The Four Types of Research Methods
RUNNING HEAD: THE FOUR TYPES OF RESEARCH METHODS
The Four Types of Research Methods
CJ490: Research Methods in Criminal Justice
Exploratory:
Research that is carried out for an issue that has not clearly been identified. An example would be a case study because exploratory research involves interviews and focus groups.
Descriptive:
Descriptive research is used to identify quantitative data about a particular population or group, however reliable descriptive research usually cannot answer questions about the data being studied. An example of descriptive research would be any statistical representation of quantitative data (numerical data).
Explanatory:
Explanatory research is used to understand the relationship between the subjects being studied. An example can be seen in a comparative research study.
Application:
Policy analysis is research done on a specific policy and or law or concept that the researcher evaluates the current policy and through his or her study proves/disproves or alters the current policy based on his or her findings. An example of policy analysis would be whether or not to keep social security.
Comparing Different types of research methods: Policy analysis research is a more indepth view of explanatory research in the sense that both methods of research compared to varying sets of data. Policy analysis contrasts from descriptive research methods because explanatory research does not come to a clear conclusion from the two. Exploratory research compliments explanatory in the the sense that they both use descriptions to come to a conclusion. The methodology for policy analysis research includes various models, each of which have their own steps to proving your hypothesis. All four of these different types of research methods come to a similar conclusion, they all begin with a question or hypothesis that is tested and then the results are represented, where these methods differ are in how the data is collected and
The Four Types of Research Methods
CJ490: Research Methods in Criminal Justice
Exploratory:
Research that is carried out for an issue that has not clearly been identified. An example would be a case study because exploratory research involves interviews and focus groups.
Descriptive:
Descriptive research is used to identify quantitative data about a particular population or group, however reliable descriptive research usually cannot answer questions about the data being studied. An example of descriptive research would be any statistical representation of quantitative data (numerical data).
Explanatory:
Explanatory research is used to understand the relationship between the subjects being studied. An example can be seen in a comparative research study.
Application:
Policy analysis is research done on a specific policy and or law or concept that the researcher evaluates the current policy and through his or her study proves/disproves or alters the current policy based on his or her findings. An example of policy analysis would be whether or not to keep social security.
Comparing Different types of research methods: Policy analysis research is a more indepth view of explanatory research in the sense that both methods of research compared to varying sets of data. Policy analysis contrasts from descriptive research methods because explanatory research does not come to a clear conclusion from the two. Exploratory research compliments explanatory in the the sense that they both use descriptions to come to a conclusion. The methodology for policy analysis research includes various models, each of which have their own steps to proving your hypothesis. All four of these different types of research methods come to a similar conclusion, they all begin with a question or hypothesis that is tested and then the results are represented, where these methods differ are in how the data is collected and