The theme
for week 4 seminar was quantitative research
and for this week we read one paper made by Johan Östman, How
involvement in user-generated content relates to democratic engagement among
young people and
one made by Ilias Bergström and some colleagues of him called Drumming in
immersive virtual reality. I
prepared by reading them two and reflected on the different questions. I found
that both text was quite easy to understand but the one made by Östman was
unfortunately not that interesting to me. But the theme was about quantitative
research and for that aspect I found both texts good.
As usual there was a lecture followed by a seminar
which I attended and It was Ilias that held them both. During the lecture Ilias
talked about different methods on how to collect data and the importance of
making sure that you are getting the right kind of data for your question. He
also mentioned on what independent and dependent variable was and gave a good
example:
Independent variable – how many beers will I drink.
Dependent variable – how drunk will I be.
The second one depends on how many I drink
One common way of collecting quantitative data is
by doing questioners. But if you choose to do that it is very important to get
it right, validate it. Make sure that the people that will answer it understands
the questions so that the can answer correctly. This research method was used
in the paper by Östman but like a said in my fist post I never read about the
questioner being tested, so again that was a big mistake if that was the case.
The importance with having solid data is because
data play a fundamental role and is needed to support the logical argument.
Just having data on it own says very little.
The seminar was pretty much the same as usual, we sat in
small groups and discussed the theme of the week. At first we discussed Ilias
text since it was something everyone had read. At first we all got a bit
confused by the fact that Ilias explained that the whole study was
quantitative. This was confusing to u since we thought that the data they got
from the electronic sensors was qualitative. I am not really sure why I though
that but now I agree with Ilias. Form the sensors they got tons of data from
every little move the users did and therefor it is quantitative data.
One of the major topics we discussed was that you
have to let the question of the study determent the research method and in some
sense the target group. One example was the question: “how does people who listen to rock vote?” according to Ilias it would not be interesting to do a quantitative
study since it would take away the complexity of the question. And that make
sense, if the study have a humanistic character it would be better to do a
qualitative research. To break it down you could divide it:
If you have the question “what do they like” it is quantitative
and if you have the question “why" it should be qualitative.
Over all I hink I got a better understanding for the fundamental role the research play in a study and what quantitative research is and what it is not.
Hi Lisa,
SvaraRaderaThank you for sharing your thoughts of this theme! It seems that you got a deeper understanding of these different data collecting methods during this theme and it's too bad that the paper that you chose didn't add to your new knowledge of quantitative methods. It seems like the research questions they conducted wasn't validated in beforehand, as you mention, which leads to further questions about their report: Do they really know that the questions answer the questions posed? I don't think that I agree with your last statement about the questions of "what" and "why" being tied to quantitative and qualitative methods. I think that you can answer almost any type of question with either method, but that you will get different kinds of data to work with.
I liked reading your reflection, it was well-written and quite straightforward. It is interesting that you brought up the Independent and Dependent variables, which I think are quite important. The beer example was nice!
SvaraRaderaI agree with the points you mentioned about a questioners. I think it is important that participants need to understand the questions fully in order for the research to called valid and relevant information. I also agree that relevant and valid data will shape the essence of a research project. I also agree that the nature of one’s questions will determine the research methods. Good point. Nice reflection!
hi,
SvaraRaderathank for sharing. you have a really easy way of explaining. i like
how u mentioned 'let the question of the study determine the research method'
if it's 'what do they like' we should go with quantitative but if it's 'why' we should go with qualitative. because i also did come across some interesting research topic but done reading after they decide to do a simple survey and just present result. it really has lost interest if you pick a wrong way.
nice job. keep it up :)
Hey nice reflection! I like how you argue that it is the aim of the research that should decide what research method to go with. It would be weird to talk about what is good or bad in research method wihtout putting it to context. I remember the discussion from the seminar that Ilias held with the example of when to use a quantitative or qualitative research method. I´m glad you brought it up in your reflection because I had forgotten about it and it is a good example.
