Question: Compare the characteristics of appropriate research designs and recommend a qualitative research design that would facilitate answering the instructors' additional questions.
The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring you will effectively address the research problem. Research designs should be appropriate for the questions being asked and should address any important potential sources of bias. It also should have a pre-specified research plan or protocol. This is mainly because study design may eventually be made available to others.
The appropriate research designs in comparison are Grounded Theory Approach (GT), Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), Discourse Analysis Approach, Participatory action research (PAR), and Consensual qualitative research (CQR) and Narrative Analysis Approaches. Grounded Theory is used to study action and interaction (Frost, 2011, p. 16). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is used to study experiences of some personal significance-such as a major life event, or the development of an important relationship (Frost, 2011, p. 44).
Discourse Analysis Approach is used to study discourse, writing, conversation, communicative events (Frost, 2011, p. 66). Narrative Analysis Approach covers a multitude of methods that are collected from participants (Frost, 2011, p. 92). Participatory action research is an approach to research in communities that emphasizes participation and action (Ponterotto, 2010, p. 586). Consensual qualitative research involves descriptive interview transcripts of a participant's feelings and thoughts (Ponterotto, 2010, p. 585).
The qualitative research design I recommend is the Grounded Theory Approach on the instructors two additional research questions: (a) How do their students actually feel about the intervention? and (b) How do students view the influence of the intervention on their learning inside and outside of the classroom (if applicable)? I choose this design because it is based of action and interaction.
Explain the philosophical paradigm underlying the recommended approach. Evaluate the required articles for this week and describe the assumptions the instructors might have to set aside as they enter into a qualitative research study.
I believe the assumption will be that the instructors think the students will be honest with them and tell them how they truly feel. It put you in the mind of the end of the class surveys. The survey asks you questions about would you recommend someone to the class or recommend the teacher. Was the class information engaging, etc.? Do you have any comments on how to make the class better. The surveys are confidential, and the instructors do not know which students are completing them.
Be sure to identify any ethical issues that may apply to the research. Review the characteristics of the quantitative approach you described in the Week Two discussion.
I believe since these are two new questions, the instructors should get informed consent from the students. Instructors also should keep in mind that other students may not want other participants to know their information or to be openly discussed. For week two, I suggested the pretest-posttest design be the best fit for this scenario because the participants were chosen randomly to the control and experimental groups.
Explain the ways in which the quantitative approach and paradigm differs from the qualitative approach and paradigm you have recommended here.
The paradigm will assist as a guide to the researcher to an appropriate qualitative inquiry approach, directing the course and methods of the study, and promoting a careful evaluation of the quality of the study (Ponterotto, 2010, p. 584). Quantitative is standardized and numerical; qualitative is non-standardized, narrative, and ongoing. Positivism is the exclusive province of quantitative research and postpositivism, constructivism-interpretivism, and the critical-ideological perspective are anchors for qualitative research (Ponterotto, 2010, p. 581).
Reference: Frost, N. (2011). Qualitative research methods in psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Ponterotto, J. G. (2013). Qualitative research in multicultural psychology: Philosophical underpinnings, popular approaches, and ethical considerations. Qualitative Psychology, 1(S), 19-32. doi:10.1037/2326-3598.1.S.19