Lesson #10 | The Citizen’s Guide to Research
Mix and match
You’ve made it to Lesson 10 of The Citizen’s Guide to Research (part 1)! It’s been a blast writing this series for you, and I hope you’ve found it interesting and useful as you navigate through the world.
If you want some bragging rights, here’s what you’ve learned in these ten lessons:
- How to find the source of a scientific claim;
- How to determine if a source is credible;
- How to access research;
- How research topics are chosen;
- How research is funded;
- How researchers conduct ethical research;
- How to search for research online;
- How to find research in libraries;
and, last but not least, - How research is cited.
This series arose out of a need to help people better understand the science and research they encounter every day. It’s more important than ever to be a critical thinker and reader.
Methods to the madness
For this last lesson, we’re going to talk briefly about types of research methods. Most research can be categorized in two types: qualitative and quantitative. Just by looking at these words, you may be able to figure out what they mean, but it’s not as simple as “quality” vs. “quantity.”
Qualitative research refers to collecting data that isn’t in “numerical” form (for instance, case studies that consist of interviews with people).
Quantitative research refers to numerical data (for instance, temperature or census numbers).
Some researchers conduct what’s known as mixed-methods research, which can include multiple types of methodology, and can mix qualitative and quantitative.
Sometimes, the topic of research influences the type of study. For instance, many education researchers choose qualitative, especially when conducting studies in classrooms. Qualitative works best with smaller groups, whereas quantitative is preferable for large populations who are being surveyed, or datasets with many variables.
The methods of the study then impacts how it’s analyzed. There are many, many ways to analyze data. Qualitative data, such as interview transcripts, may be “coded”; this means that the responses of participants will be placed into categories so the research can better understand the nature of the responses, and draw conclusions.
Quantitative data is analyzed using statistical analysis. Statistics is a fascinating topic, but can be daunting or alienating; we’ll cover some common statistics in Part 2 of this series. (I strongly believe everyone should know basic stats! Don’t worry; I promise it will be fun.)
Why does this matter?
Knowing the different types of research, and the context in which they are used, can help you understand the logic behind research methodology. The method type is indicative of how researchers plan to address their research questions and hypotheses. One research topic can be studied and analyzed in many ways.
Researchers tend to have a preference for — and a specialty in — qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods.
Look at the analysis section of an article you’ve found after a previous lesson in this series. Can you determine what type of study it is? What in the study indicates this?
End of Part 1! What now?
Now that Part 1 has concluded, it’s a great opportunity for you to reflect on what you’ve learned, and get in the habit of practicing this knowledge.
We’re going alllll the way back to Lesson 1. Remember when I told you to look for articles that say something like, “Science claims/proves…” or “Researchers discovered…” etc.? You’re now equipped to be an ultra-savvy citizen.
I’ve created a checklist for you to keep handy every day. Click on the button to download the PDF:
Recommended reading
To continue your research studies, here are some books I recommend that will get you thinking about information, research, and science:
The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick
A great read about the history of information and communication, from early drum circles to the complexity of computing.
A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research by David Silverman
A fast, funny and useful read about how to do qualitative research.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
A classic book that explores the beauty of science and the importance of scientific thinking as we progress into the future.
The Citizen’s Guide to Research, part 2
By popular request, part 2 of the Citizen’s Guide to Research will cover how to be a citizen researcher! We’ll talk more about research methodology, collecting data, peer review, and more. This part will also include some great interviews with researchers from around the world.
Even if you don’t plan to do your own research, this series will help you understand research from a new perspective. As always, it will be fun, accessible, and actionable.
