ETEC500:MethodologyCritique

ByNicholasGraves95283016

Qualitativeandquantitativeresearchmethodsbothseektoansweraquestion,however
theydosoinverydifferentways.

DevelopingTeacherEpistemologicalSophisticationAboutMulticulturalCurriculum:A
CaseStudybySleeter(2009)usesqualitativemethodstounderstandhowteachersthink
aboutcurriculumchangesduringateachereducationcourseandhowthisprocesscan
improveteachereducationpedagogy.Thecasestudyusescourseassignments,research
journals,observationnotesandtaperecordedinterviewsasitsprimarydatasources.
Thesesourcesareanalyzedwithqualitativeanalyticmethods.Sleeterusedarubricthat
describesgeneralizedlevelsofprogressionfromnovice,toaccomplishedteacher.The
rubricfocusedonfourareasofepistemologicalbeliefs:taskdefinition,perspective
taking,selfreflexivity,andlocusofdecisionmaking.Thismethodwasusedbecauseit
capturesthecomplexityofaschoolenvironmentmorefullythanaquantitativemethod.
Eachexperienceisuniqueandinformedbythevariedcontextsthattheytakeplaceinand
byselectingaparticipantthatillustratesacommontypetheresultscanbegeneralized.

CanInstructionalandEmotionalSupportintheFirstGradeClassroomMakea
DifferenceforChildrenatRiskofSchoolFailure?byHamreandPianta(2005)uses
quantitativemethodstounderstandhowcharacteristicsofafirstgradeclassroomcan
supportchildrenatriskoffailureduetoacademicandsocialdifficulties.Theystudied
910studentsinvolvedinalongitudinalstudyoffamiliesfromtenU.S.cities.The
childrensacademicandcognitiveskillsweremeasuredbystandardizedpsychometric

teststhatincludedanalysisofreading,mathematics,memoryandauditoryprocessing.
Thechildrensteachersalsoreportedtheirviewofconflictwitheachstudentusinga28
itemratingscale.Togaugeclassroomqualityandteacherbehavior,traineddata
collectorsspentadayobservingeachclassroom.Thisdatawasthenanalyzedusingan
ANCOVAanalysisofcovariance.Aquantitativemethodwasusedtoeffectivelytestthe
environmentalinfluencesonachildandtoallowtheconclusionstobegeneralizedand
appliedglobally.Alsobystudyingdiverseclassroomenvironmentstheresearchershada
naturalexperimentfromwhichtoformtheirconclusions.

Themethodsemployedinboththesestudieshavetheirstrengthsandweaknesses.
SleetersmethodisnotasrigorousasthoseusedbyHamreandPiantaanddoesnotfeel
asauthoritative,howeveritdoesagoodjobofprovidingpracticalsuggestionsonhowto
improveteachereducation.HamreandPiantasmethodprovidesastrongconclusionbut
doesnotprovideconcretesuggestionsforhowtohelpstudentsatrisk.Ithinkthat
Sleetersmethodworksforthepurposeoftheresearchandiseffectiveinaddressingthe
problemathand.IbelievethoughthatSleetersmethodscouldbeimprovedbyanalyzing
alargerparticipantgroup.HamreandPiantasstudywouldnotbepossibleifitused
qualitativemethods,butIbelievethattheirconclusionscouldbeimprovedby
incorporatingsomequalitativemethodsintotheirstudy.AfterreadingtheirstudyIfeltI
hadmorequestionsthananswers,specificallyIwantedtoknowaboutthefamilyissues
ofthestudentsandthesupportstheyhadathome.Ialsowantedtoknowaboutthe
classroomsthatweremosteffectiveatalleviatingriskfactorsandthosethatexacerbated

them.Itisdifficulttosaywhetherbettermethodscouldhavebeenusedinthesestudies
astheresultsseemtiedtothemethods.IthinkthatsinceIfoundSleetersarticleto
providemorepracticalconclusionsitsmethodwasstronger.Thesearticlesdoagoodjob
athighlightinghowdifferentmethodsproduceverydifferentconclusionsandthemethod
oneshouldselectdependsonthetypeofconclusionsonedesires.Qualitativeresearch
seemstoprovidesuggestionsonhowonecansolveaproblem,whereasquantitative
researchseemstoprovideyesornoanswerstoresearchquestions.

