Maxwell's Interactive Model Of Research Design Case Study

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Explain Maxwell’s interactive model of research design in your own words. Why is it “interactive?” Planning or conducting a study requires research and a good design. “A good design, one in which the components work harmoniously together, promoting efficient and successful functioning; a flawed design leads to poor operation or failure” (Maxwell, 2013, p. 2). When conducting research, the research questions are the normal starting point. They are what drives the study and, therefore, the piece that controls the design which all other components must follow (Maxwell, 2013). With the research questions at the center of the design, unlike typical research models, the interactive model of research design is connected in such a way as to provide …show more content…

The research questions have the greatest effect on the other four components and, at the same time, are highly sensitive to them (Maxwell, 2013). The component parts of the model, which are constantly evolving, support and depend on each other. Flexibility is required as the study may be modified throughout the process. Therefore, the significance of interactivity is that this type of design affords the researcher the ability to easily manipulate and/or modify the research design as the goals or conceptual framework changes. Maxwell’s research design has a definite structure. At the center of the design study, research questions should have a clear relationship to the goals or issues you want to address and why. Subsequently, the goals of the research should reflect previous knowledge, current theories and concepts and how they relate to the subject. However, if the research methods do not allow you to answer your research questions and/or validate them, your design will be …show more content…

On the other hand, Quantitative research refers to “variance theory” where quantity describes the research in terms of statistical relationships between different variables (Maxwell, 2013). Quantitative research answers the questions “how much” or “how many?” Quantitative research is an objective, deductive process and is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables with generalized results from a larger sample population. Much more structured than qualitative research, quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys, personal interviews and telephone interviews, polls, and systematic observations. Methods can be considered “cookie cutter” with a predetermined starting point and a fixed sequence of

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