion should address the following: 1. Note a specific method and design you plan to use in your research. o Quantitative studies must demonstrate both internal and external validity (e.g., large, random samples; statistical power; and representativeness). o Qualitative studies must demonstrate validity within the context of the specific qualitative design (e.g., credibility, dependability, transferability, trustworthiness) ▪ NOTE: Replication studies are not permitted in NCU doctoral dissertation work. 2. Describe and substantiate the appropriateness of the method and design to respond to the stated problem, purpose, and research questions. 3. Note how the proposed method and design accomplish the study goals, why the design is the optimum choice for the proposed research, and how the method aligns with the purpose and research questions. 4. Provide appropriate foundational research method support for the proposed study design. 5. Explain the particular data gathering techniques and data analysis processes. Sample size of the study population should be identified and must be appropriate and justified based on the nature of the study design. Quantitative analyses must include justified sample size determination. 6. Identify a specific theory that is applicable to your topic and problem you have identified. Review all literature you have compiled so far on your topic and problem. Review the literature for specific theories that are relevant and describe how your study will contribute to a particular theory. Length: 2-3 pages Your summary should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and include improvements made after integrating feedback on assignments submitted throughout the course. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral Universitys Academic Integrity Policy. Section 2: Methods, Design, Introduction, and Background Research requires one to follow a specific method and design to be accurately executed. In this section of the course, you will be able to draft the proposed method and design appropriate to conduct the study you outlined in the first five assignments. Research must include precise procedures used; an explanation of the appropriateness of the methodology; and a description of the recruiting of subjects, organizations, etc. Research also includes a rationale for the research design, research instruments, protocols, means for participants or the cooperation of organizations to be recruited, and data analysis. One key feature of effective studies is that the method and design must be outlined in enough detail for other researchers to replicate the study. In addition to the method and design, you will also be drafting a section on the theoretical foundation your study will be working from and contributing to, as well as an introduction and background to be used to help orient your reader to your research ideas. Method and Design When a new study is undertaken, the researcher has many options to consider when selecting a valid research method. Quantitative research allows researchers to gather and manipulate numerical data to answer research questions. Qualitative research requires the analysis of nonnumeric data such as narratives or interviews. Research questions define the study’s purpose and closely guide the researcher toward the optimal design for his or her investigation. Once a decision has been made whether a qualitative or quantitative study best fits the desired model for the research, the researcher must decide the type of qualitative or quantitative designs to employ. It is helpful to survey the wide variety of design options available to researchers. Here are some of the different choices available: QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGIES QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGIES Case Studies Descriptive Studies Phenomenology Quasi-Experimental Studies Ethnography Correlation Studies Grounded Theory Experimental Research Here are some of the differences in terminology when describing quantitative and qualitative research validity: QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGIES QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGIES Internal Validity ------------------- Credibility External Validity -------------------- Transferability Reliability --------------------- Dependability Objectivity ---------------------- Confirmability Resource Materials Flick, U. (2007). Designing qualitative research: Some conclusions. Bradley-Levine, J. (Academic). (2015). Qualitative research[streaming video]. Retrieved from SAGE Video. Sage Research Methods Dyce, J. A., & Williams, U. (Producers). (2014). An introduction to quantitative research [video file]. Uzma Williams. Retrieved from Academic Video O Mertz, N. T. (Academic). (2017). Norma T. Mertz discusses theoretical frameworks[streaming video]. Retrieved from SAGE Research Methods. [MUSIC PLAYING] [Norma T. Mertz Discusses Theoretical Frameworks] [Why is learning about research methods important? Why is it interesting?] Well, it isnt if youre not curious. [Dr. Norma T. Mertz, Professor of Higher Education Administration, University of Tennessee, Knoxville] But its very important and interesting if youre curious, because it allows you, using methods that you learn, to answer questions, to explore issues, to consider why things happen. And thats powerful. Thats fun. Its interesting, and it keeps you going. [How would you describe the value of learning about qualitative research to a student or early career researcher?] I guess the value is the same as the value would be to learn quantitative methods. It gives you an arsenal from which to draw to be able to answer questions of importance, relevance in the field. [What first inspired you to start research in your field?] Two things, I would say, seemingly unrelated. The first one, in graduate school I was exposed to a method that didnt then have a name, but since we call ethnology, because I go way back, by an anthropologist, Solon Kimball. And in learning that and in using it, actually I was transformed, because of the ability to look at culture holistically, to look at patterns of behavior, to understand the meanings they