Incontrastingthesetwoarticlesonecanseethedifferencesbetweenresearchmethods.
Onedifferencebetweenthetworesearchstylesisthelackofliteraturereviewin
qualitativestudies.HamreandPiantadoaverythoroughreviewofpreviousresearchand
situatetheirstudyinthesestudies.Thisgivestheirresearchproblemamoreextensive
explanationandhelpstosituateitscontext.Theprimaryfocusoftheliteraturereviewin
Sleetersarticleistojustifyandexplaintheuseofcasestudies.Thisprovidesarationale
forwhythesubjectofthestudywasselected,butdoesnotdevelopthecontextofthe
research.

Inselectingtheparticipantsbotharticlesattempttochooseparticipantsthatallowfor
theirstudytobegeneralized.Sleeterdoesthisbyselectingacandidatethatcanexemplify
thelearningprocessofanoviceteacher,whereasHamreandPiantatrytoselectalarge
anddiversegrouptoextrapolatetheresultsglobally.Itisinterestingthatbotharticlestry

todothesamethingindifferentwaysandthoughtheprocessisdifferentbothdoagood
jobofjustifyingtheirselection.

Thecollectionandanalysisofdataisalsodifferent.HamreandPiantaareclinicalintheir
analysisandtrytofindthepurestdatapossible.ConverselySleetertakespartina
dialoguewiththesubjectofthestudyandseemsengagedonapersonallevel.Herdata
collectionandanalysisseemstointeractandflowtogether.Itlackstheclinicalnatureof
HamreandPiantasanalysisbutgivesagreaterinsightintothepossiblewaysthatthe
conclusionoftheresearchcanbeused.

HamreandPiantausedamoreformalprocedureandtheteststhattheyusedwere
standardized.Thestudydidusearatingscaleandobserversbuttheresearcherstriedto
ensurethatthattheresultswerestandardized.Sleeterontheotherhandusedinformal
proceduresandaselfmaderubric.ThisdifferencemakestheHamreandPiantastudy
easiertoreproduceandsuggeststhattheresultsareprobablymoregeneralizable.

HamreandPiantasresultsseemmoreconcretethanthoseofSleeter.Thenumerous
tablesandgraphscarryanauthoritativeair,howeverasHamreandPiantastatethese
resultsneedtobereproducedandotherhypothesizesneedtobetested,forexamplethe
directioncausalityinregardstoteacherinteraction.Sleetersconclusionsarenotas
authoritativebuttheyseemmorepracticalandapplicable.

ThebiggestthingthatItookawayfromthesestudieswasthattheresearchproblemplays
amajorroleindecidingthemethodofstudy.Ithinkthatbothofthesestudiescouldhave
changedmethodsbutIdonotthinktheresultswouldhavebeenaseffectiveiftheydid.I
alsofeltthatthetypeofresultsgeneratedfromastudyaredependentonhowtheresearch
isconducted.ByusingqualitativemethodsSleeterwasabletogiveadepthtoherresults
thatHamreandPiantalacked.

OverallIfoundthequalitativemethodmuchmoreappealingthanthequantitative
method.InmycontextasahighschoolprincipalIhavecometoseeeducationashighly
subjective.Ibelievethateachschoolandeachstudenthastheirowncontextandthough
wecangeneralizebetweencontextsitdoesnotmeanthatthesameproblemcanalways
beaddressedinthesameway.Quantitativeresearchseemstobeattemptingtofindvery
authoritativeanswersforeducationalproblems,whereasqualitativeresearchseemsto
makesuggestionsforhowproblemscanbeaddressed.AfterreadingSleetersarticleIfelt
likeIhadjustfinishedadiscussionwithapeerandfromthisdiscussionhadbeenableto
adaptsomeoftheirideastomycontext.IthinkthatamajorreasonIfindqualitative
researchmorerelevantisbecauseitismoreapplicabletomyresearchinterest.

Bibliography
Hamre,B.K.,&Pianta,R.C.(2005).Caninstructionalandemotionalsupportinthe
firstgradeclassroommakeadifferenceforchildrenatriskofschoolfailure?,
ChildDevelopment,76,949967.

Sleeter,C.(2009).Developingteacherepistemologicalsophisticationaboutmulticultural
curriculum:Acasestudy.ActioninTeacherEducation,31(1),313.