Data Collection Plan Research Paper Data Collection Plan Develop a basic research question surrounding the doctoral/graduate student research experience.

Data Collection Plan Research Paper Data Collection Plan

Develop a basic research question surrounding the doctoral/graduate student research experience. Use a “concurrent” or “sequential mixed methods” design with a dominant qualitative paradigm or a dominant quantitative paradigm, or an equal weight, to develop a data collection plan based on the data generated by the class. You must include in your data collection plan from one quantitative and one available qualitative data stream generated in this course (e.g., photo elicitation, focus group interview questions, research experiences scale, research methods test, researcher identity memo, etc.), and you must weight the interpretation of these data types to enhance the qualitative results. Explain the rationale for selecting your data sources and how these data sources will answer your research question.

The following data sources may be used for this paper:

Data # Tool Type of Tool Blackboard location Module
1 Journal prompt QUAL Wiki 1
2 Photo elicitation QUAL Discussion Forum #1 1
3 Focus group interview questions QUAL Wiki 1
4 Philosophical beliefs scale QUANT Google Doc 2
5 Researcher self-efficacy scale QUANT Google Doc 2
6 Post graduate researcher experiences scale QUANT Google Doc 2

Identify the following in this paper:
Research question(s)
MM research design
Data collection tools
Rationale for selecting the design and the tools to answer your research question(s)
Strengths and limitations of the data collection plan
Describe your data collection plan in a 3 page paper. Make certain that your paper includes an appropriate research question (or set of questions), a brief description of the design, and a brief discussion of the mixed method data collection plan and cautions/limitations. You are required to use course materials to justify each aspect of your plan.

Use Only the sources i provide The Qualitative Report Volume 11 Number 3 September 2006 474-498
http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR11-3/onwuegbuzie.pdf
Linking Research Questions to Mixed Methods Data Analysis
Procedures 1
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie
University of South Florida, Tampa Florida
Nancy L. Leech
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of research
questions in mixed methods studies. First, we discuss the ways that the
goal of the study, the research objective(s), and the research purpose
shape the formation of research questions. Second, we compare and
contrast quantitative research questions and qualitative research
questions. Third, we describe how to write mixed methods research
questions, which we define as questions that embed quantitative and
qualitative research questions. Finally, we provide a framework for
linking research questions to mixed methods data analysis techniques. A
major goal of our framework is to illustrate that the development of
research questions and data analysis procedures in mixed method studies
should occur logically and sequentially. Key Words: Mixed Methods,
Quantitative Research Questions, Qualitative Research Questions, and
Mixed Methods Data Analysis
Setting the Scene
Conducting mixed methods research involves collecting, analyzing, and
interpreting quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or in a series of studies that
investigate the same underlying phenomenon. As noted by Johnson and Onwuegbuzie
(2004, p. 17), “its logic of inquiry includes the use of induction (or discovery of patterns),
deduction (testing of theories and hypotheses), and abduction (uncovering and relying on
the best of a set of explanations for understanding one’s results).” Because of its logical
and intuitive appeal, providing a bridge between the qualitative and quantitative
paradigms, an increasing number of researchers are utilizing mixed methods research to
undertake their studies.
As conceptualized by Collins, Onwuegbuzie, and Sutton (2006), mixed methods
research can be conceptualized as comprising the following 13 distinct steps:
1. determining the goal of the study
2. formulating the research objective(s),
3. determining the research/mixing rationale,
1 Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, New Orleans,
LA, and February 9-12, 2005.
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The Qualitative Report September 2006
4. determining the research/mixing purpose,
5. determining the research question(s),
6. selecting the sampling design
7. selecting the mixed methods research design,
8. collecting the data,
9. analyzing the data,
10. validating/legitimating the data,
11. interpreting the data,
12. writing the mixed methods research report, and
13. reformulating the research question(s).
This process is illustrated in Figure 1.
The Importance of Questions
Determining the research question(s) is an extremely important step in both the
quantitative research process and the qualitative research process because these questions
narrow the research objective and research purpose to specific questions that researchers
attempt to address in their studies (Creswell, 2005; Johnson & Christensen, 2004).
However, research questions are even more important in mixed methods research because
mixed methods researchers make use of the pragmatic method and system of philosophy.
