Creswell, J. (2015).

Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative

and qualitative research. University of Nebraska- Lincoln-fifth edition.
characteristics. The first artide is quantitative research while the second is quaHtative
research. These two articles were chosen because they are good representatives of both
tracks of research and they illustrate within them good procedures of research. They will
become a frame of reference for each step in the process of research for the quantitative
and qualitative tracks. The two a1ticles are:
♦ Quantitative: Deslandes R. & Bertrand R. (2005). Motivation of parent
involve1nent in secondary-level schooling. Journal of Educational Research,
98(3), 164--175.
♦ Qualitative: Shelden D. L Angell M. E. Stoner J. B., & Roseland, B. D. (2010).
School principals' influence on trust: Perspectives of mothers of children with
disabilities. journal of Educational Research, 103, 159-170.

Q antita ive Research Characteris ics

fo quantitati e research the major charac eristi s are:

♦ Describing a research problem through a description of trends or a need for an

e p]anacion of the rehuiornship among ariahles
♦ Pro iding a major role or the literature through sugge. ting the re. earch question.
to be asl ed and ju. tifying the research problem a.nd creating a need for the direc
tio,n purpose . ta ement and research qu escions or hypothe. e ) of the stud
♦ ,creating purpose statemen , research questions. and hypothese that are specific,
na.rro , measurable, and obse ab]e
♦ Collecting numeric data from a ]arge number of peop]e u. ing in. truments,i.
th preset question. and re. pore es
♦ Analyzing trends, comparing groups, or relating ariables u, ing stati. cical analysis.,
and interpreting resulrn by comparing them ith prior predictions and past re earch
♦ riti.ng the re. e.Jllrch report u. ing standard, fi ed. tructure. and e a]uacion criteria,
and taking an objecti e, unbiased approach

In qt.Jtnititative research the in estigator identifies ,a research problem based on

trends in the field or on the need to e plain hy something occur. _ De. cribing a trend
means chat the re- earch prob]em can be a.ns ered best by a st.ud. irn hkh the re earcher
seeks to escab1ish the o era.11 end.enc of re. ponses from indi idua]s and co note ho
this tendency aries among people. fore ample., ou might. eel co ]earn ho oters
describe their animde. to ard a bond i ue. Results from chi. stud can inform ho a
large population ie s an issue and the di ersity of the. e ie .·s.
 Ho re er, some quantitati e research problems require that you e plain how one
ariable .affect another. Variables are .an attribute (e.g., attitude to rard the chool bond
i sue, or characteri tic of indi 7iduals (e.g.. gender) that researcher study. Bye plaining
a relation among ariab]es, you are interested in determining hether one or more ari
ables migllt influence another variable. For example, quantitative re earche:rs may seek
to I no rh certain vmers oted against the school bond issue. The ariables, gender
and attitude to rard the quality of the schools, ma influence individuals' vote on the
bond issue.
Fore ample, e: amine the sample quantitati e arti Je........che parent in oJ ement study-at
the end of th chapter. The authors in the parent in ol ement study (Deslandes & Bertrand,
2005) are less interested in describing the level of parent in ol ement in secondary-level
schooling and more interested in e amining the rel:111.ion"ihip be een four factors-par
ents' role construction, self-efficacy perceptions of teacher in 7itations, and perceptions
of adolescent in itations--as predictor of pa.rent invol ement at home .and at school. o
e amine this relation, they collect urvey data from 770 parent of chiJdren in Grades 7,
8 and 9 (American system equivalent to Canadian schools,_Thus, the problem being
addressed is that we l now litde about what factors relate to parental in olvement in sec
ondary-le el schooling. Assessing hether certain factors predict an omcome is best . uited
to quan.ritati e research.
Tn reviewing the literature in quantitati e research, you will typically see a substantial
literature re ie at the beginning of tlle tud . Thu. , the li erature plays a major role in
two ay.: justifying the need for the research problem and suggesting potential purposes
and research question,; for the study. Justifying the research problem means that you use
the li eramre to document the importance of the i. sue e amine<l in the stud . To accom
plish this, you search the literature, loc-.ue studies that. identify the problem a. important
toe amine, and tllen cite this literature in the opening sections of a research report.
The literature also crea es a need for tlle tud , as ex:pre. sed specifically in the pur
pose statement and the research questions or hypotheses. You identify in the literature

