Table 1. A Comparison of the Assumptions and Propositions of the Current Contest in LIS Research Strategies

By Dr. John V. Richardson Jr., UCLA GSE&IS Department of Information Studies

Concern	Position One	Position Two
Model Metaphor	Machine; determinism view of humans	Plant; volunteerism.
Observations	Quantitative measurements	Qualitative assessments (of physical or value properties)
Science	"Hard"	"Soft"
Outset	“We know that we don’t know”	“We don’t know that we don’t know”
Literature Review	Must be done early in study	May be done as study progresses or afterward
Theory	Appraisal and testing	Generation or development
Reality	One: focus is concise and narrow; singular	Multiple: focus is complex and broad; subjective
Research setting	Controlled; planned	Naturalistic; unplanned
Research Goal or Purpose	Reduction, control, precision (i.e., reliability, repeatability or consistency of a measurement), prediction, explanation, optimize. To answer: How much?	Breadth, naturalistic, discovery, thick (i.e., complete and detailed) description, explanation, and common sense understanding; To answer: Why?
Concepts or Variables	Measurable	Interpretative
Phenomenon Part to Whole Relationship	Mechanistic: parts equal the whole; discrete; atomistic	Organismic: whole is greater than the parts; holistic
Report style	Statistical causal model or correlational variable analysis	Natural language accounts; rich narrative, individual interpretation (Mills' classic social analysis)
Basic element of analysis	Numbers	Words/ideas
Researcher stance	Separate; independent	Part of the process; dependent
Perspective (Phon- )	Subjects/-etics	Participants/Native/-emics
Context	Context free	Context dependent
Types of Research Statements	Hypotheses to support or disprove (or confirm or reject)	Research questions to answer
Reasoning/Logic/Inference	Formal logic and deductive. Toulmin's field invariant	Practical logic; dialectic and naive Baconian induction. Toulmin's field dependent
Research results	Establishes relationships, causation. Recommend course of action.	Exploratory. Describes meaning, discovery of models and themes. Telling the story.
	Uses instruments; calculated and analyzed	Uses communication and observation; lived and experienced
Ontological Perspective/Metatheory	Objectivity--materialism or realism. Nomothetic--abstract or universal laws. Cause-and-effect relationship.	Radical subjectivism--idealism or nominalism. Ideographic. Mutual simultaneous factors.
Degree of Certainty Strives for	Accuracy (how close a measurement is to some true or accepted standard), generalization or universality, reliability, validity, reproducibility.	Uniqueness, difference, irreproducible or particular. Sensitivity to ambiguities. Arbitrary.
Research Design or Method Process And Setting Axiology	Descriptive, correlational, quasi-experimental, experimental with control groups based on test scores, telephone surveys, mail questionnaires and structured personal interviews or observation. Process-product. Formal and structured. Value-free. Extensive.	Hermeneutics, phenomenological, GS (or Haig's) grounded theory, ethnographic, field work, historical study, personal or life histories, philosophical, focus groups, extended case study analysis, elite (key) informant; formal or informal, structured or unstructured interviews, participant observation, naturalistic observation, simulations. Interpretive. Value-laden or bound. Evolving, flexible. Intensive.
Sample Size and Procedure	30 to 500+; random; control for nonessential variables	Small; size is not a concern; quota or purposeful or "information rich" sample
Derogatory charges	"Counts the beans" or "number crunching"	Provides information as to "which beans are worth counting"
	Administrative	Critical
Intent	Theoretical	Applied
Individual focus	Structuralist--actor generalization. Collectivist.	Individualist--actor explication. Individualist.
Social Agenda	Social engineering--policy and program oriented	Social theorizing
Collection and Analysis of Data	Coding of cases; aggregated numerical counts; occurs at conclusion of data collection	Interview transcripts, diaries, field notes, personal documents, audio/videotapes, photographs, artwork, graffiti; ongoing; constant comparative method--phenomena
Rhetoric	Formal and impersonal voice	Informal and personal voice
SOURCES: based largely on an unrevised webpage found at http://www.windsor.igs.net/ ~nhodgins/quant_qual.html (accessed 30 October 2001) and which, in turn, is based on the following more up to date print sources:	(1) Burns, Nancy, and Grove, Susan K. The Practice of Nursing Research: Conduct, Critique and Utilization, 4^th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2001, p. 27 and (2) Streubert, Helen J., and Carpenter, Dona R. Qualitative Research in Nursing: Advancing the Humanistic Imperative, 2^nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1999, p. 12.	In addition, compare with Peiling Wang, “Methodologies and Methods for User Behavioral Research,” Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST), edited by Martha E. Williams (Medford, NJ: Information Today, 1999), pp. 53-99, but especially table 1 on p. 59.