Chapter 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN
4.5 Research Approach, Methods and Design
Research methods involve the proposed form of data collection, analysis and interpretation by the researcher and the research design involves the different types of inquiry (specific procedures) within different research methods that provide the plan and procedure to conduct a research (Creswell, 2014). The various philosophical paradigms (worldviews), methods and designs make up the research approach (Creswell, 2014). According to Greene and Caracelli (1997), the political level (the level of purpose), the philosophical level (level of paradigm) and the technical level (the level of method) are the three important levels that needs to be considered while making the decision as to which research method best suits the purpose. In the past, there were researchers who had a purist attitude towards two dominant research methods resulting in two research cultures where some considered qualitative methods to be superior with its deep and rich observational data whereas some believed quantitative methods to be superior because of its generalisability attribute (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, Zikmund et al., 2014). While quantitative and qualitative methods have dominated the research methods adopted by researchers in the past, a new trend of mixing quantitative and qualitative methods has become prominent since 1980s (Creswell, 2014). With the increasing popularity of incorporating various methods in a single study (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003), the current research paradigm world consists of three research methods: quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods (Johnson et al., 2007, Andrew and Halcomb, 2007). The philosophical assumptions, characteristics, research designs, procedures and the sample size of the three research methods are given in Table 4.1. According to Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) and Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research all have their significance in different circumstances, and it is the researchers’ decision to make a choice on which method best answers the research questions. Answering the research questions in a justified and warranted way is the most important aspect of any research while paradigm issues are secondary which can be dealt with once the researcher confirms the best possible option to serve the purpose (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003).
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Table 4.1: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research
Items Quantitative Research
Method Qualitative Research Method Mixed Research Method Philosophical
Assumptions Positivism Interpretivism Pragmatism
Characteristics Deductive, confirmatory,
theory/hypothesis testing, standardised data collection, statistical analysis Inductive, exploratory, theory/hypothesis generation, researcher as the primary instrument of data collection, qualitative analysis Deductive, inductive, abductive, inclusive, pluralistic and complementary Research
Designs -Experimental Designs
-Correlational Designs -Survey Designs -Narratives -Ethnography -Phenomenology -Grounded Theory -Case Studies -Convergent Parallel -Explanatory Sequential -Exploratory Sequential Techniques for Data Collection, Analysis and Interpretation -Pre-determined
-Instrument based questions -Performance, attitudinal,
observational and census data -Statistical analysis -Statistical interpretation -Emerging methods -Open-ended questions -Interview, observation,
document, and audio- visual data
-Text and image analysis -Themes, patterns
interpretation
-Both pre-determined and emerging methods -Open-ended and
closed-ended questions -Multiple ways to
collect and mix quantitative and qualitative data -Statistical and text
analysis
-Across databases interpretation
Sample Size Large Sample Small Sample Large/small
Source: Adapted from Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), Creswell (2008), Creswell (2009),
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4.5.1 Quantitative Research Approach, Research Methods and Research Designs
Quantitative approach corroborates positivist philosophy (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003, Creswell, 2014). Quantitative methods collect precise, quantitative, numerical data from the respondents which can be statistically analysed in order to generate information needed to describe trends about a large number of people (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, Creswell, 2008). The use of statistical software makes data analysis less time consuming generating results that are independent of the researcher (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004).
Quantitative inquiry is performed at a macro level to produce a collective structure in order to explain the phenomena under observation (Greene and Caracelli, 1997). They are well structured and planned and generate results that are highly precise and mathematically manipulable (Guba and Lincoln, 1982, Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003).
While quantitative research methods have several strengths, there are some weaknesses that need to be considered while carrying out a quantitative research. Quantitative research builds on already existing theories and categories which might be different from the community’s understandings and experiences (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004). Another restriction is that it generates results that are too abstract and general which limits its applicability to a particular context/situation or individual (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004).
4.5.2 Qualitative Research Approach, Research Methods and Research Designs
Qualitative approach corroborates interpretivist worldview (Creswell, 2014). Qualitative methods collect qualitative data via methods such as interviews which will provide more detailed information about the research topic. While Qualitative inquiries are unstructured and unplanned (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003), they are performed at a micro level focussing on individual beliefs and actions in order to provide a detailed explanation about the phenomena under observation (Greene and Caracelli, 1997). Qualitative methods generate results that are rich with information in order to provide elaborate interpretations of market phenomena and are applicable to evaluate phenomena difficult to explain via numbers (Guba and Lincoln, 1982, Zikmund et al., 2014).
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With all the above strengths, a qualitative method seems to be superior, but it too has some weaknesses that need to be considered while designing a qualitative research. Qualitative data collections are time consuming and the results will only be applicable to a particular group or context and hence, cannot be generalised (Creswell, 2008). Data analysis is often time consuming and generates results that are biased by the researchers’ personal beliefs and understandings (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004).
4.5.3 Mixed Methods Research Approach, Research Methods and Research Designs
Mixed methods research approach corroborates pragmatic worldview (Creswell, 2014). Mixed methods research design includes a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches in terms of viewpoints, data collection, analysis and mixing within a single study to enhance the breadth and depth of understanding about the research problems (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003, Johnson et al., 2007, Creswell, 2008). It allows researchers to combine empirical data, often quantitative with descriptive data (such as words, pictures and narratives) so that they get additional information to interpret their results (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2004).
Recognised as the third major research paradigm (Johnson et al., 2007, Andrew and Halcomb, 2007), the main aim of mixed methods research is to gain the strengths and minimise the weaknesses of each individual methods by incorporating them into one single research (Jick, 1979, Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2004). This is the most reasonable justification for mixed methods research because the final output will be superior, complemented by the strengths of the two individual methods (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The compilation of quantitative and qualitative data to execute a mixed methods research design will create knowledge that embraces the participants’ real life views and experiences and at the same time it can be generalised to other participants and other contexts (Greene and Caracelli, 1997). However, mixed methods design will be complete only when the findings are mixed or integrated at one point in the research (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004).
While mixed methods have been proved to be a new and popular trend in research methods, researchers need to be careful while choosing the type of mixed methods research that best suits the study context (Creswell, 2008). There are different mixed methods designs identified
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in the literature based on the weight given to each component (equal emphasis or one method given the dominant emphasis) and the sequence in which they are conducted (whether the two phases are carried out sequentially or simultaneously) (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, Creswell, 2008, Creswell and Clark, 2011). The primary research designs associated with mixed methods research are convergent parallel or concurrent mixed methods, explanatory sequential mixed methods and exploratory sequential mixed methods (Creswell, 2014). Based on the research problem and research questions, available resources and available time, one can decide to choose any of the mixed methods design. However, it is not necessary that the researcher has to stick to the methods described in the literature but rather be creative and design other methods that best answers the research questions (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004).