Competency L
Research
Research
Demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the ability to design a research project, and the ability to evaluate and synthesize research literature.
Introduction
A common perception of libraries is that they are staid institutions, steady and stable repositories of books and centers of research. The truth has become much more complex in the 21st century as libraries add makerspaces, story times, tool lending, and other services and programs. However, even before this, libraries have had the need to improve offerings. This requires a thorough and holistic evaluation of services and programs as well as discovering the answer to specific questions about the offerings.
Competency L states that in order to do this, information professionals must be able to two things. The first is to design a primary research project using methods that will allow them to evaluate their current services and programs. The other is to explore the professional literature on a given topic and then distill the significant findings down into a summation of the applicable lessons and best practices for their institution. Both of these require understanding the difference between quantitative and qualitative research methods, and the goal of each is to determine the library’s best course of action moving forward.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research Methods
One way to categorize research is as being either quantitative or qualitative. These are two means of collecting primary data, which Romaniuk (2018) defined as “data directly observed and recorded or collected directly from respondents to a particular research undertaking” (p. 130). As its name implies, quantitative research involves quantifiable data—that is, research that can be measured and expressed in numbers. Powell (2018) wrote that these types of research methods, “if designed properly, are well suited to testing hypotheses and producing generalizable results” (p. 246). According to Powell, quantitative methods are the most commonly used type in library and information science (LIS), but the use of qualitative research is growing (p. 249).
Qualitative research is less about hard numbers and more about observing human interactions and reactions. This method is less concrete than a quantitative approach, but the insights it reveals can be just as valuable, as many questions that information professionals seek to answer with their research question cannot be readily quantified. Rather than testing hypotheses, qualitative research seeks to understand how and why things happen in real-word settings such as libraries and archives. Connaway and Powell (2010) argued that qualitative methods are best for revealing information users’ behaviors and “can be especially useful in exploratory research” (p. 78).
My coursework taught me that it is important to know the difference between quantitative and qualitative research methods in order to understand which one is best for a particular research project based on what question I seek to answer. For example, if I wanted to discover which resources are most popular among a certain library user group, I would design a quantitative research study. If I wanted to learn why that user group gravitates toward certain resources, I would study their behavior using qualitative methods.
I also learned that these approaches are not mutually exclusive, and an information professional might wish to employ a mix of the two. In the previous paragraph’s examples, the answers to both questions might together paint a more complete picture of resource use among a particular patron group, and so a research project that use both quantitative and qualitative methods would be best.
Designing a Research Project
Deciding upon a quantitative, qualitative, or combination research method is just one intermediate step toward designing a successful research project that seeks to elucidate library services. In my coursework I learned that the first step is to ask a question, and more to the point, a question about either a problem facing the library or an opportunity to improve the library. Answering this question is the point of the research. The question thus must be well defined and both specific enough to allow for a targeted research study and open enough to allow room for actual discovery.
Knowing what the question is sets up the next step, which is defining the goals of the project. The following step is to decide upon the research method that will best accomplish those goals, including what data will be collected and how. The “how” means the particular techniques, such as a survey, an in-person observation, or a case study. Designing a research project typically calls for a literature review as well. This is covered in the next section. Finally, the project design should include a plan for organizing and analyzing inputs and reporting on the findings.
Synthesizing Research Literature
A literature review is a deep dive into the existing books and scholarly articles on a chosen research topic. Synthesizing research literature can answer questions that are common across libraries, archives, museums, and/or other information-based institutions. If the research aims to answer a question specific to my library, the answer won’t be found in the literature, but a literature review can still provide context to help with designing the research, such as insights on what methods and techniques others have used to answer similar questions.
Doing literature reviews as part of research assignments taught me the value in thoroughly seeking out, analyzing, and synthesizing the previous research and thought leadership on a given topic. I learned some very practical skills such as how to find the appropriate databases for my topic, how to select relevant, trustworthy, peer-reviewed sources, and how to build a matrix that serves as a framework for evaluating and synthesizing the literature. I also got to practice more abstract skills, such as looking for themes across the literature and the approach to reading scholarly articles vs general reading.
