Question 3
Compare and contrast the types of research methods used in scholarly studies on your proposed (or School-approved) dissertation topic. Synthesize your findings and propose a best-fit method for your dissertation research. Within the context of such a study, identify and analyze the issues associated with each of the following: ethics, sampling, validity, reliability, and bias.
This paper will discuss and evaluate two methods commonly found in qualitative research: case study and generic. First the paper will provide a brief reasoning as to why the school-approve topic will be a qualitative and not quantitative. Then, it will compare and contrast the scholarly rationale for the two chosen research methods,
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More importantly, it would advance the human services field by contributing to existing knowledge on FPMs and permanency planning within the foster care system. From this study, new strategies and practices may be identified as a means to effectively prepare foster parents to work as professional members of a multidisciplinary team, improving the overall engagement of foster parents with social workers, Guardian Ad item, CASA Workers, and other professionals working to achieve permanency.
Qualitative versus Quantitative Research
At the surface qualitative and quantitative research appears to have a lot of similarities, but qualitative has many distinct characteristics from quantitative research. Depending on the research questions and methods of collecting data will have an impact on which method is most appropriate (Choy, 2014). Qualitative Research is applied in specific disciplines by testing a theory developed from the research and quantitative research applied by building on an existing theory (Allwood, 2011; Choy, 2014). When collecting data, qualitative research relies on the interpretation of information collected from surveys, interviews, narratives (Allwood, 2011; Choy, 2014). Quantitative Research data is collect from instruments designed to produce numeric data or statistics (Allwood, 2011; Choy, 2014). When interpreting data collected in a qualitative research one is ?searching for themes? while quantitative research, analyses the data
A family partnership meeting (FPM) is a “deliberate and structured approach to involving youth and families in decision-making through a facilitated meeting of family, their identified supports and professionals working with the family” (Family Partnership Meetings, 2013). Virginia Department of Social Services uses FPM to engage families in the decision-making process when a child is at risk of coming into foster care, foster home placement disruption, and permanency planning (Family Partnership Meetings, 2013). With that said, foster parents are considered as professional members of the multidisciplinary team, working together to meet the needs of foster children (Child Welfare League of America, 2008). This
The theoretical foundations of qualitative and quantitative methods are very different, but many researchers believe both methods should be used in the research study to increase validity and reliability.
Studies about FPM in the foster care system indicates that engagement is an important component to achieving permanency for foster children (Boldis, & Tomlinson, 2014; Crampton, Usher, Wildfire, Webster, & Cuccaro-Alamin, 2011). It has been demonstrated that FPM increases biological family members ' participation in permanency planning (Crampton, Usher, Wildfire, Webster, & Cuccaro-Alamin, 2011; Gladstone et al., 2012; Montserrat, L?pez, Bravo, & del Valle, 2013). Permanency is more likely to be long term when biological families are active members of the FPM (Balsells, Pastor, Mateos, Vaquero, & Urrea, 2015; Boldis, & Tomlinson, 2014; Crampton, Usher, Wildfire, Webster, & Cuccaro-Alamin, 2011; Steen, & Duran, 2013). However, there is a gap in research on FPM and permanency planning through the team approach of decision-making that is inclusive of foster parents. The school-approved topic is "How do foster parents describe the experiences and engagement in family partnership meetings and permanency planning?" This study looks to expand on the concept of foster parents as professional members of a multidisciplinary team through their engagement in FPM and permanency planning.
Qualitative research is flexible written form their results are ongoing and their conclusion can be changed while quantitative research is numerical, reliable, specific, data are collected by statistical analysis due to which quantitative are more accurate. Qualitative research uses open questions to find the depth of the information while quantitative research uses closed question, secondary data or experiments due to this it lacks the depth of the information and neglect the effect of the individuals which could be service provider, service users or other staff members.
However, there is a gap in research on FPM and permanency planning through the team approach of decision-making that is inclusive of foster parents. The school-approved topic is "How do foster parents describe the experiences and engagement in family partnership meetings and permanency planning?" This study looks to expand on the concept of foster parents as professional members of a multidisciplinary team through their engagement in FPM and permanency planning.
According to Kothari (2008) qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena which are related to or involve quality or kind. Qualitative research engages the collection and analysis of non-numerical data obtained from experiments, interviews, observations, and other resources involving statements and arguments. Research is conducted into particular context and non-numerical interpretive approach is used to produce narrative description of research data. Unlike quantitative research, this type of research considers the underlying facts behind the establishment of particular behaviors and assumptions. It is commonly used in behavioural sciences where the aim of research is to discover underlying motives of human behaviour.
Permanency planning starts as soon as a child comes into foster care by providing family engagement and support services, simultaneously to children and their families to achieve permanency (Lopez, Del Valle, Montserrat, & Bravo, 2013; Goemans, Vanderfaeillie, Damen, Pijnenburg, & Van Holen, 2016). The desired outcome of permanency planning is to connect foster children to a permanent family, whether it is through reunification, placement with a biological family member (kinship), or through adoption by a non-relative family (Biehal, 2014). Research shows the quickest route to permanency is through reunification over kinship or adoption, making it the primary permanency goal when children come into foster care (Akin, 2011; Boldis & Tomlinson, 2014). However, research also indicates that if reunification does not occur within one year of coming into foster care, the chances of a child returning home drops to 19%, increasing the overall time
Qualitative research data is useful to explain to others the outcome of the information whereas quantitative research is difficult to understand at an initial glance. An advantage to quantitative data is that it is easy for you to turn in to quantitative data, which is more aesthetically pleasing for the audience.
For quite a while there has been some discussion around which method of distinctions between Qualitative research and quantitative research. This has been fired in later years with some thinking that a combination of the two is best practice especially in social
A RT proposition is people conform to the role they assume, attempting to carry-out role expectations. For foster parents, their role is defined by foster parent training and behavioral intervention training (Farmer & Lippold, 2016; Schofield, Beek, Ward, & Biggart, 2013). Unfortunately, some pre-service training curriculums do not adequately prepare foster parents to work collaboratively as professionals with other professionals (Christenson & McMurtry, 2009; Cooley & Petren, 2011; Dorsey et al., 2008). The assumption is individuals that participate in pre-service trainings with a curriculum that defines the role of foster parents as professionals are more likely engage in FPM and permanency planning. These foster parents will
This section provides an introduction to the different types of research paradigms and methods before concluding on the approach that this study will undertake.
General speaking, quantitative research is thought to be objective, however qualitative research often involves a subjective element. There are differences designs in qualitative research in comparison to quantitative research. Qualitative research involves words, pictures, or objects; Quantitative involves data in the form of numbers and statistics.
Qualitative research depicts the attributes and characteristics of something. In Qualitative research, the portrayal is not decreased into numbers just like the case in quantitative research. In any case, this can later be accomplished through encoding process. Qualitative research furnishes the scientist with data about
Qualitative and Quantitative study designs both can be beneficial in research design. They both provide valuable options for researchers in the field. These techniques can either be used separately in a research study or they can be combined to achieve maximum information. This paper will define the terms qualitative and quantitative; describe the similarities and differences between each; discuss how qualitative and/or quantitative research designs or techniques could be used in the evaluation of my proposed research; and discuss why linking analysis to study design is important.
(i) Quantitative vs Qualitative Research: Qualitative research methods is based on values and not numbers while quantitative is based on numeric and Quantifiable data to generalize in its conclusion.