Questions for Week Two
Laura Higgins
RES/320
February 18, 2014
Clarence L. Grayson
Questions for Week Two
Define the distinctions between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in a secondary search.
Primary sources are newest works of study or raw information lacking clarification that characterize a position or opinion. The primary sources are things like letters, memos or complete discussions or dialogs. Primary sources are constantly the most convincing because the data has not been clarified or interpreted by another party. Secondary sources are clarifications of primary data. Some of the secondary sources are things such as textbooks, handbooks, encyclopedias, newspaper articles, and magazine. All reference materials fall into secondary sources. Tertiary sources may be clarifications of a secondary source but are characterized by other finding aids such as internet search engines, bibliographies, and indexes.
What problems of secondary data quality must researchers face? How can they deal with them?
Some of the problems with secondary data would be to believe if it is their own research and not copy off of others research in the past. When working with secondary data, make sure that any possible new research was not twisted or one-sided to the researcher’s personal view. Personal view of the secondary researcher can lead to misrepresentation of the individual responses to the secondary research. One of the easiest ways to deal with this type of challenge would be to collect all the portions of secondary information, in order to get an understanding on the data or topic.
How does qualitative research differ from quantitative research? Qualitative research looks over all the documents for types of themes, and focus groups. This type of research also includes primarily inductive development used to articulate hypotheses or theory. It also shows more subjective which means defines a condition or problem from the point of view of those going through it. Some of the things to look for are text-based, unstructured or semi-structured response options, time expenditure heavier during the analysis phase, lighter on the planning end, and less generalizable with no statistical tests. Quantitative research uses structured interviews & observations, surveys, and reviews of documents or records for numeric information. Primarily deductive process used to test pre-specified concepts, constructs, and hypotheses that make up a theory. It also shows more objective which provides observed effects of a program on a problem or condition. Some of the things to look for are number-based, fixed response options, time expenditure lighter on the analysis phase, and heavier on the planning phase, and more generalizable with statistical tests are used for analysis.
How do data from qualitative research differ from