Res/351 Week 3's Objective About Selecting The Appropriate Type Of Research Design

Team A Reflection
RES/351
July 21, 2014
Stephen Grunig
Team A Reflection
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Selecting the appropriate type of research design
Week 3 's objective about selecting the appropriate type of research design was a struggle for me. The reason is that there are so many "design dimensions and no simple classification system define all the variations that must be considered" (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p 126). When conducting any research project you want to take all steps necessary to produce accurate and reliable data, but more importantly you want to ensure that you capture the information or data that you seek. If you research design is wrong you will not have a successful study.

The difference between quantitative and qualitative research
In week three I struggled
with the difference between qualitative and quantitative research which was difficult for me to understand.
When defining a problem or developing an approach to a problem, qualitative research is used when we don 't know what to expect. It is also used to explore issues related to the problem and deeper into issues of interest. Qualitative research methods are things like focus groups, triads, and bulletin boards. Quantitative is conclusive, as it tries to understand how relevant it is by looking for projectable results to larger population. In quantitative research data is collected through surveys, audits, and point of purchases. Since they both provide different perspectives and complement each other qualitative and quantitative should be used. Quantitative research is used to measure the incidence of various views, and opinions in a chosen samples, and is sometimes followed by qualitative research which is used to explore some more findings. In summary qualitative and quantitative approaches to research have different perspectives of situations. Qualitative
and qualitative research are highly informative especially if their used together. Quantitative researches mostly focus on number and information that maintain the numbers. Qualitative researchers aim to gather a depth 's understanding of human behavioral habits and the reasons that govern such behavior. The qualitative method investigates the why and how of consumer decision making and not just the what, where and when. This will leave smaller but more focused groups are more often used than larger ones. This would be easiest explained by looking at the marketing of grocery stores in the weekly newspaper. If one were to ask themselves what a person was going to purchase and why, then you would be more inclined to market those particular products aggressively.
Reliable Data
When you are conducting research it is important to not only have reliable data, but enough data as well. I think that it is very important to be sure that you have accurate and quality data as well. Getting enough data is important for any good research paper as well. You need to be sure that you have enough data to support the research you have done. Data and statistics are what make a good research paper. I think that being sure you have good data and enough data is the most important part of any good research paper.

References

Roberts, D. (1998-2012). Qualitative vs Quantitative Data. Retrieved from http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/math/algebra/ad1/qualquant.htm
Copper, D., & Schindler, P. (2011). Business research methods (11th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.