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Case Study

Justify whether Dr. Miller's methodology represents a qualitative or quantitative approach, explaining how her specific research design decisions align with the characteristics of the chosen methodology.

Case context: Dr. Miller is investigating the coping mechanisms of first-generation college students. She decides to begin with a broad, less focused research question. She recruits 15 students and conducts unstructured, open-ended interviews, collecting hours of narrative transcripts. She does not use standardized surveys with numerical rating scales.

Question: Justify whether Dr. Miller's methodology represents a qualitative or quantitative approach, explaining how her specific research design decisions align with the characteristics of the chosen methodology.

Sample answer: Dr. Miller's methodology represents a qualitative approach. This is demonstrated by her use of a broad, less focused research question and her goal of deeply understanding the students' experiences. Furthermore, collecting narrative transcripts through open-ended interviews from a relatively small sample of 15 students constitutes gathering unfiltered, nonnumerical data, which cannot be analyzed using statistical techniques.

Key points:

  • Identifies the approach as qualitative research.
  • Links the broad research question to qualitative methodology.
  • Highlights the collection of unfiltered, nonnumerical data (narrative transcripts).
  • Notes the relatively small sample size.

Rubric: A correct response must identify the approach as qualitative and connect the case details (less focused question, 15 students, narrative nonnumerical data) to the core concepts of qualitative research.

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Updated 2026-05-27

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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