convey. And we looked at not exotic places, but schools, schooling, universities, even preschools. And the power to see those patterns and to see how they were played out really changed my life and focused my research. The other has been a passionate commitment to the advancement of women into administrative positions. As I was coming up, there were very few women in critical line or executive positions in corporations, in schools, in universities. And even when I was in graduate school, I naively wanted to be a high school principal in New York City. And when I went to graduate school and said thats what I wanted to do, they said to me, youll never get a job. I didnt realize it. But that became a passion for me to find out what was the experiences of people who made it? What did they go through to try to make it? What happened in the wake of Title IX? Did they make progress? Did they move ahead, or were they still back where they were? And to try to capture stories of women about the attempts to move up or the desire to move up, thats pretty much remained with me as a passion. So those two things I would say inspired me. [What is the relationship between theory and methods?] There are researchers who believe that theory and method are inextricably linked. I dont. That makes me kind of an outlaw or heathen. I think that focuses on the wrong things. So for me, really, methods are tools to get answers. The wider our arsenal, the better answers we can get. Theories, on the other hand, are more-- whether theyre grand or modest ones, are ways of thinking about how it might work, why it goes this way, what you think the outcome may be. SAGE 2017 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Video Page 2 of 6 Norma T. Mertz Discusses Theoretical Frameworks And that then becomes a lens for affecting lots of other things. [How important is it to be explicit about theoretical frameworks when discussing research?] I think its critical to be explicit for a number of reasons. First, if you accept that was in your head as you undertook the research, youre really obligated to make that highly transparent. Otherwise, the reader has no way to begin to make critical judgments about, well, are you really pushing the findings to match or did it really evolve from the findings? Theres no way for you to even begin to say to yourself, have I been fair? Have I been just? Have I tried to make the findings conform to my idea about what I thought happened or am I open to looking at and presenting the idea that maybe it didnt fit so well, maybe it didnt work? Also, by making it explicit, hopefully it forces you, certainly forces your critics, to say, have you really understood the limitations of the framework? Have you been very careful about that? Have you exposed what didnt fit? [How has the field of qualitative research changed over time, and what developments have most influenced you?] I go back a long, long way. And I had been thinking about it, for asking that question. I tried to resurrect the very first real qualitative studies presented here at AERA in Chicago years ago. But I couldnt quite do that. They tried to help me do it. In the early days, first of all there were very few. Grounded theory and ethnography were the main two. And grounded theory was called grounded theory and there was a lot of mystique about it, and then ethnography, which was just being transferred from fields like anthropology and sociology into the educational field. And thats changed enormously. First of all, the number and kind and variety of qualitative research methodologies has changed enormously, giving more and more tools to use to get at critical questions. The other thing thats changed-- and this is more a bit of history. In those days, we had to defend that this was legitimate research, that it was a legitimate way to get at it versus a quantitative approach, and that there were systematic approaches to that. And every paper, every presentation had to start with a defense of why you used qualitative research and why that was OK. And a lot of journals didnt accept it. Thats changed. We dont have to justify why its a legitimate approach. [What do you see as the key strengths of qualitative research?] The key strengths of qualitative research I would say, first they allow for answering questions, especially about how and why, questions that cant be answered through quantitative research. Quantitative research can tell us to what extent, how many, but not why or how. So I think thats the first most important strength. I think the second is its capacity to engender-- I hate to use the hackneyed phrase-- thick, rich descriptions, explanations, narratives that communicate to you in a way as if you were that person, you were in that experience. The ability to do that and to engender the emotions and feelings and SAGE 2017 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Video Page 3 of 6 Norma T. Mertz Discusses Theoretical Frameworks perceptions you just cant do another way. I think the third, and it is linked to the idea of social change, which comes later of course, is the idea of its ability to give voice to people and groups that would other than that be silenced, so thered be no voice for them. [What kind of research questions can qualitative methods help you to answer?] You know, I hate to give you the strict yin answer, but the how and why. And thats pretty great. How does it work? Why do you think that? What was the nature of your experience? [What are the common criticisms of qualitative research? How would you respond to those criticisms in defense of qualitative reserach?] I think thats an important question. Thats why people sometimes love quantitative research, they feel they get the answer. Im not totally convinced we do. But with qualitative research, we know were not getting Truth with a capital T. Were getting a piece of, a look at. And I kind of think of it like a mosaic that requires a lot of different pieces from different perspectives using different frameworks to put together some semblance of truth. So of course we can never claim that its generalizable. Its limited in that. That is a limitation. And its very hard, especially