Evidence
Evidence 1: INFO 282 Library Management: Project Management – Project Management Communication Research
For this project I had to choose a subject within the field of project management and write a research paper that showed my ability to understand the topic based on current practices and the professional literature. The topic I chose was project management communication.
This project allows me to exhibit my ability to retrieve articles in the professional literature that are narrowly focused enough to illuminate the particular theme within the larger field I am exploring. In my paper I synthesized both peer-reviewed articles and industry content such as corporate websites.
This exercise in literature retrieval, analysis, and synthesis demonstrates that I am able to understand both the content and context of the information in order to identify common themes and best practices. This ability to discover information and contextualize it in a way that has applications in real-world situations is a valuable skill I can bring to any future role in the information profession.
Evidence 2: INFO 200 Information Communities – Literature Review Matrix
The literature review matrix was an exercise to prepare us for writing the literature review portion of a research paper for the course. This assignment required me to find articles on my chosen information community (comics and comic book fans) and then break them down into a grid. The grid’s “they say/I say” structure helped me identify the main ideas and key components of the work—the conceptual framework, research methods, results and analysis, and conclusions—and then apply my own critical thinking to share my analysis and what I believed to be the implications for future research and information professional practices.
Another important part of the matrix was defining the information community and why a research study on it was important, plus writing a statement of research, in which I explained in brief my intention to use the articles to explore current services to that community and identify ways to improve and expand those services.
Together these sections demonstrate my ability to clearly define the subject and goals of a secondary research study, evaluate the existing literature on the topic, and synthesize the chosen articles in an organized and thorough manner to facilitate writing a cohesive literature review.
Evidence 3: INFO 285 Applied Research Methods – Applied Research Final Report
For this group project I and my teammates wrote a proposal for an action research study. I was responsible for the background portion of the introduction, while my teammates tackled the sections on study purpose and rationale. My introduction section required me to take a broad look at our research topic of digital resources and services in museums and cultural heritage institutions. I gave an overview of the current literature for the research area, and explained what we determined to be gaps in existing studies. We each contributed two entries to the annotated bibliography, with mine being Bastian, Cloonan, and Harvey (2011) and Gil-Fuentetaja and Economou (2019).
This project demonstrates my understanding of the nature of action research, which aims to find a solution to a real-world problem encountered in a particular work environment, and my ability to prepare for that research. My teammates and I had to agree upon crucial decisions including the problem we wished to address, the research method including the participants we would target and the data collection instruments we would employ, and the procedure for two surveys. My portion of that writeup covered describing how we planned to develop, distribute, and collect the data collection instruments.
We chose surveys because we believed their structured format and easily analyzable results would provide the best means of capturing participant opinions and views of the highlighted virtual program. We also decided to include an observation component to enhance our understanding of participant engagement and attitudes.
Conclusion
Research is one of if not the main job responsibilities of many roles within the information profession. My coursework has given me the opportunity to better understand the different types of research and their real-world applications. Through my assignments I have developed the skills to design and implement a successful primary-data research effort, as well as the ability to retrieve and synthesize secondary research in the form of a literature review. Together these learnings have given me the confidence to lead and conduct research projects of this nature in a future position as an information professional.
References
Connaway, L. S., & Powell, R. R. (2010). Basic research methods for librarians (5th ed.). Libraries Unlimited. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sjsu/detail.action?docID=617137
Powell, R. R. (2018). Research. In K. Haycock & M.-J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (2nd ed., pp. 243–254). Libraries Unlimited.
Romaniuk, M.-J. (2018). Libraries and marketing: So essential but so misunderstood. In K. Haycock & M.-J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (2nd ed., pp. 119–135). Libraries Unlimited.