Critical Analytical Skills of Qualitative Investigation - Literature review Example

Assessment one: Critical Analytical Skills According to Yates (137), qualitative research describes life from the view point of the study participants in the research. For instance, a qualitative research conducted by Cattan, White, Bond, and Learmouth in 2005, aimed at proving the effectiveness of various interventions in alleviating and preventing loneliness and social isolation among older people. On the other hand, quantitative research involves asking participants for their opinions in a structured way in order to gain facts and statistics. This includes use of surveys, and questionnaires among others. For example, a quantitative research done by the Australian Communications and Media Authority in 2009, on the use of online social media by young Australians aimed at collecting information on the role online social media in the lives of young Australians. The qualitative research conducted by Cattan et al in 2005, in Canada and the United States, was a randomized controlled trial. It involved 30 studies, which were grouped as n=17, for group, n=10 for one to one, n=3 for service provision, and n=1 for community development. Data collection involved searching electronic databases, abstracts, contacting key informants, and use of journal (Cattan et al 5). The study proved that only certain group interventions such as social and educational activity, which target certain groups, are capable of alleviating loneliness and social isolation among older people. However, according to Cattan et al. (5), interventions such as befriending and visiting were still no clear. The quantitative study conducted by ACMA in 2005, in Australia on the use of internet by young Australians involved 819 young Australians aged between 8 and 17 years along with their parents. The research methodology involved three questionnaires for the young Australians aged 12 to 17 years, their parents, and another for children aged 8 to eleven years. The process of answering these questionnaires was expected to take approximately fifteen minutes with separate sessions for young Australian and parent. The study revealed that children aged 8 to 11 years used the internet on average of 4.1 days per week for about 1.3 hours a day while young people aged 12 to 17 years use the internet at an average of 2.9 hours a day on an average of 6.3 days a week (ACMA 12). Moreover, the study revealed that only 1% of children aged 8 and 9 years experienced cyber bullying while this percentage increased to19% of young people aged 16 and 17 years. Thus, the researchers noticed that the incidence of cyber bullying increased with aged especially between the ages of 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13 years from 1% to 10% to 16%, respectively. According to Hennink, Huttler and Bailey (6), interpretivism is the underlying paradigm of qualitative research while positivism is the underlying paradigm for quantitative research. For this reason, the differences brought about by the underlying assumptions of quantitative and qualitative research show that the two approaches are quite different (Hennik et al 6). This is with regard to the methods of data collection in each approach, objectives, study population, outcome, as well as analysis. Thus, the two quantitative and qualitative researches discussed above are different especially in the methods used to collect data. For the qualitative research conducted by Cattan et al, research methodology included the use of electronic databases, abstracts, contacting key informants, and use of journal. The electronic databases used included Medline, EMBASE, ASSIS, BIDS SCI and SSCI, SweMed, CINAHL and PsychoInfo (Cattan et al 3). Also, Academic Search Elite, FirstSearch, LILACS and SIGLE, electronic databases were used. Moreover, data was also collected manually from journal, books, abstracts, indexes, and the field experts were contacted. Cattan et al (3) argues that the search terms were grouped into five groups: population group, problem, prevention, intervention, and the article type. However, other alternative methods such as in-depth interview with older people and group discussions could have been used to find how older people felt about social isolation and methods of intervention. However, the methods for collection data in qualitative research are different from the ones used in quantitative research. The research methodology employed in the quantitative research conducted by ACMA involved the use of questionnaires. This involved three different questionnaires for each group i.e. for children aged eight to eleven years, for young people aged twelve to seventeen and their parents. Each questionnaire consisted topics such as the role of the internet, its significance, attitudes in the use of social networks, among others (ACMA 21). Moreover, according to Neuman (6) quantitative research methods require the use larger numbers than in qualitative research, although users of the study results should be careful with the limitations of all the sample techniques. Other alternative methods such as opinion polls, exit interviews could have been used in this research. The two researches have answered the ‘so what’ question as seen in the results. The qualitative research shows that only a few of the proposed interventions are capable of alleviating loneliness and social isolation in older people. The quantitative research revealed that the internet is an essential part of the daily lives of many children, as well as young people in school and at home. Therefore, as much as people believe that the internet is not appropriate for children, it helps to connect with the real world through online social networks. Nevertheless, parental monitoring and supervision of children’s internet activities is recommended in order to be informed about their children’s behavior on the internet and for security, as well. In conclusion, Kalof (5) states that qualitative research describes life from study participants’ point of view in the research while quantitative research involves asking participants for their opinions in a structured way in order to gain facts and statistics. As discussed earlier, the research conducted by Cattan et al, is a qualitative research while that conducted by ACMA is a quantitative research. Hence, the differences in the two approaches are brought about by the underlying paradigms of quantitative and qualitative research (John 3). For this reason, the two approaches have different objectives, research methodologies, and study populations among others (Hancke 7). Works Cited Australian Communication and Media Authority. Click and connect: Young Australians’ use of online social media. The Australian Government. 2009. Print. Cattan, Mima, White, Martin, Bond, John and Learmouth, Alison. Preventing social isolation & loneliness among older people: a systematic review of health promotion interventions. Ageing & Society. Vol. 25, pp.41-67. 2005. Print. Hancke, Bob. The challenge of research design. In D. Marsh and G. Stoker (eds), Theory and Methods in Political Science (third edition). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2010. Print. Hennik, Monique, Hutter, Inge and Bailey, A. Qualitative Research Methods. Los Angeles: Sage. 2011. Print. John, Peter. Quantitative Methods. In D. Marsh and Gerry Stoker (eds), Theory and Methods in Political Science (third edition). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2010. Print. Kalof, Linda, Amy Dan. and Thomas, Dietz. Essentials in Social Research. Oxford: Open University Press. 2008. Print. Neuman, Lawrence. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (sixth edition). New York: Pearson Longman. 2006. Print. Yates, Simeon. Doing Social Science Research. London: Sage. 2004. Print. Read More