SOC 2805 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Confounding, Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences, Queer Theory
Document Summary
Part of reviewing the literature involves determining which theories should be used to explore the research questions. Theories can be used in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. In the quantitative approach, researchers use theory to provide an explanation about the relationships among the variables of interest. In qualitative research the theory may be generated as the final outcome of the study or the theory may be used to provide a lens that shapes what is looked at in the study. In mixed methods research, researchers may test theories and generate them. Chapter three begins with a focus on the role of theory in quantitative research. The chapter includes a definition of theory followed by the use of variables in a quantitative study and a discussion of the placement of theory. Chapter two continues with a discussion of theory in qualitative research. Examples are given in the chapter of alternative uses of theory for qualitative researchers.
