Executive Summary
The research paper critical analyzes different research methods / approaches to carry out studies. Therefore, methods used in previous studies, which are collected from various journals ranking 3 and above, are evaluated to develop an in-depth understanding of different researches methods. Relevant literature related to qualitative, quantitative and mixed research approach is reviewed to highlight and discuss the advantages and limitations of adoption of a particular research approach. The document concludes with a learning reflection on the methodologies reviewed.
Introduction
Researchers adopt different research approaches to investigate the issues, problems, and areas under investigations. It is essential to choose appropriate research tools, instruments and analysis methods that are suitable for the research issue. In different disciplines, the researchers make use of mainly three research methods that are qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research approach. However, the debate regarding the most suitable research method is based on the determination of the reliability and validity of the chosen approach. There is a systemic review process that researchers follow to develop paradigms to attain the research objectives and generate information that sufficiently address the research questions set out for the study. Hence, the use of different methodological orientations requires the researcher to form assumptions regarding the study and carryout rigorous inquiries. The success depends on the appropriateness of research approach that is adopted for a particular study. Each research approach has certain advantages and limitations that need to be considered before applying to a particular study. The present report evaluates the use of different research methods by researchers in their studies.
Literature Review
There are three types of research methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. These methodologies are suitable for different disciplines and areas of study. Therefore, it has been noted that some researchers prefer to use qualitative research methodology, whereas others prefer quantitative research methodology or a combined approach. While analyzing the importance of the qualitative research methodology Brenke (2015) in his article, “The vast majority of employees in Germany are satisfied with their jobs” used qualitative research methodology to find out the level of satisfaction of employees working in Germany through surveys and interviews.
According to Newman & Benz (1998), qualitative method provides accurate results. It is because the results are based on real facts and figures. Moreover, qualitative data provides a detailed picture of actions, feelings, and views that people have in any situation. Cassell & Symon (2004), in his research article, elaborated the advantages of using the qualitative data analysis approach. The benefit of using qualitative data is that it provides detail about individuals’ experiences and also attempts to avoid pre-judgments. Furthermore, people are encouraged to expand their responses using this approach, and they can express their views on any issue or any topic (Cassell & Symon, 2004). On the other side, Flick (2009) highlighted the disadvantages of using the qualitative research methodology. The limitation of this methodology is that the views and opinions of fewer people can be studied through it, and it is time-consuming as well. Moreover, it is not easy to generalize results if respondents give differing responses. However, it depends on the skills of the researcher to find out the results from the gathered data.
On the other side, the quantitative data analysis is a systematic approach for investigation. Usually, researchers focus on numerical data, and they transform the collected information and data into numerical form (Flick, 2009). It is the methodology in which counting attributes are measured. However, the dominant methodological approach is the quantitative methodology within the positive framework. The reason to refer to the quantitative research methodology more appropriate for conducting any research is that it presents objective evidence to either support any idea or hypothesis or make a contradictory statement. Therefore, researchers prefer to use quantitative research methodology as it helps them to put forward a theory after analyzing a particular set of data and applying statistical methods.
There are many researches in which the investigators have used both methodologies (Newman & Benz, 1998). Although using both methodologies at the same time becomes difficult for the researcher to manage, Mangena et al. (2016) used both methodologies to find out the desired results. He mentioned the importance and benefits of using mixed methodologies in his research. According to him, there is a possibility that few topics just need a quantitative approach to measure the results or to construct a dissertation (Mangena et al., 2016). However, he supports the usage of mixed research methodologies. Similarly, Merriam & Tisdell (2015), in their study, stated that to collect the data and then analyze it in an appropriate manner it is necessary to transform the qualitative data into quantitative data and vice versa. Though the transformation of the quantitative data is not a common and easy strategy, people can transform the quantitative data into the qualitative data using coding techniques (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
Jhonston (2015), in his study, discussed the advantages of using mixed methodologies. However, he also stressed on the point that quantitative research methodology is more useful, and it discovers the particular forms of collected data. It is also a matter of fact that there are few topics in which only quantitative research approach can be used as it is more appropriate to prove a research hypothesis or idea based on numerical data and application of standard methods as the main emphasis of the quantitative approach is on objectivity. Thomas (2003) pointed out some limitations of using different research methodologies. According to him, every method has its limitations. It is the reason that few types of research need mixed approach, but others can be performed using only one of the two methods i.e. quantitative or qualitative. He mentions that the quantitative research method requires high budget to complete the research as it gathers primary data from different groups. Moreover, it is also time-consuming, and it may include assumptions pertaining to the data (Thomas, 2003). Similarly, qualitative research does not include predetermined assumptions, but it relies on a small number of participants and their views that impact the outcome of the study and its completeness. Furthermore, one of the major drawbacks of using a qualitative research approach is that evidence-based practices are not supported by this methodology (Taylor, 2005). Therefore, quantitative research methodology is much more preferred to perform such studies that require certain variables to be measured objectively.
