TY - JOUR AU - Marin, Alexandra PY - 2012/05/04 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Article Comparison Assignment: Same Question, Different Methods JF - TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology JA - TRAILS VL - IS - SE - DO - UR - https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/article-comparison-assignment-same-question SP - AB - Students write a short paper comparing two journal articles in which the authors use different research methods to address the same research question. This assignment is used in an introductory research methods course to encourage students to think about how research methods related to other aspects of the research process: using a particular paradigmatic lens, asking research questions, developing hypotheses, and interpreting findings. Students choose a pair of journal articles from a list provided by the professor. Each pair of articles consists of one primarily qualitative and one primarily quantitative article, each examining very similar research questions. After obtaining and reading these articles, students write a 4-6 page paper in which they examine how different assumptions and questions lead the authors to favour different methods and how the methods chosen shaped the findings. Sample article pairs and feedback form included. ER -