Comparative Analysis of Research Articles in Human Services Field

This report presents a comparative analysis of two research articles within the human services discipline. The first article, employing a quantitative approach, examines the relationship between father involvement and student academic achievement, utilizing a meta-analysis of 66 studies. The second article adopts a qualitative approach, exploring children's experiences of shared care post-divorce. The report delves into the theoretical and epistemological underpinnings of each article, highlighting the use of empirical knowledge in the quantitative study and logical and empirical underpinnings in the qualitative study. It assesses the aptness of each methodology to address the research questions and evaluates the effectiveness of the research designs, noting the correlational design of the quantitative study and the descriptive design of the qualitative study. The report concludes by discussing the contributions of both papers to human service research, emphasizing the importance of father involvement in child development and the impact of shared childcare arrangements on children's well-being.

Running head: COMPARING ARTICLES
Comparing Articles
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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Executive Summary
This is a comparative study of two papers in the human services discipline. The two paper
selected for this study has involved two different research methods- one is qualitative
research, and the other is qualitative research. This paper tries to examine the theoretical and
epistemological underpinnings of the article by discussing several aspects of it. The aptness
of the methodology to do justice with the research question and research design is analysed.
Lastly, the contribution of these papers to human service research is discussed.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Theoretical and epistemological underpinnings.............................................................3
Aptness of methodology................................................................................................5
Effectiveness of research design....................................................................................6
Contribution to Human service research........................................................................7
Conclusion......................................................................................................................9
References....................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Human services research scopes have been increased with the development of human
civilisation, and it is continuing to increase in present times as well. The researches that are
done in the field of humans services are varied as the scope of the research is huge and ever
changing. The term “human services” is an umbrella term for many professions and issues.
Anything that is related to the development or problems of a human being is related to the
human services discipline. Therefore, the researchers have ample resources for their studies
in this branch. This paper is an overall analysis of two research articles, published in human
services discipline. The two papers that are selected for this study are “A meta-analysis: The
relationship between father involvement and student academic achievement” and “A
qualitative synthesis of children’s experiences of shared care post divorce.” The
methodology used in these papers and their aptness to the topic selected is analysed. Also, the
theoretical underpinning of the papers and the knowledge branch and philosophy or
epistemology would also be highlighted in the discussion part. This paper would judge how
the research design suits the context of the research topic and what are the implication of
these researchers are in human service sectors.
Theoretical and epistemological underpinnings
The theoretical aspect of a study builds the main arguments, whereas, the
epistemological underpinning is the knowledge source, nature of the study and the limitations
of the knowledge (Pernecky, 2016). The epistemology is research has four major categories.
These are- intuitive, authoritarian, logical and empirical. This division has been made
according to the sources of knowledge. Intuitive knowledge is based on faith and intuition
rather than the fact and logic. This type of research is developed on the basis of the thoughts
that the researchers have for the topic he selected. The authoritarian knowledge is the one that

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has been collected from the books, experts, research papers and published data sources (Dana
& Dumez, 2015). The logical knowledge complies of the new knowledge creation with the
help of logic implications. Empirical knowledge is the objective facts that could be
demonstrated and established.
In the paper written by Jeynes (2015), the author talks about the relationship between
the education of the child and the influence of the father's involvement in the process. The
study is done by collecting data from 66 studies that have been done earlier. The
epistemological philosophy adopted in this study is empirical. The theoretical aspects of this
study are based on the relational perspective of the child's study and father involvement. The
study talks about the positive involvement of the father and also takes into account the racial
parameters. The type of involvement expressions and their impact on a child's study is
analysed. The theoretical underpinning indicates the history of father’s impact child’s
behaviour and types of involvement in academic contexts.
The second paper by Birnbaum & Saini (2015) evaluates the different parameter of
shared childcare post-divorce. The paper had a qualitative approach, and the epistemological
underpinning is logical and empirical. The study takes into account the cases of 466 children
and young adults. The author describes the experience of these children and their parents. The
study result is presented after evaluating the children’s response and their relation to the
parents. Theoretical underpinning lies around the impact and importance of the childcare post
parent separation. The paper also talked about new parental standards of shared childcare.
The increased importance of the father in the child’s life and a maternal preference for tender
age child custody is to bring into context in this study (Birnbaum & Saini, 2015). The study
specifically presents the shared childcare matter both form the angle of the child and the
parents after their separation.

