Qualitative Research Methods Overview

Learning Objectives

  • Understand key concepts of qualitative research.

What is Qualitative Research?

  • An inquiry process focusing on understanding complex issues through observations and narratives rather than numerical data.

  • Involves exploring a problem in a natural setting with a few cases and many variables.

Key Methods of Qualitative Research (According to Creswell)

  • Biography

    • Focus: Explores life of an individual.

    • Disciplinary Origin: Anthropology.

    • Data Collection: Interviews and documents.

    • Data Analysis: Stories, epiphanies, historical context.

    • Narrative Form: Detailed picture of individual’s life.

  • Phenomenology

    • Focus: Understanding the essence of experiences about a phenomenon.

    • Disciplinary Origin: Psychology.

    • Data Collection: Long interviews with up to 10 people.

    • Data Analysis: Statements, meanings, themes, general descriptions.

    • Narrative Form: Description of essence of experience.

  • Grounded Theory

    • Focus: Develop a theory grounded in data from the field.

    • Disciplinary Origin: Sociology.

    • Data Collection: Interviews with 20-30 individuals to saturate categories.

    • Data Analysis: Open, axial, selective coding, conditional matrix.

    • Narrative Form: Theory or model.

  • Ethnography

    • Focus: Describe and interpret a cultural or social group.

    • Disciplinary Origin: Cultural anthropology.

    • Data Collection: Observations and interviews during extended fieldwork (6 months to 1 year).

    • Data Analysis: Description, analysis, interpretation.

    • Narrative Form: Description of cultural behavior.

  • Case Study

    • Focus: In-depth analysis of one or multiple cases.

    • Disciplinary Origin: Political science.

    • Data Collection: Multiple sources including documents, interviews, artifacts.

    • Data Analysis: Description, themes, assertions.

    • Narrative Form: In-depth study of cases.

Qualitative Sampling Techniques

  • Saturation

    • Data is collected until no new perspectives emerge. Sample size is not predetermined.

    • Example: Observing young children learning to write Chinese characters.

  • Theoretical or Purposeful Sampling

    • Selecting samples for a range of responses correlating to specific factors influencing outcomes.

    • Example: Choosing a high-performing mathematics department for the study.

  • Convenience Sampling

    • Driven by feasibility; criticized for potentially lacking credibility.

    • Example: Interviewing recent graduates about their undergraduate programs, using those who are available.

  • Snowball Sampling

    • Non-probability technique where current participants recruit future participants.

    • Often used for hard-to-reach populations like the homeless.

Importance of Qualitative Research

  • Allows for a complete picture within the research domain by not adhering strictly to predetermined rules, focusing instead on gaining in-depth understanding.

Stages of Grounded Theory

  1. Observing Data: Identify patterns leading to the emergence of categories.

  2. Integrating Categories: Compare incidents to properties of categories.

  3. Delimiting the Theory: Reduce the number of categories as refinements occur.

  4. Writing Theory: Generate hypotheses and generalizations from data analysis rather than starting with them.

Additional Notes on Phenomenology

  • Focus on understanding lived experiences.

  • Example: Understanding athletes' motivations or cancer patients' feelings during treatment to better support them.