Social Research - Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches - Literature review Example

The Sources of Knowledge: Understanding and Analyzing Research literature Review of two journal papers Evelyn McGregor Student’s name: Ioanna Papageorgiou Student matriculation number: s1031106 Abstract The objective of this paper is to present and evaluate two different pieces of research. In analyzing the two research samples, this paper critically evaluates the aims, methodology, structure and techniques used to collect data and analyze results; as well as check the reliability and validity of results. The articles I have chosen to analyze examine autism from different perspectives and are both qualitative, as they approach the subject from a naturalistic point of view. The first article is titled ‘Robot-mediated joint attention in children with autism,’ and utilizes case-study as a design frame and observation as a method of collecting data. Furthermore, this article describes in great detail the reactions of children with autism when interacting with robots, and provides information on joint attention within children’s behavior. However, it is submitted that the results are not adequately analyzed and the research question remains unanswered. The second article is ‘The Not Guilty Verdict: Psychological Reactions to a Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome in Adulthood’, which is a qualitative design based on interviews. This is a well structured piece of research which presents first hand accounts of people with autism that were diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome during adulthood. The findings are thoroughly analyzed, which increases the reliability of the results. Additionally, the research in this article utilizes the data findings to put forward useful suggestions. Robot-mediated joint attention in children with autism. This article is a case study in robot-human interaction and it is part of the Aurora project that examines if robots can be used in a therapeutic and educational way on children with autism. The objective of this article is to examine if robots can cause joint attention on children with autism. Data is presented as transcripts and photo stills. During trials the robot attracts the child’s attention and the child then reacts in a spontaneous way, interacting with an adult-experimenter. The study focuses on joint attention within the child’s reactions (vocal and non-vocal) and analyzes in great detail children’s behavior (talk, body movement, gaze, gesture) by taking into account what the other two participants (an adult and a robot) are doing at the same time. The technique used to do this is Conversation Analysis (CA). The trials lasted several months as experimenters wanted to avoid anxiety and stress caused by the new environment in which the children were placed for the purposes of the study. The room that the trials were conducted in was familiar to children and the robot was connected to a laptop. The robot could move its arms, legs and head to music. Additionally, two cameras were placed in the room and in addition to the child, the experimenter, and the robot; there was a teacher present in the room who remained silent. The article reports three trials of data samples with different types of autism labeled A, B and C. Child A is a 5 year old boy in the Reception class and he uses only a few words and likes to play mainly alone, ignoring the activities of others. Child B is a 6 year old boy with limited verbal expressions similar to child A however he understands directions given to him and is also willing to play with others. In contrast, Child C is 10 years old and in year 5. Furthermore, Child C doesn’t speak and he can participate in any activity directed to him but requires one activity to fully maintain his attention. The trials lasted 3 minutes and demonstrated the following results: Child A reacted in a very obvious and reciprocal way when the robot moved its leg, as he produced voice and performed gaze and gesture activities. In contrast, Child B and C’s gaze was trying to check what the experimenter was looking at. Photo stills demonstrated that the children’s gaze followed the adults gaze in order to locate the robot, whose moves made the children react in different ways. For example, Child B touched the robot while child C moved his arm. Both reactions are characterized as responsive. Evaluation While the aim of the study was to examine whether robots can cause joint attention on children with autism, it is submitted that the results are unable to give us a clear conclusion on this issue, as observation doesn’t allow access to the intentions that lie behind the behavior (Bryman, 2008). Even though children’s reactions were characterized as reciprocal we are not sure if robots mediated this reaction, or whether we would have the same results using something else as a salient object. Therefore, I believe that the research question of this study is not adequately answered and further research is needed. As for the sample used, the general rule is to use as large sample as possible (Borg, Gall, 1983). However, in many research projects small samples are more appropriate, especially in studies which require time-consuming measurement techniques (Borg, Gall, 1983, p.261). Even though this study uses only 3 participants, in light of the fact that the technique used to analyze data (CA) is very time-consuming, I believe that the size of the sample can be characterized as adequate. This is further supported by the fact that the nature of this study doesn’t require shallow information of a really large sample, but detailed and in-depth knowledge taken from a smaller sample. With regard to the method used, it is posited that observation provides more reliable information about events compared to interviews (Bryman, 2008). For example, Bryman comments that it ‘may be more accurate and effective than getting people to report on their behavior through questionnaires’ (Bryman, 2008, p.269). On this basis, I believe that the correct method was utilized for the conduct of this study especially because it examines the behavior of children with autism. Moreover, children were left free to interact with other participants and the fact that the trials stopped when children seemed to feel uncomfortable or bored demonstrates that ethical issues were raised and that the children were treated with the utmost respect. With regard to the data analysis method, conversation analysis (CA) was used which is a trustworthy technique that is widely acknowledged in ethology and psychology. This method was able to indicate both deficits and competencies of children with autism, which may have gone unnoticed with another method. On the other hand, CA is a very time consuming technique that only very well trained coders can operate and therefore only a very small part of the video data collected was analyzed efficiently. Overall I believe that CA was the right technique for this kind of qualitative study as it provides in depth information about people’s behavior within a social context. With regard to the results, I believe that the study reached a high level of reliability due to the fact that robots made the environment more predictable as the complexity of the interaction could be controlled and gradually increased. Accordingly, very accurate results were provided for researchers to analyze. However, it is important to note that the analysis of the results isn’t thorough. Apart from the fact that all three children’s reactions were characterized as reciprocal, nothing more was mentioned, which resulted in a superficial and general impression of the outcomes. Finally, I believe that the