5 - Introduction to Qualitative Research

Qualitative researchers

____________ sees the world and reality as not fixed or measurable phenomenon unlike the postpositivist, quantitative research.

Qualitative Research

lies with the idea that meaning is socially constructed by individuals interacting with their world

Quantitative Research

where a researcher identify factors ahead of time and measures these factors

Qualitative Research

focused on knowing how people understand and experience their world at a particular point in time and in a particular context.

• Strive to understand the meaning people have constructed about their world and their experiences

• The researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and data analysis.

• Inductive process

• The product of qualitative inquiry is richly descriptive

Characteristics of Various Qualitative Research: (4)

• Interpretive

• Phenomenology

• Ethnography

• Grounded Theory

• Narrative Research

Common Types of Qualitative Research: (5)

Interpretive

exemplifies all the characteristics of a qualitative research

Interpretive

With this, the researcher is first and foremost interested in understanding how participants make meaning of a situation or a phenomenon

Interpretive

Accounts of the findings are presented and discussed using references to the literature

Interpretive design

Majority of qualitative researches in education and other of practice fall under the _______ ______ and are labeled simply as “qualitative study”

Phenomenology

is based on the assumption that there is an essence or essences to shared experiences

Phenomenology

The experiences of different people are bracketed, analyzed, and compared to identify the essences of the phenomenon

brackets

To understand the essence or structure of an experience, the researcher temporarily puts aside or “______” personal attitudes or beliefs about the phenomenon.

Ethnography

presents a sociocultural interpretation of the data

Ethnographic study

An ____________ “re-creates for the reader the shared beliefs, practices, artifacts, fold knowledge, and behaviors of some group of people”.

Ethnography

At the heart is the focus on a particular group’s shared culture

Grounded Theory

The goal of ____________ is to derive inductively from data a theory that is “grounded” in the data

Grounded Theory

This means the researcher collects and analyzes data first, and then forms a theory

Substantive theory

Researchers using grounded theory develop ____________, which explains a specific area, situation, or group based on data.

• which is distinguished from grand or formal theory

Substantive theory

is localized, dealing with a particular real-world situations

• such as how adults manage school, family, and work life

• what constitutes an effective counseling program for teen mothers

Narrative Research

The use of stories as data and first-person accounts of experience told in a story form are the keys to this design

Narrative Research

• Central to this design is the process of analyzing people’s stories

• Data collected and analyzed are in the form of a story

Narrative Research

Example:

• A researcher interviews a cancer survivor to learn about their journey from diagnosis to recovery, then analyzes the story to understand their emotions, challenges, and coping strategies.

Purpose statement

indicates why you want to do the study and what you intend to accomplish.

Purpose statement

It sets the objectives, the intent, or the major idea of a proposal or a study

• Use Signal words

• Focus on Single phenomenon

• Action Verbs

• Stay neutral

• Provide definition

Basic Design Features for writing Purpose Statement:

purpose, intent, objective

Use words such as ____,_____,_____ to signal attention to this statement as the central controlling idea.

• Example: “The purpose of this study is to…”

single

Focus on a ____ phenomenon (or concept or idea)

• describe

• understand

• develop

• discover

Use action verbs to convey how learning will take place.

• Use action verbs such as:

neutral

Use _____ words and phrases-nondirectional language-such as:

• exploring the "experiences of individuals" rather than the "successful experiences of individuals.“

useful, positive, & informing-all

Avoid words/phrases such as:

general working definition

Provide a ______________ of the central phenomenon or idea, especially if the phenomenon is a term that is not typically understood by a broad audience.

• A writer might use the words, “A tentative definition at this time for (central phenomenon) is….”

• Ethnography

• Grounded theory

• Case study

• Phenomenological

• Narrative approach

Include words denoting the strategy of inquiry to be used in data collection, analysis, and the process of research, such as whether the study will use an:

participants

Mention the ________ in the study, such as whether there might be one or more individuals, a group of people, or an entire organization.

site

Identify the ____ for the research, such as homes, classrooms, organizations, programs, or events.

scope of participation

As a final thought in the purpose statement, include some language that delimits the ____________ or research sites in the study.

• For example, the study may be limited to women only.

• The purpose of this _______ (strategy of inquiry, such as ethnography, case study, or other type) study is to _________ (understand? Describe? Develop? Discover?) the ____________(central phenomenon being studied) for __________ (the participants, such as the individual, groups, organization) at ____________(research site).

• At this stage in the research, the ____________ (central phenomenon being studied) will be generally defined as ____________ (provide a general definition)

The “script” for a Qualitative Purpose Statement:

Purpose statement in Phenomenological study

Example of:

• The phenomenological inquiry, as part of uncovering meaning, articulated "essences" of meaning in mothers' lived experiences when their wished-for babies died. Using the lens of the feminist perspective, the focus was on mothers' memories and their "living through" experience.

• This perspective facilitated breaking through the silence surrounding mothers' experiences; it assisted in articulating and amplifying mothers' memories and their stories of loss.

• Methods of Inquiry included phenomenological reflection on data elicited by existential investigation of mothers' experiences, and investigation of the phenomenon in the creative arts

Central question

that is a broad question that asks for an exploration of the central phenomenon or concept in a study.

"What is the broadest question that I can ask in the study?"

To arrive at this question, ask:

• _______________? and associated subquestions

• 1-2 central questions followed 5-7 subquestions

• Connect the central question to your qualitative strategy (e.g., case study, phenomenology)

• Start questions with “What” or “How”

• Single phenomenon

• Exploratory verbs (language of emerging design)

• Exploratory verbs (nondirectional)

• Let questions change or evolve as the study progresses.

• Keep questions open-ended (don’t base them on theory unless required)

• Participants and research site

Guidelines for writing a Broad, Qualitative research Questions: (8)

• discover

• understand

• explore

• describe

• report

Use exploratory verbs:

• – Grounded theory

• – Ethnography

• – Case study

• – Phenomenology

• – Narrative research

• How/What is the….. ("story for" for narrative research: "meaning of" the phenomenon for phenomenology; "theory that explains the process of" for grounded theory; "culture-sharing pattern" for ethnography; "issue" in the "case" for case study)

• of ____ (central phenomenon) for (participants) at ____ (research site).

Here is a script for a qualitative central question:

• What are the lived experiences of single women?

• How do female high school teachers who have been physically assaulted by students overcome their fears so they can effectively teach?

• What role does the therapist’s spirituality play in the treatment of his or her patients?

An example of a qualitative central question: