types of research

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For this assignment, students should utilize outside resources to develop a ONE PARAGRAPH definition/description for EACH of the following types of research:

  • Quantitative
  • Qualitative
  • Mixed Methods
  • Evidence-Based Practice
  • Literature Review

Information must include in-text citations in proper APA 7 format, with a properly formatted APA 7 title page and reference list attached. Everything should be submitted as one Word document . The entire document, including title page and references should not exceed 4 pages.

Types of Research

There are many types of research, but most are subtypes of the following:

  • Quantitative – uses statistical information to support/reject a hypothesis
  • Qualitative – uses interviews, historical documents, thoughts and feelings to formulate a question
  • Mixed Methods – uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to research and/or formulate a problem
  • Evidence-based Practice – uses information gain from original research to change practice
  • Literature Review – a review of peer-reviewed (majority) and scholarly (minority) documents, journals, etc. to pull together past research to bring a topic to life and or to help fill in gaps in research for identification of research that needs to be done.

In nearly all types of research, and certainly the ones discussed in this course, the literature review is what truly adds to the validity of the research. In other words, the literature review explains why the current research is necessary, identifies any gaps in the explanations of past research, pinpoints additional research that may need to be done, and helps justify the research that you will be doing.

Quantitative, qualitative mixed methods, and evidence-based practice, are all methods of conducting research and interpreting the results. The ability to identify the type of research can help you understand the research of others that you are reading. For example, if every article you read has statistical interpretations, then you might need to compare those interpretations. You may realize from the comparison, that a different method needs to be uses such as qualitative, where the subjects are interviewed and their thoughts and feelings added to past findings.