I e ariables, relations, and trends, and u e the e ro pro ide direction for your research
questions and hypotheses. A literature re iew on college students, for example, may
sho that . e kno. little about the problem of binge drinking. E isting literature, ho -
e er, may identify the importance of peer groups and style. of interacting among. tu
dent peer groups. Thus, imporrant research question.<; might address ho peers and their
interaction sty]es influence binge drinking on college campuses. In this way, the litera
ture in a quantitati e study both documents the need to study the problem and pro ides
direction for the research questions.
In the quantitati e parent in ol emern study (Deslande. & Bertrand 2005), the
authors cite extensive literature at the beginning of the article. In these paragraphs, the
authors rel on the model of the parent invo.l ement process, and they discuss the litera
ture surrounding e.11ch of the four major factors that are expected to inAuence parental
in ol ement. They begin by revie ing the literature about the demographic or per. onal
factors such as family size and educational level, then they proceed to revie the lit
erature about the major factors in the study that they predict ill influence parental
invol ment-parents' role construction, parents' self-efficacy, parents' perceptions of
teacher invitations, and parentr.;' perceptions of student invitations. In this way, the
intro duction establishes the research that has been repo ed in the literature on each of
the four factor. in the study and foreshado,_ the research que. tions that rill be
addressed in the study.
 ]n qu.antitatiu'e research qiiestions you a.'ik specific, narrow queshons to obtain mea
surable and observable data on v•.Jiriables. The major statements and questions of direc
tion in a . tudy-the purpose statement, the research questions and the hypotheses are
specUic and narrow because you identify only a few variable_ to . tudy. From a study of
these variables you obtain me-asures or asses.sment'> on an iinstrument or record scores
on a scale from observahons. For example, in a study of adolescenlt career choices,
the variable, the role of the school counselor, narro s the study Ito a sp cffic variable
kom among many variable.s that miight be sltlldied (e.g. role of pa.rents, persona] invest
ment by student). To examiine the impact of the school counselor on adolescent career
choices, data must be obtained from the students.
]n the quantitatiive parent in olvement study (Desfandes & Befltrand, -0 5), the
author narrow and elect a rew factors that they predict will explain parental involve
ment:. TI1ey .tate their purpose of the study and the major researd1 questions. They say
that they will examine four factors that influence parental invo] ement at l1ome and
at school, and then they idemif17 the four factors that they prediict will influence thiis
involvement. Thus, their re_eard1 questions are specific to four factors, and later :in the
method section, they explain how they v,.rm measure these factors.
]n quan.tit.atiue data collection, you use an i.nstrument to measure the v•.Jiriab]es in
the study. An in trument is a too] fill measuring, observing, or documenting quanti.tah e
data. U:contain.'> specific questions and response possibilities that you establish or develop
in advance or the study. Examples of instruments are survey queshonnaires standardized
test-;, and checklists that you might use to ob. erve a student'. or te-.-icher's behaviors. You
admiini.ster thiis instrument Ito participant'> and collect data in the form of numbers. For
instance, you might collect responses b·.ased on Sltlldents checking boxes on a form, or
fJ"Om checkli.st'> you complete as you watch a student perform a task in 11:he classroom.
The intent of thL proce_. its to apply the results (called generalizing the results) from a
sn1.a.lJ number of people to a large number. The larger the number of i.ndirviduals studied
the stronger the case for applying the re. ult'> to a large number or people. For exam
ple, on a survey . ent to 5 0 parents in a s.chool district, the re. e-archer . eelk. infonna
ti.on about _parent.' attitudes towa:rd the educationa] needs of pregnant teenager in the
s.clmols. llhe researcher selects an instrument, Attitudes to a:rd Educatinn of Pregnant

