Principles Of Research: A critical review of research papers

This essay will be critiquing the article ‘Fathers ' Involvement in Children 's Services: Exploring Local and National Issues in ‘Moorlandstown’ (Gillina et al, 2012). The article uses qualitative method to establish why fathers are less likely to access children services. It will be using the critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) framework to understand qualitative research to critique this research (CASP, 2013). This framework has been chosen to aid the critical thinking in a systematic manner. It will establish if the results of the article are valid, what the results are and if the results will help locally. This useful aid will enable the reviewer to make sound judgments of the research.

158-159). “In reviewing the literature, the focus was on identifying the impact of parental mental health, the associated risks, the difficulties with the interface working, and proposed solutions” (Duffy et al., 2010, p. 159). Some of concerns expressed for the program to be effective were how mental health and child care services work together, communication between the two, role clarity, and the outcome hoped to be achieved by the development of this program was to provide holistic interventions which could not be provided by just one agency, earlier intervention which was more effective, to decrease staff stress, and to obtain a better outcome for the families involved (Duffy et al.,

of access to health care, and a preference for informal or formal adoption. There are not as many articles that explore this issue from a qualitative point of view. Qualitative research from a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic perspective provides a thick, rich description of the meaning that these experiences have for the couples.

Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology will be use to investigate the hypothesis. The use of case study, questionnaire, interview and statistical analysis will be used to observe and asks questions about the views of the micro, meso and macro levels of society on my topic. Problems that could occur with these methodology is not having enough adequate data to proceed the with each analysis. Secondary research will be used to make subjective judgments about what data is useful and what is not for the motive for the research process.

In this assignment I will be comparing different research methodologies, which might be used in health and social care setting.

In defining quantitative research the term can be dichotomized. Firstly, research refers to creative, systematic work with the intention to increase the knowledge of man and thereby devise new applications (OECD, 2002). In addition Gray (1997) stated that research should improve performance and that the results should be

Quantitative research methods are objective as it uses measurements and analysis of statistical data to answer the study question. The researchers’ opinions do not affect the outcome of the study, ensuring that the study is unbiased. Another advantage is quantitative research uses numbers and statistics which is understood universally (Houser,2008).

Furthermore, after mum explained the events which had unfolded I can understand the reason for her distrust of social workers. Mum feels that social services appoint ‘blame’ and work against her and her partner. Mum talked about being lied to and deceived, as opposed to ensuring the parents feel involved and empowered in decisions which affect the family. However, I am aware that the need to safeguard the children may have accounted for disallowing the parents from having too much influence or say in developments.

This paper is a critical analysis of two contrasting research articles which have come from human services related journals. The research articles have been selected as they adopt contrasting approaches to research - qualitative and quantitative. The objective of this analysis is to highlight and interpret the interrelated paradigms that all forms of research are underpinned by. Theoretical underpinnings of research play a crucial role throughout all research paradigms which consequently guide and determine the direction research will take. It is important to understand that this paper is not a comparison of the two research articles therefore, the articles have been analysed separately to achieve a clearer point of view.

Researchers often times are faced with the decision of choosing a methodology of research; either Quantitative or Qualitative that they think best fits their study and objectives. This choice is guarded by the topic of study, the advantages and disadvantages, and the strengths and weaknesses of using either one or the other type of the methodologies.

It is important to mention at this stage that a research study presented by a researcher may not give complete information about the selected topic. There can be certain limitations of methodology and the new researchers may criticise it for being incomplete. As research is a circular process in which ideas can be added and extracted by researchers anytime, the application of the presented ideas by one researcher are tested and verified.

Quantitative and qualitative methods differ from one another as to their research design elements as listed below:

Research questions are formulated in a study to inquire about variables, both independent and dependent variables, and the relationship between them. Research questions are categorized into two, that is, qualitative and quantitative research questions. Qualitative questions are used in qualitative research like case studies, surveys and action research where the approach is non-numerical and analyses special phenomena that occur in nature. Quantitative research on the other hand is more of a systematic approach with measurable numerical quantities that go through analysis to prove a hypothesis. Finally, the research hypothesis is either approved or disapproved with regards to the results of the analysis (Laureate Online Education B.V.

Quantitative research involves collecting data, which can be expressed numerically. The design is well structured with pre-determined outcomes. It frequently involves testing a hypothesis, which then can be analysed from the data deductively using statistical methods. Using numerical data is easier to analysis mathematical, so larger sample sizes can be utilised compared to qualitative research, therefore giving a better representative of the population; along with simplifying the process of making a generalisation. Another advantage is that studies can easily compare to similar findings (Kruger, 2003). The disadvantages are the results are limited and might not provide a proper understanding of the topic. Also, statistics and leading questions can be used to give a false representation of the data when summarising.

Research methodology is a way how the research is conducted step by step and in order. There are two methods used for data collection which is the primary data and secondary data. These data can be obtained and used many ways. The data is taken and analyzed in advance to produce a result that we can use for research and future reference. This study will relate to the objective we want to achieve and finding the answer to every objective we seek. In order to successfully achieve the objectives we seek, we must know