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

A RESEARCH PROBLEM

What sort of research problem might lend itself to investigation with both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in a single semester course? Problems of this kind should draw on theory or a body of empirical evidence to formulate and test hypotheses, yet be enriched by taking a holistic approach--one in which context and linguistic description are vital. Hypothesis testing may determine that a treatment, or some characteristic, or some condition is instrumental in bringing about an effect. To stop the research at this point might be premature not to say frustrating. A number of other questions may arise from this finding. Why did a particular condition bring about the observed effect? Why is the observed effect much stronger in some participants than in others? To answer these questions requires more than an analysis of aggregate data. It may require intensive probing of individuals' attitudes as well as a sustained interaction with participants in their natural settings.

How can intense probing and sustained interaction with study participants be achieved? Any number of scenarios might be fruitful. What is required is that instructors are aware of ongoing research opportunities available within easy geographic reach. Local public libraries have diverse research needs and may welcome assistance from the academic sector. The librarian may already have identified one or more research problems but may not have the resources or expertise for a study. Other opportunities may be quite serendipitous--e.g., an instructor's research pursuit in one area may open an unexpected opportunity in another. The real point is that appropriate research opportunities abound if instructors are open to their local environment. An example of the often serendipitous nature of research problem identification is presented here.

While conducting research on linkages between public libraries and social service agencies for the provision of information and referral services (I & R), the instructor looked at some initiatives that had, over an extended period of time, provided I & R services to senior citizens. Through that avenue, he discovered that a large manufacturer of electronic telecommunications equipment had recently conducted a pilot marketing project in which a new kind of telephone receiver that incorporates an LCD screen and a qwerty keyboard was distributed to residents of a local community. The new device could be used as an ordinary telephone but also as an information access device. Using the device in this way, residents could dial into a number of online services such as banking, a community activities database, and e-mail.

Here was an obvious opportunity for a study that could involve students and employ both quantitative and qualitative methods. The phone device was distributed to all residents in the community but, because of the instructor's research focus on services to the senior population, this group's inclusion was of particular interest. A local organization for seniors, involved in providing support services to senior citizens, had invited them to a series of meetings to explain the technology. A mailing list of 300 senior citizens who lived in the area was available. This list could be, and was, used to draw a sample of participants for a study. But what kind of a study?