Teenager ," found through a .search of libr-.Jtry re.sources. The 500 parents ho recei e
this instrument represent a cross section of people from all socioeconomic levels in the
. chool district.. After collecting and .analyzing chis data, tbe in estigaror [l] dra conclu
sions about all parents in this school district based on the representati e sample studied.
Data coUection is also an integra.l parr of the quantitative parent in o]vement md
, Deslandes"" Bertra.nd, 2005 . The authors study a large number of parent-..(Le., 770) of
children in Grades 7, 8, and 9. They survey parents using an adaptation of the instru
ment, ''Sharing the Dream! Parent Que. tionna.ire " as ell as items on a questionnaire
designed b other researchers to assess parents' perceptions of student in itation.s. The
surve items are translated inro French to fit the Quebec conte t, and they gather qua.n
tifiab]e data (score.) on d1e smvey..hey di. cuss the sca]es used to collect the data and
how they are scored (i.e., from 1 = disagree very strongly to 6 = agree very slmngly).
In quantitative data analysis you analyze the data using mathematica] procedures
called statistics. These analyse. consist of breaking down the data into parts to answer
the resea.rch question<;., ratistica.l procedures such as comparing groups or relating score.
for indi idual,;; pro ide information to address the re. earch questions or hypotheses. You
then interpret the results of this analysL5 in light of initial predktions or prior studies. This
interpretation i an explanation as to hy the result,s turned out the ay tbey did, .and
often you ill explain how the result-, either support or refute the expected predictions
in the study.
 Foli example, in the parent invo1vement. tudy (Deslandes & Bertrand, 2005 the
authors collect responses from the palients of secondar11-level student,; who provide
scores on the survey instrument. l'he survey hru: queshons relating to e.-ich of the eiglll
factots (or construct.1 a:nd the outcome mea.1 ures ill' • hown in ·rable 2. To examine the
relati.on of factors to parental involvement, the researchers do not use all of the items on
the survey because some were not good measures of the factor. _ They u. e a statisticaJ
program O.e., factor anaJ1. is) to help them identify the most important questions for e.-ich
of the four scales composed of items (Oli factors) in the study. With this reduced set of
questions for e-ach of the four factors in the study, they then conduct de. criptirve anaJysis
(Le., mean. and standard deviations as shown in Table .3 , and use the. tatishcal progrJJm
of regre. s.ion stati. ti:cal analys:i. to predict whether the control or p r. onaJ iit:ems m- four
predictors best explain the aliiat:ion in scores for palient involvement. From Tables
and - wseeehat vari· hie. best explain the variation for each grade level ( , 8,
9) and foli the tv,m outcome measures of parent invol ement at home and parent
involvement at . chooL Jn short the autho[·. u. e statistical analy. L consisting of three
pha. e.: factor analysis, descriptive analysis, and regression analysL,;_ lhe ultimate
go'.11 was to relate
artable. to . ee what predi:ctots demogmphiia or the four factors) be.t explain
parental invcdvement. Then, in the implication section of the article, the authots di
cuss the main re. ult'> of the . tudy and compare theili resul with thru e found iin other
studies in the litemture.
Jn reporting and ebw.luati.ng quantitative research, the overan format for a study fol
lov.. a predictabJe pattern: introduction, review of the literature, methods, results and
dis.cu. sion. Thi< form creates a standardized. tructure for quantitative studies. hl addiiaon,
it also lead. to specH'ic criteria that you might use to judge the quality of a quantita
tive res.ealiCh report. For example, you examine a quantitative study to see if it has an
exten. ive litemture review; tests good :research questions and hypotheses; uses rigorous,
impartial data colJect'ion procedures· applies appropriate staUstic-.-iJ procedure.; and
forms intei·pretahons that naturally follow from the data.
]n quanhtative rese-,arch, you al. o use procedure. to ensure that your own p r. onaJ
biases and values do not influence the liesults. You u, e instruments that have proven
alue and that ha e reliable and vaJid scores from past rn e.. You design .tudies to control

