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Research Methods-Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed methods

Method · July 2016

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 HORIZONS UNIVERSITY

PARIS

DOCTORATE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (DBA)

Assignment submitted by:

TECHO VINCENT POWOH

COURSE: DBA674

ESSAY1: Research Methods

FACILITATOR: Dr. Haan

July 3, 2016
 Research Methods

Techo Vincent Powoh

Horizons University

Author Note

Techo Vincent Powoh, Doctorate of Business Administration student, HU

This paper was submitted as “Essay 1” for the course “DBA674: Quantitative and

Qualitative Methods”.

Correspondence concerning this essay should be addressed to Techo Vincent Powoh,

Horizons University, Paris.

 Table of Contents

Quantitative Research Method............................................................................................ 2

Qualitative Research Method.............................................................................................. 3

Mixed Research Method ..................................................................................................... 4

Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 5

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 6

References ........................................................................................................................... 7
 Research Methods

As described in Kowalczyk (2016), researchers have a choice of three basics

methods to choose from when carrying out business research, depending on a number of

factors involved in the research. On the one hand, the researcher may use a quantitative

research method to test hypotheses and make predictions by using measured amounts and

ultimately describe an event by using figures. This method enables the researcher to use

numbers in statistical tests to ensure that the results have a statistical relationship, and

uses numbers to explain their findings. On the other hand, the researcher may use a

qualitative research method in which they describe the kind and quality of a subject while

interpreting and attempting to understand an event. This method enables the researcher

to use texts to explain their findings. Through this research method, the audience is given

a mental picture of what the researcher is seeing, making it difficult to quantify results

with statistical procedures. Also, a researcher may choose to employ a mixed method in

which the researcher uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to

completely describe an event. With mixed methods, biases characteristically associated

with one method (quantitative or qualitative) are thought to cancel out (Creswell, 2003).

According to Creswell (2003) the decision of what method a researcher employs depends

on (a) the research problem, (b) the researcher’s experience, (c) the reporting audience,

(d) whether the researcher wants to specify the kind of information to be collected or let it

arise from the data being collected, and (e) whether data to be collected is numeric or text

(Creswell, 2003). In this paper, I intend to briefly compare and contrast the three

research methods above, identify which method is preferable under what circumstances,

and relate my own philosophy of business research to these methods.

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 Quantitative Research Method

Quantitative research methods are those methods in which numbers are used to

explain findings (Kowalczyk, 2016). The research procedures are through “experiments”

and “quasi-experiments”,with collected data being statistical (Creswell, 2003, p. 13;

Maxwell & Delaney, 2004 ). Using numbers implies that the researcher has to have a

good knowledge of both descriptive and inferential statistical parameters, such as

calculations and interpretations of standard deviations, ANOVA, correlations, etc. CRQ

(2015a) explains that the general purpose of quantitative research is to explain, predict or

investigate relationships, describe current conditions, or examine possible impacts on

specified outcomes. A good quantitative method analysis follows the procedure

described in Maxwell & Delaney (2004).The researcher is not a part of the research

instruments and close ended questions are used. According to Creswell (2003), the

knowledge being researched is “conjectural” (p. 7), meaning that there is no absolute

truth of it. Quantitative research methods would be used in situations in which the

researcher wants to study how a specified variable affects another, disregarding the

effects of other variables. Such a method is suitable in the sciences, and quantitative

methods have been use in the sciences for a really long time compared to the other

research methods (Creswell, 2003). This research method is advocated by the

“positivists” and therefore may be referred to as the “scientific method” (Creswell, 2003,

p. 6). Such a research method when used in the social sciences would be used to test

hypotheses. Creswell ( 2003) asserts that with quantitative research the researcher starts

with a theory, collects data that either supports or contradicts the theory, makes revisions,

and conducts additional tests. The advantages of quantitative research methods are that it

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draws conclusions for large numbrs of people, it employs efficient data analysis, it

examines probable cause and effect, bias is controlled , and people generally like

numbers. Its limitations are that it is impersonal, the words of the participants are not

heard, there is limited understanding of the context of participants, and it is largely

research driven (Creswell, 2013).

Qualitative Research Method

Contrary to quantitative research methods, qualitative research methods have been

in existence only for a few decades (Creswell, 2003). Rather than use numbers,

qualitative research methods use descriptive procedures to generate meaning and

understanding of the phenomenon being studied (CRQ, 2015b). In this research method,

the researcher may be a part of the research instruments. For example, a social sciences

the researcher would actively interact with the people they are studying. Open ended

questions are used, rather than closed ended in quantitative methods. According to

Creswell (2003), “qualitative research is largely inductive, with the inquirer generating

meaning from the data collected in the field” (p. 9). This method could be employed if

the researcher is not certain of which variables to control (Creswell, 2003). Therefore

qualitative research methods would be useful in cases where the researcher wishes to

gather a general (not specific) idea from the subjects, the goal being to explore, interpret

and describe a situation. The advantages of qualitative research methods include (a) it

provides a detailed perspective of a few people, (b) the voices of participants can be

heard, (c) the context of participants can be understood, (d) it is built from views of

participants, not researcher, and (e) people like stories. Its limitations are its limited

generalisability, data is not as hard as numbers, few people are studied, it is highly

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interpretive, and there is reliance on participants which minimizes the researcher’s

expertise (Creswell, 2013). Table 1 compares the two types of research methods

described.

