Choose two or three research studies in an area of interest to you Essay

Choose two or three research studies in an area of interest to you describe the research methods used and critically discuss the - Essay Example The paper critically evaluates three research papers on inclusion of special needs students in classrooms and reflects research methods used in these studies. In addition, the paper evaluates document review and observation as data collection methods used in the studies. Introduction Research adopts two key approaches that include qualitative and quantitative methods that have different data collection ways according to each technique. Qualitative research is often considered exploratory and is useful in getting a deeper understanding of issues of interest as well as exploring nuances associated with the current problem. On the other hand, quantitative research is definite in its point because it tries to compute problems and comprehend the way to prevent them by looking for the scheme of results in a large population. Quantitative research involves collection and conversion of data into numerical form in order to make statistical calculation and draw conclusions. Qualitative researc h is associated with social constructivism paradigm that emphasises socially constructed reality since it involves inductive and deductive means that develop theory for a pattern of meaning based on collected data. Qualitative data collection and analysis allows great flexibility compared to quantitative research since data is collected in textual form based on observation and interaction with participants. Moreover, data collection in qualitative research can be carried in several stages as opposed to one stage collection of data in quantitative research. Qualitative research uses methods that give participants a degree of freedom instead of forcing the participants to select pre-determined responses because this technique allows them the atmosphere to express themselves. This indicates that qualitative research technique adopts a less formal and less rigid approach compared to the approach used in quantitative research. Although, qualitative research involves a small number of par ticipants and high degree of flexibility, the approach is not â€Å"less scientific â€Å"compared to quantitative research that involves more subjects and is often carried in a rigid manner. Pragmatic or mixed methods approach to science involves the use of methods that appear suited for research problem since they have the freedom to use any techniques associated with qualitative or quantitative research. Any single approach regardless of whether it is qualitative or quantitative, has its limitations hence the different approaches complement one another. Mixing different approaches has advantages since it allows use of various sources of data from different researchers and different perspectives for enabling interpretation of results, as well as multiple techniques for studying research problem because qualitative and quantitative methods are utilised simultaneously (Alzheimer Europe, 2012). This paper evaluates three research articles that demonstrate their findings through res earch strategies, even though they use different data collection methods. One of the study articles uses observation, while another one uses document reviews and the last one uses a rating scale. Background of the articles’ critique begins by evaluating the various data collection m