Qualitative Research

1
Qualitative Research
2
Qualitative Research A Philosophy of Knowing

• Focuses on understanding from the perspective of
  whoever and whatever is being studied.
• Rather than try to establish objective
  descriptions and relationships as quantitative
  research does, qualitative studies are based on
  the assumption that reality is subjective and
  dependent on context
• There are multiple realities that need to be
  described in detail to result in a complete and
  deep understanding of the phenomena being
  investigated

3
Characteristics of Qualitative Research

• Search for meaning
• Constructed reality
• Natural settings
• Rich narrative description
• Direct data collection
• Concern with process
• Inductive data analysis
• Participant perspectives
• Emergent research design

4
Quantitative? Qualitative?

• Quantitative research involves the use of
  numerical indices to summarize, describe and
  explore relationships among traitsreliance on
  control, statistics, measurements, and
  experiments
• Qualitative researchthe emphasis is on
  conducting studies in natural settings using
  mostly verbal descriptions, resulting in stories
  and case studies, not statistical reports

5
Qualitative Research Designs

• Ethnography
• Involves direct engagement with the participants
  and environments--immersion into the culture
  being investigated
• In-depth description and interpretation of
  behavior within a culture or social group
• Start with a straightforward description of the
  setting and events--no footnotes, just facts
• Analysis--search for patterned regularities in
  the data
• Conclusions are based on a synthesis of the data

6
Qualitative Research Designs

• Case study
• In-depth analysis of one or more bounded
  systems
• A case is study is...an exploration of a bounded
  system or a case (or multiple cases) over time
  through detailed, in-depth data collection
  involving multiple sources of information rich in
  context. Creswell (1998)
• A qualitative case study is an intensive,
  holistic description and analysis of a single
  instance, phenomenon or social unit. Stake
  (1994)

7
Case study

• Some examples of cases are...
• an innovative program
• all schools in Sweden
• a classroom
• graduate students at KSU

8
Case study

• What is the intent of the case study?
• Descriptive case study
• to give a detailed account
• Interpretive case study
• to develop conceptual categoriesto illustrate,
  support or challenge theoretical assumptions
• Evaluative case study
• description, explanation, and judgment good to
  use when you cant evaluate using normal standards

9
Qualitative Research Designs

• Phenomenology
• Examines in depth the experiences and perceptions
  of selected participants
• Purpose to understand the essence, the meaning
  of participants perspectives
• Discovery oriented focuses on a systematic
  investigation of the content of consciousness
  (Van Manen, 1990)
• Researchers seek the essential, invariant
  structures, or the research participants
  consistent patterns of relating to the world, as
  well as the essence of the central underlying
  meaning of experience. (McPhail, 1995)

10
Qualitative Research Designs

• Grounded Theory
• Purpose to discover or generate a theory that
  pertains to a specific entity or phenomenon
• Grounded in data from the field, especially in
  actions, interactions, and social process of
  people
• The researcher recognizes that the primary
  outcome of the study is a theory with specific
  components a central phenomenon, causal
  conditions, strategies, conditions and context,
  and consequences.
• Usually the theory is related through a model

11
Qualitative Research Designs

• Critical Studies
• Designed to provide alternative perspectives on
  contemporary societal problems
• Focus on exposing social manipulation and
  oppressive social structures to advocate changes
  in social systems
• Researcher approaches research with the belief
  that his/her assumptions are important
  determinants of what is perceived and concluded
• Used with critical, postmodern, racial, feminist
  theory

12
Qualitative Research Designs

• Biography
• A study of an individual and his/her experiences
  as told to the researcher or found in documents
  and archival material (sometimes through
  interviews)
• The life story of an individual is written by
  someone other than the individual being studies
  using archival documents and records
• There are varying types of biography including
  Classical biography and Interpretive Biography

13
Information is gathered from

• Individuals
• Groups
• Documents
• Existing data bases and
• Other sources

14
Steps in research(may vary depending on the
nature of the study)

1. Frame the initial question or problem
2. Determine what previous research says about the
   question or problem
3. Frame research questions
4. Design a plan for collecting data to address the
   question or problem
5. Analyze the results of gathered data
6. Generate conclusions