As such, in mixed methods studies, research questions drive the methods used (Newman
& Benz, 1998; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). Moreover, research questions in mixed
methods studies are vitally important because they, in large part, dictate the type of
research design used, the sample size and sampling scheme employed, and the type of
instruments administered as well as the data analysis techniques (i.e., statistical or
qualitative) used.
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie and Nancy L. Leech
476
Figure 1. Steps in the mixed methods research process.
Determine the
Goal of the
Study (1)
Formulate
Research
Objectives (2)
Reformulate
Research
Question(s)
(13)
Determine
Research/
Mixing
Purpose(s) (4)
Determine
Research
Question(s) (5)
Determine the
Research/Mixing
Rationale
(3)
Select
Sampling
Design (6)
Select Mixed
Methods
Research
Design (7)
Collect
Data (8)
Analyze
Data
(9)
Reevaluate
Research
Question(s)
Interpret
Data
(11)
Write Research
Report (12)
Validate
Data
(10)
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The Qualitative Report September 2006
Unfortunately, forming research questions is much more difficult in mixed
methods studies than in monomethod (i.e., quantitative or qualitative) investigations
because it involves the formation of both quantitative and qualitative research questions
within the same inquiry. Thus, it is surprising that an extensive review of the literature
revealed no guidance as to how to write research questions specifically in mixed methods
studies. The leading textbook in mixed methods research, Handbook of Mixed Methods in
Social and Behavioral Research (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003), covers virtually all
aspects of inquiry, including the research purpose (Newman, Ridenour, Newman, &
DeMarco, 2003), research designs (Creswell, Plano Clark, Guttmann, & Hanson, 2003;
Maxwell & Loomis, 2003), sampling (Kemper, Stringfield, & Teddlie, 2003), data
collection (Johnson & Turner, 2003), data analysis (Bazeley, 2003; Onwuegbuzie &
Teddlie, 2003), making inferences (Erzberger & Kelle, 2003; Miller, 2003), and report
writing (Sandelowski, 2003). However, this book does not provide any significant
discussion of research questions in mixed methods research. In fact, nowhere in this 768
page, 26-chapter edited book is the concept of mixed methods research question either
defined or described. In Chapter 11, written by Johnson and Turner, the authors state that
“authors of the previous chapters in this handbook have discussed many of the issues
surrounding mixed methods research, including…writing research questions” (p. 297).
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Interestingly, in Chapter 6 of the Handbook of Mixed
Methods in Social and Behavioral Research, written by Newman et al. (p. 168), the
authors reveal the following,
Our original goal in writing this chapter was to present a typology of
research questions. Pursuing that goal led us through several winding
pathways to an unintended end result: not a typology of research questions
but rather a typology of research purposes. [emphasis in original]
Other leading introductory-level research methodology textbook authors who devote
whole chapters to mixed methods research (e.g., Creswell, 2005; Johnson & Christensen,
2004) also are guilty of this important oversight.
With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of
research questions in mixed methods studies. First, we discuss the role that the goal of the
study, the research objective(s), the research/mixing rationale, and research/mixing
purpose have on the formation of research questions. Second, we compare and contrast
quantitative research questions and qualitative research questions. Third, we describe
how to write mixed methods research questions, which we define as questions that embed
quantitative and qualitative research questions.
Although frameworks exist for linking quantitative research questions (e.g.,
Leech, Barrett, & Morgan, 2005) and qualitative research questions (e.g., Leech &
Onwuegbuzie, 2005) to data analysis procedures, no such framework exists for mixed
methods studies. Thus, fourth, we provide a framework for linking research questions to
mixed methods data analysis techniques. In so doing, we utilize Onwuegbuzie and
Teddlie’s (2003) seven-stage conceptualization of the mixed methods data analysis
process. Finally, we outline the types of research questions that are pertinent for each of
these seven steps of the mixed methods data analysis process. A major goal of our
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie and Nancy L. Leech
478
framework is to illustrate that the development of research questions and data analysis
procedures in mixed method studies should occur logically and sequentially.
Antecedents of Research Questions
In general, research questions reflect the problem that the researcher wants to
investigate. More specifically, research questions are interrogative statements that
represent “an extension of the statement of the purpose of the study in that it specifies
exactly the question that the researcher will attempt to answer” (Johnson & Christensen,
2004, p. 77). Research questions can be formulated based on theories, past research,
previous experience, or the practical need to make data-driven decisions in a work
environment. Thus, they serve as signposts for the reader, foreshadowing the specific
details of the study.
