Having a good environment for assessment means
So, think about these questions:
Qualitative research, or exploratory research, is primarily used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research.
Participant Observation
Definition: Appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors in their usual contexts. Observational research attempts to capture life as experienced by the research participants rather than through categories that have been predetermined by the researcher.
Interviews
Definition: Optimal for collecting data on individuals' personal histories, perspectives, and histories. Participants are encouraged and prompted to talk in depth about the topic under investigation without the researcher's use of predetermined, focused, short-answer questions.
Focus Group
Definition: A form of qualitative interviewing that uses a researcher-led group discussion to generate data. Effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the subgroups represented.
Case Study
Definition: Approach in which one or a few instances of a phenomenon are studied in depth, usually refers to the intensive study of a small number of cases, or a single case. A ‘case’ can be an individual person, an event, or a social activity, group, organization or institution.
Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector's Field Guide
Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Guidebook and Resource
The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods
Quantitative research, or empirical research, refers to any research where something can be statistically or mathematically measured. There are four types of quantitative research design:
Experimental
Definition: A study where the researcher is able to manipulate an independent variable and measure its influence on a controlled group of randomly assigned participants. Allows the researcher to draw cause and effect conclusions using inferential statistics.
Quasi-experimental
Definition: Studies that lack random assignment of participants but otherwise and have a similar purpose and attributes as an experimental design. Allows the researcher to make comparisons between two groups in a situation where it might not be possible or ethical to create a randomly assigned group of participants.
Non-experimental
Definition: Systematic empirical inquiries with the purpose to describe phenomena using descriptive statistics.
Correlational
Definition: Provides a quantitative measure of the relation between two variables but does not measure causation.
Analyzing Quantitative Data: An Introduction for Social Researchers
Quantitative Research for the Qualitative Researcher
Analyzing Quantitative Data: From Description to Explanation
Quantitative Data Analysis: Doing Social Research to Test Ideas
Mixed Methods Research
Definition: The term mixed methods refers to a research design that uses both quantitative and qualitative methods in a single research study (such as focus groups and non-experimental research).
Multi-Methods Research
Definition: The term multi-methods refers to a research design that uses two or more qualitative methods in a single research study (such as in-depth interviewing and participant observation) or by using two or more quantitative methods (such as a survey and experiment) in a single research study.
The Oxford Handbook of Multi-Method and Mixed Methods Research Inquiry
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