Quantitative Research

Owned by Darlene Edgar
Last updated: Nov 25, 2023
1 min read

Boeren, E. (2018). The methodological underdog: A review of quantitative research in the key adult education journals. Adult Education Quarterly, 68(1), 63–79. https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=0b4c6f15-40b5-3f91-8895-c3ac6ca1498a

Title: "The Methodological Underdog: A Review of Quantitative Research in the Key Adult Education Journals"

Dominance of Qualitative Research in Adult Education:

  • Field of adult education is predominantly characterized by qualitative research.

  • Attributed to researchers aiming to capture the experiences of adult learners.

  • Qualitative studies focus on why adult learners feel a certain way.

Challenges with Quantitative Research in Adult Education:

  • European journals have fewer quantitative articles, possibly due to funding challenges.

  • Quantitative research may be overlooked, but existing scales from qualitative studies can be employed.

Paradigms in Research:

  • Positivists believe in objectivity, while interpretivists aim to make sense of the world.

  • Mixed methods approach gaining popularity in adult education research.

Benefits of Existing Quantitative Scales:

  • Exploring existing survey questionnaires increases validity and reliability.

  • Use of Likert scales in existing quantitative skills, grouped into participation, experience, psychometric, and learning style scales.

Types of Quantitative Scales:

  1. Participation Scales:

    • Investigate reasons for adult education participation.

  2. Experience Scales:

    • Examine feelings or experiences of adult learners.

  3. Psychometric Scales:

    • Assess concepts like anxiety and self-efficacy.

  4. Learning Style Scales:

    • Focus on different learning styles, including self-directed learning.

Using Existing or Secondary Data:

  • Concerns about missing values and measurement errors may arise.

  • Organizations like OECD and the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Skills provide international datasets.

  • European datasets are also available for free download from the OECD website.

Skill Deficit in Quantitative Research:

  • Researchers may lack skills in quantitative research.

  • Suggested solutions include attending classes or workshops on working with quantitative data.

  • Need for more methodological guidelines in adult education to explore the strengths of qualitative methods.