Quantitative Methods
Focus on numbers as opposed to text Even textual information is converted to numbers Purpose: Describe situations/events/contexts (can be done in any study) Look for connections/relationships between/among variables (should be limited to studies with random samples)
Quantitative Methods Options Tests Surveys & Structured/Formal Interviews Content Analysis Transaction Log Analysis Bibliometrics/ Citation Analysis
Tests If they have factual right/wrong answers Can be “scored” objectively Can be used to measure knowledge, retention, changes in knowledge Criticized as being “reductive” and “inauthentic”
Surveys (Remember me?) Any information that can be reduced to numbers (i.e. any responses that are not free-text/ open comment) Used to measure satisfaction, service quality, awareness, preferences, demographics, use, user needs etc.
Content Analysis Studying textual documentation (or images, audio, etc.) for patterns and themes through counts/frequencies: Number of times a word appears Number of variations of a word Frequency of word across documents/ databases, etc.
Quantitative: Transaction Log Analysis Quantitative study of user behavior as exhibited through computer logs Domains (.gov,.edu,.com) “Hits” Paths followed Time spent (searching, viewing, downloading) Errors Applications used Could be applied to circulation, ILL, web pages, databases, etc.
Quantitative: Bibliometrics Quantitative study of literature Patterns of publishing within a field or body of literature Quantitative study of information associated with published works: authorship, publishers, citations