Qualitative or quantitative research, or a combination of both, is common in research paper methodology. The analysis of data collected from a large number of surveys or interviews is part of a quantitative research paper methodology. On the other hand, qualitative research methodologies frequently employ surveys or interviews to gather information about people’s attitudes, experiences, and behaviors. In general, the decision to use quantitative or qualitative methodology is based on the topic and research area. Looking for a pattern in previous research papers on your topic is one way to get an idea of the types of research paper methodologies in your field of study. Most research in the field of psychology, for example, uses qualitative or mixed research methodologies, whereas most research in computer science uses quantitative methodologies.
Looking at your research questions and what you’re studying is another good way to choose the best research paper methodology. If your research questions are more exploratory and investigative in nature, such as “how” or “what,” qualitative or mixed methods research is usually the best option. A quantitative methodology would be used if your research question makes a hypothesis or a statement that needs to be proven true or false.
Consider the type of information required to answer your research question when narrowing down your research paper methodology. If your paper asks how breast cancer patients search for health information on online health websites, for example, your answer will almost certainly require behavioral data; in this case, a qualitative approach may be more appropriate.
If your research question is more of a hypothesis, such as “adult college students who take online courses perform better than those who take courses in traditional classroom settings,” you’ll need to back it up with evidence. To test this hypothesis, compare the online and classroom groups’ performance measures, such as test scores and course grades, over a set time period, such as one semester. In this case, the data — test scores and course grades — is typically collected using quantitative methods. If you wanted to look into the perspectives of both online and classroom students on the quality of the classes they had taken, you’d have to combine qualitative and quantitative methods. This would be an example of mixed methodology because both quantitative and qualitative research would be conducted in the same study.
After you’ve decided on a good research paper methodology, you’ll need to figure out what research study instruments you’ll use to collect the data. In most cases, qualitative research relies on surveys and interviews to gather information from a small group of people. To collect data for analysis, quantitative research frequently employs a large number of surveys or interviews. The data may already exist and only need to be analyzed in some cases.