2022 Introduction to Statistics in Research Mitchell 2nd ed

I N T R O T O R E S E A R C H : D A T A V I S U A L I Z A T I O N & C O M M O N S T A T T E S T S

Design the Study How do you measure this construct? Should you use qualitative or quantitative or a mixed methods approach? And what would that look like? I’m sure this isn’t new to you – qualitative measures are nonnumerical and quantitative measures are numerical. But what might be new is the stateme nt, “there is no one “perfect” research design” ( Adam & McGuire, 2022, p. 521). It’s interesting how the two main textbooks used in this class approach this topic. Adam & McGuire start discussing the basics of research design in chapter five, but Chapter 16 - How to Decide ?” Choosing a Research Design and Selecting the Correct Analysis , is the last chapter in the book. DePoy & Gitlin (2023), has three chapters on the most popular design approaches, but no chapter on how to choose a research design. a) It tells us what the research is about. b) It tells us where the data will be found. c) It tells us where you will do your research d) It tell us how much time you will use in doing in your research. e) It tells us how much materials will be used in order to make the research successful. f) It tells us which techniques, instruments, or methods of research will be used in the data collection process ” (p. 33). Migo (2016) compared research design as the “ foundation of a house with the following aspects:

Whether you consider your research design a foundation for a house or a roadmap, the more time you spend on planning and thinking through this section the better your committee will understand the research proposal.

Adams and McGuire (2023) has wonderful flow charts that are worth mentioning. These include:

1) Questions to Guide Your Choice of a Research Design (p. 523); 2) Deciding Between Independent and Dependent Groups Designs (p. 526);

3) Factorial Designs (p. 527); 4) Decision Tree When Analyzing One Variable (p. 528); 5) Decision Tree When Examining Relationships Between Variable (no groups) (p. 529); 6) Decision Tree When Comparing Groups or Conditions (p. 530) as well as a table that shows a statistical analysis and when to use (p. 531).

There are three approaches: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (this just means you use both qualitative and quantitative). The purpose of your research will help you decide which approach. (See table 5 for more details.) If your study uses Human Subjects: Before taking the next step and conducting your study, you need to consider if your study involves human subjects. If it does, you need to consider the requirements of the Institutional Review Board at Saint Mary- of-the-Woods College. No actual research can be conducted with human subjects until two things happen. First , you must pass mandatory research training. It is possible that some of you have completed this training through your master’s program or through another institution, but if not , you must successfully complete the Basic Course in the Protection of Human Research Subjects. The IRB at Saint Mary-of-the-

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