for all variables that might introduce bias into a study. Finally you report research
with out referring to yourself or your personal reaction.
In the quantitative parent involvement study (Deslandes & Bertrand, 2005) the
authors subdivide the research into standard sections typically found in quantitative
stud ies. The study begins with an introduction that .includes the literature review
purpose statement, and research questions; the methods; the results; the discussion;
and, .finally the implications and limitations. The entire study conveys an
impersonal, objective tone, and they do not bring either their biases or their personal
opinions into the study. They use proven instruments to measure variables, and they
employ multiple statistical proce dures to build objectivity into the study.
 Qualitative Research Characteristics
fo qualitati e research, . re see different major characteristics at each stage of the research
process.:
♦ E · p]oring a problem and de eloping a detailed under. randing of a central
phenomenon
♦ Ha ing the literamre re ie play a minor ro]e but justify the problem
♦ . ta.ting the purpos,e and research question. in a general and broad . ay so a to the
parcicipant:i ' e perienoes
♦ Co1leccing data based on rords.from a small number of indi iduaL,; so that the
parcicipant-s' ie s are obtained
♦ Anal zing the data for de. cription and themes using text anal sis and interpreting
the ]arger meaning of the findings
♦ · riting the report u. ing fie ib]e, emerging structures and e aluative criteri.a, and
including the re. earchers' ubj cti e refle- i icy and bias
QuaHtati e re. earch is best suited to addre. s a resear:ch problem in hich ou do
not l no the ariable. and need co e p]ore. T]he literamre might yie]d little information
about the phenomenon of stud , and ou need co leam more from parcicipant-s through
e, p]oration_ Fore amp]e the literamre may not adequate]y addre. s the use of. ign ]an
guage in distance education cour es. A qualicaci e research stud is needed co e p]ore
this phenomenon from the per. pecci e of distance education studenu. nquescionab]y,
using .ign Janguage in . uch • our. es i. omple and ma not ]"Ila e been e amined in
the prior Jit rature. A centm.lphenomenon i the key concept, idea, or process mdied
in qualitati re. ea.rch. Thu., the research prob]ern of the difficu[ in eaching chi.1dren
who are deaf requires both an exploration (because e need co bener l no ho r to
tea.ch these children) and an understanding (becau. e of iu comple ity of the proce. s of
teachin_g and ]earning_
The authors in the sample atticle on mothers' trust .in schoo principals (Shelden
et al., 2010) build a case for the .imp01tance of tmst in the opening passages of the arti
cle. They suggest that it is an impo1tant issue, and that it has a positive effect on student
outcomes. They then narrow the discussion to trust of school leaders and then to par
ents of children with disabilities, and then finally to the relationships between home and
school partnerships for students with disabilities. They poim out the problem of possible
discrepant viewpoints between parents and schools-a pmemial problem that needs to
be addressed. They then discuss the need for exploring further the critical role of princi
pals in establishing trust in the relaltionships between families of children with disabilities
and education professionals. In sum they open !the article by discussing the important
central phenomenon of tmst and exploring the potential discrepant viewpoints between
mothers of indi iduals with disabilities and principals. They . ay that the ie trust a.
thecentral phenomenon requiring e p]oration and understanding" (p. 161 '.
In qualitati e research the literature review pla s a less substantial role at the begin
ning of the rudy than in quantitati e research. In qualitari e re earch, although ou
may re ie the literature to justify the need to study the research problem, the literature
does not pro ide major direction for the research questions. The rea. on for this is that
qualirnti e research relies more on the ie of parricipants in rhe rudy and le.son the
direction identified in the Ji erature h the researcher. Thu., to u e the literature to fore
. hado or specify the direction for the study is inconi,istent ith the qualitati e approach
of learning from parricipancs. For examp1e, one qualitati e researcher ho studied bul
lying in the schools cited se eral studies at the beginning of the research 10 provide
e idence for the problem but did not use the literature to specify the research questions.
fostead, th researcher arrempted to ans er in rhe research tlle most general, open ques
tion possible, ''What is huHying?," and to learn ho student: constructed their ie of
this experience.
In tlle illustrati e sample qua..litati e smd h helden et al., 2010), the author begin
the arride hy citing numerous studie from the Jiterature. This literature re ie i. not to
identify specific questions that need to be answered; instead, the literature re iew
estab lishe tlle meaning and imporrance of the central phenomenon of trust-· hy iris
impor tant and the relationships needed in schools that in ol e parents and
educationalearn:, including principa]s_ In this artide there is no separate literature
revie section, and the literature is used 10 ju. tify rhe importance of srudying d1e
potential problem of the rela tionships bernreen parents (i.e., mother.) and the school<;
i.e., principa]s).

