Selection of research method

Draft section of my reflective assignment, based on the blog post ‘A little more action (research) please!’

I have been forced to challenge my own pre-disposition towards quantitative research methods, which was influenced by my physical sciences background. I identified this bias at an early stage in my writing, and found the distinction with qualitative research better defined in my mind by reading the comparisons made by Creswell (2009, Ch.7) and Newby (2010, Ch.3). I also realised that my previous experiences lacked any real involvement in the formal planning of research; my previous projects has always been funded without me having to submit research proposals myself. I decided that qualitative approaches seemed better suited to my context, but it took some time to fully challenge my unconscious habits. I was able to identify possible sources of bias towards theoretical models that I had used (Salmon, 2004).

However it took some additional reading (and re-reading) to fully isolate my unconscious assumptions. After extensive reading about how to create both quantitative and qualitative research proposals, I believed that I had created a set of reasonable questions for qualitative research. My initial research questions were phrased as ‘What effect does...’ and ‘How does...affect...’ Only by revisiting some of the initial reading did I notice that, despite my initial conclusions that qualitative research would be the best approach, that I had automatically designed my questions in a directive way, that would lead to bias towards theory rather than interpreting participants responses from a neutral standpoint.

After some more reading, I was able to present a much more complete and reasoned overview of my research proposal, showing a great deal more thought. This revised research plan fitted much more closely with the principles of action research (Creswell, 2009; Newby, 2010 pp.623-4; O’Brien, 1998), and represents a successful change in my thinking about research.

‘Re-learning means to abolish some toxic assumptions’ (Leonhard, 2013)

References:

• Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. (3rd edition) Sage.
• Leonhard, G. (2013). Beyond the obvious: re-defining the meaning of learning in a networked society. (video online) Available at: https://www.annotag.tv/learningtechnologies/play/18320
• Newby, P. (2010). Research Methods for Education. Pearson Education Limited.
• O'Brien, R. (1998). An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research. (online) Available at: http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/xx%20ar%20final.htm (Accessed March 2013)
• Salmon, G. (2004). e-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. 2nd ed. London: Routledge-Falmer.