RSMET week 7 Activities

7.1

The difference between Mixed Methods Research and Multi-method Research is, Multi method incorporates both qualitative and quantitative data at any point in the research whereas Multi-method has both qualitative and quantitative projects that can stand on their own, but are used in a project to support each other, using triangulation to ensure the credibility and validity of the research.

In my opinion the use of a mixed methods approach to research can improve the credibility of the work being undertaken.  A purely quantitative piece however interesting the statistics, would be a difficult report to write.  Although the information would be important I feel the addition of qualitative data would assist with the triangulation of the research.  This method would also give a greater opportunity to discuss the issues raised by the comparison of the data.

7.2

The method of research used within the study project I am critiquing uses both questionnaires and interviews to collect the data within the case study.  The report attempts to compare the data from both methods and does achieve some correlation of opinions.  The overall conclusion drawn in the report enforces the opinion of the author.  It is interesting to note that the researcher in this case used a previous position of employment to gain access to the data recorded in the report and I question whether this affected the outcome.  

I don’t think the credibility of the data can be questioned but the methods used to obtain the data in a short time frame may have affected the results.  The way the report is written appears to be quite last minute and poorly thought out.  The data gathered from the questionnaire is not discussed at depth and this has caused the report to suffer in what otherwise could have been an interesting topic.  The use of the interview material in the report has not been discussed in great detail.  I felt more could have been said to give the reader of the report more understanding of the topic.  The use of modern journals to support the theory of the author was good and could have improved the report had the results within these reports been compared to the data gathered during this case study.