QualMixedResearchArticleMethodsData
Description
The data in the two spreadsheet files stem from examination of all 1,538 research articles published in 2021 editions (note: this is different from articles with a 2021 publication date) of the 13 top-ranked educational technology journals according to the Google Scholar ranking, September 2022. The research objective was to explore the following research questions: to what degree do qualitative and mixed research articles published in educational technology journals provide comprehensive descriptions of their research approaches, and, to what degree do mixed research studies feature strong qualitative orientation. The aim of this work was to provide evidence that changes in educational technology publishing are urgently needed and to argue for new possibilities for qualitative and qualitatively shaped mixed research, contributing to the understanding of technology in education and developing solutions for the big challenges faced. BaseData.xlsx - Classification of research articles as either quantitative, qualitative, mixed or other (e.g., literature reviews, conceptual studies), following the descriptions provided by authors (making judgement calls if missing). - Identification of theoretical stance, methodology, design, methods, instruments, and analysis components for qualitative and mixed research articles (based on the levels of research description suggested by Twining, P., Heller, R. S., Nussbaum, M., & Tsai, C.-C. (2017). Some guidance on conducting and reporting qualitative studies. Computers & Education, 106, A1–A9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.12.002) AdditionalData.xlsx - For qualitative and mixed research articles, labeling of research descriptions grouped as theoretical stance and methodology, design, methods and instruments, and analysis (focus on qualitative analysis only) (Magnitude coding, applying judgement calls to decide if the research descriptions in the articles were sufficient to address each attribute. Ideally, looking for three components: key words or phrases naming an approach, supporting references, and an explanation of how the approach relates to the research. Satisfied with short descriptions such as one or two informative sentences. For example, when authors wrote about conducting an ‘exploratory mixed methods study’ expecting an explanation on how the phases of data collection linked to the research objectives. In looking for references to the literature, wanting more than a generic reference pointing to the advantages of mixed methods based on ‘combining two approaches’.) - For mixed research articles only, more detail on researcher beliefs (looking at theoretical stance and methodology) and design (Descriptive coding for the mixed research articles with information on researcher beliefs and research designs. Attaching descriptive nouns such as ‘constructivist’ for the researcher beliefs or ‘action research’ for the research design.)
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Steps to reproduce
The data were arrived at through reading of article abstracts and/or full text of all 1,538 research articles published in 2021 editions (note: this is different from articles with a 2021 publication date) of the 13 top-ranked educational technology journals according to the Google Scholar ranking, September 2022.