Mixed Research Method

Mixed research methods is relatively new and still under development (Creswell,

2003). A mixed method combines quantitative and qualitative methods in the same study

in order to get a full understanding of the phenomenon under study. Thus a mixed

research method usually results in profounder research due to its “methodological

pluralism or eclecticism” (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p. 14). Creswell (2013)

opines that mixed research methods are quite new and developing in the health and social

sciences, and involves combining both statistical trends and stories to study human and

social problems. The main assumption is that when an inquirer combines both

quantitative and qualitative methods, it provides a better understanding of the problem

than using either method alone. In Creswell (2003) this research method is likened to

pragmatism and it is stressed that “mixed methods researchers look to many approaches

to collecting and analyzing data rather than subscribing to only one way… using both

quantitative and qualitative data in order to provide the best understanding of a research

problem.” (Creswell, 2003, p. 12). Mixed methods research, therefore, can be very useful

in getting a deep understanding of any research. However, given that mixed research

method requires more time and effort than either of qualitative or quantitative methods, it

is imperative that this method be used only for that research in which a profound

understanding of the phenomenon is of great importance to the researcher. In a business

4
setting, mixed research would be more costly and should be used only when the research

result would be very useful to the organisation.

Discussion

In this section it would be of necessity to summarise the different research

methods discussed above, and then discuss some actual applications. In particular, I will

refer to one or more study(s) I conducted and discuss how some of the methods above

were applied and applications of the “key considerations to planning your business

research” (McNamara, n.d.). Table 1 presents a summary of the differences between

qualitative and quantitative research methods as describes in the pages above.

Table 1: Comparing qualitative and quantitative research methods

Source: CRQ (2015b)

Dimension Qualitative Quantitative

Quality or meaning of
Focus Quantity, frequency, magnitude
experience

Constructivism,
Philosophical roots Positivism
interpretivism
Understand, describe,
Goals Predict, control, confirm, test
discover
Design
Flexible, evolving, emergent Structured, predetermined
characteristics
External instruments: tests,
Data collection Researcher as instrument
surveys, etc.
Question types Open ended Closed ended

5
 As mentioned in CRQ (2015b), qualitative research data could come from

interviews, focus groups, observations or documents. In my particular study which was

reported as the final project for the course DBA 658, I collected data from documents and

analysed them both qualitatively and quantitatively to draw conclusions on effective

MNC staffing strategies across different world regions (Powoh, 2016). It, therefore,

would not be an overstatement to conclude that my study was a mixed research method,

though a shallow one, since I was not quite informed of research methodologies at that

moment. In that research I also made use (unawares) of the “key considerations to

designing your research” (McNamara, n.d.), since I basically answered all the eight

questions posed in the article.

Conclusion

Research methods can either be quantitative, qualitative or mixed. A mixed

method combines both qualitative and quantitative elements to produce a better research

quality by eliminating the biases inherent to either quantitative or qualitative methods

alone. Should a researcher prefer to incline more on quantitative or qualitative methods,

their choice should depend on the nature of the phenomenon being studied, what they

want to know about the phenomenon, and their goals. It should, however, be noted that a

research can neither be purely quantitative nor purely qualitative as there will always be

some elements of both.

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 References

Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method

approaches. London: Sage Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). What is mixed methods research [video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OaNiTlpyX8

CRQ. (2015a). Overview of quantitative research methods [video file]. Center for

Research Quality. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwU8as9ZNlA

CRQ. (2015b). Overview of qualitative research methods [video file]. Center for Research

Quality. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAUNs-IoSQ

Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research

paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher, 14-26. Retrieved from

http://mintlinz.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/83256376/Johnson%20Mixed%20metho

ds%202004.pdf

Kowalczyk, D. (2016). Research methodologies: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed

methods [video file]. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/research-

methodologies-quantitative-qualitative-mixed-method.html

Maxwell, S. E., & Delaney, H. D. (2004). Designing experiments and analyzing data : A

model comparison (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

McNamara, C. (n.d.). Basic Advice About Planning Your Research. Retrieved from

Managementhelp.org: http://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/planning.htm

Powoh, T. V. (2016). International staffing: Strategic considerations for different world regions.

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