Instructions on Executing Combined Quantitative and Qualitative Research Approaches
"Let's dive into the world of mixed methods research, specifically focusing on the explanatory sequential design!"
Introduction
This design combines the power of quantitative and qualitative data, but it breaks the process into two phases: the first being quantitative analysis followed by qualitative exploration of the quantitative results. This design shines when researchers need deeper insights to explain puzzling or significant findings from their quantitative data.
Why Choose This Approach?
Research problems are often quantitatively oriented, with clear key variables and accessible quantitative instruments. With this design, a researcher can investigate their question using quantitative methods first, and then employ qualitative techniques to delve deeper into potential outlier data points, curious results, or noteworthy trends.
Philosophical Foundations
This design mortgages the best of both worlds, switching philosophical stances according to the research needs. The quantitative phase relies on postpositivism, emphasizing observation and measurable phenomena. The qualitative phase, on the other hand, embraces constructivism, focusing on subjective understanding and rich, contextual insights.
How to Embark on an Explanatory Sequential Design
- Phase One: Quantitative Strategy Begin by formulating your study's quantitative research question and employing a suitable quantitative approach that aligns with your objectives. Next, identify and assemble a representative sample for collection.
- Analysis and Results Gather your data through surveys, experiments, or datasets, aiming to identify patterns, relationships, or peculiarities. Analyze your results to highlight key findings.
- Phase Two: Qualitative Strategy Based on the insight from your quantitative analysis, select which quantitative findings deserve further exploration in the qualitative study. Use qualitative methods like semi-structured interviews, focus groups, or open-ended questionnaires to dive deeper into the data.
- Integrate Your Findings Compare and combine your insights from both phases. Discuss the ways that the qualitative insights explain the quantitative findings, ultimately offering a cohesive narrative.
Pros and Cons
Pros: - Appeals to quantitative researchers with a solid quantitative foundation. - Straightforward and efficient structure, separating data collection and analysis into distinguishable stages. - Suitable for individual researchers due to the sequential nature of the design. - Simple report writing and presentation. - Facilitates flexible research approaches, allowing for changes based on the initial quantitative findings.
Cons: - Time-consuming due to the distinct data collection and analysis phases. - Institutional Review Board approval can be challenging when participant selection for the second phase depends on the initial findings. - Identifying intriguing quantitative findings for further investigation requires careful consideration. - Selecting participants for the qualitative phase requires strategic choices to ensure rich explanations.
Exemplary Study
A study by Igo, Riccomini, Bruning, and Pope (2006) provided insights into how text ideas are affected when students with learning disabilities (LD) take notes from web-based text. The study used the explanatory sequential design to compare three note-taking methods, identify differences, and explore students' preferences based on their experiences.
In Conclusion
The explanatory sequential design offers a structured approach to integrating quantitative and qualitative data in mixed methods research. By beginning with a quantitative phase, we establish broad trends, test hypotheses, and identify peculiarities that require further exploration. Followed by the qualitative phase, we gain deeper insights into these peculiarities, helping to explain unexpected findings and refine interpretations. This design is particularly valuable for studies that require quantitative data to inform purposeful sampling for a qualitative phase. Embrace its structured approach, and harness the power of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to achieve a comprehensive understanding of your research problem.
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- During the process of self-development and learning, employing the explanatory sequential design in education-and-self-development research can provide a comprehensive understanding of puzzling or significant findings that arise from quantitative data, by first using quantitative methods to investigate, then following up with qualitative support to delve deeper into potential outliers or noteworthy trends.
- To ensure success in a mixed methods research project, it's advisable to provide coding and technical support, as the design often relies on both quantitative and qualitative instruments like surveys, interviews, and datasets.
- Researchers and students alike can greatly benefit from educational materials on mixed methods research and the explanatory sequential design, which often incorporate mixed methods, learning, and support to develop a deeper understanding of the methods and their applications in various research contexts.
