Traditional Quantitative Research Research Articles

Studying Youth Gangs

This article reviews the major methods that have been used to study youth gangs and discusses the consequences of their use for what is known about the topic. Despite the development of a substantial scholarly literature, understanding of gang phenomena is limited by critical disconnects between quantitative and qualitative research traditions. It is argued that integration of these traditions will result in a more comprehensive accounting of the causes and consequences of gangs, gang membership, and gang behavior.

Key Lessons in Using Participatory Action Research to Build a Union Health and Safety Program

Participatory action research (PAR) has been beneficial in building an occupational health and safety program. This article focuses on the lessons learned by the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) Health and Safety Department. PEF's department has mobilized members to design and implement preventive programs that address key hazards. Members' key priority areas have been identified as workplace violence prevention, infectious disease control, ergonomics, and indoor air quality. We have documented hazards and feasible interventions in specific work environments and the research provides a model that can be implemented elsewhere. PAR also can help reduce a difficult barrier for researchers interested in workplace issues—access. Using PAR is different than traditional quantitative research methods; some differences are considered.

Party Competition and Coalition Formation

Formal theory has often been criticized for shying away from empirical testing, which brought some to wonder about its empirical relevance altogether. Theorists, on their side, often responded by accusing much of the empirical work in political science as being devoid of any theoretical guidance. This paper argues that part of the problem is due to the problematic fit between traditional quantitative research and abstract theoretical models. Here, we illustrate how one could bridge the gap by connecting the ever puzzling realities of Italian parliamentary politics with a theoretical model of multiparty parliamentary systems. The empirics of Italian politics raise more questions than answers and the theoretical model we apply seems awfully complex and frustratingly abstract. With the use of relatively simple visual tools, we believe that we help make some sense of the complex realities of Italian politics and, in the process, demonstrate the empirical relevance of the theoretical model we chose to apply.

Psychosocial Studies and Psychology: Is a Critical Approach Emerging?

This article describes a brand of ‘psychosocial studies’ that adopts a critical attitude towards psychology as a whole, yet remains rooted in an attempt to theorize the ‘psychological subject’. Principles for psychosocial studies work of this kind are discussed, arising out of the actual work of one academic centre within a university department of psychology. These principles are: concern with the human subject as a social entity; interest in the emergence of subjectivity in the social domain; interest in critique, defined as a concern with ideological issues in psychology; methodological pluralism, including an active assertion of the value of qualitative and theoretical research, as well as more traditional quantitative research; theoretical pluralism, including interest in discourses traditionally marginalized in academic psychology (e.g. psychoanalysis, systems theory, feminist theory, phenomenology); interest in inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to psychological theory and research; and interest in personal and social change, including psychotherapy. Some complicating issues relating to the process and content of this kind of work are also outlined.

Conversations in Cyberspace: a study of online learning

This article provides a summary of research that examines interaction between lecturers and learners engaged on a Masters Degree in Education delivered online. Using traditional quantitative and qualitative research methods, the research moves into the relatively new realms of researching online. By applying a methodology known as ‘cyber-ethnography’ insight is gained into the experience of staff and students. The course specific research findings are discussed and the process of researching in virtual space is evaluated. The findings identify advantages to the learner when asynchronous communication provides time for reflection and considered response. Further advantages are identified in the opportunity to consult across the globe on issues of practice. The creation of communities of personal support networks that reach beyond the considerations of the course are identified and assessed. Disadvantages are identified with the technology itself and associated issues of access, equity and support. Recommendations arising from the research are for greater focus on the role of the tutor in virtual learning situations with consideration given to the time commitment required of lecturing staff. Evaluation of the research methodology highlights the need for a clearer definition of cyber-ethnography, greater understanding of the social worlds inhabited in cyberspace and a code of practice for those researching on the net.

Demographics and Subjective Response

This paper uses demographic variables in order to analyze the subjective responses of consumers. In specific, subjective consumer evaluations regarding a tourism destination are analyzed. In doing so, the concerns of the contemporary humanistic research stream of modern consumer research are combined with more traditional quantitative research techniques. Using this hybrid model, the paper demonstrates that the United States' and the Canadian sides of Niagara Falls are distinctive and that each attracts visitors who possess a different demographic profile. The United States' side is more attractive to upscale tourists with higher levels of education, and is a more family-oriented region than the Canadian side.

