Academic skills 2
Lecture 1
World views:
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Post-positivism
o Verify theories, use of variables, deductive
o ME ☺
o Quantitative
Constructivism
o Social construction of meaning
o Theory generation, inductive
o Qualitative
Transformative
o Transform the world
o Political/activism, change-oriented
o Qualitative
Pragmatism
o Problem-centered, pluralistic
o Real-world practice oriented
o Mixed methods
Quantitative:
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Causality
o X = cause, Y = effect
o X = independent, Y = dependent
o X = predictor/antecedent, Y = outcome/criterion/response
Distribution of participants
o 1st: sample
o 2nd: assignment to conditions
▪ Random assignment = classic experiment
▪ Based on existing group = quasi-experiment
Academic skills 2
Lecture 2
Qualitative
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Key features:
• Natural setting
• Researcher as key instrument
• Multiple sources of data
• Participants meaning (instead of meaning from literature/researcher)
• Emergent design (plan can always change)
• Reflexivity (on researcher’s personal background etc.)
• Holistic (complexity etc.)
Data collection
• Observations
• Interviews
• Focus groups
• Documents/texts
“Qualitative lenses”
• Conversation analysis
▪ Interaction as series of observable actions
▪ Only analyze what is observable/made relevant by participants
• Narrative analysis
▪ Importance of narratives in our lives
▪ Building blocks of narratives as analytical framework
• Critical discourse analysis
▪ Discourses in competition with one another
▪ Importance of power
• Ethnography
▪ Importance of spending a lot of time with a community
Steps of qualitative analysis
1) Organize/prepare data
2) Browse through all the data
3) Start coding (Predefined/partly predefined/open)
4) Generate description (identifying themes/countertrends, select labels)
5) Representing description and themes
Qualitative validity procedures
o Triangulation
▪ Comparing different data sources for justification of the themes
o Member checking
o Rich, thick description
o Think about bias (self-reflection)
o Present negative/discrepant information also
o Spend prolonged time in the field
o Use peer debriefing
Academic skills 2
Lecture 3
Types of Variables
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o Independent >> Manipulated in an experiment
o Predictor/antecedent >> Cannot be manipulated
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Y
o Dependent >> Used in experiment like independent
o Outcome/criterion/response >> Used in survey just like predictor/antecedent
Intervening or Mediating variables
o Transmit the effect of an independent on a dependent variable.
▪ E.g. measuring the amount of polyphenols in the wine, when asking
people to drink red wine. (polyphenols cause health benefits)
Moderating variables
o Predictor variables that affect the direction/strength of the relationship
between independent and dependent variables.
▪ E.g. are the effects of wine consumption larger for males than females
Confounding variables
o Another cause for the possible outcome
▪ E.g. the effects do not come from the wine, but from the cheese
everyone ate with the wine.
Selecting a Sample
1) Set the population
2) Choose a sampling frame
3) Select units from frame
o Power analysis: can help estimate a target sample size
▪ Estimated effect size/correlation
▪ Required significance level (false positive, type 1 error)
▪ Desired power (false negative, type 2 error)
4) Approach units
Internal validity/reliability
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Improving construct validity
o Operationalization of complex concepts
▪ Definition based on literature
▪ Sub dimensions
Improving reliability (internal consistency)
o Use of multiple items that measure the same construct
Cronbach’s alpha
o Internal consistency of the scale
o Possible values: 0 – 1.0
o Optimal values: 0.7 – 0.9
Academic skills 2
Lecture 4
Quantitative data analysis
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Measurement levels
o Ratio
▪ There is an absolute zero
o Interval
▪ Distance between values is meaningful
▪ Distance can be expressed in numbers
o Ordinal
▪ Values can be ordered
▪ Difference can’t be expressed in numbers
o Nominal
▪ Words, not numbers
Measures of central tendency
o Mean
▪ Average
o Median
▪ Middle number
o Mode
▪ Most common number
Academic skills 2
Lecture 6
Types of validity
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Construct validity
o Do you measure what you intent to measure?
Internal validity
o Assessing causal relations
External validity
o Can you generalize the results?
Statistical conclusion validity
o Type 1 or type 2 error
Academic skills 2
Creswell & Creswell – Ch. 1
Research designs
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Quantitative
o Experimental
▪ applied behavioural analysis/single-subject analysis
o Non experimental
▪ causal-comparative research, correlational design
o Longitudinal
Qualitative
o Narrative research (humanities)
▪ Studies the lives of individuals/asks stories about their lives
o Phenomenology (philosophy/psychology)
▪ Describes experiences of individuals about a phenomenon
o Grounded theory (sociology)
▪ Derives a general theory of a process, action or interaction grounded
in the views of participants.
o Ethnography (anthropology/sociology)
▪ Studies a cultural group over a long time
o Case study
▪ Develops an in-depth analysis of a case, collecting detailed
information
Mixed methods
o Convergent
▪ Merging of quantitative/qualitative data. Collected at same time and
both integrated in the interpretation of the results.
o Explanatory sequential
▪ First quantitative research, then explaining results with qualitative
o Exploratory sequential
▪ First qualitative research, then quantitative
o Complex designs with embedded core designs
▪ Combination of previous designs to make complex mixed method
Academic skills 2
Creswell & Creswell – Ch. 3
Quantitative theory use
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Theory in quantitative research
o Interrelated set of constructs/variables formed into propositions/hypotheses,
that specify the relationship among variables
Theoretical rationale
o Specifying how and why variables and relational statements are interrelated
Developing a theory
1) Combine independent, mediating and dependent variables into questions >>
these provide information about the type and magnitude of their relationship
2) Form this information into a hypothesis
3) Researchers test hypothesis over and over > a theory emerges
4) Someone gives it a name
Levels of theories
o Micro-level
▪ Explanations about small slices of time, space or numbers of people
o Macro-level
▪ Explanations about larger aggregates
o Meso-level
▪ Link micro- and macro-levels
Forms of theory
o Interconnected hypotheses
▪ E.g. the higher this, the greater that
o If-then logic
▪ If {independent variable}, then {dependent variable}
o Visual models
▪ Visual picture of the variables (e.g. arrows that show relations)
Qualitative theory use
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Theory in qualitative research
o As a broad explanation for behavior and attitudes.
o As a theoretical lens or perspective.
o As the end point/end goal.
Forms of theory
o Propositional generalization
▪ Summary of interpretations and claims
o Naturalistic generalization
▪ Own personal experiences of researcher
o Pattern theory
▪ Explanation that develop during naturalistic or qualitative research
Academic skills 2
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Qualitative theoretical perspectives
o Feminist perspective
▪ View women’s diverse situations and the institutions that frame those
situations as problematic
o Racialized discourses
▪ Raise important questions about the control and production of
knowledge about people/communities of color
o Critical theory
▪ Concerned with empowering human beings to transcend the
constraints placed on them by race, gender or class
o Queer theory
▪ Focuses on queer community. Transfers the voices and experiences of
those who are suppressed
o Disability inquiry
▪ Understanding this population’s sociocultural perspective, allowing
them to take control over their lives
Mixed methods theory use
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Two frameworks
o Social science framework
▪ Presented as a literature review, conceptual model or theory
▪ Places the theory at the beginning as a priori framework
▪ Names the theory followed by how it mixes quan and qual
components and discusses studies that used the theory
▪ Includes a diagram of the theory
▪ Should be framework for quan and qual data collection efforts
▪ Review of the theory at the end
o Participatory-social justice framework
▪ Have the effect of involving participants collaboratively in the research
▪ Especially applicable to the study of community health issues and
marginalized groups
▪ Transformative approach
▪ Important that people are treated respectfully through gathering and
communicating data and the reporting of the results.
▪ Ends the study by advocating for change to help the population/issues
Academic skills 2
Creswell & Creswell – Ch. 7
Quantitative research question
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Three approaches
o Experiment/group comparisons
o Survey
o Descriptive study
Use of questions OR hypotheses
Two forms of hypotheses
o Null: no differences
o Alternative: difference
Two models for questions/hypotheses
o Descriptive: describing something
o Inferential: drawing inferences from a sample to a population
Mixed methods research question
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Should have at least 3 RQs!
o Qualitative question
o Quantitative question
o Mixed method question: combining/integrating the other two
▪ Hybrid/integrated question
Three forms of question:
o Conveying the methods/procedures in the study
o Conveying the content of the study
o Combining method and content as hybrid question
Academic skills 2
Creswell & Creswell – Ch. 8
Research design
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Survey design
o Quantitative description of trends, attitudes and opinions of a population by
studying a sample
o Descriptive questions, questions about relationships between variables or
questions about predictive relationships between variables over time
o Rationale description:
▪ Identify the purpose
▪ Indicate why survey is best approach
▪ Indicate whether data will be collected cross-sectional or longitudinal
▪ Specify the form of data collection and explain why
Experimental design
o Manipulates one or more variables in order to evaluate how this
manipulation impacts an outcome
o Between-subject design
▪ Compares two or more groups
o Within-group design
▪ Studies only one group
o Mixed design:
▪ Studies including both between-subject and within-group designs
Sampling
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Sampling design
o Single stage
o Multistage/clustering
Stratification
o Proportions in the sample reflect proportions in the population
Response bias with surveys
o When nonresponses would have changed the results
o Wave analysis
▪ Examine survey every week to determine if average responses change
Academic skills 2
Creswell & Creswell – Ch. 10
Mixed method designs
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Convergent design
o Single-phase data collection.
o Collecting quan and qual data using same variables/concepts
o Three phases:
1) Analysing qual data by coding/making broad themes
2) Analysing quan data statistically
3) Integrating both databases: mixed methods analysis
o Ways of merging qual and quan:
• Side-by-side comparison
• Present findings after each other, compare in discussion
• Data transformation
• Take qual themes/codes and count to form quan measures
• Joint display
• Merge both data in table or graph and make interpretation of
the display
Explanatory sequential design
o Two-phase data collection.
o Collect quan data, analyse results, explain results with qual data
o Both samples should be the same people
Exploratory sequential design
o Two-phase data collection
o Collect qual data and analyse to explore, then build a feature to be tested,
then quan data and analysis
o Both samples should be from same population, but different people
Complex designs
o Intersecting mixed methods in other designs
Mixed methods experimental (intervention) design
o Collecting quan and qual data and integrating info within an experiment or
intervention trial
Case study design
o Integrates one or more core designs into a case study
• Deductive: establish the cases through quan and qual data
• Inductive: collect and analyse both data and form cases and make
comparisons among the cases
Participatory-social justice design
o Integrates one or more core designs into a participatory/social justice study
Evaluation design
o Integrates one or more core designs into the steps of an evaluation
procedure. (e.g. evaluating the success of an intervention or policy