Part V: Common IQP Methodologies
Chapter 9: Introduction and Glossary of IQP Research Methods
The remainder of this handbook contains introductions to several of the most important research methods commonly utilized in conducting IQPs. Part V examines two qualitative methods that have been very popular in the past: surveying and interviewing. In Part VI the focus is on quantitative methods. While they have been far less popular, techniques such as cost/benefit and investment analysis, life-cycle costing, regression analysis, statistical hypothesis testing, and even modeling have found regular application in IQP work.
Not all important research methods are covered in the chapters below. To provide at least some information on those that are not this chapter concludes with a glossary of one paragraph definitions of most of the common IQP methodologies that have been identified in past reviews. The list currently includes the following: survey research, participant or natural observation, interviewing, focus group, case study, content analysis, historical analysis, risk analysis, statistical analysis (regression, hypothesis testing, etc.) cost/benefit analysis, life cycle costing.
IQP Research Methods:
Survey research refers to a body of techniques for collecting data on human characteristics, attitudes, thoughts, and behavior by obtaining responses from individuals to a set of prepared questions. The goal of virtually all surveys is to enable the researcher to predict accurately the characteristics or thoughts of a predefined group of people.
Natural and participant observation are two approaches to conducting field research which is "defined as 'the study of people acting in the natural courses of their daily lives. The field worker ventures into the worlds of others in order to learn firsthand about how they lived, how they talk and behave, and what captivates and distresses them.' Field research is carried out in natural settings and is frequently viewed as a way of empathizing with and understanding the subjective meanings of the people being studied. " In participant observation the investigator tries "to attain some kind of membership and or close attachment to the group that he or she wishes to study. In doing so the participant observer attempts to adopt the perspectives of the people in the situation being observed. The participant observer's role is that of "conscious and systematic sharing, insofar as circumstances permit, in the life activities, and on occasion, in the interests and effects of a group of persons'" (Nachmias, pp 281-282)
Interviewing involves "a face-to-face interpersonal role situation in which an interviewer asks respondents questions designed to elicit answers pertinent to a research hypotheses" and records their answers. "The questions, their wording, and their sequence define the structure of the interview." Interviewers must learn established techniques for ensuring that the interview data are unbiased, and determine who to interview, how many people to interview, what type of interview to conduct, and how the interview data will be analyzed. (Nachmias, p232)
Focus groups are a variation of in-depth qualitative interviews in which several people are interviewed together in a flexible and exploratory group discussion format. In focus groups the emphasis is on interactions between participants rather than between the researcher and participants, and researcher adopts a role that is more like a moderator that a questioner. The purpose of focus groups is to explore people's ideas in a public setting so that the interviewer can observe how they react to each other's ideas, when they challenge each others views, and how their opinions are formed. Focus groups are most appropriately used when it is important to obtain opinions after they have gone through a public process in which they are shared with and commented on by peers
The case study is an in-depth analysis of one particular organization or event. It allows for a thorough examination of a particular situation, but the results of such a study cannot be generalized beyond the single case. One authority has characterized the case study as follows: "A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon, within its real-life context especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and the context [in which the phenomena occurs] are not clearly evident." "The case study inquiry copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points, and as one result relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result benefits from prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis." (Yin, p13)
Content analysis is a technique for drawing inferences from existing records or documents (ranging from the Congressional Record to personal ads in a newspaper) in a systematic and unbiased way. Its advantages include an ability to study large populations and document naturally occurring trends overtime; however, it is subject to biases of interpretation and the researcher cannot control the collection of data.
Historical analysis in IQPs: Historical analysis involves critical assessment of both change and continuity over a period of time. It requires an effort to understand the past in a larger context that goes beyond simply seeing it from the perspective of the present. Historical analysis in an IQP usually investigates the extent to which a technology interacts with evolving aspects of the culture of its time, as that interaction is revealed through the rigorous examination and assessment of sources either from the time period (called primary sources) or from later periods consisting of secondary sources written by other historians about the issue. The sources are various-artifacts, manuscripts, books, newspapers, diaries, letters, art works, census records, tax lists, in fact, any and all human records that remain for the historian to access. The focus may extend from the most personal to the most generic/statistical, depending on how the questions concerning the investigation are framed. Methods of historical analysis stress inductive reasoning from evidence to inference and range widely in form from those that quite closely approximate social science methodologies and may involve quantitative analysis to those which eschew such approaches in favor of the theoretical, literary, and philosophical. These different approaches reflect the two broad positions taken by historians in assessing the role of complex causal forces in history: On the one hand, that humans, even when acting technologically, are never entirely free to make history as they see fit, but must act within the context of historically developed social and cultural forces that follow to some degree general laws of human behavior. Or, on the other hand, that the record of human action, driven by human decisions and unforeseen consequences, can only be understood within the reconstruction of the narrative of historical events that alone give meaning to those actions. Both views of history, however, require consideration of a range of alternative explanations and perspectives, recognizing that understanding is advanced not through simple assertion but by engaging in a critical dialogue with what other people have said about an issue.
Risk analysis consists of a body of techniques for evaluating decisions made under conditions of risk and uncertainty. The latter are decisions in which the payoff or benefit to the decision maker from a given course of action depends on the state of the world (what will happen in the future) which is uncertain. In determining their optimal choice decision makers must frequently take into account the probabilities associated with the different possible states of the world.
Regression and correlation analysis are used to study relationships among variables. Regression analysis is a technique for estimating the causal relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables from actual data when the relationship among the variables is statistical in nature rather than exact. Correlation is a method for examining the relationship between two variables considered symmetrically in the sense that neither is assumed necessarily to dependent directly on the other.
Hypothesis testing is used to confirm that a statistical relationship or result has not arisen purely by chance. For example, the statistical hypothesis tests that are performed as part of a regression or correlation analysis determine the probability that a relationship estimated by regression or uncovered through correlation analysis did not arise purely by chance.
Cost/benefit analysis is a method used to assess the social desirability of undertaking a project. Costs and benefits, some of which may be inherently non-pecuniary in nature, must be measured on a common monetary scale and compared. As a project's costs and benefits ordinarily occur at different times their comparison typically involves appraising an investment decision.
Investment decision analysis consists of a body of techniques for evaluating decisions that involve a sacrifice now in return for future benefits, when both the sacrifice and the benefits can be measured in monetary units. They involve alternative ways of taking into account and evaluating the time value of money. Some examples include net present value, net future value, profitability index, internal and modified internal rate of return and annual worth.
Life cycle costing involves determining the total cost of alternative methods of accomplishing a given end over the entire time horizon affected by the decision. Costs occurring in different times are evaluated on common scale by taking account of the time value money using techniques similar to those employed to analyze investment decisions e.g. present value, annualized cost, etc.
References
Nachmias, Chava F. and David, Research Methods in the Social Sciences 5th Ed. St. Martins Press, NY 1996.
Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods 2nd Ed. Sage, Thousand Oaks Ca. 1994.
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