Concepts: Definitions, Indicators, and Error

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Goertz ◽  
James Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Concept Definition ◽  
The Two Cultures ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers two fundamental differences between the quantitative and qualitative research traditions with respect to conceptualization and measurement: these differences are related to the relative emphasis placed on definitions versus indicators in the two cultures. The first difference concerns the relative importance assigned to issues of concept definition versus issues of concept measurement. Qualitative researchers are centrally concerned with definitional issues and the meaning of their concepts, whereas their quantitative counterparts are more interested in the quantitative measurement of latent variables. The second difference concerns error and the coding of cases. The chapter examines how characteristics versus indicators are defined in the qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. It also discusses the relationship between “error,” which is central to all statistics, and “fuzziness,” which is important in qualitative research.

Introduction

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Goertz ◽  
James Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Two Cultures ◽  
Mathematical Foundations ◽  
The Relationship

This book investigates the relationship between the quantitative and qualitative research traditions in the social sciences, with a particular focus on political science and sociology. It argues that the two traditions are alternative cultures with distinctive research procedures and practices, each having its own values, beliefs, and norms. The book considers the ways in which the traditions differ in terms of methodology, such as type of research question, mode of data analysis, and method of inference. It suggests that the two traditions draw on alternative mathematical foundations: quantitative research is grounded in inferential statistics (that is, probability and statistical theory), whereas qualitative research is (often implicitly) rooted in logic and set theory. This chapter discusses the book's approach to characterizing and comparing the two cultures of social science research and explains what is distinctive about qualitative research.

Generalizations

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Goertz ◽  
James Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the typical modes of generalization used in the qualitative and quantitative research traditions. Generalization can be descriptive or causal. A descriptive generalization often involves one variable that “describes” some state of affairs within a population of cases. By contrast, a causal generalizations always involves at least two variables, A and B. Causal generalizations ideally specify the form and strength of the relationship between A and B within a population of cases. The two research cultures have trouble seeing and analyzing each other's typical kind of generalization. The chapter first examines generalizations in qualitative research before discussing the use of 2 x 2 tables to present set-theoretic generalizations. It then explains a well-known problem in statistical analysis involving the so-called “perfect predictors” and concludes with an assessment of the statistical significance of control variables.

Hume’s Two Definitions of Cause

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Goertz ◽  
James Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Human Understanding ◽  
Constant Conjunction ◽  
As If

This chapter examines David Hume's two definitions of cause in the context of quantitative and qualitative research. The two definitions can be found in Hume's quotation from Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding, and Concerning the Principles of Morals: “We may define a cause to be an object followed by another, and where all the objects, similar to the first, are followed by objects similar to the second [definition 1]. Or, in other words, where, if the first object had not been, the second never would have existed [definition 2].” Hume's phrase “in other words” makes it appear as if definition 1 and definition 2 are equivalent, when in fact they represent quite different approaches. The chapter considers how Hume's definition 2, which it calls the “counterfactual definition,” and definition 1, the “constant conjunction definition,” are related to understandings of causation in the qualitative and quantitative research traditions.

A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Mahoney ◽  
Gary Goertz
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Lack Of Fit ◽  
Case Selection

The quantitative and qualitative research traditions can be thought of as distinct cultures marked by different values, beliefs, and norms. In this essay, we adopt this metaphor toward the end of contrasting these research traditions across 10 areas: (1) approaches to explanation, (2) conceptions of causation, (3) multivariate explanations, (4) equifinality, (5) scope and causal generalization, (6) case selection, (7) weighting observations, (8) substantively important cases, (9) lack of fit, and (10) concepts and measurement. We suggest that an appreciation of the alternative assumptions and goals of the traditions can help scholars avoid misunderstandings and contribute to more productive “cross-cultural” communication in political science.

scholarly journals Overview of Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women with Preeclampsia: Case Study in Aru Islands Regency, Dobo City, Southeast Maluku

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-217
Author(s):  
Rifatolistia Tampubolon ◽  
Hapsari Probowati ◽  
Judith Devi Manutilaa
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Risk Increase ◽  
Energy Excess

Background: Preeclampsia is a syndrome in terms of hypertension after 20-week pregnancy referring to a pregnant woman that previously had normal blood pressure, followed by having hypertension, proteinuria, edema and generally occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy. Preeclampsia is one of five main causes of maternal mortality up to 12% in the world as well. Objective: This study was conducted to describe nutritional status of pregnant women with preeclampsia in Aru Islands Regency, Dobo City, Southeast Maluku. Methodology: This study used mix methods, namely, quantitative and qualitative research with Case Study design. Qualitative research was to determine nutritional status of pregnant women with preeclampsia and quantitative research was to record nutrition intake of pregnant women and measure nutritional status of pregnant women with preeclampsia. Results & Discussion: Characteristics of participants with preeclampsia were more than 27 years old, worked as housewife that could be one of stress triggers and had some risk to increase preeclampsia cases because of stress that caused blood pressure increase. Preeclampsia was detected in pregnancy term of participants about 20-30 weeks according to Maternal and Child Health data. Preeclampsia risk was doubly by every increase in body weight (5-7 kg). Participants had body weight increase ranging from 8-25 kg which caused preeclampsia risk increase. Parameters of recommended dietary allowances of pregnant women including energy excess, protein deficit, fat excess, calcium and zinc deficiency were secondary factor of preeclampsia risk increase in Aru Islands Regency, Dobo City, Southeast Maluku.

