Where do you start in this process? Yin (2009) suggested, “The first and foremost important condition for differentiating among the various research [approaches] is to classify the type of research question” (p. 10). He asserted that the wording of your research question(s) provides “clues,” (p.10) to which research design you should employ in your study (Yin, 2009). Words such as “how,” “why,” and “what” can be indicators of a qualitative or quantitative study (Creswell, 2009; Yin, 2009). The first step, then, is to review your research question(s). The type of research question(s) you ask will determine the approach that should be used in the study.

Qualitative Research Questions

Overall, qualitative research questions seek to explore a phenomenon or an experience from varied perspectives in depth and with detail (Creswell, 2009; Patton, 2002). To meet this end, qualitative research questions are open-ended and leave room for broad inquiry into a subject (Creswell, 2009). They often seek to know how or why (and Yin (2009) included what) something is and includes verbs such as discover, explore, and describe to indicate the emerging nature of this type of design (Creswell, 2009).

Quantitative Research Questions

In quantitative research, there are both questions and hypotheses. Generally, quantitative research questions seek to determine if a relationship exists among variables, and hypotheses are predictions the researcher makes about the potential relationship and expected outcomes among variables. In an effort to reduce redundancy, Creswell (2014) suggested to either use research questions or hypotheses but not both. The use of variables in a quantitative study is limited to three types of quantitative research questions and hypotheses: comparative, relationship-based, and descriptive.

Beyond your research questions, there are other factors that may influence your choice of research approach. Creswell (2009) suggested researchers also consider worldview, audience, and personal experience/interest. These factors may also be helpful in choosing what type of methodology or strategy you should use in the realm of qualitative or quantitative research.

Worldviews

Creswell (2009) identified four worldviews, postpositivism, social constructivism, advocacy/participatory, and pragmatism that shape a researcher’s choice of research approach. Each worldview holds a set of beliefs that would lend a researcher to lean more qualitative or quantitative in his/her research (Creswell, 2009).

• • Postpositivist. According to Creswell (2009), a postpositivist values objective, empirical research which can be studied through testing variables, making numeric observations, and testing a theory or hypothesis (Creswell, 2009). A researcher with a postpositivist worldview, then, would tend toward a quantitative research design.

  • Social Constructivist. A social constructivist, on the other hand, believes meaning is created through experience, whether his/her own or that of the participants in the research, and that truth is multiple, varied, and ever changing (Creswell, 2009). Unlike postpositivists, social constructionists often participate in, or at least acknowledge their interaction with, the research (Creswell, 2009). These ideals more closely align with qualitative inquiry.

  • Advocacy and Participatory/Pragmatism. The last two worldviews, advocacy and participatory and pragmatism are not so easily delineated. A researcher with an advocacy and participatory worldview is focused on social issues and political change. Although, according to Creswell (2009), this focus could be the basis for a quantitative study, the beliefs of including participants in the collaborative nature of the research and the worldview’s rejection of the structures of postpositivists, which may further contribute to the marginalization of populations that are more usually aligned with qualitative research (Creswell, 2009). Pragmatism, which relies on the method that works best and values freedom of choice, most often applies to mixed methods research, which will not be discussed in depth in this section (Creswell, 2009). Knowing with which of the worldviews you, as a researcher, more closely align may help guide your decision toward a qualitative or quantitative research approach.

Audience

Your decision may also be influenced by who will read your study. Both Creswell (2009) and Patton (2002) suggested that audience plays a major role in deciding your research approach. Researchers often choose a research approach with a specific journal or conference presentation in mind. Researcher’s decisions may also be impacted by the entity funding the research or by the research interests of other scholars in the department (Creswell, 2009; Patton, 2002). As a doctoral student, you are writing a dissertation, and your audience is your dissertation committee. Above all, they must approve your dissertation before you can complete the program. As such, the preferences of your committee, the research experience of your committee, and the expectations of your committee may all play a role in your research approach decision.

Personal Experiences and Interest

As stated earlier in this section, choosing a research approach is not just choosing a methodology you like. However, your personal experiences and interests can influence your decision to conduct a qualitative or quantitative study and ultimately your choice of research design. If you are a student with training in statistics and quantitative design, and you enjoy what Creswell (2009) called the “systematic procedures of quantitative research” (p. 19), you may, if your research problem and question allow, choose to conduct a quantitative study. If you enjoy literary writing, desire more freedom in the research procedures, do not enjoy statistical tests, or do enjoy being in the field with research participants, you may choose a qualitative design. The main point here is you will be writing your dissertation, and you will have to live with your choice of topic, problem, and research design for at least one year, and maybe many more. It is important to choose an approach that you actually want to conduct!

Once you have reviewed your research questions and considered the other factors that are important to choosing a research approach, your next step is to decide if you will be conducting a qualitative or quantitative study. Then, you will decide, within these paradigms, which design or strategy you will use to conduct your research.