Methodologies Applied During the Research Process - Literature review Example

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES By Student’s Name Code + Course Name Professor’s Name University/College Name City, State Date Introduction The outcome of a research depends heavily on the methodology applied during the research process. It is important for the researcher to ensure that the selected methodology would provide an in-depth insight into the indicators of the study outcomes. The researcher’s epistemology should be congruent with the selected theoretical perspective before adopting such a perspective in a study, as this would define the direction and outcome of the study. This paper is going to review two articles regarding their study method and methodology to determine how effective they have answered their research questions and which of the applied methodologies is more effective. The first article is “Multi-Generational Income Disadvantage and the Educational Attainment of Young Adults” by Wightman, P. and Danziger, S, published in the Journal of Research in Social Stratification and Mobility in 2014. The second article is “The effect of social programs and exposure to professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor” by Chiapa, C., Garrido, J. L., and Prina, S., published in the Economics of Education Review in 2012. Overview of Articles Wightman and Danziger’s article involves a prospective mixed method study of the impact of the socio-economic status (SES) of individuals on their view and partaking of education across different generations. According study’s findings, those children who are brought up in poor backgrounds tend to perform poorly in cognitive test, only attend a few years in school, and experience poor outcomes in the labour market as young adults, in comparison with those who come from middle-class and wealthy households (Wightman & Danziger 2014, p. 53). The authors’ take on the initiative of employing a scientific approach in determining the relationship between three generations among certain households, with a comparison of their attributes. The authors adopted the hypothesis that young adults brought up in low-income households were less likely to join college as compared to their counterparts from high-income households. The study concludes that such is the case, and the likelihood of such young adults to join college is more minimal in cases where they come from two consecutive low-income generations. The authors also establish that young adults who were brought up in low-income households that later upgraded to high or middle-income households have a high likelihood of joining college as compared to those who started from high or middle income and have moved to low-income (Wightman & Danziger 2014, p. 67). On the other hand, Chiapa, Garrido, and Prina engage in a review of the findings of the PROGRESA studies that involved interviews of the beneficiaries of the program. The hypothesis of the study is that exposure of poor parents without aspirations to professionals during their visits to the hospitals influence their aspirations (Chiapa, et al. 2012, p. 778). The study takes on a retrospective review of the results of the various studies conducted by PROGRESA. The authors intend to determine the influence of the visits of the parents to the hospitals as part of the program and their interactions with nurses and doctors, who are of higher learning and socio-economic status on the aspirations they have for their children. It is evident that with increased visits to the hospitals, the parents developed increased aspirations for their children as evidenced by increased numbers of the children from households in which parents have been highly exposed in school (Chiapa, et al. 2012, p. 780). It is clear that the authors are determined to establish the relationship between exposure to professionals among poor adults and change in their aspirations for their children. Article 1: Wightman and Danziger (2012) Study methodology Wightman and Danziger have adopted the phenomenology tradition in their study. Their research involves a study of structures of experiences among the different generations and how these experiences affect their perceptions and judgments concerning education and life in general. As much as the authors desire to be scientific, instead of applying neurological or psychological approaches they resolved to adopt systematic reflections through which they determine structures of experience among the families across three generations, and how these structures affected how they view life and specifically education (Wightman & Danziger 2014, p. 57). The quantitative part of the study relates the experiences of the different participants in the study to obtain a correlation of the findings. This type of methodology suggests that through analysis of the daily behaviour of individuals, one can be able to understand fully their nature (Jonker & Pennink 2010, p. 153). The authors highly appreciate this fact, an aspect that informs their method of engaging in a prospective study, in which they study the behaviour of their participants and learn about them over time through both observation and interviews. Type of data The authors have collected both quantitative and qualitative data through their research approach. Being a phenomenology tradition, the authors have focused on qualitative data, which has been majorly obtained through observation, as the study has been carried out for years, where the authors can study the behavioural changes in the lives of the participants. Ethical considerations The authors are cognizant of ethical standards throughout the study as they do not expose the participants to conditions that may harm their physiological, psychological, social, or economic wellbeing. Since it was an observational study and