Qualitative Research Designs

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the primary qualitative research designs, terminology, and foundational concepts from the lecture notes.

Qualitative Research

A type of research that explores how people understand, experience or give meaning to a phenomenon, focusing on experiences, meanings, beliefs, perceptions, stories, and social/cultural practices.

Phenomena

An event, experience, situation or concept that qualitative researchers want to understand, such as experiencing a stroke or living with chronic pain.

Qualitative Research Question

An open-ended and exploratory question that asks about a person’s experience, meaning, perception, process or culture, and is not answered with "yes" or "no".

Phenomenology

A research design that explores people’s lived experience of a phenomenon and the meaning of those experiences, asking "What is it like to experience this?"

Hermeneutics

A research design that focuses on interpreting and understanding human experiences, language or texts within the participant’s social, historical or cultural context.

Ethnography

The study of the culture, values, beliefs, behaviours and practices of a group, where the researcher often spends extended time observing or participating within the natural setting.

Grounded Theory

A research design used to develop a theory explaining a social or human process based on collected data, where data collection and analysis occur at the same time.

Narrative Inquiry

A research design that examines the stories people tell about their lives and experiences, analyzing how stories are organized and what events are emphasized.

Qualitative Descriptive Approach

A flexible design that provides a clear, straightforward, and practical summary of participants' experiences or views while staying close to the participants’ own words.

Indigenous Research Methodologies

Research grounded in Indigenous knowledge, values, relationships and ways of knowing, emphasizing respect, reciprocity, and community involvement.

Two-Eyed Seeing

An approach that brings together the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and Western knowledge to be used together for the benefit of everyone.