Application 7: Evaluating Research Methods

My task is to take a look at four scenarios and decide what type of research method would work for best for each.


Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.

Qualitative research methods would work best for this type of research study. Qualitative research is where "researchers collect data in face-to-face situations by interacting with selected persons in their settings" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p. 135). The interview will allow researchers to take a close look at the participants to discover the underlying issues of peer mediation. I believe that this type of research is best for this study because the goal of qualitative research is to understand social phenomena "by analyzing the many contexts of the participants and by narrating participants' meanings for these situations and events" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p. 135).

Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics-age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.

To study the two groups of 30 students, quantitative methods could be used. The variable of the study would be if participants received peer mediation training or not. A simple random sampling could be used. This is used when there a small population to draw from and "subjects are selected from the population so that all members have the same probability of being chosen" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p. 104). The number of office referrals would be able to be analyzed. The only thing that worries me is the reliability of the study. Because this is a relatively small sample, I am not sure if the test will yield the same results each time it is repeated.

Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.

As Dr. Canipe stated, action research methods can be used to help produce immediate solutions to problems in the educational field (Laureate Inc., 2008). Action research methods are used by teachers, administrators, faculty, or counselors as a "systematic approach to help professionals change practice, usually a collaborative model that includes several individuals" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008). Although either quantitative or qualitative methods can be used inside the action research study, I believe that this particular problem would call for a qualitative approach. For data collection, the counselor may want to take an experiencing approach, which usually includes observation of variables.

Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known - either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post- tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.

This study looks at both qualitative data and quantitative data. Therefore, I believe a mixed method approach should be used. "By combining quantitative data with qualitative data, a more complete understanding" (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p. 161) of the information can be obtained. The qualitative aspects of this study are the follow-up interviews that will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis. The quantitative pieces of the study are the pre- and post- tests given to the students. After the quantitative data is analyzed, the qualitative data can be added to get a more complete picture of the feelings of the students involved in peer mediation.


Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program seven. Additional Research Methods [Motion Picture]. Introduction to educational research. Baltimore: Author.

McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research in Education: Evidence-Based Inquiry. (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.