generalization of the conclusions drawn in the end of the paper concerning the functions of robots should be avoided on the basis that as this piece of research is a case study, ‘results cannot be generalized’ with this type of research (Gary Thomas, 2009, p.115). Autism. The “not guilty verdict”: Psychological reactions to a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in adulthood. The aim of this study is to examine the experiences of 10 adults receiving a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in adulthood. The method used to collect the data is semi-structured with open-ended interviews and the design of this paper is qualitative, in using an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach (IPA) to data collection and analysis. With regard to the participants, 11 users of the local service for adults with Asperger syndrome were approached, where 10 agreed to participate (7 male, 3 female), aged about 31 years, and their age of diagnosis was about 35 years. The interviews lasted about 55 minutes and each participant’s interview was completed in one meeting and ended when they were unable to generate any further themes. Each interview was analyzed separately and then comparisons across transcripts were made. In terms of the results, 6 subordinate themes emerged from the analysis of the data, namely: 1) Negative life experiences; 2) Experience of services; 3) Beliefs about the symptoms of Asperger syndrome; 4) Identity formation, 5) Effects of diagnosis on beliefs, and 6) The effect of societal views of Asperger syndrome. However, the study demonstrated that participants pointed not only negative but also positive aspects of their diagnosis and stressed that the route to diagnosis may be more important than the diagnosis itself. Additionally, the study highlighted the feeling of alienation and difference that can cause problems with self-esteem and the feeling of inferiority. Finally, the study indicated that the diagnosis shouldn’t be considered as a single event but as part of a long process, which can last months or even years. Correlated to this finding was the observation that early diagnosis is connected with positive psychological outcomes, therefore it is recommended that Asperger syndrome should be diagnosed as soon as possible. Evaluation The aim of the study was to examine reactions of the participants that received a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (A. S.). The researcher’s goal was to collect the experiences, thoughts, feelings and beliefs of 10 people that were diagnosed with A.S when they were adults. From my point of view this objective was fulfilled as the article demonstrates the participant’s answers using the exact words they used when answering the questionnaires. Furthermore, these responses were then categorized into six well defined topics. The reader has the opportunity to read the exact responses of the participants and through the information they provide, the reader is given a clear insight into their life experiences. To this end, one can actually ‘see the world through their eyes’ (Alan Bryman,2008). As for the sample, participants should be selected from an appropriate population (Borg ,Gall,1983) and they should be selected randomly (Bryman, 2008) so that the study can produce reliable results. Given the fact that the 10 participants were selected randomly through the caseloads of local professionals, it is submitted that the sample selection was undertaken correctly. However, use of a bigger sample would make results even more reliable. With regard to the methodology, the interview technique is a qualitative method of gathering data that provides a study with rich and in-depth knowledge of the internal and the external factors influencing human opinions, feelings and motives (Bell, 2000). This argument is reinforced by Bryman’s assertion that ‘Face to-face interaction is the fullest condition of participating in the mind of another human being’, (Alan Bryman, 2008, 385). Accordingly, it is arguably the perfect method for this kind of study, which is aimed at examining participant’s feelings, thoughts and experiences. Additionally, this methodology offered the opportunity to reveal information about their attitudes and social background (Bryman, 2008). On the other hand, interviews are time-consuming and as the responses are intrinsically subjective, there is always the danger of bias (Creswell, 2003). However, I believe that these particular interviews provided a clear picture of the participant’s perspective as the use of open-ended questions provided the opportunity for participants to raise issues that they viewed as most important. Finally, and from an ethical point of view, the fact that interviewers asked for the participant’s consent for them to be recorded, along with the fact that the interviews would stop when the participants felt they should, demonstrates that the research was undertaken in a relaxed atmosphere in order to protect participants from feeling uncomfortable. With regard to the data analysis, a very reliable method for collecting and analyzing data was used IPA (Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis), which is endorsed significantly in the literature, and aims to explore an individual’s perception of an event rather than attempting to produce an objective record of the event. It is further submitted that the results were well presented, nicely categorized and therefore easily understood. The fact that the findings of this research support the findings of previous research demonstrates that they are reliable facts that can be considered as solid knowledge on which future studies can be based. Moreover the conclusions drawn at the end of the study are based on logical opinion and the suggestions given are based on the results. Therefore, the study provides useful information and can be used by those who work with people with autism on a therapeutic level. Conclusion The evaluation of the articles demonstrates that both have strengths and weaknesses. While the first article used a good method for collecting and analyzing data, the analysis of the results was inadequate and the objective set out wasn’t reached. As for the second article, the presentation of the data collected provided firsthand accounts from the participants and was analytical. Additionally, the results, even though based on a small sample, were reliable. However since the two pieces of research follow a qualitative approach, there is an important limitation that impacts both of them. The data is analyzed according to the researcher’s values and opinions and therefore the possibility of the bias existence increases (Coles and McGrath, 2010). Thus, in order to avoid ‘interpretation influenced by the subjective leaning of the researcher’ (Bryman, 2008,391); it is submitted that a mixed research approach should be used combining quantitative data and qualitative methods. It is further argued that the combination of methods in a research effort can fill the gaps which exist when each method is used separately (Punch, 2005). References Bechhofer, F. and Paterson, L. (2000). Principles of research design in the social sciences. London: Routledge Bell, J. (2000). Doing your research project. Open University Press Borg, W. and Gall, M. (1983). Educational research. Longman Bryman ,A.(2008). Social research methods. Oxford Coles, A and McGrath, J. (2010). Your education research project handbook. Edinburgh: Longman Pring ,R. (2000).Philosophy of educational research. London: Continuum Punch, K.F (2005). Introduction to social research. Quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Thomas,G. (2009). How to do your research project. London: Sage Read More