Write a 200 -word response to each of the following questions:

2. Define the distinctions between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in

a secondary search.

Many times, a professor may ask a student to perform research, for which

they will need to review primary, secondary, and tertiary resources. There are

important differences among these various types of research and the resources.

Primary sources consist of original materials. They are from the time period

involved and have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation. Primary

sources are the original materials on which other research is based. They are usually

the first formal appearance of results in physical, print, or electronic format. They

present original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information. In contrast,

secondary sources are less easily defined than primary sources. Generally, they are

accounts written after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. They are interpretations

and evaluations of primary sources. Secondary sources are not evidence, but rather

commentary on and discussion of evidence. However, what some define as a

secondary source, others define as a tertiary source. Furthermore, tertiary sources

consist of information, which is a refinement and collection of primary and

secondary sources that have been previously reviewed by the student. Although

these are resources that have been gleaned from other materials, they are

nonetheless important to an overall research strategy. For example, tertiary sources

may include fact books, guidebooks, and even abstracts from earlier published

works (University Libraries, 2010).

References

University Libraries, University of Maryland (2010) Primary, Secondary

and Tertiary Sources. http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/primary-

sources.html#tertiary Last accessed September 2, 2011.

3. What problems of secondary data quality must researchers face? How can

they deal with them?

Sometimes, the only information one may find when searching sources is

secondary resources. While these materials may be useful, they do present the

student with some issues. Nevertheless, it is critical that the researcher be able to

recognize these problems so that they may be able to deal with them when

preparing a document with these sources. Secondary data is often the only data a

researcher can find on certain topics, and this can inevitably cause a problem for

researchers. Of course, all sources need to be cited appropriately in a paper, even if

they are only secondary in nature. The problem of secondary data quality that a

researcher must face is verifying and determining the value of the secondary

sources the researcher would like to use (Cooper & Schindler, 2006).
 So, how does a researcher choose quality secondary sources that have good

value for a project? Although the use of secondary resources can bring extra work, it

must be done at times. For a researcher to get past the problems of credibility

presented by secondary resources a researcher must take steps to confirm the data

from these secondary sources. A researcher must also make well thought out

judgments on secondary resources if they want their research to appear credible

and valid (Ganty, 2010).

References

Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2006). Business Research Methods (th ed.).

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Ganty, S. (2010)

Problems with Secondary Data Research and How to Deal with It.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5771198/problems_with_secondar

y_data_research_pg2.html?cat=3 Last accessed September 2, 2011.

Chapter 7

1. How does qualitative research differ from quantitative research?

In general, qualitative data will use words whereas quantitative data involves

numbers. As may be imagined, there are some researchers who feel that one is
better (or more scientific) than the other. Another major difference between the two

is that qualitative research is inductive and quantitative research is deductive. In

qualitative research, a hypothesis is not needed to begin research. However, all

quantitative research requires a hypothesis before research may actually get started.

Another major difference between qualitative and quantitative research is

the underlying assumptions about the role of the researcher in the handling of the

study. In quantitative research, the researcher is ideally neither an objective

observer who does not participates in nor influence what is being studied. In

qualitative research, however, it is thought that the researcher can learn the most

about a situation by participating and/or being involved in the study. These basic

underlying assumptions of both methodologies guide and ultimately determine the

types of data collection methods employed by the study leaders.

Even though there are clear differences between qualitative and quantitative

approaches, some researchers maintain that the choice between using qualitative or

quantitative approaches actually has less to do with methodologies than it does with

positioning oneself within a particular discipline or research tradition (CSU, 2011).

References

Colorado State University (2011) The Qualitative versus Quantitative Debate.

http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/gentrans/pop2f.cfm Last

accessed September 2, 2011.

2. How do data from qualitative research differ from data in quantitative

research?

Interestingly, if we review the differences between the types of research as

listed above we can see that qualitative researchers are interested in answering

those why? questions and are not prepared to simply accept the quantitative

answers. This is quite fascinating, as I would have assumed that the data available

from quantitative research is always preferred over qualitative. However, this gets

back to the point made in the answer to the last question. The type of research

conducted has everything to do with the person conducting the study as well as the

field or area the work is being done in.

Furthermore, the type of study performed will influence the details of the

data obtained by the research. It could be argued that the quantitative researcher is

more precise but the response would be that with people it is not possible to be so

precise, people change and the social situation is too complex for numerical

description. At the heart of this discussion is a point about knowing. We might ask,

"How sure can we be about what we claim to know?" In education we have to deal

with what is sometimes called 'soft' knowledge, as opposed to 'hard' knowledge. We

see claims (that are not always justified) about certainty in the natural sciences and

mathematics. Qualitative researchers, and indeed educationists, have to be more

cautious. As we have seen above, quantified evidence can be very powerful but it can

also hide a great deal about people, especially their understanding (Schostak, 2002).
 References

Schostak, J.F. (2002) Understanding, Designing and Conducting Qualitative

Research in Education. Framing the Project. Open University Press

5. Assume you are a manufacturer of small kitchen electrics, like Hamilton

Beach/Proctor Silex, and you want to determine if some innovative designs

with unusual shapes and colors developed for the European market could be

successfully marketed in the U.S. market. What qualitative research would you

recommend, and why?

By allowing theories to form through what people say and do, qualitative

research cannot be easily accused of imposing its theories upon people. Equally by

keeping detailed records of what is said and of what happens qualitative research

does not reduce the complexity of social life to easily manipulated equations. Rather

than skating on the surface of everyday life, its close contact and detailed recording

allows the research to glimpse beneath the polished rhetoric, or the plausible

deceits; it is able to take more time to focus upon the smaller yet powerful processes

which other methods gloss over or ignore (Schostak, 2009).

For this task, I would suggest conducting a focus group so that we may be able to

collect information from a wide variety of participants regarding our specific

question (Henderson, 2009). We want to be certain that we have a good cross-

section of people to be in the group and that their observations are honest and not

biased in any way. This may be difficult, but we need to give it an honest attempt.

References

Henderson, N. (2009) Managing Moderator Stress: Take a Deep Breath. You

Can Do This!. Marketing Research, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p28-29.

Schostak, J.F. (2002) Understanding, Designing and Conducting Qualitative

Research in Education. Framing the Project. Open University Press