Abbi Carr

Research Methodologies
G. Caruth
3/19/2014
Research Methods
Correlational
Scenario: A researcher is interested in testing the claim that students in more extracurricular
activities tend to achieve higher grades.
Advantages: Correlational research provides statistical relationships and has very few ethical
limitations due to the lack of intrusion by the researcher; no variables are manipulated,
drastically reducing any ethical violations.
Disadvantages: Correlational research does not provide causation just merely provides statistical
relationships between any given set of variables.
Correlational research is a prominent starting point for additional types of research. Correlational
research indicates positive or negative relationships between any given set of variables that help
determine how best to further research the relationships to determine cause or unseen variations.
Survey
Scenario: A researcher is interested in determining the cause of low voting numbers in a local
election.
Advantages: Survey research allows researchers to collect data of unobservable circumstances
and has the ability to provide anonymity to its population thus increasing the reliability of its
findings.
Disadvantages: Unforeseen population limitations such as lack of appropriate population size,
population illiteracy, and population language barriers can decrease the number of completed
responses or skew the results due to lack of viability.
Survey research is beneficial to researchers attempting to collect data from a large number of
participants and is relatively cost effective. When designing a survey there are a number of
considerations that determine the quality of the survey. Determining the appropriate purpose of
the questions, selecting an advantageous response format, wording questions carefully, and
placing questions appropriately on the survey all have the ability to affect the quality of the
survey. In an effort to increase response rates, it is suggested to use a formatted or structured
response format such as bubbling or checking of responses rather than relying on an extensive
unstructured response.

Experimental
Scenario: A researcher would like to determine the appropriate music level of background music
to facilitate efficiency of workers in an office setting.
Advantages: Experimental research provides a strong indication of causal relationships between
a dependent and independent variable.
Disadvantages: Experimental research can sometimes become unreliable due to the manipulation
of a variable to the point of creating an unreal situation. It can also be limited in the manipulation
of a variable due to ethical boundaries.
Experimental Research provides researchers the means to identify causation in a given
relationship by its allowance of manipulation. Data may be collected at various levels of
manipulation and render useful information in a variety of settings.
Action Research
Each action research is unique because the participant in the experiment is the researcher. The
research is always significant because the concentration of the action research is determined by
the researcher/participant. It is used to collect data that is germane to the researchers life and
provides immediate feedback to the actions of the researcher.