CAPÍTULO DECIMOPRIMERO

So, how do you decide which is the best methodology for your research? Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to decide first of all whether you should consider qualitative or quantitative research. Have another look at the five ‘Ws’ discussed in Chapter 1. If you have not already done so, go through each question in relation to your own research. Once you have done this, clues will start to emerge about what is the best form of inquiry for you.

First of all, have a look at the words you have used. Certain words help to suggest a leaning towards qualitative research, others towards quantitative research. For example, if you have written ‘how many’, ‘test’, ‘verify’, ‘how often’ or ‘how satisfied’, this suggests a leaning towards quantitative research. If you have written words such as ‘discover’, ‘motivation’, ‘experiences’, ‘think/thoughts’, ‘problems’, or ‘behave/behaviour’, this suggests a leaning towards qualitative research.

However, you may find that you have written a combination of these words which could mean two things. Firstly, you might want to think about combining both qualitative and quantitative research, which is called triangulation. Many researchers believe this is a good way of approaching research as it enables you to counteract the weaknesses in both qualitative and quantitative research. Secondly, it could mean that your ideas are still unclear and that you need to focus a little more.

decisions, let’s return to the exercise given in the previous chapter:

E

2

R

Original statement 1: This research aims to find out what people think about television.

After having thought about how to focus her topic, make the project more manageable and produce a worthwhile piece of research, the researcher came up with the following revised statement:

Revised statement 1: This research aims to find out what primary school teachers think about the educational value of ‘TheTeletubbies’ television programme.

This research topic is now well-focused.When the student suggested this research it was also very topical ^ The Teletubbies had been released only four weeks prior to the research and complaints about their language were filling the national media. The main clue to the methodology is the word ‘think’. The student wishes to get an in-depth opinion, but is not concerned with speaking to a large number of primary school teachers. This suggests a qualitative form of inquiry.

Original statement 2: My project is to do some research into Alzhei- mer’s disease, to find out what people do when their relatives have it and what support they can get and how nurses deal with it.

This researcher decided to narrow down his topic. Also, he found out some more information about whether his research needed to go to a Research Ethics Committee by checking out the website www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk. This site gives details about the

committees, a list of meeting dates, guidance notes and application forms for those researchers interested in putting forward a proposal. More information can be obtained from National Research Ethics Service (NRES), National Patient Safety Agency, 4–8 Maple Street, London W1T 5HD. Tel: 020 7927 9898. Fax: 020 7927 9899. Email@ [email protected]. Website: www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk.

Revised statement 2: The aim of this research is to find out how many relatives of Alzheimer’s patients use the Maple Day Centre, and to ascertain whether the service is meeting their needs.

Again this topic is now much better focused. The research population is limited to relatives of Alzheimer ’s patients who use the Maple Day Centre. One clue to the methodology is in the words ‘how many’ which suggests a quantitative study. However, he is also interested in finding out whether the service meets their needs, which requires some more in-depth inquiry.This suggests a combination of qualitative and quantitative inquiry.

Original statement 3: We want to find out how manyof the local resi- dents are interested in a play scheme for children during the summer holiday.

The tenants’ association thought carefully about the issues in which they were interested, eventually coming up with the following revised statement:

Revised statement 3: This research aims to find out how many people from our estate are interested in, and would use, a children’s play scheme in the school summer holiday.

Again, the clue in this example is ‘how many’. The tenants’ association wanted to obtain funding for their play scheme and felt that it was important to gather statistics which they could

take to possible funding organisations. This suggests a quanti- tative study.

S

& The research methodology is the philosophy or general principle which guides the research.

& Research methods are the tools you use to gather your data.

& Qualitative research explores attitudes, behaviour and experi- ences.

& Examples of qualitative methodologies include action research, ethnography, feminist research and grounded theory.

& Quantitative research generates statistics through the use of large-scale survey research.

& Neither qualitative nor quantitative research is better – they are just different. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

& Your own intuition and the words you use will give pointers to whether qualitative or quantitative research is more appro- priate for your chosen project.

& The term ‘triangulation’ is used when a combination of qualitative and quantitative forms of inquiry are used.

F

The theoretical and philosophical issues raised in this chapter are detailed and complex and cannot be discussed in depth in this

book. However, if you wish to pursue any of these topics, some of the useful publications are listed below under the relevant topics.