In quaJitati e re earch, the putpase statement and the research questions are sca. ed
so rhat you can best leam from participants. You research a single phenomenon of inter
est and state this phenomenon in a purpose statement. A qualitative study that examines
theuprofessionali<;m" of teachers, for example, asks high school eachers, ''What does it
mean to be a professional?" This question focuses on understanding a single idea-being
a professional-and the re. pon: e. to it ill yield gual itati e data such as qumatiore .
In the qualitati e study of mothers' ou. t in .school principals ( helden et aL
2010), the authors say that the tud emerged from a broader .stud of the perspecti es
of moth ers of children rith disabilitie on trust in education personnel. The authors
raise this question, "What are the perspectives of mothers of children ith disabilities
on trust in school principals?" (p. 161). This is a general and broad question that.
eels to under stand (or ·'gain insight inro," p. 161) the perspecri e. of the mothet .
In qualitati ere.search, you collect data to learn from rhe participant'> in the stud and
develop form , called protocols, for recording data as the tudy proceeds, hese forms
pose general questions so that the participants can pro ide ans ers to the questions.
Often questions on these form<; wi11 change and emerge during cl.a.ta collection. Examples
of these forms include an. interview prorocol hich consist<;of four or fi. e que. cion,;;, or
an observational protocol, in hkh the researcher records notes about the heha ior of
particip-,11._nt<;_ Moreo er, you gather text ( rord) or image (picture) data. Transcribed
audio recordings form a database composed of words. Observing participants in their work
or family sening, you take notes that wm become a qualitative database. When
researchers ask young children ro rite their d1oughts in a diary, these diary entries,
too, become a text database. ith each fonn of data, you il1 gather as much information as
possible to collect detailed accounts for a final research report.
In our sample qualitati e study by Shelden et al. (2010), the authors recruited a
sample of mothers of school-age children with disabllities, and conducted interviews
ith 16 of these parents. mn the journal article, the authors pro ide the eight open-ended
questions that they a. ked. These interviews enabled them to probe for further infomrn
tion. elaboration, and darification of re.spon."ies, while maintaining a "feeling of open ne.
s" to the participan.ts' responses.
]n qua1itati e re earch typically you gather a text database so the data analysts of
text consists of dividing it into gmups of sentences, ca1led text segments, and determin
ing the meaning of each group of sentences. Rather than using statistics, you analyze
ords or picture. to de. cribe the cen.rral phenomenon under smd _ The result may be a
de. cription of indi idual people or place.. Insome qualitati e studie., the entire report
is mostly a long description of e eral indi idual<i. The resuJt may al-,o include theme.
or broad categories that repre. enc our findings. fo quaJitati e studies in hich you both
de. cribe indi idual. and identify theme., a rich, complex picture emerges. , rom thi.
comple picture, you make an interpretation of the meaning of the data by reflecting on
ho the findings relate toe isting research; by tating a personal reflection about the sig
nificance of the lessons ]earned during the study; or hy drawing out larger, more abstract
meanings.
]n the study of mothers' perspecti es of trusr in school principals (Shelden er al.,
2010), e can see these data analysis steps. The authors anal zed text data based on
audiotaped and transcribed erbatim p-a sages a. mentioned in the section on inte ie 1,s_
fo their section on data analy. i., they talk about the "line-b -line coding" of their data in
1hich they used the rords of the participants to form categories. They pro Lde in able 1
a detailed descripti e portrait of participants in their study, noting the ethnicity, type of
disability, gra.de le el, and other personal information. In the result section e find the
various themes that they identified, such as principal anributes and principal actions.
In the conclu. ion. eciion, they re ie all of these finding., thereby creating a comple
picture of the relationship be een mothers and school leaders. Although their persona]
reflection. are minimal in this stud , the authors discuss their challenges in recruiting
particip-.llnt: to the . tudy and hothe sought to protect the identity of the participants.