SvaraRaderaHi,
SvaraRaderayou wrote very informative and accurate reflection. Well done! You summarized important points: piloting before the research. By the way, I also did not find any information about piloting and designing of questioners in my chosen research paper. Also, you pointed out one of the most important lesson what we have to learn that only data is not theory and research method. Logical explanation and analysis are required. I totally agree with you that research question determines what kind of method should be applied but I will not draw strict line as you stated that in order to get the answer to question why only quantitative method should be applied. For instance, if I want to analyze why homeless people are being rejected by society probably I will do qualitative research. So the research method depends not only on question, but also on researh field, on your target group, and on circumstances to get new and interesting data.
Hi Lisa,
SvaraRaderaI think that you have wrote a good reflection post of the fourth theme, I specially liked that part of dependent and independent variables, I had forgot it but when I read it in your post I think I remember it so thank you for that. The reasoning about how to divide quantitative and qualitative was interesting to and I agree and think that you probably can get the best data if you use both methods because then you will get two types of data which you can compare and draw conclusion from.
Hi, I like your reflections, it was interesting to read about what you have discussed in you seminar, since we are not in the same group. The example that Ilias gave for the independent and the dependant variables was funny and helped me understand a lot the difference of those variables. We have to be focused on those variables when we design a questionnaire. Each question has to ask about one variable, in order to be simple for the participant to understand and answer. Also in the validation of the survey, we have to check if you have data for those variables that we used in our experiment. Worth to say that the experiment will be more complex as the number of the variables increases.
SvaraRaderaHi Lisa,
SvaraRaderaI think you did a very good job of summarizing this weeks theme in a good way and it is easy to understand your explanations and reflections. I liked the part with the dependent and independent variables, I was there at the lecture but I must've spaced out when it was said. I also like the part at the end when you explain that you should let the question of the study determine the research method. I think this is very true and a good way to go about doing research!
Hello Lisa!
SvaraRaderaI like your simple but effective explanation of dependent and independent variables. I also agree that the question you are trying to find the answer to will dictate what method(s) you will use in your research.
I think that “How does people who listen to rock vote?” would be a question that in my opinion should be looked at using quantitative methods. As I brought this up in the seminar, Ilias argued that the question should be asked as “What is the political opinion of people who listen to rock?”. He claimed that simply voting for a party doesn’t necessarily mean that they fully support your political opinion. What is your opinion in this matter?
Cheers!
Hello mate!
SvaraRaderaI really enjoyed you reflection. It shows that you have taken your time to really reflect on what you have learned after the pre post and as well during the lecture and seminar. I did not attend the same seminar as you so I found your thoughts on your groups discussion very interesting! I only had one comment on the statement where you say that "if you have the question “why" it should be qualitative.". I believe you can answer the question why through qualitative methods as well. A good example is that you can ask iPad user through a questionnaire "For what purpose do you use your iPad?" in that way you get the answer to why they used. Although quantitative methods limits you on the answer to why when meanwhile qualitative methods allow you to dig deeper on the answer. Overall really good job, keep it up!!
Hey Lisa!
SvaraRaderaGood post, I'm glad you made some new knowledge and cleared some misunderstandings during the week.
And for your examples on how do people who listen to rock music vote, I would agree that what they vote should be quantitatively collected data through a questionnaire, and why should be answered in for of qualitative, descriptive answers.
You've covered very much in this reflection, good job bringing in the lecture as well.
SvaraRaderaThe distinction from the example question that you mention in the end is also very good! Qualitative research is often better when asking about why people feel certain ways or something along the lines of what I said.
Keep it up!
Hey, thanks for your well-written post! I think it becomes quite interesting when there a multiple dependent variables on one dependent one (i.e. how drunk I'd get as well as how bad I'd have to go to the toilet after drinking a certain amount of beers), or when dependent variables are themselves dependent on other dependent variables (i.e. how many cars I'd run into after getting a certain degree of drunk after drinking a certain amount of beers). I would have liked for the lecture to go a bit deeper into this.
SvaraRadera