Evaluating Research Methods

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.

For this scenario, peer mediation would be best researched by using qualitative research. The reason for this is because qualitative designs “…emphasize gathering data on naturally occurring phenomena. Most of these data are in the form of words rather than numbers, and in general, the researcher must search and explore with a variety of methods until a deep understanding is achieved” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.26). With this scenario, it is evident that the participants will be observed over a period of time, and the observation will occur in a natural setting.

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.

The best research scenario for this scenario would be quantitative research, because this type of research uses “…numbers, statistics, structure and control” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p. 23). This particular scenario would use an experimental design, because the researcher has manipulated what the participants will experience. In regards to experimental designs, according to McMillan and Schumacher (2006), “The investigator has some control over what will happen to the subjects by systematically imposing or withholding specified interventions” (p. 23). After the experiment is conducted, “The researcher then makes comparisons either (1) between subjects who have had and others who have not had the interventions or (2) between subjects who have experienced different interventions” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p. 23). This type of research fits this scenario because the researcher controls one group on what the subjects will experience and keeps the other group natural, and does not provide peer mediation classes.

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.

I believe that this scenario would be best researched with the action research method. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2006), “action research is the process of using research principles to provide information that educational professionals use to improve aspects of day-to-day practice” (p. 174). With this scenario, the counselor conducting the research would use action research to improve the school’s day-to-day practice. In addition, the person in this scenario who conducts the research is the counselor, which is typical in action research. Since this research is only being conducted in one school setting, not in a more general context, it also fits action research because, “the intent of action research is only to address specific actions in a single context, while applied research seeks to have implications for the field more generally” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p. 174). This scenario would best be studied by using action research because since the is on a solution to common every day problems in a school, “the results of action research tend to be localized” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p. 15).

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 scenario requires a mixed-methods approach, in which quantitative research will be used to determine the feelings of people participating in peer mediation or those giving the mediation. Since the feelings will be researched using the ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey, the results are quantitative. After giving a pre and post test using this survey, qualitative research will be used by doing follow-up interviews regularly. This type of research design allows the researcher to get a more in depth answer to a research problem, with number results as well as answering the questions “why” and/or “how”. Because there is more than one research method being used, researchers “are not limited to using techniques associated with traditional designs, either quantitative or qualitative” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, pp. 27-28). In addition to using mixed methods, this scenario would be using the explanatory approach, where the quantitative method is used first, by conducting surveys, then followed by the qualitative method, where interviews are used, to “elucidate, elaborate on, or explain quantitative findings” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p. 165). The authors also believe that, “The use of mixed-method research designs, which combine quantitative and qualitative methods, is becoming increasingly popular because many situations are best investigated using a variety of methods” (p. 27).
References:

McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2006). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.