It can be analyzed that many researches and topics are conducted by using the quantitative research approach. The reason is that many researchers find it more reliable. It can be noticed that few researchers believe that using mixed methodologies can also be beneficial as it covers the topic using a combination of both methods. Therefore, the extent of research and results is widened. However, it requires more budget, time, and efforts of researchers. It is one of the reasons that while conducting a research many researchers prefer to just use quantitative research approach than adopting qualitative research methodology or a mixed approach (Muijs, 2010). It is not easier to conduct a quantitative research because it needs statistical analysis that involves analysis of the collected numerical data using different tests to get the results. In such researches, managing data and coding it using appropriate basis could be challenging.
Discussion Analysis and Evaluation
There are a number of previous studies that are evaluated to analyze the research approaches used in the journals. The majority of journals that were evaluated made use of quantitative research approach to conducting the research. The research that made use of mixed research approach provided coherent understanding about the research issue. It is mainly because it makes use of both inductive and deductive approach that enhances the quality of information as well as the use of statistical test supports the findings drawn from studies It can be seen from the studies of Mangena et al., (2016); Singh (2010) and Alderfer (1990) that they made use of the mixed research approach. However, Alderfer (1990) stresses more on qualitative information rather than statistical information which imbalances the outcomes. On the contrary, Mangena et al. (2016) and Singh (2010) implemented theories to develop hypotheses for the study. However, the use of theories, models, and tools in a mixed research approach includes both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The use of the interview and focused group is more evident from the studies. The information gained through this may vary according to the subject topic. The use of mixed research supports information that is obtained through most valid and appropriate scientific approaches. It is because the application of both methods adheres to a traditional approach of including various forms of data and presenting a comprehensive analysis. It enhances the knowledge to explore the subject in depth. For instance, Magena (2016) made use of interviews and survey questionnaires to identify the issues prevailing in the organization. The questions that were asked in the interview as well as the survey were derived from various theories. Unlike, a qualitative research approach that emphasizes on a smaller sample size has to rely on the information gained from limited sources of information. On the other hand, some of the researches conducted by Salterio (2006), Rahaman et al. (2010), and Mahlendorf (2014) made use of qualitative research approach. They mainly used thematic analysis and limited sample size to gain primary data. On the other hand, some of the thematic analyses were based on secondary data that were published reports, journal articles, and views of other research participants. The use of cross sectional data was also evident in these studies to gain detailed information about the research issue to be investigated. One of the major drawbacks of using a qualitative research approach is that because it does not support evidence-based practices. Also, the measures to determine quality criteria of the data collected in the research is argued, because of the reliability and validity which is considered as poor quality. Also, the research cannot cover views of a large sample size because the data collected is too brief and detailed that it is difficult to compress the information at a certain extend. On the other hand, quantitative research approach remains to be one of the most widely used research approaches in the researches. Analyzing the researches of Abernethy et al. (2013); Aranya & Wheeler (1986), Chen et al. (2012), Drake et al. (2015) and Abdel-Khalik (1993), it can be noted that the researchers make use of only statistical or mathematical to analyze the data. However, the use of theories is profound to make develop hypothesis and identify variables for the research. From the studies of Black et al. (2014), Brenke (2015), and Darrough et al. (2014), it can be seen that the researcher has made use of statistical methods to analyze the relationship between variables such as ANOVA, Regression, Pearson Correlation. The use of the statistical and mathematical analysis tools is reliable as compared to qualitative data. However, the information gained through quantitative research approach is relatively inflexible, but it is considered to be tested, which makes the research findings reliable (Abernethy et al., 2013).
Reflection
After the completion of this research paper, I was able to understand different research method approaches used in researches. I can understand the use of different tools, techniques, data collection methods, and sampling that vary according to the chosen research type. I learned that the use of research approaches used in a study depends on the nature of the research topic and the problem investigated. Furthermore, to find out the appropriate results the selection of the most suitable research methodology should be made considering the topic, hypothesis, or research question. The reason that both quantitative and qualitative methodologies can be used is that such mixed approach enhances the quality of the research/dissertation as well as it provides the desired results.
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