Research Design
Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches
By
John W. Creswell
Chapter 6 - The Purpose Statement
Presented by Unique, Kanasha, Brian and Ola
The Purpose Statement - Introduction
• The most important statement in the entire introduction
• Found in the last section of the introduction
• Establish intent of the entire research study
• Should be clear, specific and informative
• Purpose statement indicates why you want to do the study
• Also indicates your intended accomplishment
A Qualitative Purpose Statement
• This statement contains information about the central phenomenon
explored in the study, participants and research site.
• In order to bring attention to the statement as the central controlling
idea, the researcher should use words like purpose, intent,
objective.
• It is important to focus on one idea or phenomenon
• Use action verbs or phrases to convey how learning will take place
for example , understand, develop, explore, examine the meaning
of, discover.
• Use neutral words in sentences such as “self-expression
experiences of individuals instead of saying “successful self-
expression of individuals”.
A Qualitative Purpose Statement
• Include words that denote the strategy of inquiry such as
ethnographic, grounded theory, case study,
phenomenological, narrative approach.
• Mention participants in the study – 1 or more individuals, a
group of people or an entire organization
• Identify site for research – homes, classrooms, organizations
• Finally, include language that shows the scope of participation
or research sites in the study.
• ** A good dissertation proposal should contain many of the above basic design features.
A Qualitative Purpose Statement
Below is a script helpful in drafting a complete statement:
The purpose of this ………….. (strategy of inquiry such as
ethnography, case study or other) study is (was, will be? ) to
……………(understand? explore? develop? discover?) the
…………..(central phenomenon being studied) for
………..(the participants, such as the individual, groups,
organization) at ……………( research site). At this stage in
the research, the …………………
( central phenomenon being studied) will be generally defined
as ………………… (provide a general definition) (p.126)
Quantitative Purpose Statements Contain
• The variables (independent, dependent, control and intervening,
and their relationship.
• The participants
• The research site
Quantitative Purpose Statements: Include the
following:
• Use words such as purpose, intent, or objective
• Identify the theory, model, or conceptual framework
• Use words to connect the independent and dependent variables such
as related to or comparison of
• Position the independent before the dependent variables; other
variables may go between the two or after the dependent variable
• Mention the specific strategy of inquiry
• Provide general definitions of key variables
A Quantitative Purpose Statement Script
The purpose of this ………….. (experiment? Survey?) study is (was,
will be? ) to test the theory of …………… that …………… (describes
outcomes) or (compares? relates?) the …………… (independent
variable) to …………… (dependent variable), controlling for
…………… (control variables) for participants at (the research site).
The independent variable(s) …………… will be defined as
…………… (definition). The dependent variable(s) will be defined as
…………… (definition), and the control and intervening variable(s)
…………… , (identify the control and intervening variables) will be
defined as …………… (definition.) (p. 130)
Mixed Methods Purpose Statement
Contains the overall intent of the study, information about both the
quantitative and qualitative strands of the study, and a rationale of
incorporating both strands to study the research problem.
The statements need to be identified early, in the introduction, and they
provide major signposts for the reader to understand the quantitative and
qualitative parts of the study.
● Begins with keywords such as “ The purpose of” or “The intent of”
● Indicates the overall purpose of the study.
● Indicates the type of mixed methods design, such as an exploratory
sequential design, or an embedded sequential design, or transformational
or multiphase
● It list out the reasons for both quantitative and qualitative data.
Three examples of Mixed Methods purpose statement
scripts
Convergent Mixed Methods design is a type of design in which quantitative and qualitative
data are collected in parallel, analyzed separately, and then merged.
Here the qualitative data will explore the central phenomenon for the study. The reason for
collecting both quantitative and qualitative data is mixed.
Explanatory sequential design is to understand the quantitative database at a deeper level
using follow-up qualitative data.
The study will address content aim. An explanatory sequential mixed methods involves
collecting quantitative data first, then explain the results with in-depth qualitative data.
Exploratory sequential design is to develop measures ( or instruments) that work with a
sample by first collecting qualitative data and then using it to design measures or the
instrument that can be tested with a sample of a population.
This study addresses. The purpose of this exploratory sequential design will be to first
qualitatively explore with a small sample and then to determine if the qualitative findings
generalize to a large sample.
Example 6.9 An Explanatory Sequential
Mixed Methods Purpose Statement
The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to
identify factors contributing to students’ persistence in the ELHE program by
obtaining quantitative results from a survey of 278 current and former
students and then following up with four purposefully selected individuals to
explore those results in more depth through a qualitative case study
analysis. In the first, quantitative, phase of study, the research questions
focused on how selected internal and external variables to the ELHE
program (program related, advisor-and faculty-related, institutional-related,
student-related factors and external factors). served as predictors to
students’ persistence in tje program. In the second, qualitative phase, four
case studies from distinct participant groups explored in-depth the results
from the statistical tests. In this phase, the research questions addressed
seven internal and external factors, found to have differently contributed to
the function discriminating the four groups: program, online learning
environment, faculty, student support services, self motivation, virtual
community, and academic advisor. (p.95)
The Purpose Statement - Summary
• Purpose statement sets the objectives, intent, or the central idea of the
proposal
• Qualitative - identify a single central phenomenon and tentative
definition of the phenomenon, use strong action words, nondirectional
language, participants and research site
• Quantitative - states the theory being tested including independent and
dependent variables definitions, relationship or comparison,
participants and research site for the investigation
• Mix method- includes statement of intent, type of mixed methods
design, the forms of qualitative and quantitative data collection and the
reason for collecting both forms of data
