Discussion:
Test Scores: Qualitative Research Interpretation
Assume the role of a chief researcher for the state Department of Education who is examining two groups with similar educational deficiencies. One group involved in the study is a rural, ethnically-defined, aboriginal group with a high rate of health issues including diabetes, vision impairment, and heart disease. The other group is also a rural group living on family-owned farms (as opposed to corporate farms) that are in severe decline as a result of years of decreasing rainfall and drought. Both groups exhibit achievement test scores that are more than one standard deviation below the mean at all grade levels, and excessive high school drop-out rates. address the use of qualitative research as a means of studying the two groups in the scenario.
1. What is a rationale for using qualitative research methods instead of quantitative research.
2. What is a statement of how the worldviews and paradigms of the researcher may create bias when applying qualitative research to the given scenario.