Research Worksheet 2

In your last worksheet, you focused mostly on doing archival, historical, and general research. There are other research methodologies that are used by a variety of disciplines and involve different sorts of data collection. The focus of this worksheet will be Qualitative and Quantitative research approaches and data collection. As with the previous worksheet, you each are individually responsible for finding out the information (doing the research) and answering each of these questions, though you can collaborate on finding that information in your research team. Question 4 is, again, a group project (though you may opt to do it individually).  You should explain how you designed your surveys/interviews and what your research question was. Your answer should make it clear that you consulted guides and sources for advice on designing good data collection instruments.

1. Identify a general topic or question that is of interest to you. Write a brief description of how someone might do research on that topic using primary sources and historical archives.

2.  What is “Quantitative Research”? A variety of disciplines and fields use quantitative research, so provide examples of several different uses of this research approach. How is data collected? Provide concrete examples of quantitative research designs and types of specific data that would be collected and analyzed. Cite sources, but explain as much as possible in your own words.

3. Write a separate essay (or you may combine the two) about “Qualitative Research”. Discuss the differences between the two approaches as well as the limitations of each.  Define your terms, including (but NOT limited to) such things as “instruments,” “sample size,” “reliability,” “generalizability.”

4. Design a small research project that utilizes both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Consult a source on creating and conducting surveys and interviews based on a specific research question. Create those instruments and collect the data.  You can collaboratively write up your response to this question, and should include a copy of the instruments.

5. Individually, analyze your data from question 4. Write up a report of your findings that includes a brief “Methodology” section, “Findings”, and “Conclusions.” (You will want to look at some models of such research write-ups to help you write up your own report.)