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Aptness of methodology
The methodology is chosen according to the need and requirements of the study. This
is the philosophical underpinning of the research paper. The methodology shows how the
researcher designs his research process. The researcher needs to be clear about his research
questions and objective while choosing the methodology (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
There could be three kind of methods used in a research article- qualitative, quantitative or
mixed. Qualitative is a kind of exploratory research that gets its understanding form the
opinions, underlying reasons and motivations (Silverman, 2016). On the other hand,
quantitative research uses numerical data for problem solving. In this method, the data are
collected numerically, and they are transformed into statistical data for analysis. The mix
method uses both of these methods for its understanding. Researches could be done by
collecting data from primary and secondary resources (Kumar, 2019). Research methodology
also includes a research approach and data interpretation methods.
Each of the articles uses a different methodology to analyses and discuss their
research topics. The first article, “A Meta-Analysis: The Relationship Between Father
Involvement and Student Academic Achievement” uses quantitative research approach and the
second paper “A Qualitative Synthesis of Children’s Experiences of Shared Care Post
Divorce” uses qualitative research approach.
In the first paper, the author talks about the role of the father in the school
performance and achievement of a student. The study is done using the qualitative research
method. The researcher has taken the samples to form 66 studies. It could be said that the
decision of doing and quantitative research is apt here. The analysis of the data that are
collected for the study could be best analysed through the statistics. The cases of fathers’
positive involvement in students’ study are represented in the statistical data so that the
researcher could get his results with accuracy. This study is done in an empirical research

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base, and the researcher gives his results according to the primary data collected from real
case scenarios.
On the other hand, the second paper is about the impact of the parents’ divorce on the
child and his care. This study needed the qualitative approach because the child's and parents'
psychology plays an important part in it. Mere analysis of the case studies or presenting
statistical data would not be enough for the researcher. This topic needed descriptive an
exploratory treatment. To understand the quality of life of the child post-divorce of the
parents, it was necessary to understand the underlying reason and effect elaborately. As the
study is quite different from the first paper, the quantitative approach would not be
appropriate for this study.
Effectiveness of research design
Research design is meant to define the framework of research. This framework
includes the techniques, methods and components of research work. The researcher chooses
his research design according to the research problem he or she is addressing. There are
mainly four types of research designs – descriptive, correlational, quasi-experimental and
experimental (Creswell & Poth, 2017). The descriptive design the researchers builds his
hypothesis with the advancement of the paper and not at the beginning. The nature of the
presentation is descriptive, and the results are mostly derived from observations. The
correlational research design works with the relation between two variables. This mainly uses
the statistical data for establishing the relation and comparison. The data collection is mostly
observational. As opined by Creswell & Poth (2017), quasi-experimental design of research
involves the establishment of cause and effect relationship between two or more variables.
The independent variable is identified, and the control groups are exposed to it for analysis.
The experimental design is known as true experimentation in research work.

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The first research paper has a correlational design while the second paper uses the
descriptive design for its study. If we take the instance of the first research paper, we would
see that the paper is about the involvement of the father in the education of a child. This is an
important topic of today’s context. The topic has been elaborately discussed through using
quantitative method and data analysis. The data were collected from 66 case studies, and then
these data were compared and contrasted with getting the final research result. The selected
case studies were analysed in correlational design so that the ratio and impact of the father’s
influence on students study are established. The two variables in this study were the father’
presence and influence and the study of the student. The study analyses these two variables
through statistical representations to get the results. It could be said that the correlational
design has helped the research to get direction it was aiming.
In the second paper, the researcher has used descriptive design to present the share
care experiences of the children post-divorce. The description of the conditions and thoughts
of the child who has faced their parent's separation needed and exploratory treatment. The
researcher has successfully chosen the most effective design for his study in this paper. The
experiences of this child and the flexibility or rigidity of the parenting agreements; impact on
their life are described and analysed in this study. The researchers have not established any
hypothesis or statement at the beginning of the paper. The arguments were built with the
development of the paper. The effectiveness of the research design for this paper lies in the
fact that the descriptive design is able to give the depth to this research.
Contribution to Human service research
Human services researches have huge context and implications for social benefits and
empowerment issues. In this study, two important human service subjects have been selected
for study purposes. One of them sheds light on the father's role in a child's academic and