The Moscow School of Quantitative Cross-Cultural Research

In this paper the authors review the tradition of quantitative cross-cultural research in Russia, starting with a review of the qualitative cross-cultural research tradition, both in the world in general and in Russia in particular. Afterwards, the authors discuss in more detail the origins of the Moscow School of quantitative cross-cultural research, as well as the main concrete results obtained by those belonging to it.

Preparation of Educational Researchers in Philosophical Foundations of Inquiry

In this article we examine the nature, scope, and significance of basic philosophical issues in the preparation of researchers. Following a brief review of the history of educational research and a discussion of the philosophy of science supporting much of this research, we present and discuss two central assertions in the context of the growing prominence of paradigmatic and methodological pluralism in education and the human sciences. The first assertion is that the curriculum for preparing researchers in education continues to be dominated by the epistemology of logical empiricism, the philosophy of science undergirding the quantitative research tradition. The second assertion is that research education tends to place a disproportionate emphasis on technical methods and procedures, with little attention given to the philosophical, moral, and political values that underpin procedural practices and that frame, however tacitly, the context for knowledge production. We argue that the hegemony of quantitative science and the narrow preoccupation with methodological rigor as the singular yardstick for judging good science are serious problems requiring immediate attention in research education programs. We present a case for expanding the research education curriculum to include a strong and broad foundation in the history, philosophy, sociology, and ethics of inquiry. To illustrate how this can be achieved, we propose two features of an intellectual culture that may be developed: (a) course work on philosophical issues in inquiry, which doctoral students should be required to take in preparation for—or as a supplement to—technical courses on statistical methods and research design; and (b) an atmosphere of interdisciplinary and multiparadigmatic collaborative research that provides an informal context for students to experience and practice the values fostered by such course work.

The Changing Nature of the Science of Vocational Psychology

The purpose of this piece is to address the future of vocational psychology in the next decade. In the pursuit of this goal three major areas are discussed: person–environment psychology, vocational psychology and personality, and differing philosophies of science. The viability of the person–environment concept continues to be visible in the work of a number of theorists. There is a compelling need for vocational psychology to expand perspective and evaluate alternative person–environment models in investigating occupational choice and work adjustment. On the topic of vocational psychology and personality, there is a strong need for research that seeks to understand commonalities across the domains of interests, self-efficacy, personality, goals, and subjective well-being. On the issue of differing philosophies of science, the fact remains that we need both traditional quantitative and qualitative research philosophies and methodologies to facilitate discovery and justification in the science of vocational psychology.

Using Qualitative Research to Inform the Client-Centred Evidence-Based Practice of Occupational Therapy

Demands for increased accountability for health care expenditure, and recognition of clients' rights to interventions and methods of service delivery that are grounded in sound evidence, are compelling occupational therapists to use research findings to inform their clinical decision making. Occupational therapists also state that they embrace a client-centred orientation to practice, yet this espoused ethic seems rarely to influence decisions concerning what research is undertaken and how it is undertaken or what counts as evidence for practice. Given the widely divergent perspectives, priorities and values between health care professionals and their clients, practice based upon therapist-centred research may be neither relevant nor valid. This paper explores the philosophical underpinning of methods used to develop theory, proposing that occupational therapy's evidence-based practice must be ethically consistent with its espoused client-centred philosophy to avoid a tendency towards hypocrisy. It explores issues concerning client-centred practice and evidence-based practice and suggests that qualitative research methods may be the most appropriate tools to identify and address client priorities. While traditional quantitative research approaches render client voices silent, qualitative methods may enable occupational therapists to explore the complexities of clinical practice and of living with a disability, thereby informing a more client-centred, evidence-based practice of occupational therapy.

