i have been developing a research proposal for my thesis for the past 3 months and when i thought it was ready for higher degrees committee i was assighend a co-supervisor who thought a quantitative approach was a bad idea and peoposed i do it using a qualitative methodology since this is her area of expertise. the principal supervisor seems to fall for it ( in what i presume is protecting her fellow) and i am dying here.
how do i convince them that i still have to employ my original approach. i love working with figures and going the qwualitative road will be a torturing experience. would opposing my supervisors a tocket to failing to graduate in time. i fear that they may adopt me in the department.

Hey there

Obviously this is a subjective situation and it is hard to know without being familiar with your research whether you are getting good advice and being stubborn or being railroaded into a direction you are unhappy with... So, with that caveat I would say:

This research is your project and being assertive and confident making decisions regarding the methodology is part of getting a good PhD. If you think/know this is the best way then write out why and write why you want to discard the qual approach and present/send it to your sups.

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Also bear in mind that doing a PhD is part of training to be a researcher and as such there may be a time in the future when you need to adopt a qual methodology. Flexibility is a good trait so don't run away from a form of analysis that you don't think will suit you. Be pragmatic about it. Also, 'qual' is a huge umbrella term for many forms of data collection and analysis - there may be a compromise in it somewhere for you.

Finally, only you can know if you have Sups that will allow for you to grow and mature as an independent researcher so it is impossible to advise whether following your own ideas will end up being a ticket out of there... Generally if you can justify your decision under a grilling I think they should be pleased. If you can't, you may need to be more flexible... HTH

you are right jayney. may be its time i saw what's on the flip side of the coin. my concern is around the sample size. i think going the quali way will yield inconclusive results especially with regard to generalizability of the findings. it all trickles down to the research problem but my sups think it doesnt matter. may be they are right. afterall they have been there and done that. Moreover they are supervising me so i have to go in accord with their opinion.

i use mixed methods because it's what makes the most sense for my phd. any chance of this?

i do think that this should be one of the make or break points. you have to be confident that you will hand in a phd on time without an extension (especially at the beginning) and if you think that using a qualitative methodology jeapodises your chances of finishing you phd on time then you have to let them know. at the end of the day, all they care about is that you hand in a finished thesis, of good enough quality to pass within the required time frame.

A

Mochemoseo,

I think the key issue is what your research question is? Simplified: If it is about something explicit which can be counted, then a quantitative method would be suitable. If it is about a something which you really want to understand, knowing the deeper meaning etc. then qualitative methods are better.
In other words the question should set the method, not so much your preferences. Obviously you could set the question that it can only be answered in a numeric way!