PR1 ♡ Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

• a scientific method of observation to gather non-numerical data.

• meanings, concepts, characteristics, metaphors, symbols description of phenomena

• not to their counts or measures

Purpose of Qualitative Research

• promotes a deep, holistic understanding of a particular phenomenon

Researchers

• sensitive to participants’ needs

• participants are actively engaged in the process

Data

• collected through observation, interviews, documents, e-mails, blogs, videos, etc.

Contextualization

• context or situation of individual’s life

Four General Types/Designs of Qualitative Research

• Narrative

• Case Study

• Grounded Theory

• Phenomenology

Narrative

• closely related to biography, autobiography, life history, and personal experience story

Case Study

• specific case or phenomenon

• scrutinized by researchers and related to other cases

Grounded Theory

• defined by Strauss and Corbin

• generation of a theory on an observation of a process

Phenomenology

• extract the “essence” or the “structure of an experience”

• on the meaning of the lived experiences of the participants of the study

Strengths

1. It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter.

2. Promotes a full understanding of human behavior/personality traits in their natural setting.

3. It is instrumental for positive societal changes.

4. It engenders respect for people’s individuality.

5. It’s a way of understanding & interpreting social interactions.

6. Increases researcher’s interests in the study.

Weaknesses

1. Research quality is heavily dependent on the researcher’s skills and may be influenced by the researcher's outlooks.

2. It is hard to know the validity/reliability of the data.

3. It is open-ended questions yield “data overload” that requires long-time analysis.

4. It is time-consuming.

5. Involves several processes, whose results greatly depend on the researcher’s views or interpretations.