Setting the Terms of Relief: Explaining State Policy Choices in the Devolution Revolution

The landmark welfare legislation of 1996 offers students of politics a unique opportunity to pinpoint the determinants of state-level policy choices-a case in which the fifty states responded virtually simultaneously to a single policy mandate. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we investigate the factors that led states to make restrictive policy choices after 1996 and use this analysis to evaluate general -theories of welfare politics. Specifically, we test six types of explanations for why some states responded by adopting 'get-tough program rules: theories that identify welfare policy as a site of ideological conflict, as an outcome of electoral politics, as a domain of policy innovation, as an instrument of social control, as an outlet for racial resentments, and as an expression of moral values. The results of our ordered and binary logit models suggest that state policies have been shaped by a variety of social and political forces, but especially by the racial composition of families who rely on program benefits. n 1996, the federal government passed legislation that transformed public assistance provision in the United States. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) abolished the federal entitlement to aid that grew out of the Social Security Act of 1935 and reached fruition through legal victories in the 1960s (Mink 1998; Lurie 1997). In its place, the federal government created Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a system of block grants that gives states more freedom to select among policy tools but also imposes a forceful mandate to promote work, reduce welfare usage, and change poor people's behaviors (Albelda and Tilly 1997). In this article, we present a political analysis of the ways states responded to this new policy environment. Specifically, we investigate the factors that shaped state-level policy choices after 1996 and use this analysis as a basis for evaluating general explanations for welfare policy outcomes. Our study builds on a long tradition of quantitative research that has attempted to illuminate state-level politics by asking why states adopt different welfare policies (Howard 1999; Rom 1999; Brace and Jewitt 1995; Peterson and Rom 1990; Plotnick and Winters 1985). The analysis presented here, however, departs from prior work in two important respects. First, most state-level research has sought to explain interstate differences in benefit levels and spending patterns (Howard 1999, 424-425;

'I wanna tell you a story': Exploring the application of vignettes in qualitative research with children and young people

Few methodological papers exist which examine the use of vignettes within qualitative research and more specifically, with children and young people. The paper will briefly discuss the application of vignettes within quantitative and qualitative research traditions derived from the available literature before outlining the major theoretical and methodological issues relating to the use of this technique in social research. Using empirical examples of young people's responses to a selected vignette, we then go on to explore the various benefits of vignettes that can ensue when employing this technique in isolation or as part of a multi-method approach. This discussion concludes with an exploration of how vignettes can be harnessed to engage young people, particularly in the discussion of sensitive topics, whilst enabling them to retain a high level of control over the research process.

Trends in nursing and midwifery research and the need for change in complementary therapy research.

In recent years there has been a change in nursing and midwifery research. Whilst many of the subjects being studied remain the same, nurses and midwives have started to employ a range of data collection methods that are relatively new to the profession. Predominantly quantitative research, which concentrates on reduction, objectivity, manipulation, categorization, passivity, control, prediction, causality and generalizability (Munhall & Oiler 1986), is starting to be replaced by other approaches perhaps more congruent with nursing, midwifery and caring. As Moody (1990) stated, 'the 1980s ushered in an array of diverse, sophisticated research methods...' with other authors adding that 'nursing is just beginning to authenticate new territory that incorporates a plurality of methods' (Nagle & Mitchell 1991). The following is an exploration of the recent apparent shift away from a focus on quantitative research in nursing and midwifery towards the use of qualitative methods which emphasize a greater degree of individuality, humanism, participation and interaction. It is suggested that the traditional quantitative research paradigm still exists in the field of complementary therapy research and that the shift that has taken place in nursing and midwifery research needs to be considered more seriously in the field of research in complementary therapies.

How Do We Understand Practice? A Qualitative Approach

This article argues that qualitative research is relevant for evaluating practice. Several complimentary theoretical assumptions and methods of both areas – qualitative research and direct practice – are presented as illustrations of utilizing a qualitative approach to assessing practice. This approach is offered as an alternative to traditional quantitative research models.

The Use of Bibliometrie Data in Evaluating Research on Therapeutic Community for Addictions and in Psychiatry

The purpose of this study is to describe the publication characteristics associated with therapeutic community research and illustrate differences between addiction studies and other types of therapeutic community papers. A total of 223 published reports on research pertaining to the therapeutic community in a variety of treatment settings from 1987 to 1992 were analyzed. The articles consisted mainly of addiction studies (38%) and hospital psychiatry (36%) studies. Collaborative authorship was scanty. Quantitative studies (systematic data presented and analyzed statistically) were performed more often in addiction papers than in psychiatric therapeutic community papers. Addiction studies were also cited slightly more often. Addictions are often a rather simple and distinct focus for research, as well as a major public health problem. This may lead to the smoother use of traditional quantitative research strategies and standard publication channels than in other psychiatric therapeutic community studies.

