<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Scholastica Chizoma Ukwoma</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Patrick Ngulube</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">REVIEW OF THE STATE OF METHODOLOGICAL TRENDS IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING LITERATURE 2009-2018</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">data analysis technique</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">methodological trends</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">open distance learning</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">research paradigm</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2021</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">April/2021</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2021/457-1617435056.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">79</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Continuous</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methodological trends are a key to the development of research in open and distance learning as a cognitive field. The purpose of this study was to review the methodological trends in the open and distance learning scholarly communication literature. It is important that research strategies are reviewed often to ensure the production of quality research output in a cognitive discipline. The study adopted qualitative content analysis to a sample of 1,393 articles published in five open and distance learning (ODL) journals from 2009 to 2018. The main findings of the study indicated that qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used more often than mixed methods research methodology, which was underrepresented. This implies that research in ODL relied heavily on positivist and interpretivist epistemologies, rather than pragmatist ones. Survey research approaches dominated in the research articles published in the ODL journals during the period under study. The main data analysis techniques were statistical and narrative techniques. Having ascertained that there is a gap in the use of mixed methods research in ODL, there is a need to set the future direction for open and distance learning research to focus on mixed methods research to minimise the weakness inherent in using only one method.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2</style></issue><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">296-311</style></section></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Pamela  Atieno Ochieng</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRENGTHS AND LIMITATION OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PARADIGMS</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Problems of Education in the 21st Century </style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eclectic</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">research paradigm</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">June/2009</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://oaji.net/articles/2014/457-1393665925.pdf</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">13</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Although some social science researchers (Lincoln &amp; Guba, 1985; Schwandt, 1989) perceive qualitative and quantitative approaches as incompatible, others (Patton, 1990; Reichardt &amp; Cook, 1979) believe that the skilled researcher can successfully combine approaches. The argument usually becomes muddled because one party argues from the underlying philosophical nature of each paradigm, and the other focuses on the apparent compatibility of the research methods, enjoying the rewards of both numbers and words. Because the positivist and the interpretive paradigms rest on different assumptions about the nature of the world, they require different instruments and procedures to find the type of data desired.. Nonetheless, people tend to adhere to the methodology that is most consonant with their socialized worldview. This paper is set to analyze the strengths and limitations of Qualitative research focusing on its shortcomings and how Quantitative research can overcome these shortcomings. The paper concludes that an eclectic approach to educational research can not an option. </style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Original article</style></work-type><section><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">13-18</style></section></record></records></xml>