The Eight General Research Methodologies : A Facet Analysis of the Research Process / William J. Gephart.

There is a need for clarity regarding different research strategies in order to assess the relative contribution of each. Using the framework of the Facet Design Technique (FDT) for problem structuring, eight general research strategies are identified as they relate to measurement fidelity, representativeness of units, and treatment administration. Three forces are seen as having contributed to a system of classifying research methods. They include: development of an instrument for evaluating the methodological adequacy of research in education; a growing reliance on the experimental method; and, the Guttman Facet Design Technique (FDT) which provides a system for the development of a conceptual universe on a specified problem in advance of the generation of empirical data. The historical, descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental methods of research are defined in operational terms and classified into eight categories of research strategies through the use of the FDT. Levels of control, profiles of the different methods, and examples of less familiar inquiry techniques are examined. It is concluded that in some instances, data that have specific inadequacies can yield stronger conclusions through the application of certain statistical techniques, but that the overall evaluation of any completed research cannot be concluded until a contrast is made which holds up the statistic used to the statistic most appropriate for the nature of the generated data. (AE)

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