REVIEW OF THE STATE OF METHODOLOGICAL TRENDS IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING LITERATURE 2009-2018

Abstract

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. Keywords: data analysis technique, methodological trends, open distance learning, research paradigm