Educational Administration: Other Types of Research

- QUALITATIVE RESEARCH -

Qualitative research typically uses interviews, surveys, open-ended questions, participant observations, etc., to identify patterns, themes, and features that cannot easily be reduced to numbers. Qualitative research is common in the social sciences.

A classic form of qualitative research is the focus group, often used for market research. In a focus group, a few people are interviewed in depth about particular products or services. Because the sample group is so small, their opinions cannot be effectively analyzed using statistics, but their impressions can offer valuable insights into the ways that consumers think.

Another example is the case study, common in psychology and medicine. In a case study, a doctor or counselor documents in detail one patient’s experience of a disease or disorder. Case studies are particularly useful when the disorder is rare and thus cannot be studied in large populations.

Some examples of a qualitative research:

- LITERATURE REVIEWS -

There are two main types of literature reviews--standalone literature reviews and introductory literature reviews.  Also known as a review article, literature reviews provide an overview of previous important research on a particular topic. There will not be a new study or experiment.  Although valuable to researchers, standalone literature reviews are not primary or original research. However, they can help you identify research trends and major articles published on a topic.  Professors may ask you to not use standalone literature reviews.

Many primary or original research articles begin with an introductory literature review of prior research in order to place the new study or experiment (which frequently is quantitative) into context. You can use these articles in your papers.

Examples of standalone literature reviews:

Examples of introductory literature reviews:

For more detail on and examples of many types of literature reviews, try our guide:

- SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS -

A systematic review is similar to a literature review, but has greater depth. A systematic review usually focuses on a single, well-defined research question and seeks to comprehensively gather all existing studies that address this research question.  Again, unless your professor tells you otherwise, do not use systematic review articles in your papers.

- META-ANALYSES -

 A meta-analysis takes the results of several existing quantitative studies and analyzes them in a new way. Meta analysis looks for previously unnoticed patterns or trends among existing study results, or seeks to pull out new data from them. Meta-analysis is usually considered another form of quantitative research.

Check with your professor before you use a meta-analysis in your research.

Example of a meta-analysis: