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Module 5 Assignment: Evaluation of Research

For this module’s assignment, I compared and contrasted one quantitative article and one
qualitative article with similar topics and data collection methods. The quantitative article is the
“Use of Electronic Books Among Postgraduate Students in the Department of Information
Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa (2020),” and the qualitative article is
“Instructional Design to Measure the Efficacy of Interactive E-Books in a High School Setting
(2018)”.
Topics and Purpose Statements
In the quantitative article, the authors explain their reasoning for investigating this topic. The
Internet has taken the world by storm and has affected us in everything we do. Connection to the
web has helped, especially in education through electronic materials. Academic libraries in South
Africa are increasingly adding e-journals to their collections for students to use on projects or for
leisurely reading (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). However, librarians have not devoted the same
attention to electronic books, nor have they implemented enough measures to make students
aware of e-books and how they can be convenient for assignments (Ngema & Masenya, 2020).
The researchers in this article, Ngema, and Masenya, were aware of the lack of awareness of
e-books in South Africa as a nation but were curious to find out if the same interactions with
e-books were present in Zululand University postgraduate students. In the qualitative article, the
researchers, Batoon et al., also wanted to touch on how education is affected by electronic
materials. However, they took a different approach looking at the components of e-books that are
beneficial and costly for high school students and faculty. Unlike the study at the University of
Zululand, Batoon et al. were aware that teachers in their institution used e-books as part of their
curriculum. However, the researchers decided they needed more information about why the
e-books work for students from their perspectives, why teachers want to implement them into
their lessons, and what improvements teachers can make to their current e-book system. The
authors placed the study’s purpose in the Introduction section and the Purpose of the Study
section for the qualitative article. In contrast, the quantitative paper devoted a single area to this
information called the Problem Statement.
Literature Review
After discussing the rationale and significance of their projects, the quantitative article
authors further explained the scope of their topic with a Literature Review. Sections of the
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Literature Review included a definition of an electronic book and a written timeline of when
institutions first used them for education. Past studies explained that while students and teachers
enjoy using e-books, the usability of e-books was “too low to offer a genuine alternative to
printed resources” (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). Participants claimed to like reading e-books on
their computers and PDAs because they were easy to share with other classmates, did not cost as
much money as purchasing a printed book, and provided vast amounts of data almost instantly
(Ngema & Masenya, 2020). Previous investigators cited challenges that past participants had
using e-books were a “lack of standard electronic format” (such as PDAs vs. HTML), electronic
rights management (paywalls), and the need to download extra software to read the book
(Ngema & Masenya, 2020). Ngema and Masenya used the results to shape the expected results
for their current experiment.
The qualitative article also included a Literature Review but blended it into the
introduction. Most of the studies stated that respondents expect technology in the classroom to
have visual aids. Students learn new skills in analysis, reflection, self-learning, and
communication on their own when using electronic books (Batoon et al., 2018). Studies revealed
that instructors use technology in their classes not only to reinforce the contents of the lessons
but also to “develop activities that motivate students to explore, make inquiries, become
self-learners, and work collaboratively” (Batoon et al., 2018). The authors used these two areas
to prove that most of today’s students have access to technology. Still, low learning achievement
and slow development of cognitive skills exist, and there is room for electronic books to improve
such areas potentially.
Data Collection Methods and Research Questions
As quantitative articles typically have research questions, it was surprising that the
authors decided to list objectives instead. Ngema and Masenya took inspiration from
Noorhidawati and Gibb (2008)’s objectives to “determine the level of awareness of postgraduate
students towards e-books and dive into the use of e-books among postgraduate students.” They
planned to uncover what types of e-books postgraduate students use the most and determine what
challenges make using e-books difficult for postgraduate students. Lastly, they developed
alternatives to improve e-book access and usage” (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). Ngema and
Masenya applied a survey questionnaire as their data collection instrument. In the Methodology
section, they listed their independent variable as the implementation and use of e-books. Their
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dependent variables were the “level of awareness among postgraduate students towards e-books,
“the use of e-books among postgraduate students”. They also tested the categories of e-books
most accessed by postgraduate students, student-listed challenges to using e-books, and
student-listed strategies to make using e-books worthwhile (Ngema & Masenya, 2020).
