Research Design - Step 1
Aligning Research
Questions with paradigm and methods
Wicked
problems: In a student-services unit in a community
college on a joint military base, how
and to what extent does participation in a peer-mentoring program
encourage a transition from an environment of predetermined problems and
solutions by management to a collaborative culture of inquiry and problem
resolution? (qualitative and quantitative)
Which paradigm is the most appropriate?
Critical Research Paradigm
I value
empowerment and the leveling of hierarchy to effectively engage all team
members and attain maximum effort toward a shared goal. Within my context, we
operate under a highly hierarchical system that has persisted as result of
historical relationships between administers, faculty and staff. While, several
efforts have been made to reduce power dynamics, many staff members have
accepted their historical positions as they relate to the prevailing power
structures. Therefore, our efforts have been unsuccessful. The question above
is an attempt to take a critical view of the power dynamics and articulate how
peer-mentoring may support reducing this acceptance of power structures in
favor of a new inquiry-based approach to our work context.
Critical
Research, from both qualitative and quantitative perspective, appropriately
align with this research question. The focus of the question is empowerment and
redefining power dynamics through peer-mentoring. According to Sage and Manning
(2014), the purpose of critical paradigm research (qualitative) is to generate
knowledge that may support transformation of oppressive structures through
empowerment. The research findings are intended to critically assess context(s)
and contribute to the liberation of the oppressed (Stage and Manning, 2014). Critical
research (quantitative) is an approach within this paradigm in which researchers
seek to identify injustices in education through quantitative data collection. They
investigate cause and effect relationships that can assist educators, policy
makers, and other stakeholders in identifying and understanding sociocultural disproportions
in education and devise plans to address them. (Stage and Manning, 2014).
Methods
Qualitative
Interests
Transformation
Advocacy
Empowerment
Justice
Social Change
Cultural critique
Possible Methods
Participatory
Action Research
Case Studies
Counterstorytelling
Policy Analysis
Ethnography
Methods
Quantitative
Interests
Transformation
Justice
Social Change
Cultural critique
Possible
Methods
Secondary
data analysis
Survey Research
Correlational Studies
Which paradigm is not appropriate?
Positivist Research Paradigm
A positivist paradigm
does not align with this research question because its purpose is explanation,
prediction, and control. The findings are intended to be objective and
researchers are most often seeking to prove a theory. Critical inquiry and
addressing social challenges are not specific values of researchers using this
paradigm. Moreover, generalizations refer to findings that may be applied to a
wider population. Therefore, depth is not a goal of this paradigm. Quantitative
methods are the primary data source in positivist studies and they are used
critical inquiry. However, quantitative methods in critical inquiry have a purpose
of addressing inequity in education. In critical inquiry, quantitative methods
are often not enough to support change. Rather, qualitative methods are needed
to fully illustrate the need for transformation (Stage and Manning, 2014).
Methods
Quantitative
Interests
Aggregate
Inferential
Broad
Generalizable
Deductive
Methods
Survey/questionnaire
Experiment
Quasi-experimental
Correlational studies
Evaluation
Secondary date analysis
Stage, F. & Manning, K. (2014).
Choosing a method: What is your question? In F. Stage & K. Manning (eds.),
Research in the college context (pp. 3-18). Routledge.
Manning, K. & Stage, F. (2014). What
is your research approach? In F. Stage & K. Manning (eds.), Research in the
college context (pp. 19-44). Routledge.
Research Design - Step 2
How do I define Theory?
Theory in my
research is being used as a guide for developing an innovation and it is the
lens through which I am viewing my context. Wicked problems is a theory that
may be used to illuminate social challenges within given contexts. These
contexts often involve issues of underrepresentation, disproportionate power
relationships, and cultural inequities. Within wicked problems, there are underlying
values of empowerment, social justice, and societal transformation. These
values align well with my grand theory of critical inquiry and the potential
benefits of my study. The benefits include increased empowerment, engagement,
and redefined power dynamics within context. Wicked problems may be given to
interpretation. Social issues are often given to subjectivity. Additionally,
the methods used to operationalize this theory can also be viewed as
subjective. However, transparency is a key component of my research. Participants
will be able to review my findings and validate my interpretations of their
contributions. Within my research, there is an active interplay between
experience (inductive) and existing literature (deductive). I believe that the
tandem lends greater support to subjective knowledge as theory. I believe that theories
can be unifying as they relate to the overarching goal of the study. Transformation
through empowerment is the overarching goal of my study. Wicked problems is
one the three theories I am employing to achieve this goal. I believe theory is
derived from reviewing the literature, interacting within the context, and interacting with
participants, or observing an experimental setting. Theory may be developed
through multiple interactions with these sources. Theory development is needed
to identify problems of practice. These problems may be operational, cultural,
social, or issues of policy. However, theory needs operationalization in
practice to test its effectiveness, appropriateness, and for change to be
realized (Kezar, 2006).
Kezar, A.
(2006). To use or not to use theory: Is that the question? In J. Smart (ed.),
Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, Volume XXI (pp. 283-344).
Springer.
