Understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings; retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for informed decision-making by specific client groups.
As a field, librarianship can benefit much from the encouragement of good and valid research practices within our institutions. In the library literature it is not uncommon to discover research designs that would likely not pass muster in other fields. As a profession librarians must strive for improvements in research methodologies and set the bar higher for publishing within the field. Too often it seems as though for the sake of expediency library research sacrifices quality, makes overbroad conclusions, or lacks the requirements of statistical validity.
While clearly the field does not lend itself easily to experimental design because of the difficulty in creating valid control groups in systems as multi-faceted and messy as those involved in library services. Less valid ex post facto designs might be possible in some cases, though controls are still hard to come by. Therefore, a focus on qualitative design methods is often the best path. Even so, a good deal of room for improvement in this arena is still possible.
While case studies, for example, may not reach the bar of statistical validity, they may rely upon quantitative evidence. In essence, they can provide a snapshot of a certain service, program or function within librarianship. Too often within this less rigorous form, reliance on qualitative data gathering further disallows the application of the findings beyond the sample itself. If librarianship is to be respected as a “science” more rigorous designs are necessary to demonstrate the field's ability to conform to research norms.
In many research scenarios there is a choice to be made in the realm of data gathering. The researcher can choose fully qualitative methods and thereby lose out on harvesting much in the way of transferable data, or they can attempt to gather quantitative data in accordance with a more rigorous design, whether this be in the case of a case study, a survey study or an ex post facto experimental design. Having data that can be extrapolated beyond the sample group is beneficial to the profession as a whole. Though this sort of design may lack expediency it certainly makes up for it with the benefit it provides to others in the profession.
Evidence
LIBR 285, Research Methods, provides an excellent background in a variety of research methodologies. Among the research structures analyzed were qualitative studies, case studies, survey research, and experimental designs. The various sections of the class culminated in critiques of scholarly articles utilizing a particular type of research design. The end result, of these analyses was often the discovery that less than rigorous methods were utilized. The critiques demonstrate a general understanding of a variety of research methods, including all those listed above.