In the Introduction, Batoon et al. explained their main components of analysis,
Instructional Design, and the Kemp Model. Instructional Design Theory provides a guide for
designing educational programs to improve learning experiences by using the characteristics of
the learners (Batoon et al., 2018). The Kemp Model also focuses on the learner’s experiences but
predicts a continued cycle of planning, design, development, and evaluation to develop modules
for teachers (Batoon et al., 2018) Qualitative articles do not have hypotheses because they are
less focused on a cause/effect situation but more so on how individuals react to their
environments in a natural state (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). However, qualitative articles do
have research questions that may change as the study emerges. This article is no different and
uses one research question and two subquestions. The main research question is “What is the
relationship between Instructional Design and the implementation of courses using interactive
e-books as a resource?”. The sub-questions are “How do teachers implement interactive e-books
as a technological resource?” and “How do teachers evaluate the functionality and practical
purpose of interactive e-books as technological resources and instrumental tools for their
courses?” (Batoon et al., 2018). The researchers in this article decided to use a mixed approach
with a survey for high school students and teachers, face-to-face interviews with teachers using a
questionnaire, and a field diary. The authors validated all of the instruments before using them in
the study and threw out inappropriate questions in the survey (Batoon et al., 2018).
Participants and Sampling Methods
Both articles were brief when discussing the subjects they wanted to survey and how they
chose participants. As required by the IRB, both studies supplied participants with an informed
consent form once they were selected and agreed to participate. In the quantitative article,
Ngema and Masenya surveyed forty postgraduate students (studying for honors, master’s, and
doctoral degrees) in the University of Zululand’s Department of Information Studies (Ngema &
Masenya, 2020). They used a simple probability sampling method in which each participant was
decided entirely by chance, and each member of the population of interest had an equal
opportunity of selection (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). The authors of the qualitative article did not
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use any sampling methods but instead personally chose their population of interest. Qualitative
research sometimes avoids using random sampling because random sampling may tamper with
the natural environment the investigators want to observe (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Batoon
et al. surveyed sixteen first-semester high school students in the Life Basics course and seven
teachers who were authors and creators of iBooks. All participants were from the Tecnologico de
Monterrey Campus in Mexico.
Research Methods and Justification
For the University of Zululand study, the researchers used a survey questionnaire for data
collection and Microsoft Excel to compile and analyze the data. Ngema and Masenya claimed
Excel would be the most “comprehensive solution” for analyzing and modeling data because the
program compiles the data into lists. From there, the researchers can examine frequencies,
percentages, tables, pie charts, and bar graphs to describe results (Ngema and Masenya, 2020). I
agree that a survey questionnaire is an appropriate instrument of analysis for this study. The
authors wanted unbiased opinions of electronic books and their benefits strictly from
postgraduate students at the university they personally affiliate. Instead of relying solely on past
researchers’ global results to gauge student opinions, the authors sought the testimonies of
students at their university. They were open to responses that did not match with past results.
After the researchers compiled the data, they were careful to remove any identifiers from the
participants' responses to maintain confidentiality.
The qualitative article used three instruments for data collection: a survey for students
and teachers, face-to-face interviews with teachers, and a field diary. They pretested the three
methods and used a checklist to see how accurately the questions in the survey coincided with
the Kemp Model. The students’ survey was online to correspond with their schedules and ease
of access on their phones and computers. Teachers also answered the same questionnaires online
but followed up with the researchers for a face-to-face interview to clarify their comments and
add responses to the questionnaire (Batoon et al., 2018). After the researchers collected the data
from the three methods, they transcribed all of the interviews and spreadsheet the questions and
results. Just as the quantitative article did to preserve their respondents' confidentiality, names
were changed and noted by codes or nicknames (Batoon et al., 2018). Unfortunately, there was
no indication of how long the participants were part of the study for both articles or how the
interview environment was designed for the qualitative article. For the quantitative article, the
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researchers incorporated tables of the survey questions for the audience to review in the results
section. The qualitative article provided a pie chart of survey results and a diagram of the Kent
Model’s criteria.
Major Findings
In the quantitative article’s findings section, the authors began with defining how many of
the respondents were honor students (42%), how many were master’s students (33%) and how
many were doctoral students (25%) (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). Of each type of postgraduate
