Blog 9 & 10
These three things I know for certain about outdoor recreation research:
Qualitative VS Quantitative data: I have been familiar with the concept of qualitative versus quantitative data for years, as well as the importance of knowing when to use each. Qualitative data refers to more subjective data, and can differ between different individuals and subjects. Quantitative data refers to objective, usually number-based data. It is more concrete
It can be very difficult to create a research question: there is so much to consider when making a research question, and every part of the question can lead the researcher down a different rabbit hole of data and questions and considerations, and it can easily become seemingly never-ending. Questions therefore must be concise and have parameters set in place for the sake of the researcher.
Open VS closed questions: Open-ended questions are subjective, and allow the participant to elaborate as much as they are comfortable with. Closed-ended questions are often yes-or-no, or multiple choice (with no room to elaborate or bring in their own thoughts and ideas). Both are effective at different times (ex. Open questions work best for qualitative research, closed work best for quantitative research).
These three things I am still confused by:
Critical reflexivity: I am a little unsure of what this means as a concept, or how I can put it into action in my research. I think more examples about what it means and how I can put it into effect might benefit my understanding.
Ethics: I always found the details of ethics regulations as they pertain to research a little confusing, and difficult to keep track of with so many regulations and strict guidelines. However, I now understand that these guidelines are in place to protect the integrity and humanity of individuals (Pearson, 2018). They are put in place to maintain privacy: not everything about everyone needs to be or should be researched, and someone who consents to research is entitled to as much privacy as they want. Research ethics might be a barrier to some aspects of research, but they are put in place to protect people. However, I am still confused about the reasoning behind certain research ethics restrictions and certain times when they seem almost subjective, and I also find it difficult to keep track of all the different ways research needs to be ethically reviewed.
The differences between ordinal, nominal, ratio, and interval data: I don’t quite understand these concepts and what they mean or how they relate to one another, and the importance of knowing the differences between them in research.
These three things I know for certain about me as an outdoor recreation researcher:
I have an invisible backpack: I know for certain that I am constantly learning more about what kind of privilege I hold as a researcher that provides me with opportunities that might not be held by other people. For example, I know that because I am white, upper-middle class, educated, have a home, have a job, have a reliable source of food, have a stable family and home life, and other things that give me privilege in research.
I find quantitative data easier to visualize and manage, but I feel like I get more out of qualitative data and find it more engaging. Qualitative data has more depth, which interests me: I prefer knowing the in-depth information, and love knowing what people are thinking and why, and the different ways people perceive things. However, I find quantitative data easier to organize and conceptualize, compare, and contrast. I feel that qualitative data is best when supported by quantitative data.
I put more effort into researching topics that interest me: when I am not engaged with a topic or it does not seem relevant or interesting to me, I find it difficult to want to know more about it and ask the right questions to properly research the topic.
These three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:
Research takes a lot more time than I originally thought– every time. As someone who struggles with time management, but still sets high standards for success and is a bit of a perfectionist, I find it very difficult to balance the two, as success with one usually needs to come with success in another.
Starting my research without a bias. I often find myself with a preconceived idea of what results I am going to find in my research, and sometimes find myself only looking for information that fits what I want to find. Therefore, I need to work on removing my biases from the information I look for and present.
Coding: I don’t quite understand the intentional ways to code data, or why coding is essential to research. I feel like when I do research, I have my own ways of coding my data that make sense to me, but might not be formal ways. I understand the importance of keeping data organized, but might need practice putting it into play if I were conducting formal research alongside other researchers. However, coding in the sense of creating numbers and letters to correlate to certain pieces of data in a bigger picture is really confusing to me, and I definitely would need to practice this before I felt comfortable putting it into research.
Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 1 Doing Social Research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 1-21). essay, Pearson.
Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 3 Ethics in Social Research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 40 - 62). essay, Pearson.
Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 6 Qualitative and Quantitative Measurement. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 102 - 131). essay, Pearson.
Hey Emma,
I enjoyed reading your final blog post this week. I think you did a really good job of answering Dr. Amanda Hooykaas’ prompt, sharing your personal experiences and insights from the course. I really relate to your response regarding your preference of qualitative over quantitative data. I completely agree that quantitative data can be easier to visualize, but still prefer qualitative data to get a full grasp on the information being provided.
I didn’t think about it at the time of writing my own blog post, but also feel confused by the differences between ordinal, nominal, ratio, and interval data. As a visual learner, a lot of the jargon and concepts get lost on me without having a full understanding of where they fit into research and how they are utilized.
Your mention of trying to limit your bias when starting research is really interesting and self-aware. I think it can be a really difficult thing to do, because we all have some kind of idea on how things will play out as it’s what leads us to developing our own theories in research. However, I totally agree that it can create barriers and even skew data if we allow the research to be influenced by our own biases. I think this is a constant struggle when conducting research but the best thing we can do is acknowledge it and work to minimize it just like you are doing.
Great job this week!
Cheers,
Tait

















