Polio Chapter 1

Not surprisingly, I preferred the qualitative study (over the quant study) described in this chapter.  I am interested in doing qualitative research, so I naturally find qualitative methods more compelling.  In this chapter there is a clear distinction between the research questions for the quantitative vs qualitative study.  The quant questions used the word "improve".  This subjective word which is full of possibilities and interpretations must be made measurable and quantifiable and tied to a rubric.  This is, for me, a problem because the tool to measure improvement is based in assumptions about "good" writing.  If I do not believe these are features of good writing, or at least not valid methods of measuring improvement, I will not find this study convincing or useful.
On the other hand, the qualitative study asks Why.  This is much more interesting to me than measuring improvement (which is subjective).  Knowing what motivates learners/writers is something I can carry into practice...even if these are just 2 examples, this type of study makes me think about the diversity in learners and how these different qualities might require different methods and approaches in my work in the the classroom.