Research questions have several roles. In particular, they provide a framework for
conducting the study, helping the researcher to organize the research and giving it
relevance, direction, and coherence, thereby helping to keep the researcher focused
during the course of the investigation. Research questions also delimit the study,
revealing its boundaries. Additionally, research questions give rise to the type of data that
are eventually collected. As can be seen from Figure 1, research questions occupy a place
in the mixed methods research process that is central, interactive, emergent, and evolving.
Not only does the development of research questions occur at the fourth step of the
process, but these questions are re-evaluated during the data analysis (i.e., Step 9), data
legitimation (i.e., Step 10), and/or data interpretation (i.e., Step 11) steps. That is, any of
these steps might lead to the research questions being modified and/or to additional
research questions being addressed. Once the research report has been written (i.e., Step
12), the role of the research question does not end. Rather, this step leads to the research
question(s) being reformulated (Step 11), which, in turn, might lead to a reformulation of
the research goal (i.e., Step 1), research objective (i.e., Step 2), research/mixing rationale
(i.e., Step 3), and/or research/mixing purpose (i.e., Step 4). Alternatively, the research
goal, research objective, research/mixing rationale, and research/mixing purpose may
stay intact, in which case the reformulation of the research question directly leads to a
reformulation of the mixed methods sampling design (i.e., Step 6) and mixed methods
research design (i.e., Step 7).
Figure 1 also indicates that the goal of the study, research objective, research
mixing/rationale, and research/mixing purpose precede the research question(s).
Determining the goal of the study, which represents the first step of the mixed methods
research process, involves making a decision about what the overall, long-term aim of the
study is. Here, we can use Newman et al.’s (2003) framework. These authors identified
the following nine types of goals 2 : (a) predict; (b) add to the knowledge base; (c) have a
2 Newman et al. (2003) used the word purposes rather than goals to label these nine categories.
Unfortunately, the word “purpose” has many uses. Traditionally, this word has been used to denote the
direction or focus for the study (see for example, Creswell, 2005). Conversely, Newman et al. (2003)
conceptualize their typology of research purposes as representing “an iterative flow of ideas” (p. 184) that
maps the researcher’s thinking process. The terms “direction” and “focus” do not have the same meaning as
“ideas.” Thus, we believe that Newman et al.’s use of the term “research purpose” conflicts with its
traditional usage. Indeed, the word “ideas” represents a higher level of abstraction than do the terms
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The Qualitative Report September 2006
personal, social, institutional, and/or organizational impact; (d) measure change; (e)
understand complex phenomena; (f) test new ideas; (g) generate new ideas; (h) inform
constituencies; and (i) examine the past 3 .
The research goal leads naturally to the research objective, the second step of the
mixed methods research process. In determining the research objective, the researcher
should determine which of the following five major standard research objectives are
pertinent for the quantitative and qualitative phases of the study: (a) exploration, (b)
description, (c) explanation, (d) prediction, and/or (e) influence (Johnson & Christensen,
2004). Specifically, exploration involves using primarily inductive methods to explore a
concept, construct, phenomenon, or situation in order to develop tentative hypotheses or
generalizations. Description involves identifying and describing the antecedents, nature,
and etiology of a phenomenon. Explanation represents developing theory for the purpose
of elucidating the relationship among concepts or phenomena and determining reasons
for occurrences of events. Prediction refers to using pre-existing knowledge or theory to
forecast what will occur at a later point in time. Finally, influence relates to the
manipulation of the setting or variable to produce a desired outcome. Both the qualitative
and quantitative phases of each mixed methods research study can be linked to one or
more of these five research objectives.
Once the research goal and objective(s) have been determined, the next step in the
mixed research process is to determine the research mixing/rationale. This not only
involves determining the rationale of the study (i.e., why the study is needed), but also
identifying the rationale for mixing quantitative and qualitative approaches. Collins et al.
(2006) have identified the following four major rationales for mixing quantitative and
qualitative approaches: participant enrichment (i.e., the mixing of quantitative and
qualitative techniques for the rationale of optimizing the sample; such as increasing the
number of participants), instrument fidelity (i.e., maximizing the appropriateness and/or
utility of the instruments used in the study, whether quantitative or qualitative; for e.g.,
via a pilot study), treatment integrity (i.e., mixing quantitative and qualitative techniques
in order to assess the fidelity of interventions, treatments, or programs), and significance
enhancement (i.e., mixing quantitative and qualitative techniques in order to maximize
researchers’ interpretations of data).
