Pick a Title

As I was reading the introductory article, I came to a sentence that reminded me of something I read in the Creswell book. The article states that "as with most other research methods, conceptual analysis begins with identifying research questions and choosing a sample of samples". (Content Analysis) Essentially, when starting out on the research process, developing a question is a key component for direction on the project at hand. Creswell says "before searching the literature, identify your topic, using such strategies as drafting a brief title or stating a central research question". (2009, p.45) Recently, my musically talented husband dipped his hand in the world of songwriting and composing. As he began developing an idea for a song, he chanced upon a vital piece of advice that assisted in the success of his songwriting. The advice was to pick a song title first, and then work from there. Conceptualizing one's topic in such a succinct fashion is an extremely helpful method in beginning one's research process.

In the article on Navigating Pitfalls of Web-Based Survey Development and Administration, I chanced upon some helpful differentiations between qualitative and quantitative research. In "qualitative research... a representative sample is not used, and therefore there will be no attempt to generalize the conclusions gained from those who were selected." (Gruwell & Littleton, 2007, p.78) This is different than a quantitative study "where everyone in the target population has an equal chance of being selected". (Gruwell & Littleton, 2007, p.79) How ironic that this should come up almost immediately after my weekly question post and subsequent answer by Joanne:
             Question:  The question I had was regarding the number of libraries being observed for this research project. According to the article, although approximately 30 sessions were being observed, they occurred in only two libraries. Perhaps there should have been more libraries and more sessions observed to give a more comprehensive and unbiased results. Many times, the same crowd attends library programs in their library, which would account for 'double' results. (I know that's not a technical term....)
             Answer: You make an interesting point about having more research sites, rather than multiple programs from fewer libraries.  I think there are advantages to both approaches.  Generally, in qualitative research, you are aiming for depth, not necessarily breadth, so exploring many programs from 2 libraries might make sense in light of the research questions, etc. Often it depends on the researcher's goals and objectives for the research.

The aforementioned article additionally presented me with another keyword for my search. Here's my list so far: Library, survey, youth, librarianship, programs, study, qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, research

I subscribe to the ALSC email list, and receive all types of e-conversations via this listserv. I've found it very helpful for many reasons, however this week it was particularly relevant to this research class because it included an informal survey of youth librarians who have kept or done away with small prizes as an incentive for their summer reading programs. It makes me wonder, would this be considered a type of research?