1. ADVANCED RESEARCH METHOD: Qualitative and Quantitative Research
SOCI5013: Spring 2004

2. Qualitative versus Quantitative
Qualitative: issues of richness, textual, inductive approach
Quantitative: issues of design, measurement, and sampling, deductive approach

3. Triangulation Triangulation of measures Triangulations of observers
Triangulations of theory
Triangulations of method

4. Qualitative and Quantitative Orientations
Soft data: impressions, words, sentences, photos, symbols, often with qualitative studies
Hard data: numbers, often with quantitative studies
Qualitative studies: interpretative, contexts
Quantitative studies: variables and hypotheses
More women in qualitative?
More men in quantitative?

5. Qualitative Transcendent approach: interpretive and critical
Logic in practice: few set rules, researchers rely on informal wisdom when they get together over lunch or coffee
Very few standardized procedures or terms
You learn by doing, through trail and error, by working in an apprentice role with an experienced scholar.
Thus it is quite difficult for new comers to learn how to do qualitative studies

6. Linear Linear: most quantitative scholars use linear approach
It follows a fixed sequence of steps and goes along direct, narrow and straight path.
It fits western European and North American culture? (a very daring statement)

7. Nonlinear Less direct cyclical path
On the surface, it is disorganized, undefined chaos, and poor-quality research
In the core, it has its own discipline and rigor, trying to pull together divergent information and perspectives.

8. Objectivity and Integrity
Qualitative scholars stay close to their research subjects
Interjecting personal opinions?
Sloppy data collections?
Selective evidences to support biased personal opinion?
To ensure integrity
Qualitative researchers wrote large volume of detailed notes
And/or invite other researchers to verify the authenticity of the data sources

9. Quantitative Research Procedure
Begins with hypothesis testing
Concepts emerged in variable measurement
Measures created, data collected and standardized
Data are numbers
Theories are deductive
Stat and replicable

10. Qualitative Research Procedure
Discover meaning after research analyzed data
Concepts are in themes, generalizations
Measures are in an ad hoc and specific to the setting
Data are in pictures, words, but usually not in numbers
Inductive theory
Research procedure particular and nonreplicable
Results are generalization from evidences to present coherent pictures

11. Evidences in qualitative studies
Photos, videos, words, gestures, tones
Grounded theory
Theory built from the data or grounded in data
Conceptualization and operationalization occur simultaneously with data collection and analyses
Open to, or to a certain degree expecting, unexpected findings

12. Contexts Qualitative researchers look at contexts
Everything happens in contexts: events, actions, conversations, accidents
Removing social contexts significantly distorts the social meanings of those happenings
Instead of counting the votes, researchers may ask what does voting mean in this context.

13. Cases and Process
Rich contextual details and astute insights replace the sophisticated stat method and precise measures
Observe cases over time, examine changes over time
Timing is very important to qualitative researchers

14. Interpretation
Qualitative research entails three-level interpretations
First-level: the meanings of the materials
Second-level: underlying coherence or sense of meaning in the data
Third-level: generalize the meaning to larger population, connect the discovery to the theories that drive the research

15. Quantitative Research
Variation and variables
Independent and dependent variables
Hypothesis and causality
Testing and refining hypothesis
Logic of disconfirming null hypothesis
In favor of alternative hypothesis
Clarity about the units and levels of analysis
Clarity about time sequences
Clarity about causal sequence

16. Traps
Tautology: Sally is conservative because she believes that should be less regulation
Tautology is talking in circle: is a statement true by definition
Teleology: some statements that are extremely vague that renders impossible of empirical test
Because U.S. is destined to be the world major power, tens of thousands of people want to immigrate into U.S.

17. Traps Ecological fallacy: mismatch of units of analysis
It often happens when a research uses aggregated data to infer disaggregated status
A researcher found city neighborhood with high concentration of black residence have higher crime rate than neighborhoods with low concentration of black residence.
He concluded that blacks are more likely to commit crimes than white
What’s the problem with this reasoning?

18. Spurious
Spurious is a seemingly significant relationship between two variables suddenly disappears when controlling for the third variable
Race
Poverty
Education

19. Examples Quantitative: Page 165 see (Musick, Wilson, and Bynum 2000)
Qualitative: Lu and Fine (1995) on page 166