Juanita Leatham e-portfolio

Competency L: Demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods,

the ability to design a research project, and the ability to evaluate and synthesize research

literature.

Introduction

It is important to use research in order to test methods with quantitative and qualitative research. I researched how many homeless persons in Los Angeles use the libraries for support. I also researched how the homeless persons in Los Angeles would benefit from more financial and emotional support through the libraries.

Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research is research that involves research that is subjective and descriptive in nature. In my paper, called ARSP and Professor Jefferson’s Action Research I investigated how Los Angeles’ public libraries assist the homeless population. This is where I dove into qualitative research. “Participatory action research represents a distinctive social science research approach which is: Practical. The results and insights gained from the research are not only of theoretical importance – and therefore advance knowledge of the field – but also lead to practical improvements during and after the research process (Zuber-Skerritt 1992)” (Jefferson, 2014). It was my hope that pointing out a qualitative need for studying the homeless population in Los Angeles would give insight into how a study could help provide further resources for them and the libraries that help them. Part of the qualitative need is providing services like having an office that provides services. More of this will be explained in the evidence section.

Quantitative Research Methods

Quantitative research is research that is numerical in measurement and testing that numerical data. My paper focused on discussing how there is a need for qualitative research in order to gather numbers of homeless people that use the library as a resource so that those numbers can help supply more resources. Allan Pratt in Information says, “Information is communicable, informing, empowering, i.e., one can take action based on having the information, and quantitative, i.e., information varies in amount” (Bates, 2010). Information is empowering when it comes to the library according to Pratt. Without information like the amount of people who use libraries as mental health and physical health services, or even work programs, there is no change or evolution. In my research paper, I identify a need for numbers of homeless people that need resources from Los Angeles libraries. Without numbers nothing would change and libraries wouldn’t have enough resources to give their homeless patrons. More information about the amount of homeless people that need assistance will be in the evidence area.

Ability to Design a Research Project

For my paper I wrote on how homeless people in Los Angeles seek library services and how there is a further necessity for financial and other support needed to help libraries support their homeless patrons. No one has done a study on that topic. So, it is with my effort to point out the need for qualitative and quantitative data so that it will further help the homeless population and the libraries in the Los Angeles area to gather resources that will help the libraries and the homeless they serve. There is obviously a qualitative need for homeless services and there is also a quantitative need for services as well. In my ARSP paper I focus on the need for further resources for the homeless and the libraries that serve them. I did research and found that a local news station covered the homeless services of The Library Experience Office. I researched this and will explain it further in the evidence section. 

Evidence

1 – INFO 285: Applied Research Methods: CamfieldLeatham-ARSP

For my first piece of evidence for Competency L I’ll start with saying that I did a lot of research on whether this topic has been studied and no one has. My research into who has studied the homeless population’s need for library services is original. “I imagine so much time has gone by where no data has been collected on the homeless population that visits the libraries in Los Angeles. Collecting [qualitative] data would help the libraries figure out who their visitors are and why they visit the library in the first place” (Camfield Leatham, 2025). There is a great need in Los Angeles for homeless and community services, and that was my motivation in researching and writing this ARSP and researching Professor Jefferson’s Action Research. As far as qualitative research goes, there is a homeless population in Los Angeles who needs health and human services. “Having a study for how many homeless people in Los Angeles visit libraries could help the library prepare more resources for them. For example, if the library knew how many visitors were homeless they could help expand homeless programs” (Camfield Leatham, 2025). More services like sanitary packs, clothes, food, shelter, mental health services, HIV education, free cell phones, and medical insurance could be funded if there was a study on homeless people who use the libraries in the Los Angeles area. 