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behavioural aspects, while the other paper highlights the post-separation childcare. Both of
the topics has relevance in modern society and are two burning issues that need to be studied
and researched.
The writer of the first paper has done a meta-analysis of 66 samples for understanding
the complex relationship of the father and child in the academic performance of the child.
The role of the father in encouraging the child to have good academic outcomes and
behavioural approach is immense according to this study. The study is designed to give an
overview of how the child could develop positive skills if he or she gets the support of the
parents, especially the father. In the social study context, there is not much research on the
role of father. Mostly the mother is assigned to play the prime part in a child’s education from
the very beginning (Jeynes, 2015). This study would give the scope for further exploration of
the father and child dimensions in social studies. The study shows that a child would show
rapid development in his behavioural and academic endeavours if the father gives him
positive reinforcement. Also, the behaviour and nature of the father cast an impact on the
child. The racial angle in this study is about how the scenario impacts the minority children.
In the case of minority families, there are other issues that impact the life of the child. In
those households, the positive involvement of the father in a child's education is proved more
effective for building the confidence and interest of study in the child.
The qualitative study on shared childcare would be effective for understanding the
psychological underpinning of the parents and child in a troubled divorce. The arrangement
of parenting after separation has changed with time. Unlike the past days, present legislations
give importance to both of the parents for the custody of the child. The involvement of the
father in childcare was not given much preference in past days. The issue has been taken
special care in modern-day divorces. The paper discusses some of the types of shared custody
and legal aspects. Like qualitative research, this study presented the real case of parents and

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children and started their first-hand experiences in the shared care bond. The researcher states
that the voice of the child should not be avoided while making decisions of his or her
custody. This study gives some perspective of the much-debated post-divorce childcare
arrangements. The study has analysed many qualitative types of research that records the
experience of the child and parents on this topic. An important outcome of the study is that in
the end, the researcher could conclude that children prefer shared parenting over sole parents.
They consider more than one factors while making their staying and life decisions with their
parents. There is frustration grown in the children as they are not able to spend more time
with the parents. The experience and feelings are depended on the age group. The children
are more interested in getting the care from both of the parents, where the young adults have
a mixed feeling of the shared care phenomena.
Conclusion
The research in human services has changed drastically over the past few years. The
enhanced social and political issues have influenced the scope of social service researches.
One can conclude from this study that the place of human research has been established high
in modern days. The two papers that are selected for this study have two different study
subjects. Both of the topics are relevant and much close to present social service contexts.
Methodology and epistemology are the two most important part of any research area. These
papers have done justice in their treatment of theories and methodology. They have also
contributed to the researches of social science. Future researches could be built on the basis
of each of the papers. The fact that is established in this study is that the extent of human
services has enriched and enhanced with the help of improved study and research papers.

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References
Birnbaum, R., & Saini, M. (2015). A qualitative synthesis of children’s experiences of shared
care post divorce. The International Journal of Children's Rights, 23(1), 109-132.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing
among five approaches. Sage publications.
Dana, L. P., & Dumez, H. (2015). Qualitative research revisited: epistemology of a
comprehensive approach. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small
Business, 26(2), 154-170.
Jeynes, W. H. (2015). A meta-analysis: The relationship between father involvement and
student academic achievement. Urban Education, 50(4), 387-423.
Kumar, R. (2019). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage
Publications Limited.
Pernecky, T. (2016). Epistemology and metaphysics for qualitative research. Sage.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016). Qualitative research. Sage :USA.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research
methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.