student, 95% of the respondents knew about the e-books the University of Zululand offered, and
efforts were needed to inform the remaining 5%. This result was on par with past studies in
which a majority of respondents were aware of electronic resources but quite a few of them were
unaware (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). Most of the respondents knew about e-books through their
professors or library staff and preferred using them instead of traditional textbooks (Ngema &
Masenya, 2020). The most preferred electronic media were journals and PDFs because they were
easy to use, convenient, and relevant information to their classes and projects (Ngema &
Masenya, 2020). Out of the databases listed in the survey, respondents used EBSCOhost and
EBSCO Delivery Service every day up to three to four times a week (Ngema & Masenya, 2020).
Lastly, some challenges to using e-books cited were lack of access because of institutional
passwords, poor Internet access, and eye strain (Ngema & Masenya, 2020). All of these results
echoed those in the literature review.
In the qualitative article, most teacher and student responses showed awareness of
instructional design to promote learning and study skills for students (Batoon et al., 2018). One
teacher commented that instructional design helped make the course more “attractive and
interactive” and “smooth as possible” (Batoon et al., 2018). All interviewed participants focused
on students’ needs when designing online courses, claiming “the courses should comply with the
students expectations” (Batoon et al., 2018). Some of the skills developed with instructional
design include “auditory or kinesthetic skills, technical skills, and writing skills” (Batoon et al.,
2018). Students emphasize that their courses need to meet their needs, or students lose interest
and are less receptive to the lessons (Batoon et al., 2018). These findings correlated with
Morrison, Ross, and Kemp’s (2004) Kemp Model. Contrary to past research however,
participating teachers did not mention any specific model to use when building courses. Instead,
they listed reviewing students’ learning styles to address them accordingly in their curriculum
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(Batoon et al., 2018). Lastly, students revealed some drawbacks to using electronic resources
including getting distracted by other things online and application crashes (Batoon et al., 2018).
Final Evaluation and Implications
Ngema and Masenya’s article sought to collect respondents' opinions on e-books, how
students use e-books, the benefits of using them, and the conflicts that keep them from being
used more often. The survey responses revealed that postgraduate LIS students at the University
of Zululand were aware of e-books, their types, and their benefits. However, the results also
show institutions should do more to improve e-book usage, such as providing reliable Internet
connections and hosting seminars on how to use e-books effectively (Ngema & Masenya, 2020).
The authors concluded the article by calling for improvements on IT structure and providing
e-book readers to postgraduate students who do not have access to laptop and desktop
computers. This article would be helpful for readers interested in implementing e-books into
their curriculum and evidence to promote IT infrastructure and high-speed internet in rural areas.
It checked off most of the requirements Creswell & Creswell listed that successful quantitative
surveys have. It had the purpose of the research section, rationale for using a survey,
identification of a population and the type of sampling used, valid instruments, and visual
diagrams of results. My only complaint would be that the authors did not indicate if the survey
would be cross-sectional and collect data at once or longitudinal over a period of time (Creswell
& Creswell, 2018).
The qualitative article collected the opinions of seven professors and sixteen
first-semester high school students. Results showed that teachers were using e-books in their
classes and that students had an overall positive view of using e-books in lessons. The authors of
this report believe even more improvements to e-book usage could happen with a specific
instructional design model program. The results of this study would be helpful for those
interested in education and improving their courses. Limitations of this study are that more
attention is placed on the teachers’ opinions, making the students’ responses seem inadequate.
Using Creswell and Creswell’s criteria, the authors could improve this article by using more
visual diagrams of the results and adding background details of how often to repeat the study for
the most effective program development under the Kemp Model.
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References

Batoon, P., Victoria, M., Morales, G., David, L., Figueroa, Y., & Antonio, J. (2018, April).

Instructional Design to Measure the Efficacy of Interactive E-Books in a High School

Setting. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 19(2), 47-60.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1175521

Creswell, J. D., & Creswell, J. W. (2018). Chapter 8 Quantitative Methods. In Fifth Edition

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (pp.

243-293). SAGE Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. D., & Creswell, J. W. (2018). Chapter 9 Qualitative Methods. In Fifth Edition

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (pp.

295-340). SAGE Publications, Inc.

Ngema, S., & Masenya, T. M. (2020). Use of Electronic Books Among Postgraduate Students in

the Department of Information Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa.

Mousaion, 38(2), 1-19. https://doi-org.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/10.25159/2663-659X/7130