The Attainment of New Knowledge and Facts - Essay Example

? Qualitative Research Rationale By The major purpose of research is the attainment of new knowledge and facts. Research is dominated by two major approaches, including the qualitative and quantitative. According to Creswell, (1998, p.2), quantitative research explores human and social behavior “based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory hold true.” On the other hand, Creswell (1998, p.1-2) defines qualitative study as “an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting.” Nonetheless, these approaches are applied differently depending with the research scenario. This paper presents a rationale for using qualitative research in a given research, which is educational in nature, as opposed to using quantitative research in the same scenario. In this paper, the reader will also learn how worldviews and paradigms of the researcher may create bias when applying qualitative research to the given scenario. In psychology, qualitative methods of research are employed in exploring the psychological states of individuals. It is not possible to study the psychological states of people using quantitative or experimental approaches. Nonetheless, the psychological aspects include aspects such as educational success, career success, and employee job satisfaction, among others. In the provided scenario, two groups that share educational deficiencies are examined in the research. This is in order to determine their level of education, as well as the rate of school drop-outs. This therefore, is an educational research. In educational researches, a researcher might use the qualitative approach, the quantitative approach, or a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative methods. However, in this scenario, only the qualitative approach is proposed for use, and not the quantitative approach. First, qualitative approach is appropriate for this scenario, since quantitative approach is highly limiting. This is for the major reason that the quantitative approach can only be employed in scenarios to explore solutions to those problems and issues that can only be evaluated in an objective or quantitative manner. However, in this scenario, there are various social factors that are characteristic in the two groups, and it is not possible to evaluate these social factors in an objective manner. These social factors are important in the research, as they influence the level of education of the two groups, and therefore, must be explored in order to contribute to answers. Therefore, scenario does offer an educational concern or situation in which there are various variables that can be explored only subjectively. Therefore, not all researches involving education comprise only variables that can only be measured with numbers and analyzed through the procedures of statistics. In addition, in this scenario, in order for answers to be obtained, the researcher will have to answer questions of how, and what, which explore subjectivity. In this case, therefore, a qualitative research is the most appropriate. This scenario also presents a situation for a case study. Since two groups are involved, the researcher has to study each group in its entirety. A case study falls within a qualitative research design. According to Creswell (1998, p. 61-2), a case study involves “situating the case within its setting, which may be a physical setting or the social, historical, and/or economic setting.” Therefore, case studies focus on a case within a defined boundary, just as what this scenario presents. This scenario could also be approached as historical inquiry. This is a form of qualitative approach of research. Nonetheless, a historical inquiry mainly explores facts that relate to the past, and the interpretation of these facts contributes to answering the research question. In this scenario, the aspect of education is explored in the two cultural groups. Therefore, in order to understand the present education situation in the groups the researchers have to delve into the past, and explore some of the social, economic, and cultural factors in these groups, which have contributed to the present educational status of the groups. Nonetheless, by researching on past facts in the groups, the researcher might be able to learn how these have contributed to the present situation in the groups. Past facts are history; on the other hand, history is human, interpretative, and thus is subject to judgment. Therefore, this makes qualitative approach more appropriate for the scenario in this context, as this will help to supply knowledge and understanding about the past. Like other researches, the qualitative research might also be faced with considerable bias. This bias is likely to originate from the researcher. Therefore, it is considered that a researcher should remain neutral in the whole research process. The role of the researcher is to explore new knowledge, thus should not manipulate the answers. Sometimes, the personal experiences and values of researchers influence the research process; however, there are ways through which a researcher can prevent this from happening. Nonetheless, there are different paradigms of a researcher, which might easily lead to bias in the research process. However, in this scenario, the main paradigm of the researcher might be interpretivism (Berkwits & Inui, 1998). Here, the researcher might understand the situation from their own perspective. In this case, the researcher will base on his or her individual interpretation to make assumptions about the groups. In addition, generalization is another way through which the researcher might cause bias in the research (Berkwits & Inui, 1998). Since this scenario involves research on two different groups, it is easy for the researcher to generalize. The two groups share similar educational deficiencies. For this reason, the researcher might base on this similarity between the groups to generalize the findings of one group to apply to another group. Nonetheless, in order for the researcher to avoid bias, he or she has to conduct the research in a systematic manner. Most importantly, the researchers should be aware of their personal beliefs, values, and experiences, and avoid basing n them in the research process. Conclusively, the scenario in this context calls for a qualitative approach, as opposed to quantitative approach. The qualitative approach is appropriate for research that explores different social problems and issues that are subjective in nature. In the scenario, the main issue is educational deficiencies in two groups. Nonetheless, this is a social issue, which can be researched using the qualitative approach, as the social variables in this case can be evaluated in a subjective manner. Nonetheless, the results of this qualitative research will be used to effect social change in the two groups. References Berkwits, M. & Inui, T. (1998). Making Use of Qualitative Research Techniques. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 13(3): 195-199. Doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1998.00054.x Creswell, J.W. (1998). Research Design: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches, London: SAGE Publications. Read More