Chapter 10

Qualitative Research

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

• The Natural Setting• The Researcher as Instrument• Emergent Approach• Interpretive Approach• A Holistic View• Reflexivity and Subjectivity• Use of Deductive and Inductive Reasoning• Strategies of Inquiry

The Natural Setting

• Qualitative researchers must physically go to the people, site, institution, or field

The Researcher as Instrument

• Build trust, rapport, and credibility with subjects

• Observation– Complete participation– Observer as participant– Participant as observer– Complete observer

• Interviews– Closed quantitative– Standardized open-ended– Interview guide– Informal conversational

• Content analysis– Process in which a researcher

examines a class of social artifacts to describe specific characteristics of a message

Emergent Approach

• Research question may change or be refined as researcher learns more about subject under investigation

Interpretive Approach

• – method for deciphering indirect meaning and a reflective practice for unmasking hidden meaning beneath apparent meaning

• Constant comparison1. Reduce, code, and disply the major themes

or patterns that emerge2. Integrate categories and compare them to

one another or the themes3. Delimit and refine the themes4. Provide examples from the data that show

how the themes were derived

Trustworthiness of Qualitative Data

• Credibility ( validity)– quotes, field notes, checks by

participants• Transferability ( validity)

– detailed description of setting, thick data descriptions

• Dependability ( )– document research plan, triangulate

• Confirmability ( )– clearly describe observations, provide

alternative explanations

A Holistic View

• Broad studies rather than microanalysis or focusing on the relationship between independent and dependent variables

Reflexivity and Subjectivity

• Reflexivity – systematic reflection on how personal assumptions, biases, and values shape a study

Use of Deductive and Inductive Reasoning

• Inductive reasoning (from specific to broad) is more prevalent, but deductive reasoning (from brad to specific) can be appropriate

Strategies of Inquiry

• Use multiple strategies• Mixed-method – combination of

both quantitative and qualitative research methods

What is Qualitative Research?

• naturalistic inquiry: being in the natural environment to gather data

• holistic, inductive, dynamic, subjective, humanistic, exploratory, process-oriented

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Studies

Types of Qualitative Research

• Grounded Theory• Life Histories• Case Studies• Phenomonology• Ethnographical Research• Basic/Generic Qualitative Research

Grounded Theory

• Form of data collection and analysis that uses comparison as an analytic tool to generate concepts and hypotheses

• Goal is to group parts together to form a core variable

Life Histories

• Narrative research or biographical research

• Studies cover lives of individuals or the that result from one or more individuals providing stories about their lives

Case Studies

• Involves studying an event, activity, program, process or one or more individuals

• Holistic understanding of single unit or bounded system

• Can be based on realistic ( ) or confessional ( ) tales

Phenomenology

• Goal: to describe and clarify subjects’ experiences without any previous assumptions about their meanings

• Try to determine the “ ” of an experience

• No interview schedule (flexibility)• “Go with the flow”

Ethnographical Research

• Describes and interprets a cultural or social group.

• Uncovers and describes beliefs, values, and attitudes that structure the behavior of a group.

Process of Qualitative Reserach

• Conceptualizing the Research• Framing the Research Question• Collecting Data• Analyzing Data• Writing up the Research

Conceptualizing the Reseach

• Curiosity and intuition play an important role

• What concept or puzzling phenomena is interesting?

Framing the Research Question

• No hypothesis to test

• Questions: “What,” Why,” “How” seek to be answered

• Process of discovery

Collecting Data

• Goal: Produce a “ ” description

• Methods:– Direct Observation– Focused Interviewing– Document Analysis– Photographs and Videos– Supportive Quantitative Data

Direct Observation

• Participant-observers: become involved in the social setting they are studying

• Nonparticipant observers: more removed from the social process– use key informants

• Both kinds of observers collect field notes

Focused Interviewing

• Range from structured to unstructured

• Interview schedule: list of flexible, open-ended questions

• : convey interest, try to pull out more information from subject

• Focus group interviews: guided by a facilitator

Document Analysis

• Examination of records– newsletters, news releases– student records– minutes from meetings– code of ethics– philosophy statements– diaries, letters

Photographs and Videos

• Use to gain insight into how people view and interpret their world

Supportive Quantitative Data

• Attendance counts, injuries, scores can tell about attitudes and trends

• : process of cross-checking across different methods

Writing up the Research

• No formal conventions• Writer tries to convince plausibility• Present quotes from subjects, field

notes, other primary data• Present alternative explanations,

points of view, and problems with the study