2 – INFO 275: Library Services for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Communities: Librarians with Disabilities

For my second piece of evidence for Competency L, I will discuss research I did that was about librarians with disabilities. In the paper, I researched that there was a survey of how many people disclosed their disability or disabilities with co-workers and library patrons. “Interestingly, Anderson, et al., did a qualitative and quantitative study where they found out that 24.33% (154 people) disclosed their “invisible” disability to “colleagues I consider close friends.” While, 19.75% (125 people) disclosed their status to “My direct supervisor (if not library director).” Then, 17.85% (113 people) or “colleagues I work with regularly.”  The rest told a “Library director”, “I am open about my disability/illness with everyone”, “Human resources/disability office”, “No one”, “Other library/administrator that I do not report to directly”, and “Other” (Anderson, et al., 652). The entire study had 633 participants total” (Leatham, 2024). In this qualitative study most people with disabilities gave their status to those that they were most friendly with and people who were their direct supervisor. As someone with disabilities that are “unseen” or “invisible” I wouldn’t disclose my status with just anyone. Although this is a small qualitative study with only 633 participants, it is telling that there is a gap in trust with emotions and work. 

In the second part of the interview, “The participants were also asked when they disclosed those they consider close friends. 51.34% of the participants or 115 people said “As I built a personal relationship with colleagues. 25.45% or 57 people said “When my illness/disability impacted my work. And 9.8% of the participants or 22 people said “Upon receiving a diagnosis or beginning treatment. Then there was “Once I began working”, “When requesting accommodations”, “Other”, “During the interview/hiring process” (Anderson, et al., 649).Totalling 224 participants. This is a severe drop off from the 633 people who participated in the first part of the study” (Leatham, 2024). The pull back in the number of participants tells me that maybe the study was too emotionally sensitive for the participants to disclose information. It seems that the timing of when the participants told co-workers and bosses aligned when trust was earned and when work at the library was affected. I really liked that these studies were done on librarians and asked when they disclosed their disability or disabilities. 

3 – INFO 285: Applied Research Methods: CamfieldLeatham-Intro

For my third piece of evidence for Competency L, I’ll say that in my research into how much the homeless and people in crises cost, I found that in my Intro, writer “Fleishman touches on how much security and mental health issues costs, or $16 million per year” (Camfield Leatham, 2025). In Intro his article also goes into how many librarians have gone through Narcan training because there is a real need for it. “435 of the library’s staff of nearly 1,200 have undergone Narcan training. At the time of publication, it had saved many lives, six to be exact (LA Times, 2023). The number of saved lives has probably grown by now” (Camfield Leatham, 2025). This research has helped me design a research project. It has given me estimates on how many homeless are in Los Angeles but not how many use the library’s resources. With that information it would further strengthen my qualitative and quantitative studies and could help the Los Angeles library system ask for exact numbers to help fund programs for their homeless patrons. 

Conclusion

I used qualitative and quantitative research for my topic of gaining insight into gathering the number of homeless people that use the library as a resource. This is research into numbers and qualities that can help hypothetically supply more resources for Los Angeles’ libraries. It turns out that potentially millions of homeless people would benefit from more resources through the libraries in Los Angeles.

References

Bates, M. J. (2010). Information. In M. J. Bates & M. N. Maack (Eds.), Encyclopedia of library and information sciences (3rd ed., pp. 2347–2360). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1081/E-ELIS3-120045519. 

Camfield Leatham, J. (2025). CamfieldLeatham-ARSP. [Google Doc]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QN6kbg_e9ESYAe-8GISMpU6H-jgEwqTLjpHTo045eyU/edit?usp=sharing. 

Camfield Leatham, J. (2025). CamfieldLeatham-Intro. [Google Doc]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oy2ZDq2_claWldyOfyMnYyujCMZowrLnYwyPVwgUyBI/edit?usp=sharing. 

Jefferson, R.N. (2014). Action research: Theory and applications. New Review of Academic Librarianship. 20(2). 91-116. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1080/13614533.2014.921536

Leatham, J. (2024). Librarians with disabilities. [Google Doc]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sBnpj_z7xdrHsz1DOPUDLwek1Cl0cbi1p50eO6yBQkQ/edit?usp=sharing.