scholarly journals The Methodological Underdog: A Review of Quantitative Research in the Key Adult Education Journals

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research

An examination of articles published in leading adult education journals demonstrates that qualitative research dominates. To better understand this situation, a review of journal articles reporting on quantitative research has been undertaken by the author of this article. Differences in methodological strengths and weaknesses between quantitative and qualitative research are discussed, followed by a data mining exercise on 1,089 journal articles published in Adult Education Quarterly, Studies in Continuing Education, and International Journal of Lifelong Learning. A categorization of quantitative adult education research is presented, as well as a critical discussion on why quantitative adult education does not seem to be widespread in the key adult education journals.

Honor and Human Rights: A Comparative Study of Russia and Ukraine

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 669-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Oleinik
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
The Two Cultures ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Representative Samples

This article discusses the relative importance attached to honor and human rights in two cultures, Russian and Ukrainian. These cultures have elements of honor cultures, both historically and in the present. There are also elements of a more universalistic interpretation of human dignity that are expressed through the concept of human rights, especially in the case of Ukraine. However, the movement towards the universalistic understanding of human dignity slows down or may even be reversed in the context of a protracted war. Two sources of data inform the analysis: primary (two surveys conducted on representative samples in Russia, N = 1602, and Ukraine, N = 2020) and secondary (the complete works of two poets considered representative of the two cultures, A. Pushkin and T. Shevchenko, as well as documents in the Russian-language and Ukrainian-language segments of the Google online databank). The data were processed using methods of descriptive statistics, binary statistic regression and quantitative content analysis.

Qualitative research skills acquisition within social work doctoral education using project-based learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 864-881
Author(s):  
Fan Yang ◽  
Quentin R Maynard ◽  
Sarah R Young ◽  
Jennifer L Kenney ◽  
Brad Barber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Doctoral Education ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Skills Acquisition ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Social Work Research

The future of social work research relies on the intellect and competence of current doctoral students. These future scholars who receive doctoral education that values qualitative inquiry will create a system where qualitative research traditions receive the same privilege as quantitative research traditions. Project-based learning provides learning opportunities that can challenge assumptions about what academia considers “real” research. This descriptive qualitative study explored key attributes of using project-based learning within two consecutive social work doctoral courses to encourage qualitative research skill development. Students and instructors participated in ideawriting and focus groups to assess the usefulness of PBL within these courses. The findings suggested that PBL may be useful for deepening knowledge about qualitative inquiry and reducing epistemological unconsciousness.

scholarly journals A Comparative Discussion of the Notion of 'Validity' in Qualitative and Quantitative Research

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glyn Winter
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Research Methods ◽  
Research Methodologies ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The issues surrounding the use and nature of the term 'validity' in qualitative research are controversial and many. In this paper, the author attempts to establish that 'validity' is not a single, fixed or universal concept, but rather a contingent construct, inescapably grounded in the processes and intentions of particular research methodologies and projects. The first section of this work deals with the problems faced in defining 'validity' in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and will briefly review other authors' attempts to categorise it. The work will then proceed to distinguish and compare the claims to 'validity' made by quantitative and qualitative researchers, highlighting similarities and differences as they emerge. Finally, an attempt will be made to establish that an understanding of nature of 'truth' is central to any theorisation of 'validity.' It will become clear that it is the affiliations of methodologies, concerning truth, that generate varying notions of 'validity.'

scholarly journals Promoting Health and Wellbeing for People with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Occupational Perspective

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Hitch ◽  
Negar Lavasani ◽  
Genevieve Pepin ◽  
Karen Stagnitti
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Four Levels

Purpose: To provide an overview of current knowledge and practice that supports an occupational perspective to health promotion for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Method: Evidence was identified from a range of electronic databases using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were subjected to a process of critical appraisal using scales for both quantitative and qualitative research, with only those ranked in the top four levels included. The scales used for this critique were the levels of evidence for quantitative research defined by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Rosalind Franklin Qualitative Research Appraisal Instrument (RF-QRA). The occupational perspective on health was used as a theoretical organising structure. Results: Thirty-six studies met the criteria for inclusion. Sensory processing, fine motor control, and play emerged as areas of current knowledge and research in relation to the occupational perspective. However, adults with ADHD are poorly represented in the evidence, as were the mental health needs of this population. Conclusion and recommendations: Several areas of expertise developed by occupational therapists were identified in the literature that could provide for a health promotion approach for people with ADHD. However, more studies are required to expand this specialist knowledge and develop innovative programs that take a more positive and empowering approach to living with this condition.

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