Tip 3: limitations
Make sure you have time, resources, and opportunities to complete your research. Research methods differ on many levels: some are time-consuming while others may turn out to be very expensive. It is important to make the decision to select a research method only after considering these limitations (and the specific limitations of each method). Note that observation or interviews (that is, qualitative methods) gather a wealth of research material, but these take time. With surveys, the data you need may be collected quickly, but might be lacking in detail. Hence you need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each method, and know how to ask to get the data that interests you.
Exercise 3
Read the following fragment of a report from a qualitative research, the aim of which was “a multi-faceted analysis of participation in the culture of deaf people, taking into account barriers and opportunities created within the institutional environment” (Krakowska Fundacja ... 2014: 5). Note how the authors describe their choice of the research method – that of focus group interview (the so-called focus study).
The choice (...) was dictated by the specificity of the research problem (Objective 2: Defining the profile of participation of deaf people in culture). The data collected through focus interviews allows for a more in-depth analysis than is the case with quantitative techniques. Focus groups also have an advantage over individual interviews, as they allow for obtaining more varied results. Thanks to the focus, it is possible to collect a wide range of data (in this research: motivations, attitudes, barriers to participation in culture). (...) The use of the focus interview technique is particularly justified in research on deaf artists, because in this case we are dealing with a group of experts. Discussions in expert circles very often generate new solutions and allow for noticing otherwise elusive aspects of the problem under consideration. Focused group interviews are not only about expressing opinions, but also about generating new ideas: in some contexts, they are similar to the activities of creative groups. Therefore – in the context of researching deaf artists – they seem to be a much more effective technique than collecting isolated statements of respondents (IDI interviews).
Source: „Między Uszami” Krakowska Fundacja Rozwoju Edukacji Niesłyszących im. Marka Mazurka (2014). Raport z wywiadów przeprowadzanych w grupach fokusowych. Kraków.
Tip 2: Intuition and experience
Be careful not to fall into the trap of a superficial evaluation of which method is better or worse. It is not that quantitative research is better than qualitative research, and vice versa. Both types of research methods have their own strengths and weaknesses. They are different, and some methods may be more or less appropriate for your research problem.
As a novice researcher, you may try to find your way; your instincts will likely tell you that you will be better off choosing a quantitative or qualitative method. It is good to trust your instincts in this matter, because choosing the right research method can significantly affect your productivity. Allow yourself to be also guided by experience: not only by your own (because you may have little), but by other people’s. Start by rereading the literature. Look for studies whose authors tackle research problems similar to yours and read in particular those fragments where the authors describe their methodological approach and research procedures. Check how they explain their choice of a research method, what limitations they encountered during their research, as well as what advantages and disadvantages of the method used are described. Perhaps one of the studies will be inspiring to you, and the researchers' method will also be within your reach.
Don't forget that as an early-stage researcher you can count on the support of your teacher or supervisor. Their experience will help you choose the best research method for your project.
Tip 1: Research questions
Research questions are the main guidelines for choosing a research method. They determine whether you should use quantitative or qualitative method. Note that research methods are characterized by their ability to solve specific research problems or on the contrary, their inability to solve other problems. For example, the survey method is great for describing trends, attitudes, or opinions of the population (based on the research sample), but it does not provide the researcher with an in-depth perspective of the surveyed people, which can be achieved by using the qualitative method. When choosing a research method, the researcher should consider the possibility of its application to a specific set of research data and its ability to verify research hypotheses.
Let’s suppose that in your research project you asked the following question: How often do students at Warsaw universities who come from outside of Warsaw face discrimination due to their place of origin? We can also formulate a research hypothesis: The majority of people coming from outside Warsaw and studying at Warsaw universities faced discrimination due to their place of origin. Therefore, you plan to reach out to the people who are currently studying in Warsaw, but were born and raised outside Warsaw, and then check how often they have faced discrimination. The key phrase in your question is how often. It implies that you should use a quantitative method (this is also confirmed by the hypothesis, assuming that it is the majority). Moreover, the question shows that all the students from outside of Warsaw are the population of interest. Are you able to reach all of them? It is rather unlikely. Therefore, you need to select an appropriate research sample that will allow you to apply the results to the entire population (this process is called generalization and is characteristic of quantitative methods).
Now let's try to modify our example. Imagine that at one of the universities in Warsaw, a group of 9 students decided to set up a student organization called “Together against discrimination based on place of origin”. Therefore, as the name suggests, this organization gathers people who have experienced discrimination. You decide to ask the following research question: How did the experience of discrimination due to your place of origin affect the quality and comfort of their studies? The question is open-ended, which suggests that your attitude as a researcher is similar: you are open to different directions and ways of answering. Should you use a quantitative approach in this case? It seems that issues of interest aren’t measurable (e.g., in terms of quantity, size, intensity, frequency). Moreover, the small population of the study (remember, in our case it is 9 students) does not require the use of a survey (the results of which could turn out to be too general); you can easily try to meet these people and conduct, for example, a focus study or individual in-depth interviews. In this case, the use of one of the qualitative methods seems more useful.
What did we learn from the examples above? When choosing a research method (and then a research technique), we must be guided by research questions (and hypotheses) and the available research material or data (along with the possibilities of obtaining it). When making your choice, consider carefully what research method will allow you to collect appropriate data and then perform a reliable analysis.