Research Dilemmas.docVIP

Issues In Educational Research, Vol 16, 2006[ Contents Vol 16 ] [ IIER Home ] Research dilemmas: Paradigms, methods and methodology Noella Mackenzie and Sally KnipeCharles Sturt University In this article the authors discuss issues faced by early career researchers, including the dichotomy, which many research textbooks and journal articles create and perpetuate between qualitative and quantitative research methodology despite considerable literature to support the use of mixed methods. The authors review current research literature and discuss some of the language, which can prove confusing to the early career researcher and problematic for post-graduate supervisors and teachers of research. The authors argue that discussions of research methods in research texts and university courses should include mixed methods and should address the perceived dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative research methodology. Introduction Social scientists have come to abandon the spurious choice between qualitative and quantitative data; they are concerned rather with that combination of both which makes use of the most valuable features of each. The problem becomes one of determining at which points he [sic] should adopt the one, and at which the other, approach (Merton Kendall, 1946, pp.556-557). Given that the qualitative/quantitative debate has been discussed for half a century you could be forgiven for questioning the need for another article, which includes this topic. However, many university courses and research texts continue to discuss research in terms of qualitative or quantitative methods. When research is described in such terms, confusion may be created for the undergraduate student, first time or early career researcher. The research process is already a daunting prospect to the inexperienced researcher and the ongoing debate and contradictory information adds to the confusion. This is further exacerbated by laypeople that continually ask researchers