not a control study, the authors did not expose the participants to any harmful substances. Also, the authors obtained consent from the participants to involve them in the study. Article 2: Chiapa, Garrido, and Prina (2012) Study Methodology Chiapa, Garrido and Prina (2012, p. 778) employed positivism paradigm in their study as defined by their reliance on the quantitative data applied in establishment of the relationship between the variables. The authors employ quantifiable observations of already existing data, which they statistically analyse to establish the relationship between parent exposure to professionals and aspirations for their children. Positivism assumes that knowledge is obtained through human experience (Fischer 2010, p. 139). This notion has been embraced by the authors in their employment of the approach as they rely on the recorded behaviour and experiences of the participants to establish knowledge concerning their experiences. Type of data Being a positivism approach, the study is mainly based on quantitative data, where variables are quantitatively analysed to establish correlations. The authors have taken an objective approach to the study, where they have employed tools to obtain quantifiable and observable data. Ethical considerations The authors did not directly interact with the participants in the study and were only analysing data obtained from PROGRESA survey rounds (Chiapa, et al. 2012, p. 779). As such, the authors did not have to seek consent from the participants in the survey rounds prior to using the data. Comparison of the Articles The methodologies applied in both articles were effective in ensuring that the research questions were answered and that the research hypotheses were well confirmed. Both the phenomenology and positivism traditions have their advantages, which could have facilitated their effectiveness in the researches, and their weaknesses, which could have undermined the full potential of the studies in developing generalizable findings. In their study, Chiapa, Garrido, and Prina employed positivism. One of the advantages of this type of approach is that it allows for a wide coverage of distinct situations (Fischer 2010, p. 140). Using data from PROGRESA, the authors were presented with an opportunity to explore different areas that could contribute to their hypotheses. Another advantage of positivism is that it can be economical and fast. This is the case in the authors’ study as they rely solely on the findings of the surveys by PROGRESA and thus do not incur the cost of conducting the surveys themselves. Nevertheless, this approach has various disadvantages including employment of flexible and artificial methods in most cases (Fischer 2010, p. 141). In addition, this approach does not allow for the development of an understanding of the significance or processes that individuals attach to actions. For instance, in the study, the authors could not properly understand the underlying influences of the change in aspirations of parents after they interacted with professionals. Phenomenology, as applied by Wightman and Danziger also provides various advantages, which define the success of the study. One of the advantages of the approach is that it allows for the change process to be observed over time (Jonker & Pennink 2010, p. 153). This can be explained by the authors’ prospective approach to the study, where they have involved the participants in an observational study over time. In addition, this approach helps to clearly understand the meanings of people. For instance, the authors can interview the participants from time to time, thus clearly understanding the importance they put on education. Besides, this approach allows for the gathering of information that is more natural than artificial. However, this approach also presents various disadvantages including the high level of investment in terms of time and resources. Furthermore, proper interpretation and analysis of the obtained data is much difficult as compared to the positivist approach (Jonker & Pennink 2010, p. 155). Moreover, as compared to the positivist approach, this approach makes it harder for the researchers to control progress, pace, and end points. Conclusion It is clear that methodological approaches utilized in researches are key determinant of the effectiveness of the studies in answering the research questions. The articles in this review utilized the phenomenological and positivist approaches each as informed by their methods of study, study period, and resources. Both approaches have facilitated the success of the studies. However, it is noteworthy that the use of the findings of each of the studies differ significantly. With the positivist approach, given that the study involved large samples, the findings may be relevant to policy makers in their decision making process. On the other hand, the phenomenological approach has low credibility among policy-makers. However, the findings obtained from this type of approach may substantially contribute to the process of developing new theories. References Chiapa, C Garrido, JL & Prina, S 2012, The effect of social programs and exposure to professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor, Economics of Education Review, vol. 31, no. 5, p. 778–798. Fischer, FM 2010, The Application of the Controllability Principle and Managers’ Responses: A Role Theory Perspective, Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin. Jonker, J & Pennink, B 2010, The Essence of Research Methodology: A Concise Guide for Master and Ph.D. Students in Management Science, Springer Science & Business Media, London. Wightman, P & Danziger, S 2014, Multi-Generational Income Disadvantage and the Educational Attainment of Young Adults, Journal of Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, vol. 35, pp. 53-69. Read More