Qualitative Research Approaches

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Qualitative Research Approaches

• Research Methods Module
• Assoc Prof. Chiwoza R Bandawe

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MALAWI DHS 2010

• Maternal Mortality 675/100,000
• Under 5 Mortality 112/000
• Infant Mortality 66/000
• Age of first sexual intercourse Female 17.3,
  Male 18.6
• Literacy rate Male 81, Female 67.6
• Malnutrition stunted 47

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• Through qualitative research we can explore a
  wide array of dimensions of the social world,
  including the texture and weave of everyday life,
  the understandings, experiences and imaginings of
  our research participants, the ways that social
  processes, institutions, discourses or
  relationships work, and the significance of the
  meanings that they generate Jennifer Mason

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Qualitative research approaches

• Celebrate richness, depth, nuance, context,
  multi-dimensionality and complexity of the
  social world
• Can help us see how things work in particular
  contexts
• Have grown out of a wide range of disciplinary
  and intellectual traditions

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Qualitative research theories

• Assumes a psychological reality and that methods
  are a way of getting to this reality
• Wide range of theories. It is a theory method
• Discourse analysis Language a reflection of
  inner reality. Language constructs identity.
  Language centred, what it does, how it operates

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Quantitative Research methods

• Repeatability
• Facts. How many, how long?, how much?
• Predetermined categories of analysis
• Structured, based on analysis
• Compare groups and focus on variables
• Weakness Not all social problems addressed

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What are qualitative research approaches?

• Based on interpretation Asks why
• Holistic understanding of behaviour
• Based on language
• Captures the perspective of the population in
  their world view experience
• Patterns of themes said, not said
• Context sensitive

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Challenges of qualitative research

• Systematically and rigorously conducted
• Strategically conducted, flexible, contextual
• Active reflexivity (researcher is a player)
• Produce explanations or arguments.
• Be generalisable and show wider resonance

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Qualitative Tenets

• There are multiple realities not just one
  objective reality.
• Truth is in informants perspective, not the
  assessors.
• Assessment emerges from data, rather than being
  determined ahead of time.

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Which is better Qualitative or Quantitative
research?

• Complimentary
• Qualitative can help develop quantitative
  instrument
• Quantitative findings embellish qualitative
  findings
• Qualitative data explains quantitative findings

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Qualitative vs. Quantitative

• The different enquiry approaches demand different
  knowledge (Stevenson Roger, 1995).
• Synergetic effect The outcome of the two used
  together is greater than the effects of either
  used separately Steckler et al. (1992) .

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Qualitative Approaches

• Ethnography
• Grounded theory
• Phenomenology
• Case studies

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Ethnography

• Concerned with experience as it is lived, felt or
  undergone
• Participates in peoples daily lives
• Purpose is to uncover social, cultural, or
  normative patterns
• Participants are the experts
• Is essentially a cultural description

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Ethnography

• Behavior occurs in a context and ethnography
  takes that context into account
• Assessors must become immersed in a particular
  situation in order to describe and interpret
  peoples actions
• Involves observation, interviews, construction of
  working hypothesis and action

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Ethnography uncovers

• Understandings (e.g., beliefs, perceptions,
  knowledge) which participants share about their
  situation
• Routine methods (e.g., social rules,
  expectations, patterns, roles) by which their
  situation is structured
• The legitimizations by which participants justify
  the normality and unquestioned character of their
  situation
• Motives and interests (e.g., purposes, goals,
  plans) through which participants interpret their
  situation

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Ethnography strengths weaknesses

• Strengths
• Uses multiple methods of collecting data
• Can provide rich data
• Weaknesses
• Assessor is assessment tool, subject to
  subjectiveness
• Time consuming for data collection
• Time consuming for analysis
• May be difficult to gain access to group

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Case studies

• Single group e.g students
• Single village
• Single family
• Individual e.g. Eugene de Kock

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Qualitative Methodologies

• Interviews
• Focus Group Discussions
• Participant Observation
• Direct Observation
• Diary Methods
• Role Play and Simulation

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Interviewing

• Informal interviewing
• Unstructured interviewing
• Semi-structured interviews
• Fully structured/formal
• Probing Silent, Echo, Uh-hum, Probing by
  leading.

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Focus Group Discussions

• Quick effective, homogenous group
• Focussed on specific topic
• 6-12 persons, 45-90 minutes
• Set agreed rules
• Observe group dynamics
• Record and transcribe

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Participant observation

• Ethnographic approach
• Structured to unstructured continuum
• Unobtrusive note taking
• Context, participants, observer, actions,
  interpretation, alternative interpretation,
  feelings
• Why observe, who observe, what used?