What is the difference between descriptive, relational/associational, and intervention/causal research?

Descriptive research is for the purpose of systematically describing specified characteristics of a population. For example, a study might be conducted to determine whether arts educators are teaching the state standards. In this case the population of interest is the arts educators in the state. A sample of arts educators would participate in the study and the researcher would determine the extent to which each arts educator incorporates the state standards into teaching. The purpose is to describe the extent of state standards use in arts education.

Relational (also called associational) research is for the purpose of exploring relationships among existing variables. For example, a study might be conducted to determine whether the time spent watching TV is related to later school achievement for small children. In this study the research gathers data about TV-watching time in young children, then later collects data on school achievement. The goal is to determine whether or not there is a relationship among these variables. Note that the researcher does not control how much TV is watched, but rather keeps track of how much TV is watched.

Intervention (also called causal) research is primarily conducted to determine if changes in one variable causes changes in another variable. To make this determination, the researcher must control extraneous variables and manipulate the explanatory variable. Thus, the researcher intervenes by establishing a controlled environment for the study. For example, a researcher may want to determine user-controlled computer-assisted instruction can be more effective than traditional instructor-taught courses. To study this, the researcher will randomly assign learners to the two conditions (computer-assisted or instructor-based) and then measure the outcome of achievement, probably by giving a test.

I'm still a little uncertain about intervention research. If the researcher intervenes in the environment in any way, is that intervention research? I get intervention and associational research confused.

Intervention research can be identified by the type of intervention that takes place. If the researcher intervenes to establish the levels of the independent variable, then that is intervention research. In a true experiment you will also see the researcher taking steps to control for extraneous variable, but there are some weaker types of intervention research in which the researcher only determines what the levels of the independent variable will look like.

In associational research, the researcher simply measures two or more variables, and then analyzes these to see if they are related. The researcher is not intentionally intervening. Note that sometimes the measurement may appear to be a form of intervention, but this is not the same as setting up the conditions of the independent variable. For instance, if the researcher asks the participants to keep a log of their activities, obviously the participants are doing something they would not do outside of the study. In a sense, this looks like intervention. All the researcher is doing, though, is collecting data. The environment has certainly changed, but it was not done intentionally as a means of administering an intervention meant to change the participants.

Suppose that a researcher wants to determine if computer-assisted instruction can increase achievement in general science. Consider two ways the researcher could study this. One way would be to put students in two conditions. In one condition the students would use the computer as part of the instructional environment. In the other condition the students would not use the computer. At the end of some instruction, the researcher could measure achievement. This is an example of intervention research. The researcher established the conditions of the independent variable (whether or not the computer would be used to as an instructional aid).

The second way the research question could be studied would be to find two similar general science classes that only appear to be different because one science class uses the computer. The researcher would then compare test scores for these two classes. This is an example of associational research. The researcher did not establish the conditions of the independent variable, but simply found classes that looked similar, except for the use of the computer. Note that associational research never allows us to make cause and effect claims because extraneous variables might be responsible for the differences we observe, rather than the independent variable. In intervention research, because we have control we can control most, if not all, of the extraneous variables.

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative researchers begin with broad research questions and they then do in-depth study from many different perspectives to obtain as much information as they can to answer the question of interest. This research takes place in the natural setting, typically involves long periods of observation, and data are collected on many, many variables. Quantitative researchers focus their questions on a few variables that they can then measure and relate to one another. The quantitative researcher is more interested in deriving general principles about a few variables. The qualitative researcher is more interested in understanding the processes and social constructs in a limited setting.

As an example, a qualitative researcher might ask the question, "What are the major types of social interactions that take place on the playground?" To answer this question the researcher will observe children at play. She may videotape activity on the playground and analyze it. She may talk to parents and teachers who have watched children at play on the playground. She could interview students about their play. The purpose is to fully understand social interaction on the playground. A quantitative researcher would examine a more specific question such as, "Do boys engage in more competitive games than girls on the playground?" This researcher has isolated a couple key variables (gender and type of play) and will now develop a way to categorize the types of play. The researcher will then make observations and focus specifically on these types of play. Note that the quantitative researcher seeks to focus and the qualitative researcher purposefully wants to keep a broad view that will allow observations of even unexpected events.

What is the difference between applied and basic research?

Applied research is research that has an immediate application once the research question has been answered. For example, suppose the researcher compares the teaching competencies of teachers who have had courses in pedagogy to those who have not. The research question is, "Does taking pedagogy courses increase teaching competency?" The purpose for asking this question is to know if pedagogy courses help teaching. If they do, the immediate application is to use pedagogy course to help teachers.

Basic research is for the purpose of understanding. Although almost all basic research can ultimately result in a practical application, there is no immediate application that comes from answering the research question. For example, consider the researcher who asks, "Is self esteem related to motivation?" The answer to this question will help us understand the two constructs of self esteem and motivation. It is true that we could then conceive of ways to increase self esteem to help motivate (assuming the relationship is a causal one), but that is taking our learning about these constructs and conceiving of potential applications as a result of what we learned. Note that in the applied example we have already conceived of the application and can put it to use immediately. All we need to do is to teach pedagogy courses. In the basic example, we must think further about how we can alter self esteem to enhance motivation. We then will need to conduct another study to see if our methods work.

URL http://edpsych.ed.sc.edu/seaman/edrm700/questions/researchtypes.htm

This page was last modified June 09, 2005
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