Primary research Session

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Quantitative researchOverview

Quantitative research involves information or data in the form of numbers.

This allows us to quantify a whole range of things and measure the difference between conditions.

For example: the number of people who live below the poverty line; the number of children between specific ages who attend school; the average spending power in a community; or the number of adults who have access to computers in a village or town. The health differences/similarities between groups the gender disparities in literacy…and many more …

There are many different ways to do quantitative research:

For example, Observational research involves watching or observing various behaviours and patterns.

Perhaps you want to find out how many cars of a particular make use a specific intersection. To do this you might stand at the intersection at a particular time of day, and record the makes of cars. Perhaps you want to monitor the number of people entering a particular shop at specific times of the day, recording their behaviours, and whether or not they buy anything or are just browsing.

Observation can also be used effectively for qualitative research.

Surveys

Fill out the survey:This is a forced choice questionnaire you have 15 minutes to answer 20 questions and count the number of As, Bs and Cs

What is your learning style? That was simple and fun now I know your learning styles…

Or do I?

Surveys

Advantages of surveys Good for comparative analysis. Can obtain data in a relatively short space

of time. Can be cost-effective (if you use the

Internet, for example). Can take less time for respondents to

complete (compared to an interview or focus group).

SurveysDisadvantages of surveys Responses may not be specific. Questions may be misinterpreted. May not obtain as many responses

as you need. Do not always get the full story. Resources you may not have

access to Pcs or even electricity

Qualitative research

Overview The aim of qualitative research is to

deepen our understanding about something, and usually this means going beyond the numbers and the statistics.

Qualitative research helps us to give reasons why the numbers tell us what they do. It is often contrasted to quantitative research – and they are very often used together to get the ‘bigger picture’ of what we are trying to find out

Qualitative research helps us ‘flesh out the story’.

Face-to-face interviews

Advantages of face-to-face interviews

Can allow for in-depth knowledge sharing

Helps to develop the bigger picture

Helps with analysis of results

Good for networking (e.g. you may be referred to other people to interview).

Some methods used:

Interviews

Did you find it easy to choose between the answers?

Do you feel you had enough options?

Was there any question that annoyed you?

Did you feel that the questionnaire accurately described/analysed your learning style?

Write down the following questions and in pairs interview one of you interview the other you have 15 minutes, I will let you know when it has been three minutes each time so you can wrap up each question and move on…

Disadvantages of face-to-face interviews

Can be time consuming

May be difficult to arrange an interview time

Can be difficult to compare and analyse information.

Focus Groups

Advantages of focus groupsGood for community participation

(grassroots input)Helpful in developing ideas and

sharing latent, or hidden, knowledge spontaneously

Enables you to get information from a number of individuals simultaneously

Focus groups

Focus group on the process…working from these questions, You have 15 minutes:

Did you prefer the survey?

Do you feel you have a better idea of your individual learning style?

How did it feel interviewing?/ How did it feel being interviewed?

Disadvantages of focus groups

Can be difficult to set up

Participants may need to be paid

Need to be sensitive as to who the facilitator is

May need a translator

Sometimes difficult to organise and analyse information

Controlling group dynamics can be hard…even I struggle

Site visits and observation

Advantages of site visits and observation

Help you understand your research better

Help you ask questions you may not have thought of

Ground/solidify your research

They are fun!

See guide on observation on Moodle

Disadvantages of site visits and observation Take time

Can be expensive (depending how far you need to travel)

With observation in particular, you need to be careful how you interpret what you see.

With site visits, you may want to make sure you have a guide so that you can ask questions…this may lead to bias

Case studies

Advantages of case studies

Specific concrete examples

Can help with problem solving

Are often interesting to read

Disadvantages of case studies

Can take time to develop

Depending on format, may need some level of good writing skills

Do not usually give broad overview of issue at hand.

Task From what you have heard today using your “gut

instinct”

Write pros and cons of types of research (this is for your eyes only so be truthful it doesn’t matter what you forget or remember for that matter its about what type of research is a best fit for you intuitively )

Vote on quantitative qualitative

Find an opposite and spend 2 minutes trying to convince them you are right