“direction” and “focus”—hence our relabeling of Newman et al.’s “research purpose” into the phrase
“research goal.”
3 It should be noted that epistemological stances or theoretical foundation choices might enter into the
decisions made about the goal of the study, which, ultimately, can affect the nature of the mixed methods
research questions composed. In particular, epistemological, ontological, axiological, methodological,
and/or rhetorical beliefs might drive the type of research questions that are addressed. For example, a
researcher with a stance that is subjectivist (i.e., epistemological belief) and relativist (ontological belief),
who believes in value-bound research (i.e., axiological beliefs), and who takes a dialectical, dialogical, or a
hermeneutical perspective (i.e., methodological belief) likely would pose different mixed methods research
questions (e.g., research questions that are more constructivist in nature versus research questions
that
represent theory testing, respectively) than would a researcher with a stance that is objectivist (i.e.,
epistemological belief) and realist (ontological belief), who believes in value-free research (i.e., axiological
beliefs), and who utilizes deductive reasoning in which time- and context-free generalizations are desirable
and possible, and wherein real causes to social scientific outcomes can be determined reliably and validly
(i.e., methodological belief). For an in-depth discussion of epistemological, ontological, axiological,
methodological, and/or rhetorical differences among researchers, see for example, Guba and Lincoln
(2005), Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, and Turner (2005), and Risjord,
Moloney, and Dunbar (2001).
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie and Nancy L. Leech
480
Alongside determining the research/mixing rationale, the researcher should
identify the research/mixing purpose, which is the next step in the mixed research
process. Collins et al. (2006) have identified 65 purposes for mixing quantitative and
qualitative approaches. Each of these purposes falls under one of the four major
rationales (i.e., participant enrichment, instrument fidelity, treatment integrity, and
significance enhancement). Also, we recommend that researchers use Greene, Caracelli,
and Graham’s (1989) framework. These authors identified the following five general
purposes of mixed-methods studies: (a) triangulation (i.e., seeking convergence and
corroboration of findings from different methods that study the same phenomenon); (b)
complementarity (i.e., seeking elaboration, illustration, enhancement, and clarification of
the results from one method with results from the other method); (c) initiation (i.e.,
discovering paradoxes and contradictions that lead to a re-framing of the research
question/questions); (d) development (i.e., using the results from one method to help
inform the other method); and (e) expansion (i.e., seeking to expand the breadth and
range of the investigation by using different methods for different inquiry components).
As documented by Greene et al., every mixed methods study can be classified as having
one or more of these five purposes. Identifying the research purpose helps the researcher
to develop appropriate research questions. For example, if the purpose of the research is
triangulation, then both the quantitative and qualitative set of research questions should
lead most likely to an investigation of the same outcome or phenomenon. If the purpose
of the research is initiation or development, then the quantitative research question should
be conditional on the qualitative research question, or vice versa.
Types of Research Questions
In mixed methods research studies, researchers typically must develop at least one
qualitative research question and at least one quantitative research question. Although
both quantitative research questions and qualitative research questions give direction and
focus to their respective components of the mixed methods study, they differ somewhat
with respect to their structures (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). These differences are
highlighted below.
Quantitative Research Questions
Quantitative research questions, unlike their qualitative counterparts, tend to be
very specific in nature. Moreover, most quantitative research questions fall into one of
three categories: (a) descriptive, (b) comparative, and (c) relationship. 4 This typology is
presented in Figure 2.
Descriptive questions simply seek to quantify responses on one or more variables.
These questions often can begin with the words “What is…” or “What are…” Examples
of a descriptive research question are “What are the reasons that graduate students give
for enrolling in a distance education course?” “What is the graduation rate of doctoral
4 In addition to being descriptive, correlational, and comparative, quantitative research questions also can
be historical. This occurs if the research question is written using the past tense. However, historical
questions are not included in our typology in Figure 2 because they are relatively rare in educational
research.
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The Qualitative Report September 2006
students in a distance education program?” and “What is the average grade point average
score of students enrolled in a doctoral-level distance education program?”
Comparative questions seek to compare two or more groups on some outcome
variable (i.e., dependent variable). These questions often use words such as “differ” and
“compare.” Comp…
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