Question

Topic: PSY 635 Week 3 Discussion Reply to Jacklyn’s Post Philosophical Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms and Approaches

Details: Week 3 Discussion Philosophical Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms and Approaches

Respond to at least one peer who recommended a different qualitative design or paradigm than you did. Describe how your chosen paradigm might or might not be compatible with your colleague’s proposed research design. Evaluate your colleague’s identified ethical issues and suggest any additional concerns his or her design and/or paradigm might generate. Consider the explanation of the differences between the quantitative and qualitative research approaches your colleague has provided. Suggest any differences between the two approaches which were not included in your colleague’s initial post. How might these differences affect the interpretation of the findings of the research? (SEE JACKLYN POST BELOW).
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Jacklyn Campbell Post

Qualitative Research & Comparison of the Characteristics of the Methods & Designs

After reviewing this week’s material, I have discovered many designs within qualitative research. Nollaig Frost describes qualitative research methodology within psychological research in the course textbook. Frost mentions and lists four methods including the Grounded Theory (GT), Discourse Analysis, Interpretive Phenomenal Analysis (IPA), and Narrative Analysis (Frost, 2011, p.4). In psychological research, the Grounded Theory asks what is happening, as well as how, and why, the Discourse Analysis asks how the language is used within the research, as well as what is said and why, the Interpretive Phenomenal Analysis (IPA) asks how a person interprets the world around them, and is curious on the overall meanings of this interpretation on an individual level, while the Narrative Analysis is much like the IPA method, except holds the interview process at a much higher value, in order to get individual stories of how the person interprets and explains their unique perspective (Frost, 2011, p.4).

Recommendation

The scenario for this week involves instructors as well as their own students and introduces an intervention that is meant to further engage students in the activities and discussion within their course. The goal is to have a classroom of more involved students. Instructors are conducting an experiment that asks the following questions: how do the students feel about the interventions and how do they interpret the use as well as the influence of the intervention regarding their personal and individual learning? In order to receive the most honest answers from students regarding the effectiveness of an intervention chosen by their instructor, I believe the Narrative Analysis approach would be the most effective, along with the Interpretive Phenomenal Analysis. These methods are important to the research study because it focuses on the feelings of the individual toward the independent variable of the research: the intervention, usually by personable face-to-face interviews. The reason I added the IPA research method, is to include not only the feelings toward the intervention but focuses on the interpretation of the feelings as well (Frost, 2011, p.4).
Paradigms in Research According to Ponterotto

In our required readings for this week, Ponterotto describes the distinct differences in characteristics between qualitative and quantitative research and its methods and designs. According to Ponterotto and his preferred classification, four research paradigms include: positivism, post-positivism, constructivism-interpretivism, and the critical-ideological perspective. Of these four paradigms, positivism is the exclusive province of quantitative research; however, the other three paradigms can all serve as anchors for qualitative research (2010, p. 581). Regarding the realities of the research, Ponterotto describes the post-positivism research paradigm as having only one true approximal reality, the constructivism-interpretivism research paradigm as having multiple, equal, valid, and socially constructed realities, and the critical-ideological research paradigm as an “apprehendable reality shaped by political, economic, and social factors (Ponterotto, 2013, p. 582).

Ethical Considerations and Potential Instructor’s Assumptions for the Scenario

When using qualitative research methods, one must consider all ethical considerations. First and foremost, if instructors are conducting a research where it involves human research subjects, informed consent must be given. It was not mentioned in the scenario listed, if informed consent was given before or after the research and must be given the circumstances of the study. Also, if an instructor is interviewing their own students on the opinion and interpretations of the feelings toward the said intervention, a student could possibly give an answer that they believe their instructors want to hear, especially if they could possibly be graded on this. Also, wan assumption that the instructors would need to put aside would be the involvement of the students during a specific time in their lives. For example, a student may be normally a very involved student, giving more responses than needed weekly in discussion posts, however, during this specific course, could be sick, or taking care of a sick loved one in the household. When conducting inline research, the researchers does not have insight into the environment of the subject in their homes, only their online presence.

References

Frost, N. (2011). Qualitative research methods in psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Ponterotto, J. G. (2013). Qualitative research in multicultural psychology: Philosophical underpinnings, popular approaches, and ethical considerations. Qualitative Psychology, 1(S), 19–32. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1037/2326-3598.1.S.19 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Waite, D. (2002). “The Paradigm Wars” in Educational Administration: An Attempt at Transcendence. International Studies in Educational Administration, 30(1), 66.

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