Quantity with quality? Teaching quantitative and qualitative methods in an LIS master's program - library and information science - Qualitative Research

Library Trends, Spring, 1998 by Peter Liebscher

* data analysis through reduction and interpretation.

Interview methods lend themselves particularly well to the time constraints of the single semester. A common interview method in some areas of qualitative research is the use of focus groups. When the purpose of a study is to gain insights into attitudes of participants, the focus group is an appropriate method. Catterall and Maclaran (1997) point out that, from a pedagogical standpoint, a central benefit is the convenience of interviewing several participants at once while simultaneously obtaining a wider range of responses, including forgotten details of experiences that are brought out through group interaction. Time saved is, of course, an important factor in a single semester course. However, the use of focus groups in a course suffers one significant disadvantage--since focus groups are not natural entities, observations are conducted in the artificial setting of the focus interview. The method is, therefore, unsuitable for participant observation of natural groups in natural settings (Berg, 1998).

Focus groups may reveal what participants think about a task while they are not actually performing it. They will not necessarily disclose what participants actually do and how they feel while they are performing a task. It is well to recognize, as did Mintzberg (1979, 1983), that to genuinely understand, to be able to answer the interesting questions in some domain, requires direct observations and many studies. Mintzberg devoted a career to answering the question: What do managers really do? His methods, and those of his students, were qualitative, and the insights they attained over several years were remarkable. So, students must have experience in direct observation. It is also instructive for students to realize that a study conducted over one semester is unlikely to add a great deal to our knowledge in any domain of LIS. The goal then must be to achieve an understanding of what each method can contribute to the answers sought and how methods can complement each other. In the classroom, the goal is to reveal research problems that have these qualities. While they are attractive, interviews and focus groups alone are insufficient to meet these goals. The course work must include, as a necessary component, direct observations of individuals while they are performing tasks of interest.

USE OF COMPUTERS AS ANALYSIS TOOLS

The use of computers for data manipulation and analysis is well established among researchers in both methodological paradigms. Consequently, hands-on use of appropriate computer software must augment a methods course. For quantitative researchers, the analysis of anything but the smallest data sets requires a statistical package. It is almost inconceivable that researchers should test statistical hypotheses by hand. Although not as pervasive, increasing use is also being made of analysis software such as Ethnograph and NU'DIST in qualitative research. As well as using software for analysis, students must be made aware of some of the pitfalls of its uncritical use. A particular danger is that the existence of the software will drive research design and data collection. Some researchers are warning against the homogenizing effects of this software on data collection and analysis. For example, Coffey, Holbrook, and Atkinson (1996) argue that developmental trends for such software tend to incorporate grounded theory strategies, and that use of this software may lead to a single rigid qualitative methodology based on the grounded theory approach. However, Coffey, Holbrook, and Atkinson also point out that, although coding of textual data and its analysis with the aid of computer software is important, computer software can be used for more than coding and retrieving textual data. In any case, computer software is widely used in qualitative research and must form a component of a research methods course so that students can be given the opportunity to use it critically.