Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Anaysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.
This scenario lends itself to qualitative research. Phenomenology interactive method seeks to describe a lived experience and collects data to make sense out of a particular experience or situation (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008). The use of in-depth interviews fits well with the phenomenological study. The three week period of observation is not long enough to be considered as a case study.
Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.
The research method that is appropriate for this scenario is quantitative quasi experimental. The researcher wants to determine the cause and effect relationship between the peer mediation training and the number of office referrals. The quasi-experimental design fits because of the reason that the two classes originally selected were not randomly selected. This is an example of direct manipulation of condition.
Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.
This scenario includes both the interest in student attitudes (qualitative) and number of office visits (quantitative). Using both research methods in this order qualitative followed by quantitative, is an example of mixed method exploratory design. McMillan and Schumacher state that "qualitative date are gathered first and the quantitative phase follows" (p. 28).
Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.
This scenario also lends itself to mixed-method research design. In this case the quantitative date in the form of the ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey. The pre and post-test will attempt to show any cause and effect with any participation in mediation The follow-up interviews will provide the qualitative component of the research. The fact that the interviews will be conducted of over a longer period of time point to the use of a case study during the qualitative part of the research.
References
McMillian, J.H. & Schumacher, S. (2008), Research in Education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson
Posts
