RDL 12: MIDTERMS

Qualitative Research

- An inquiry process​

- To understand a social or human problem based on building a complex, holistic picture​

- Formed with words​

- Reporting detailed views of the informants ​

- Conducted in a natural setting

- Follows the logic of applied research whereinthe purpose of gathering data lies on theformulation of solutions to real-life problems

Appropriate methods of research

- Inductive​

- Develop empirically (meaning, observable)grounded theory​

- The central criterion of the validity of a qualitative research lies on whether the findings are grounded in observable materials

Perspectives of the participants and their diversity

- Established perspectives and practices in the field varies because of the different individual perspectives and social backgrounds rendered by the participants of the study

Reflexivity of the Researcher and the Research

- The communication of the researcher with the participants does not form as an intervening variable​

- The reflections and impressions of the researchers formed from his communication with the participants become data on their own​

- Being data in their own rights, they serve as bases for interpretation and analysis of the study

Variety of Approaches and Methods

- Not based on unified theoretical and methodological concept

- Subjective viewpoints -> Making and course of interactions -> Reconstruct the structures of the social field -> Latent meaning of practices

Phenomenology

- Considered as philosophy and research method

- Captures the lived experience of individuals

- Leads to the understanding of behavioral, emotive, and social meanings of lived experienmces

- An approach that can be applied in clinical psychology

Ethnography

- Concerned with a group of people

- Grounded in the field of anthropology

- Researcher is immersed within the community for an extended period of time

- Studying the shared experiences, practices and belief systems of a group of people over a prolonged period of time

Inductive Thematic Analysis

- Most common qualitative data analysis method used in the social, behavioral, and health sciences

- Presenting the stories and experiences of the research participants as accurately and comprehensively as possible

- Results in recommendations for programs and policies

- Reading through textual data -> Identifying themes -> Coding those themes -> Interpreting the structure and content of the themes

Grounded Theory

- A type of inductive thematic analysis

- Use of systematic and flexible data collection method wherein theories are embedded in the data themselves

Case Study

- Deep exploration of complex issues

- Requires holistic and in-depth investigation

- Confined to a small group geographical area with limited number of participants

- Suitable for the study related to education, sociology, and community-based problems

- Addresses the limitations of a quantitative study

Narrative Analysis

- Focuses on the narratives or storytelling used as a source of data

- Gathering of important historical details on what actually happened and how people make sense of what happened

- Related to what people perceive about their lives in terms of continuity and process

- More than life history research: An approach to analyzing different data and an approach to stimulating storytelling

Variables

- A person, place, thing, or phenomenon that is being categorized or measured in research

Nominal Scale

- Used when variables can be categorized but cannot be ranked

- Demographic profile-age, gender, marital status, educational attainment, occupation

Who, What, Why, When, Where

5 W's in Choosing a Topic

Research Design

- Qualitative and Quantitative methods are not research design but refer to the type of data gathered

1. Positivist Research Design/Method

2. Interpretive Research Design

Two Types of Research Design

Positivist Research Design

- Aimed at theory testing

- Deductive Method

Interpretive Research Design

- Aimed at theory building

- Inductive method

- Ex: Action research and ethnography

Naturalistic Inquirt

- The phenomenon is studied within the natural setting to capture the social context of the problem or gap

Researcher as an Instrument

- He/She is assimilated within the social context of the environment as the observer and gatherer of the correct information

Interpretive Analysis

- The experiences of the participants are interpreted by the researcher, remaining faithful to the context of the participants' experiences

Use of expressive language

- The researcher should be able to look and interpret into the verbal and non-verbal language of the participants

Temporal Nature

- The researcher should be immersed with the study site over an extended period of time in order to explore sufficiently the phenomenon invovled

Hermeneutic Circle

- This involves iterative process between the observations and the entirety of the social phenomenon until saturation is reached enough to develop a theory or generalization

Time and resource intesive

Challenges:

- Too little data may not render conclusive results

- Too much data may not be effectively processed

Requires non-trained researchers

Challenges:

- Capable of interpreting complex social phenomenon from the perspectives of the participants, without injecting biases and preconceived notions

Action Research

- Investigates and observes effects of the intervention done

- Most popular type is participatory _________

Mode of Data Collection: Participant Observation, Interviews, Documentary Evidence

Probability Sampling

- Random Sampling; each unit in the population has equal chance of being chosen, used more in qualitative studies

- Logic lies in making generalization

- Larger sample size is needed

Non-probability Sampling

- Ex: Purposive Sampling which is more commonly used in qualitative research wherein the concern lies in in-depth understanding of a phenomenon

Purposive Sampling

- A strategic way to assign participants

- Most useful in qualitative study wherein participants are chosen based on their capacity to address the research questions

- Researcher aims to have a variety of responses so the participants differ from each other in terms of key characteristics

- Does not allow the researcher to generalize a population

Theoretical Sampling

- A form of purposive sampling

- Done to discover categories and their properties and to suggest interrelationships into a theory

- The researcher collects, codes, analyzes the data and decides which data to collect next in order to develop an emergent theory

Research Instruments

- These are tools, ways, and means to be able to address the research questions

- In qualitative research, they are usually in the form of interviews and observations

Construct

- It is not quantifiable

- Qualitative

Variable

- It is quantifiable

- Quantiative

1. Pre-Data Gathering Procedures

2. Data Collection Proper

3. Post-Data Gathering Procedures

Data Gathering Procedures:

Three Steps in Data Collection