Evaluating Research Methods

Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.

I think the first scenario employs the survey method of a quantitative research design because the researcher would employ face to face interviews. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2008), “surveys are used frequently in educational research to describe attitudes, beliefs, opinions and, other types of information” (p.25). The participants would be able to provide the issues of focus. Once the participants were selected they will be observed over a three week period with the analysis derived from their experiences. The analysis would serve as a case study also to determine the issues concerning implementing peer mediation.

Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.

Since there are 30 students in each class of the same demographics, a mixed method practice could be employed. The quantitative design would cover the comparison between each group based on hours of training and numbers of referrals. The analysis of referrals links it to a qualitative design. Because the researcher is studying a concept like peer mediation, and analyzing referrals, the method could lend itself as a non-interactive method. Again, McMillan and Schumacher (2008) define an explanatory research design of a mixed method approach as collecting data first, then supporting it with qualitative findings, therefore “it is common to use methods sequentially” (p.28). A comparison between trained and untrained groups can be conducted and analyzed, numbers presented, and then research for other studies to be done in the same manner to elaborate or support the study.

Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.

I believe that this scenario would be qualitative and interactive by nature because the counselor is analyzing or gathering data on natural occurring phenomena, attitudes. Therefore most of the data collected will be in the form of words and not necessarily numbers. The process is to try to analyze the data collected in order to find a correlation between a particular attitude or mindset and how peer mediation is accepted or applied. The objective is to find what type of personal traits seems to fit best to become a peer mediator. Therefore, by using an interactive qualitative method, the counselor can focus on individual lived experience as seen in a phenomenology or a case study (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008).

Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.

I would classify scenario 4 as a mix-method research design because it will be analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. Since they researcher is issuing a pre- and then a post-test, data would be collected to analyze for further study. The researcher is also then going to conduct interviews on a bi-monthly basis, therefore collecting data to review progress of the study. The best mixed method of research may be a triangulation design for this scenario. Even though the data is not collected at the same time, McMillan & Schumacher (2008) points out that “it uses the strengths of one method to offset the weaknesses of the other” (p.28). Since the study focuses on the how peer-mediation is accepted, surveys will be taken and pre- and post test data surveyed as well as interviews analyzed in order to gain knowledge or reveal the attitude of the students about a program. Again the problem will be to determine validity of the research, but since the tests are providing data, and interviews conducted and analyzed, the stronger the match between the two the greater the validity of the research conducted.

References
McMillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (2008) Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.