fo reponing qualirati e research you employ a. ide rAnge of formats co report your
studies. AJthough the overn.11 general form folJows the standard steps in the proces.
of research, the sequence of these "parts" of research tends co ary from one qualita
ti e reporc co another_A. rud may hegin irh a long, personal narrnci e told in story
form or with a more objecti e, scientific report chat resembles quantitati e research. \l ith
. uch ariahilicy., ic is not surpri.;;;ing 1.hac the standards for e aluacing qualirnti e rese-.itrch
also are Aexihle. Good qualitati e reports, howe er, need to be realistic and persua
sive to con ince the reader that the study is an accurate and credible account. Qualita
ti e reports typically • ontain extensi e data collection co con ey the complexity of the
phenomenon or proce s. The data analysis reflects description and themes as well as
the interrela.tion of themes. ]n addition you discu. s your role or position in a research
. tudy, called being reflexive. This means that you reflect on your o n biases, value , and
as. umptions and actively write them into the re. earch. This may also involve discuss
ing per; onal experiences and identifying ho you collaborated with participants during
phases of the project. You may also discus. how your experiences and cultural back
grounds (e.g.. Asian American perspectives) affect the interpretations and conclusion.
dra 1n in t1le srudy.
In the sample study of mothers' trust in school principals ( helden et al., 2010) the
authors used more of a scientific structure than a literary structure for riling their
article. This may ha e been done becau e of the requiremenL5 of t11e journal to address
certain aspecL5 (e.g., method5, resulL5, discu<;sion _ Howe er, the article did depart from
the tra ditional srrucrure by nor having a separare literature revie ection; instead, the
literarure review wa. incorporated into the introduction to establi h the importance of
the central phenomenon-trust-and to de elop a need for the stud _ The authors did
employ the
personal pronoun · e" in referring to thernselves in the study, a subjecti e orientation
rypically associated ith qualitative, literacy riring.. As mentioned ea11lier references to
tl'lemselves, and especially how their backgrounds shaped their interpretation, were absent.

Similarities and Differences between Quantitative

and Quali ative Research
At this point you may be asking ho quanrit:ari e research and qualicari e research are
. imilar and different. In terms of simiJarity, both form.: of rese-.ucb folio the si steps
in the process of research. There a.re minor differences, as we.II, in the introduction to a
study-tlhe research problern section-in that both sections need to establish tlhe impor
tance of the problem. In quantitative research the rese-.ucb problem section is used to
direct the types of questions or hypotheses asked in the study, whereas in qualitative
re earch the re e-a.rch problem dic;cussion is typi ally used to establish the importance of
the cen.t.ral idea. These differences are apparent in the comparison of the introduction to
the quantitative parent involvement study (Deslandes & Bertrand, 2005) and the qua.lita ti
e mothers' trust in school prin ipals study ( helden et al., 2010).
Another similarity exists in the data collection pro edures. Both quantitati e and
quaHcati e data collection may emplo sirnilar approache., such as inrervie s or observa
tions.. Howe er, quantitative approaches use more dosed-ended approaches in which the
re earcher identifies set response categories e.g., strong] agree, strongly disagree, and
. o for1:h), hereas qualitati e approaches use more open-ended approaches in bich the
inquirer asks genera.I questions of participant,;;, and the participant,;;shape the response
possibilities,e.g., in an in erview with a teacher, a qualitati e researcher might ask: What
doe. professional de elopmen1 mean to you?).