Reconciling Discursive and Materialist Perspectives on Health and Illness

This paper examines the feasibility of developing `material-discursive' approaches suitable for studying the reciprocal interactions between the sociolinguistic and physical aspects of health and illness. The term `discursive' is used in the broadest possible sense, to refer to a mode of description characterized by awareness of the socially constructed and linguistically mediated nature of human experience. Similarly, the term `material' is extended to embrace any non-reductionist account of physical being which appears compatible with a discursive outlook. The obstacles to a material-discursive approach are discussed, with particular reference to the debate between researchers who conduct traditional quantitative and experimental research within the `biopsychosocial' framework and those who advocate a radical anti-realist position and qualitative research. A variety of material-discursive perspectives are explored, ranging from consideration of the physical origins and manifestations of linguistic meaning and socio-cultural processes, to analysis of the consonance between social constructionism, phenomenology and James Gibson's ecological psychology.

The relationship between the qualitative and quantitative research traditions

AbstractDifferences between the qualitative and quantitative research traditions can be used either to diminish or to enrich the practice of program evaluation.

An exploration into qualitative research in music therapy

Research in music therapy presents a challenge as the researcher is faced with the task of both discerning artistic qualities such as creativity and improvisation, which are the essence of clinical work, and communicating those often ineffable features to other professionals in a coherent and well-defined manner. The question of whether this goal will best be met by using quantitative or qualitative research methods has been actively debated in the field of the creative arts therapies for the past ten years. Although the impact of this debate has had an influence on therapists, educators and researchers, the issues are far from resolved and demand continued dialogue. Certainly the perspective of this author and researcher, having recently moved from the academic environment to the medical model mainstream where most creative arts therapists work, is that there is a great need for continued dialogue about the reasons for and possible applications of qualitative research options. The purpose of this article is threefold: (a) to discuss the concept of qualitative research and the arguments for utilizing such research, (b) to present specific research topics and possible research methods that can be applied, and (c) to demonstrate how utilizing qualitative research may enable us to examine and further understand the often complex and enigmatic aspects of our clinical practice that cannot adequately be addressed by quantitative research. It is important to stress that this discussion and presentation of arguments for using qualitative research does not imply a rejection of the more traditional quantitative research. It is rather an expression of a need for additional and alternative ways to study aspects of the music therapy experience that, it is hoped, will bring new insight and understanding to our clinical experiences. The concept of qu~itative research has been explored in other fields-education, nursing and psychology. Bogdan and Biklen (1982) have discussed five main characteristics of qualitative research: (a) that the natural setting as opposed to the laboratory is used for research; (b) that research is essentially descriptive in nature, discussed in words rather than numbers; (c) that researchers are focused on process rather than product; (d) that data are treated inductively; and (e) that meaning rather than truth is of utmost impo~ance (pp. 27-29). With this definition in hand what reasons are there for pursuing this style of research?

Personal Responses to Traumatic Brain Injury: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study of ten persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) based upon a series of in-depth interviews conducted over a period of 12 months. Data was analysed with procedures similar to those utilised by grounded theory and ethnographic researchers, and resulted in a typology that reflected different experiences of living with TBI as well as different meanings it had for persons with TBI. A thematic analysis of the data yielded information about self, disability and handicap, and involvement in social networks; and, reflected the participants' sense of personal well-being. This analysis provided an alternative to the data yielded by traditional quantitative research designs.

Phenomenological Praxis: A Constructive Alternative in Research in Psychology

Serious consideration is given to the possibility that the traditional quantitative research orientation in psychology can no longer be considered the panacea that it was once believed to be. It is argued that any research approach, such as a quantitative one, which gives priority to the methodology as opposed to the phenomenon is based on inappropriate ontological reduction. Consequently, it is argued that psychology should aim more at being a descriptive science rather than an explanatory one. The traditional research modus operandi is compared with that offered by a qualitative approach and examples of such research are provided. The article concludes by outlining a programmed series of steps considered fundamental to any form of rigorous phenomenological research.