SOC 333 Ashford Quantitative & Qualitative Method of Research Approach Discussion

Note: The instructor does not accept direct quotes, please summarize or paraphrase material to respond to questions. Please use the following APA examples when citing material- (Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D., 2018) or (House et al., 1988). I have provided the course material (chapter 8 and 9 and additional resources which include several links to outside sources) to answer the questions, additional research of scholarly articles are accepted, however the majority of responses should come from the chapters provided and linked resources provided.

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 8 and review Chapter 9 of the course text. Also, review the following resources:

Visual

• The Everyone Lives on Dollar Street (Links to an external site.) video
• The Dollar Street (Links to an external site.) webpage

Documentary

• Lewis Hine Photography (Links to an external site.)
• The Teaching With Documents: Photographs of Lewis Hine: Documentation of Child Labor (Links to an external site.)

Oral History

• The Story Corps (Links to an external site.) web page
• The Oral History Project of the Vietnam Archive (Links to an external site.) web page

This discussion supports your understanding and application of the quantitative method and qualitative method of research approach. In your initial post, address the following:

• Differentiate between randomized and nonrandomized approaches to sampling populations. Discuss the importance of the role of sampling when conducting research.
  • Snowball sampling is a form of sampling where participants recommend people they know as research participants. Explain one pro and one con to this approach.
  • Discuss the usefulness of pretesting, pilot testing, or field-testing a survey or interview questionnaire.
  • In some large-scale research projects the researcher is not always the one collecting data but is more heavily involved in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Would this create a challenge in a quantitative study where a survey was used for data collection? Would this scenario create a challenge in a qualitative study where a one-to one interview or focus group data collection method was used? Explain why or why not for both scenarios.
  • As you experienced in the Week 3 assignment, qualitative methods research can encompass some interesting forms of research approach to help us understand the human experience in society, such as ethnography. In the resources this week we asked you to review three other forms of approach that help us understand in unique ways: visual, documentary, and oral history.
  • After reviewing the resources provided, describe each form of approach. Explain their unique differences and similarities.
  • What is gained by conveying human experience via visual or audio as opposed to a written interpretation?
  • Which form of approach did you find the most compelling in sharing the experience of humans in society? Explain why.
  • Do you think that these forms of visual and audio data evidence could be more powerful for influencing social change and public policy than written or statistical data? Explain your response.

Your initial post should be at least 800 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.

Additional clarifications on assignment completion from instructor (includes previous steps and details on what the instructor is looking for in responses):

Hi Everyone,

The discussion this week asks you to delve more deeply into the mechanics of quantitative and qualitative research methods. You will take a look at the some of the unique aspects of their application in a research study, especially in regard to collecting and analyzing data.

Chapters 8 and 9 in the textbook will support the first part of the discussion and then the other resources and readings listed in the discussion will support you in the second half of the discussion dealing with unique qualitative approaches such as oral history, visual and documentary as research methods.

Since this is your only assignment this week, the discussion is a bit heavier in terms of the number of components you must address.

Part I

The first part of the discussion asks you to (1) differentiate (i.e., describe the differences) between random sampling and non-random sampling techniques (a sampling technique is how researchers select a sub-set of an entire population to study. For example, there are too many Ashford students to study the whole student body. So I would use one of the techniques listed in the textbook to obtain a (preferably random) sample of Ashford students to study.);

(2) Discuss the importance of the role of sampling when conducting research (i.e. why does having proper sampling techniques matter?).

Next, take a look at one particular way that researchers collect a sample: Snowball Sampling. This is a form of sampling where participants recommend people they know as research participants. (3) Explain one pro and one con to this approach.

Then, (4) Discuss the usefulness of pretesting, pilot testing, or field-testing a survey or interview questionnaire.

The final component of the first part of the discussion asks you think about the following issue: (5) In some large-scale research projects the researcher is not always the one collecting data, but relies on already existing data and is more heavily involved in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Would this create a challenge in a quantitative study where a survey was used for data collection? Would this scenario create a challenge in a qualitative study where a one-to one interview or focus group data collection method was used? Explain why or why not for both scenarios.

Part II

In the second part of the discussion, you will take a look at 3 unique (and interesting!) types of qualitative research methods. As you saw in the Week 3 assignment, research done using qualitative methods can take on some interesting forms! And, more than quantitative methods, they help us understand the human experience in society (the method you reviewed in the Week 3 assignment was ethnography). In the resources this week we asked you to review three other forms of qualitative research approaches that help us understand the human experience in unique ways: visual, documentary, and oral history.

After reviewing the resources provided, (6) describe each form of approach (oral, visual, and documentary). (7) Explain their unique differences and similarities. (8) What is gained by conveying human experience via visual or audio as opposed to a written interpretation? (9) Which form of approach did you find the most compelling in sharing the experience of humans in society? Explain why. (10) Do you think that these forms of visual and audio data evidence could be more powerful for influencing social change and public policy than written or statistical data? Explain your response.

Your initial post should be at least 800 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions!

Best,

Dr Rosen

Guidance for replies:

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. In your responses, be sure to note any interesting aspects of their response, such as their view on the pros and cons of snowball sampling and their varied views on the visual, documentary and oral history forms of qualitative research. Your responses should be at least 200 words in length.

***I will provide the two posts to reply to on Wednesday evening.

References

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

Dollar Street (Links to an external site.). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix?thi…

Story Corps (Links to an external site.). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://storycorps.org/listen/

Texas Tech University Vietnam Center and Archive. (n.d.). The Oral History Project of the Vietnam Archive (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/oralhistory/

National Archives. (n.d.). Teaching with documents: Photographs of Lewis Hine: Documentation of child labor (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/hine-ph…