for neophyte researchers, because they want to claim theyve found something. But you just have to be a bit humble about it. [How do theoretical frameworks inform qualitative research?] Im glad you asked me that. Qualitative frameworks inform almost every aspect of qualitative research. At least thats the position my coauthor and I have taken in the book about theoretical frameworks in qualitative research. First of all, it informs the kinds of research questions you ask and the focus of those research questions. It informs the way you think about putting the research design together in order to get answers to the questions. It generally influences how you go about analyzing the data and making meaning of what you find. So theres hardly an aspect of the study thats not influenced by the theoretical framework. [How would you describe your approach to qualitative research and theory to a student who is new to research methods?] I can only explain how I would approach a qualitative study and how I might explain it to a student I have. The most important question is not what method you want to use, including qualitative. Its not what your theoretical framework is. Its what is the problem? What do we need to know that we dont know? What do you want to find out about? And that is the starting point and the most important question. I think then-- and sometimes you dont know that its this orderly. But the next thing I might think about is, how do I think it works? Therefore, thats kind of the quest, besides having done all the background reading and context, but how do I think this works? And thats where Im looking for a theoretical framework. So if I may give an example, for a long time in preparing administrators and even in preparing teachers, it SAGE 2017 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Video Page 4 of 6 Norma T. Mertz Discusses Theoretical Frameworks bothered me that people would start out with great hope and idealism and would go out into organizations. And slowly but surely, they seemed to conform to what is, rather than keep on in their agenda. And I wondered about it. I wondered, did the organization do something to them, which is a reasonable thought. So I wanted to know what happened. And there is a theory, an old one, organizational socialization, which I would over-simplify by saying the longer youre in an organization, the more likely the organization affects the individual, as opposed to the individual affecting the organization. So I use that as a framework to try to find out-- it was kind of almost a hypothesis, an assumption. Is that how it works and how might it work? And so I studied assistant principals at different stages and comparing what they did and what they no longer did. Now, of course, some never had any idealism. But for those who did, I could come up with the process that led them to give it up. [What advice would you give to a student embarking on a qualitative research project for the first time?] I think its very important for a first-timer and second-timer and third-timer to plan carefully, to think through the entire process. Sometimes especially inexperienced researchers think, this is easy. All Ive got to do is go out there and interview people. Thats a conversation, not a systematic approach. And lots of times they end up not knowing what theyre doing and not having thought through, well, Ive asked this question, but Im not getting any kind of answer that makes sense. So I think plan. Plan, plan, plan. Try it out. OK? Go back and fix it again. [What does being an ethical researcher mean to you? Why are ethics important?] I think being ethical is very important, important for ones own integrity. And there is that dimension. But you have-- we have an obligation. The research we do does not go out there just to gratify our advancement as academics. Its intended to build a knowledge base. Being ethical for me means being extremely explicit about the position from which Im coming, being transparent about the decisions that Ive made and why I made them. Its sharing what didnt work. Its sharing what didnt fit. Its sharing the problems and limitations of my study so that others can learn and so that Im not claiming more than I should about the research. And thats the only way we build the mosaic. [How do you see the role of academics in the production of knowledge and social change?] The role of academics is knowledge production. Thats really one of our obligations. And in theory, our responsibility is to build on each others work. There are just so many of us doing so many different things sometimes its hard to see the generation of that knowledge. On the other hand, you hope itll come back and theyll put it together. In terms of qualitative research-- and certainly every researcher does not contribute to social change, but I think one of the roles of qualitative research has been to make a contribution to social change, SAGE 2017 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Video Page 5 of 6 Norma T. Mertz Discusses Theoretical Frameworks because the topics tend to be about often oppression, institutional organizations that do not work to serve people, and especially for us who are educators trying to make it better. So I think very often we focus on topics that are about that and in nurturing social change. Whether anyone listens or not is another thing. May 28: Dear Odessa, Thank you for the submission of the next assignment, integrating feedback and refining the sections weve been reviewing. Ive 4.4 / 5 B provided additional comments throughout in support. Please keep in mind this can take time to get to where need, and developments are getting clearer with each revision. Do reach out if you have any questions, and I can definitely assist. Kind regards, Dr. Pitchford May 28: Dear Odessa, Thank you for the submission of the next assignment, integrating feedback and refining the sections weve been reviewing. Ive 4.4 / 5 B provided additional comments throughout in support. Please keep in mind this can take time to get to where need, and developments are getting clearer with each revision. Do reach out if you have any q ... Purchase answer to see full attachment