PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1
LESSON 2: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH vs. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research is expressed in words. It is used to
understand concepts, thoughts or experiences. This type of
research enables you to gather in-depth insights on topics that
are not well understood.
Common qualitative methods include interviews with open-
ended questions, observations described in words, and
literature reviews that explore concepts and theories.
Quantitative research is expressed in numbers and graphs. It
is used to test or confirm theories and assumptions. This type of
research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a
topic.
Common quantitative methods include experiments,
observations recorded as numbers, and surveys with closed-
ended questions.
Characteristics of Qualitative Research
1. Qualitative research is conducted in a systematic and
rigorous way. However, it is more flexible than
quantitative research.
2. It usually follows an iterative process, which means
that data collection and analysis occur simultaneously.
Data already collected are updated by the ongoing
data collection.
3. It focuses on gathering information from people who
can provide the richest insights into the phenomenon
or interest. As a result, small samples are commonly
used in qualitative research. Study participants are
usually selected in a purposive manner, using only
those for whom the topic under study is relevant.
4. Collection of data is continuous until saturation, or
when it reaches the point where no new information is
revealed with respect to the key themes emerging from
the data.
5. Qualitative data collection examines everyday life in its
natural context or in an uncontrolled naturalistic
setting.
Strengths of Qualitative Research
1. Qualitative research can offer the best light on or best
answers to certain phenomena-social, economic,
political or even psychological.
2. Research results are exhaustive; even underlying
meanings surface.
3. It offers several avenues to understand phenomena,
behavior, human conditions and the like.
4. It can build on or even develop theories through
consistent themes, categories, relationship,
interrelationships that are crystallized during the data
gathering and data analysis processes.
Weaknesses of Qualitative Research
1. Total immersion in the natural setting of the research
can be time-consuming and tedious, and resource-
draining, as well.
2. There comes a point when the personal-self and the
researcher are inseparable, so, subjectivity, on the part
of the researcher, can happen.
Types of Qualitative Research
1. Phenomenological Study. This study explores the
complex meanings of simple units of experience. It
seeks to understand a certain phenomenon as it is
perceived and experiences by the research
participants. It aims to describe what it is like to be in a
particular situation based on one’s personal
experiences.
➢ “What are the common experiences encountered
by a person with a spouse who is undergoing
rehabilitation?”
2. Ethnographic Study. This study involves the
collection and analysis of data about specific groups of
people sharing a common culture. In this type of
research, the researcher immerses himself or herself
in a community to observe the behaviors and
interactions of its members up close and experience
some of their daily activities and struggles firsthand.
➢ “How do children with an indigenous cultural
orientation learn and use several speech varieties
in different social contexts? (Jamora, 2014)
3. Historic Study. This study is concerned with the
identification, location, evaluation, and synthesis of
data from past events. This is not only limited to
obtaining data from the past, but it also involves
 relating their implications to the present and future 3. Arts. It is to investigate methods or approached that
time. enhance one’s creativity.

➢ What were the roles of women in the Katipunan?
➢ Document – printed materials that can be found
in libraries, archives, or personal collections
➢ Relics and artifacts – physical remains or objects
from a certain historical period
➢ Oral reports – information that is passed on by
word of mouth.
➢ Primary sources – materials providing first-hand
information (oral histories, written records, diaries,
eyewitness accounts, pictures, videos, and other
physical evidence.
4. Science. Its importance is to determine the
effectiveness of a newly developed medicine,
treatment, or approach in addressing health problems.
5. Agriculture and Fisheries. It is to examine how
agriculture in a particular community is influenced by
global trends.
6. Sports. It is to understand the relationship between
one’s health and athletic performance.
7. Business. It is to assess approached that will help
companies in their decision-making practices.

➢ Secondary sources - second-hand information

such as an account based on an original source,
or a material written as an abstract of the original
materials.

4. Case Study. It is an in-dept examination of an

individual, a group of people, or an institution. It
involves a comprehensive and extensive examination
of a particular individual, group, or situation over a
period of time.

➢ “How do cancer survivors look at life?”

5. Grounded Theory Study. The method involves

comparing collected units of data against one another
until categories, properties, and hypotheses that state
relations between these categories and properties
emerge.

➢ Ten school counselors were given structured

interviews to help determine how their
professional identity is formed.

6. Narrative Analysis. The main sources of data for this

type of research are the life accounts of individuals
based on their personal experiences. The purpose of
narrative analysis is to extract meaningful context from
these experiences by identifying patterns, themes, or
meaning, based on particularly on chronology.

➢ Psychological – this involves analyzing the story

in terms of internal thoughts and motivations. It
also analyzes the written text or spoken words for
its component parts or patterns.

➢ Biographical – this takes the individual’s society

and factors like gender and class into account.

➢ Discourse Analysis – this studies the approach

in which language is used in texts and contexts.

Importance of Qualitative Research

1. Social Inquiry. For better understanding of behavior

and social interactions among individual.

2. Information and Communication Technology. It is

to examine the trends and tendencies in the use of
information technology.