The theme for this week has been Quantitative Research and we were told to select a media technology research paper that is using a quantitative method, as well as reading the article IEEE VR 2012 - Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality. One of the task was to mention which quantitative method that was being used in the paper we selected and I would like to change one of my answers. In my paper the authors used an online survey and an online experiment. I categorized both of them as quantitative methods, and I would still categorize the online survey as a quantitative method. However, I have to re-think whether the online experiment is a quantitative or qualitative method. During the lecture we talked about how quantitative methods depend on numerical measurements which may come from asking participants using questionnaires, measuring using electronic equipment and observation under controlled conditions. The last mentioned method was the one that got me thinking whether the online experiment in my selected paper is categorized as a quantitative or a qualitative method. According to Illias, the controlled conditions implies that you manipulate an independent variable, or many and observe how dependent variables vary as a result. He exemplified by using a rather fun example, the independent variable, in a study where you examine the effects on a human of a particular drug, is how much of the particular drug the person has been taken. The dependent variable is how high the person gets after taken the drug. Anyway, back to the online experiment, the aim of the experiment was not the measurements but rather the observation of how the participants interacted with a corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign on social media. Building on this I would say that the online experiment is a qualitative method rather than a quantitative.
Unfortunately, the seminar was cancelled but I think the lecture gave a clear view of quantitative methods. I appreciated that Illias reserved some time going through his and his colleagues study Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality and how they used quantitative methods since exemplifying with real and concrete examples often simplifies the understanding of the concepts.
Hi! Thanks for yet another interesting post. You always sum up the weeks really well!
SvaraRaderaYour shift in perception from quantitative to qualitative method is interested and well motivated. I too find it hard to determine whether some methods are either qual- or quant, and perhaps especially when the overall research question concerns behaviour. But as long as one goes back and reflects on the foundation of quantitative research (i.e remembers that it is dependent on numerical measurements), on should be able to do a quick assessment of a given method's character.
Good job!
Hello and thank you for the thoughts about the last theme. That you reflect on your first assumptions show that you understood the topic so well that can apply it. I want to add here that not all quantitative research methods need to have a dependent and independent variable. That goes for experiments. The observation you mentioned could have been qualitative, but as well quantitative. So observations when you just count different occurrences are quantitative. As a short example: During my Bachelor studies we made a quantitative study about the communication in social networks during and after the broadcasting of a specific TV series. We built a catalogue with all the different categories and their optional answers in advance. The observation was then made of the posts on several social networks. Anyway when it comes to online observations, it can get very close to a content analysis. But that just as addition.
SvaraRaderaHello! Good job with your post. I think its good that you re-think and evaluate your previous thoughts. The possibility to propose some relationship between variables and then find concrete data that confront the hypothesis is a major characteristic for quantitative research. However I believe variables in them self can be both quantitative and qualitative, it depends of how they are measured. If the variables in the research are measured on a numeric scale they are considerate as quantitative. Both statistical and experimental design is common approaches for identifying causal effects. I agree with you if your selected research wanted to explain why and how something occurs, they might use a qualitative method.
SvaraRaderaYou bring some good points with your reflection.
SvaraRaderaWhen it comes to experiments it does sound a little shaky at first whether to consider it as a qualitative or quantitative method.
I would go with the quantitative answer, however, because when it comes to qualitative methodology the researchers usually have their attitudes and values brought to the research which reflects its contexts. But when we speak of experiments, the data gained through such is pretty independent from the researchers’ judgements and are typically concerned with measuring things.
On the other hand, they do can generate qualitative information by their descriptive nature but I feel as the way a participant can react during an experimental method is more or less limited.
This reflection shows in a clear manner how your knowledge regarding the subject has increased during the week. You manage to describe the controlled conditions for an experiment in a clear way.
SvaraRaderaOne subject that we haven’t spent much time during this course to cover (except as a part of design research) is the mixed methods approach. This is a way of combining the qual- and quant approach with the aim of filling in the gaps for the data collected. One single questionnaire can for example collect data that is both qualitative (open ended questions) and quantitative (numeric scales). During this course, it has been interesting to see how I suddenly see papers regarding research everywhere. My theory is that it has to do with my selective perception in some way. If you can read in Swedish I would recommend this article, which was published two days ago about open science and the site PubPeer. http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/synen-pa-oppen-publicering-delar-forskarna/
Hi,
SvaraRaderaAlthough I'm not that familiar with the experiment you've read about in your chosen paper, I believe it might still be considered a quantitative method. After all, even behaviour can be observed quantitatively, as long as you look for certain specific patterns that are able to be generalised. However, if the observations are mainly focused on relationships and casual effects I would agree that they seem rather qualitative.
I also believe that what you thought might actually be qualitative data in your chosen paper would still be considered quantitative. The data used in the paper as evidence was still obtained via the use of questionnaire after the experiment was conducted. If the participants’ reactions or feelings towards the CSR campaign and comments were recorded using the questionnaire as opposed to an interview per say, this is the collection of numerical data. As we discussed in both our seminar and lecture, this use of questionnaire is a quantitative method.
SvaraRadera