A Research Resource
by Taylor Trussell, Stein | October 16th, 2008Thinking about conducting research?
Sam Ladner has been discussing the differences between qualitative and quantitative research on her blog, Design Research, and has added a nice, succinct post that gets at the fundamental benefits of qualitative research, viz. that it’s empathetic–the researcher identifies with the user’s experience more fully and can therefore understand what the user is thinking.
Sam is talking specifically about research for technology designers, but everything she says is equally applicable and critical for a process as fraught with emotion and uncertainty as choosing a school.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hi Taylor,
Thanks for the ping back! As a primarily qualitative researcher, I often find universities to be bastions of quant-only research design. It’s gratifying to see the eyes opening up to other methods! I encourage higher education scholars to consider the “thick description” of today’s undergraduates — as a university professor, I can tell you that they have many stories to tell that the various rankings and surveys do not pick up on.