Quantitative Research Designs
My goal to identify specific character traits related to the occupation that may contribute to the underrepresentation of women in law enforcement is particularly relevant, given the slow growth of female officers in this field. However, my plan to use previous studies on police personality and current issues affecting law enforcement
Chapter 3 provides you multiple examples of types of quantitative designs for studies. Based on your work thus far which of these studies do you believe applies best to your study? If your study does not lend itself to a quantitative study then read ahead to Chapter 5 and see if you can land on a qualitative design that would work. Both of these categories of studies are appropriate. The key is to chose based on what method is best to explore your topic.
Quantitative Research Designs
In this chapter, we share with you an important component of the dissertation process—determining the type of inquiry and research design you will use for your study. This actually will not be a specific chapter in your dissertation, but is all important in developing your proposal and carrying out your research. The inquiry techniques and/or methods presented in this chapter all have their beginnings in basic human observation and curiosity. We are describing science in the broadest sense of the word—a way of reflecting on our world. Just as children experience science via attitudes, processes, and products, we do also as adult researchers.
Your attitude as a researcher is critical. First, you must think of yourself as a researcher and writer, and not just as a graduate or doctoral student. Your attitude will carry you far as a budding scientist. It will encourage you further in your own curiosity of your topic and of others’ topics; it will provide you with perseverance for the task of conducting the research; it will pick you up when you fail and help you learn from your mistakes; and it will aid your open-mindedness and assist you in cooperation with others. Furthermore, a positive attitude toward the research will provide you with a desire to seek reliable and valid sources of information; a desire to provide and to tolerate alternative viewpoints; an avoidance of overgeneralizations; a restraint to make a judgment until all evidence is examined or evaluated, or to make claims without having proof or descriptors; and an open mind toward questions related to your own research.
Processes of research will aid you in working through your study in a critical and creative way. In the simplest terms, processes may include observing, classifying, contrasting, communicating, measuring, estimating, predicting, and inferring. You also will use the processes of identifying and controlling variables, operationalizing definitions, hypothesizing, questioning, experimenting, investigating, interpreting data, or forming theories or models.
The product of your research, your dissertation, provides your chosen field with a greater knowledge base; therefore, because knowledge is considered power, you also carry with you during your research much responsibility as you plan your study, choose your method of inquiry, and conduct your research. You have an ethical obligation to do the very best research that can be produced. You ask: even at the dissertation stage? The answer is yes, at the dissertation stage of your research career. Though you may be questioned on your study, you also know that much of science changes over time and that knowledge is challenged as it is produced. Remember this about your research, as Slavin (1992) said, “the best research design is one that will add to knowledge, no matter what the results are” (p. 3). Your research product, whether you find a small or large effect size along with significance, may be interpreted or used differently by different audiences, depending on their circumstances and experiences.
Your dissertation, as a product, may take the form of a hierarchy, such as basic factual or uniconceptual research, principles of research that relate to multiple concepts, or theories, the highest level of research. This hierarchy can be observed in Figure 3.1. The closer the products of the research are to the top point of the pyramid, the more complex the study. In the development of theory, we note that the complexity may involve dual methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative.
A couple of important questions should be considered as you determine your method of inquiry. First, you must ask yourself: what is my intent or purpose of the research? Second: what are my research questions? These initial components will drive the method you select. You may determine that a quantitative analysis will suffice in answering your research question or will respond to your purpose. On the other hand, you may conclude that it is qualitative, the deeper understanding of the topic, that responds to your purpose, or ultimately, you may decide that a mixed methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative analyses, is the best method of inquiry for your dissertation.
