What factors lead to the under representation of the Latino population in doctoral programs?

Assignment 5: Research Questions and Design

by:
William Luzuriagga
ARC 8920
Mixed Methods

Nova Southeastern University

Research Questions and Design
A core feature of the mixed method research is that data is collected and analyzed rigorously and persuasively based on research questions. Formulation of research questions in mixed method research designs is done after a review of literature has been conducted and the focus of research is identified (Creswell & Clark, 2011). Research questions for mixed method designs, as will be shown below; include an overarching question that addresses both qualitative and quantitative questions (Creswell & Clark, 2011). That is, the question validates the need for using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Many times, formulation of questions in mixed-method designs contend with unidentified aspects of an observable fact that can be answered by information presented both as numerical or textual data. In this assignment, research questions for research study that employs sequential exploratory design are formulated. The study aims at establishing the factors that lead to under representation of the Latino population in doctoral programs. A statement of the research problem as well as deficiencies of evidence regarding the problem was considered in Assignment 4.
Research Questions
Qualitative research question:
1. What factors lead to the under representation of the Latino population in doctoral programs?
2. What role does a minority background have on the under representation of Latino students in doctoral programs?
Quantitative research question:
1. What is the relationship between students’ background and possibility of enrolling in doctoral programs?
Mixed method research question:
1. To what extent do qualitative data and quantitative data explain each other?
Design
The research questions posed above will be answered using the sequential exploratory design. The design is as illustrated in the diagram below.

The design illustrated above chosen is particularly appropriate for this study in the sense that this study is examining a topic that has been little explored and therefore there is little information regarding the relevant constructs (Creswell & Clark, 2007). The study will be conducted in two stages: collection and analysis of qualitative data followed by collection and analysis of quantitative data. In Creswell’s (2008) view, “the two-phase approach makes it easy to implement and straightforward to describe and report” (p.215) as will be illustrated in the subsequent discussions. In exploratory designs, a greater emphasis is placed on the qualitative phase as it allows for the exploration of the phenomenon under investigation as well as identification of principal themes (Creswell & Clark, 2011). However, between the first and the second phase, there is a point of interface which in this study will be interactive.

Qualitative phase
In the first phase of this study, in-depth interviews will be used to collect data regarding factors that cause the underrepresentation of Latino students in doctoral programs. The goal of this first phase will be to identify potential factors. Taking into account that the study is exploratory in nature, an in-depth discussion with respondents is the most suitable method for collecting data. In addition, little is known concerning this research. Therefore, with in-depth interviews, greater detail as well as insight can be obtained especially because in-depth interviews provide a one-on-one focus with the participants. Furthermore, a researcher has an opportunity to probe certain issues in detail and address more complex issues when conducting in-depth interviews (Burke & Christen, 2010). Interview questions will be designed in a manner that will help the respondents to think about factors that would determine their advancement of education to doctoral levels and how their minority background could influence their enrollment in doctoral programs.
The interviews will be conducted individually at the place of study or over the telephone. Participation will be voluntary and respondents will be allowed to decline to answer any queries or even end the interview at whatever time they want. The participants will be informed of the research’s purpose and participant’s permission to record the interview sessions will be sought. Respondents will be required to reflect on their educational journey and to the graduate level and narrate the experiences that they believe illustrate the factors explain the underrepresentation of the Latino population in doctoral programs.
Based on the type of research question used to collect qualitative data, the most suitable approach for analyzing qualitative data generated from the in-depth interviews would be thematic analysis. All the factors described or referred to by the participants during the interviews concerning the persistent underrepresentation were identified using analysis procedures as suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994) and Glaser and Strauss (1967).The procedure is done in several stages. In the first stage, the researcher will transcribe the interviews and scrutinize the data line by line, identifying themes and coding them. Coding, according to Krippendorf (2004) refers to the process of transcribing, recording, categorizing or interpretation of particular units of analysis such as words into terms of a data language for analysis. During the coding process, the transcribed interviews are broken down into meaningful segments. Consequently, the coding process will be guided by specific guidelines which will outline the boundaries of the texts connected with a specific code. This will enable the researcher to develop a common category of scheme of the responses provided by participants. In the next step, the researcher will arrange the initial scheme into solid categories and subcategories so as to identify themes. Thereafter, the research will reread the transcripts in search of expressions that occur frequently and categorize them into the identified themes.
Quantitative phase
In the second phase, which involves collection and analysis of quantitative data, a questionnaire will be developed using the themes identified in the first phase concerning student background. The questionnaire will contain items for the student background dimension and educational attainment. According to Creswell (2003), it is essential for the researcher to pilot the draft of an instrument with a small number of participants who will provide qualitative feedback concerning their experience with the instrument. Therefore, the questionnaire will be pretested using five participants who will be chosen randomly from the sample that was used when gathering qualitative data. Subsequently, the questionnaire will be modified based on the recommendations of these participants and the revised copy will be used to collect quantitative data.
The quantitative data collected in the second phase will be analyzed using correlation analysis. The purpose of correlation analysis is to describe relationships. Oftentimes, data for correlation rely heavily on questionnaires or surveys (Burke & Christen, 2010). Correlation analysis will be used to test the relationship between different aspects of student background and the possibility of these students enrolling for doctoral programs. Correlation analysis entails calculation of a correlation coefficient which measures the extent to which the selected variables in the study vary in the same way (Burke & Christen, 2010). Nonetheless, a proper understanding of how to interpret the outcome of correlation analysis is vital. For a positive correlation, one variable with a higher score is related to another variable with a higher score and is expressed by a positive value for the correlation co-efficient. Correlation analysis is appropriate for the analysis of quantitative data in this study because it will allow for the estimation of strength as well as a direction of relationships between the selected variables. In addition, the method will establish whether there will be need for a thorough investigation of certain relationships.
Interpretation
Finally, an interpretation of the entire analysis across the qualitative and quantitative phases will be carried out (Creswell & Clark, 2011). The interpretation section will be done after the researcher has taken into account all relevant factors contributing to the underrepresentation of Latino population in doctoral programs so as to keep away from making misleading generalizations. This section will summarize both qualitative and quantitative phases, examine their contributions across findings, derive the implications of the findings for educational policies and in the end give directions for future studies.
Nevertheless, there are several issues relating to sequential exploratory research designs. These limitations relate to the sampling process, selection of outcomes to use as well as contradictory results (Creswell & Clark, 2011; Burke & Christensen, 2010). Often, the participants used in the first and second phases are not the same. Secondly, when a researcher employs the exploratory research design he/she will be required to decide what outcomes from first phase will be used in the second phase. Thirdly, the possibility of obtaining conflicting results cannot be ruled out.

References
Creswell, J. W. & Clark, P. L. (2011). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (2nd
ed). California: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. California: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J.W. (2008). Educational Research Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating
Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Burke, J. & Christensen, L. (2010). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed
Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine
Krippendorf, K. (2004). Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology. Newbury Park,
CA: Sage.
Miles, M.B. & Huberman, M.A. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.