Evaluating Research and Qualitative Research Designs

Evaluating Research Questions and Qualitative Research Designs Discussion

Just as in quantitative research, when researchers set out to design a qualitative research study, they are guided by its purpose, and their research questions align with their selected approach and the data that will be collected.

As you learned in previous weeks, alignment means that a research study possesses clear and logical connections among all of its various components. In addition to considering alignment, qualitative researchers must also consider the ethical implications of their design choice, including, for example, what their choice means for participant recruitment, procedures, and privacy.

For this Discussion, you will evaluate qualitative research questions in assigned journal articles in your discipline and consider the alignment of theory, problem, purpose, research questions, and design. You will also identify the type of qualitative research design or approach the authors used and explain how it was implemented. Narrative, ethnographic, grounded theory, case study, and phenomenology are examples of types of research designs or approaches used in qualitative research.

Post a critique of the research study in which you:

  • Evaluate the research questions and hypotheses.The Research Questions and Hypotheses Checklist serves as a guide for your evaluation. Please do not respond to the checklist in a Yes/No format in writing your Discussion post.
  • Identify the type of qualitative research approach used and explain how the researchers implemented the design.
  • Analyze alignment among the theoretical or conceptual framework, problem, purpose, research questions, and design.

Be sure to support your Main Issue Post and Response Post with reference to the week’s Learning Resources and other scholarly evidence in APA Style.

Required Reading:

Babbie, E. (2017). Basics of social research (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

  • Chapter 10, “Qualitative Field Research”

Burkholder, G. J., Cox, K. A., Crawford, L. M., & Hitchcock, J.H. (Eds.) (2020). Research design and methods: An applied guide for the scholar-practitioner. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Alqahtani, A. (2014). Awareness of the potential threat of cyberterrorism to the national security. Journal of Information Security, 5(4), 137-146. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jis.2014.54013

Requirements: .doc file

Answer preview

Alqahtani (2014) conducted a qualitative study to understand the potential threat of cyber terrors on national security (NS).  The researcher began by explaining that modern technology has significantly contributed to increasing openness, leading to the growth of interdependence among countries. The modern technology comprises of networks, computers, communication, satellites, and so on. Although modern technology presents numerous benefits, it is associated with some risk. For instance, it presents security threats, especially when malicious attackers gain access to the government and corporate and private information infrastructures.  Alqahtani (2014) outlined that the importance of critical infrastructures’ security is continually evolving in Saudi Arabia. The researcher was more interested in understanding awareness of the threat of potential cyber terrors on the NS.

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