Unit 5, Unit 6 and Unit 7

UNIT-5

Assignment Preparation

For assignment in Unit 6, you will evaluate a qualitative research study related to your topic. To prepare, review the Search by Methodology library guide and begin searching for an appropriate article.

Evaluating a Quantitative Study

For this assignment, find one quantitative research study examining your topic. Make sure the article utilizes primary data collection and there is a methods and results section. Based on this week's readings and your current understanding of quantitative methods, and using Table 6.3 Criteria for Evaluating the Research Design in a Quantitative Research Report (page 211 of your course text) to help guide you, address the following:

1. Using what you learned from your reading, what was the research design used in your selected article?

2. What approach to sampling did the authors take in the article, and what evidence was provided to support this? (Refer to Table 7.1 Types of Sampling Strategies Found in Quantitative Research in your course text).

3. Based on your readings, what instruments were used for data collection? Are they of high quality? Was information about reliability and validity provided?

4. How did the authors ensure that recruitment of participants and data collection procedures were conducted in an ethical manner?

5. If you cannot determine answers to these questions, what does that suggest about the quality of the article? With all of these factors in mind, what do you assess the overall quality of the article to be? Will you retain it for your literature review?

Assignment Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting.

• Number of resources: Use a minimum of 1 resource.

• Length of paper: 3–4 typed, double-spaced pages.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Unit 5 Discussion

Quantitative Data in the Workplace

Think about your field and the quantitative data that is regularly collected. For example, at Capella we track learners' GPAs, the number of years they have been in the program, the number of courses they have taken, the number of discussion posts they complete, and graduation rates. We also have information on learners' demographic characteristics, like gender, race, and whether or not they receive financial aid. Capella could utilize all this data to examine learner success in the form of either GPA or graduation. This could possibly be used by Capella to help identify at-risk learners. 

What kinds of quantitative data do you gather in your workplace, and how is it used? Keeping in mind the information you learned in this week's readings, describe a potential project that might make use of quantitative data to strengthen your (or your agency's) professional practice.