There are distinct differences that go beyond the forms of gathering data. In data
analysi , the procedures are quite different. In quantitati e research, the in estig;ator
relies on statistical analysis (mathematical analysis) of the data, nich is typically in
numeric form. In qua.litati e research, statistics are not used to analyze the data; ins ead,
the inquirer analyzes ordc; (e.g., transcriptions from intervie s) or images (e.g., photo
g;raphs). Rather than relying on statistical proc,edures, the qualitati e researcher analyzes
the words to group them into larger meanings of understanding, sucn as codes, catego
ries, or theme . The reporting formats are also picall different, ith the quantitati e
structure following the typical introduction, literature revie , methods result,;; and con
clusion sections. In qualitative research, some of these sections may be missing (e.g., the
literature review in the Shelden et a.I., 2010 study), and the format may be more of a liter ary
opening ith a personal ignette or passage, an unfolding stoiy, the use of enensi e quotes
from participant! , and personal reflectiore from the researcher.
lt should also he mentioned tlhat rather than iewing quantitati e and qualitati e as
two end points in a dichotomy, but rather as different points on a continuum. Studies
may contain some elements of the characteristics of quantitative research and some ele
ment<; of qualitative research.. Ho ever, studies do tend to lean to ard one approach or
the other, and kno ing the characteristics associa ed ith each type of research enables
a researcher to assess hether a particular study favors either quantitati e or qua.litalive
research.
How do you choose whether to use a quantitative or a qualitative approach? Three
factors are important. irst, match your approach to your rese-a.rch problem. Remember
that the problerm best suited for quantitative research are those in which trends or expla
nations need to be made. for qualitati e research, the prob1emc; need to be e plored to
obtain a deep understanding. Second, your approach needs to fit the audience(s) for the
research report. Educators write for se eral audiences, such as poli y makers, faculty and
graduate commititee., editors and re ie boards., e aluator. of grant proposals, and indi-
iduals in. chool. or educational senings. It is important that the audience(s) be familiar
with the approach used in a study. Third, relate your approach to your per. onal e peri
ence and training. A quantitati e researcher typicaHy has taken some courses or training
in mea. uremen1, srati.slic., and quantitati e data collection such as e periment!, col1'e
lationa1 de. igns. or surve techniques. Qualitati e rese-.Hchers need experience in field
. tudies in which they prlllcctice gathering information in a setting and learning the skills of
observing or inteIVie ing individuals. Course ork or e, perience in anal zing re t data
is helpful, as 1el1a. in research designs. uch as grounded theory ethnography or nar
rati e research. Some indi idua] ha e experience and training in approaches to research
that combine both quantitati e and qualitative methods, such as mi ed methods research
or action research.

Research Designs Associated with Quantitative

and Qualitative Research
It is not enough to kno the steps in th process of re. earch, and that quantitati e and
qualita.ti e pro edures differ at each step. This te t .1il] a o go into detailed procedures
in ol ed in quantitati e, qualitati e, and combined research. Research designs are the
pedfic procedures invol ed in the research proce s: data collection, data analysis, and
report writing. Figure 1.4 ilJustrates how the. reps in the re. e-..a.rch process relate to
quan tirali e and qualitati e research and ad ance. eight different research designs., used by
educational re.searchers, discussed in thi. book.

Experimental Designs
ome quantitative researchers seek to test whether an educational practice or idea
makes a difference for individuals. Experimental research procedures are ideally
suited for

FIGURE 1.4
Types of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Designs andlheir
PrimaryUses
Qualitative Combined
Quantitative Research Quantitative/Qualitative
Research Designs Research Designs
Intervention Non- Exploringcommoo Combining quantitative and
Research Inte1Vention experiences of individuals qualitative data to best
Research to develop a theory understand and explain a
I research pmblem -
Explaining whether an intervention Exploring the shared Using quantitative and qualitative
influences an outcome for one group cullure of a group of data for individuals to study education
as opposed to anothergroup people problems that they faoe in their
settings
I

Associating or relating Describing Exploring individual

variables in a trends for stories to describe the
predictable pattern for a lives of people _,
one grou:p of population L
individuals of people

Experimental Correlational Survey i

Grounded
7
Ethnographic Mixed Action
Research Research Research Theory Research Narrative
Research Research Method Research
Research
 1.his study. R,;perimental designs (also called imervention studies or group comparison
studies) are procedures in quantitative research in hich the in estigator determines
hether an activity or materials make a difference in results for participants. You assess
this impact by giving one gmup one set of activities called an intervention) and with
holding the set from another group.

