Question 1 | What are the steps of the research process?

Your Answer:

• Finding a topic
• Formulating Questions
• Defining the Population
• Selecting a Research Design
• Gathering Data
• Interpreting the Evidence
• Telling the Story

Beck and Manuel (2008).

Question 2 | What questions should you ask to help choose a research design?

Your Answer:

• What are the data needed?
• Where are the date located?
• How will the data be secured?
• How will the data be interpreted?

Beck and Manuel, 2008, p. 25)

Question 3 | What are some of the major differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods?

Your Answer: Quantitative research is objective, uses deduction, the instruments used convert data to numbers, reporting is mostly in numbers and statistics, method is fixed, more concerned with facts, outcome oriented, generalizable, believes in a stable reality.

Qualitative research is subjective, uses induction, instruments convert data to linguistic information, reporting is in words and phrases, the method evolves and adapts, more concerned with behavior, discovery oriented, ungeneralizable, believes in a dynamic reality.

A. Smith (personal communication, February 4, 2017) - lecture

Question 4 | What do you think are the advantages of a mixed methods study?

Your Answer: A mixed method provides a balanced perspective by looking at the problem from both a quantitative frame and a qualitative frame.

Beck and Manuel, 2008, p.11

Question 5 | What do you consider the most important part of the research process? Explain.

Your Answer: According to (Beck and Manuel, 2008, p. 19) “Finding a topic that is interesting and exciting to the research is essential both to the success of the project and to the mental health of the researchers.” I agree with this assertion because in large measure the successful conclusion of a research project will depend on the motivation of the researcher to carry on the significant time burden that an extended research project entails.

Question 6 | How do you think evidence-based practice can be valuable to a library? What types of questions can evidence-based practice answer?

Your Answer: Evidence-based practice can be valuable by providing a tool to create a research design that is focused on formulating an answerable question. The benefits of an answerable question include efficient retrieval of literature, defining a question with enough detail and precision to work on, and constraining the relevance of the question to the problem being studied.

Questions that can be answered by evidence-based practice would include any question with sufficient evidence to support an answerable question. This could include library practice, literature reviews, and in-depth research questions.

Kloda 2008 Asking the right question.