Correlational Designs
n some studies, you may he unable to provide an intervention or to assign individuals
to groups. Moreover you focus more on examining the association or relation of one or
more variables than in testing the impact of acti ities or materials. Correlat.io11al
designs are procedme. in quantitative resear h in hi h investigators measure the
degree of association or relation) hern,een two or more variables using the statistical
procedure of correlational analysis.. This degree of association, expressed as a number,
indicates hether the two ariables are related or whether one can predict another.. To
accomplish chis, you stud a single group of indi iduals rather than two or more
groups as in an
experiment.

Survey Designs
In another form of quantitative research, you may not ant to test an actt 1ty or materi
als or may not be interested in the association among ariables. Instead, you seek to
describe trends in a large population of individuals. In this case, a . urvey is a good
procedure to use. Survey designs are procedures in quantitative research i,nvhich you
administer a survey or questionnaire to a small group of people (called the sample) to
identify trends in attitude. , opinions, beha ior, , or clharacteri.!tics of a large group of
peo ple (called the population .

Grounded Theory Designs

]nstead of studying a single gmup, you might examine a number of indi iduals who
have all experienced an action, interaction, oir process. Grounded theory designs are
systematic, qualitative procedures that researchers use to generate a general explanation
(grounded in the views of participants, called a grounded the01y) that explains a process,
a tion, or interaction among people. The pro edures for de eloping chis theory include
primarily coll cting intervie data, de eloping and relating categories (or tbemes) of
information, and composing a figure or isual model chat portra s the gen ral e plana
lion. In this ay, the e planation is ·'grounded' in the data from participant.:. From thi:
e planation, you construct predicti e statemenlS about the experience of individuals.

Ethnographic Designs
You may be interested in studying one group of indi iduals, in examining them in tbe
selling where they live and work, and in de eloping .a portrait of how they interact. An
ethnographic study is well suited for this purpose. Ethnographic designs are qualitative
procedures for describing, analyzing, and interpreting a cultural group's shared pauern.:
of beha ior, belief., and language that develop o er time. In ethnography, the researcher
pro ide. a detailed picture of tbe culture-sharing group, drawing on arious sources
of information. The ethnographer also de. ribes the group within its setting, explore.
themes or issue. that develop o er time as the group interacts, and detail. a portrait of
the gmup.

Narrative Research Designs

.ou may not he interested in describing and in erpreting group behavior or ideas, or in
developing .an explanation grounded in the experiences of many individuals. Instead
you wish to tell the stories of one or two individuals. Nan-ative research designs are
qualitative procedures in which researchers describe the lives of individuals, collect and
tell stories about these individuals' lives, and write narratives about their experiences.
In education, these stories often relate to school classroom experiences or activities in
schools.

Mixed Methods Designs

You decide to collect both quantitative data (i.e., quantifiable data) and qualitative
data (i.e., text or images). The core argument for a mixed method5 design is that the
combina tion of both forms of data provides a bener understanding of a research
problem than either quantitative or qualitative data by itself. Mixed methods designs are
procedures for collecting, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data
in a single study or in a multiphase series of studies. In this process, you need to
decide on the empha sis you will give to each form of data (priority), which form of
data you will collect first (concurrent or sequential), how you will "mix" the data
(integrating or connecting), and whether you will use theory to guide the study (e.g.,
advocacy or social science theory).

Action Research Designs

Like mixed methods research, action research designs often utilize both quantitative and
qualitative data, but they focus more on procedures useful in addressing practical prob
lems in schools and the classrooms. Action research designs are systematic procedures
used by teachers (or other individuals in an educational setting) to gather quantitative
and qualitative data to address improvement5 in their educational sening, their teaching,
and the learning of their student5. In some action research design5, you seek to address and
solve local, practical problem5, such as a classroom-discipline i5sue for a teacher. In
other studies, your objective might be to empower, transform, and emancipate
individuals in educational settings.