EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Qualitative Research in Education

Generalities in qualitative research

Este compendio recoge textualmente documentos e información de varias fuentes debidamente

citadas, como referencias elaboradas por el autor para conectar los diferentes temas.

Se lo utilizará únicamente con fines educativos.

 TABLA DE CONTENIDO

UNIT 1: GENERALITIES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ……………………………………….……5

TOPIC 2: EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ……………………………………………….……………5

Subtopic 1: Educational research and inquiry (What is it and as inquiry)…………...................6

Subtopic 2: Critical role of the researcher…………………………………………………………………………..8
Investigator training…………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
Decisions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9
Subtopic 3: How to be a qualitative researcher?.................................................................10

Subtopic 4: Ethical behaviour (conduct)……………………………………………………………………………11

Ethics……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12
Professional ethics……………………………………………………………………………………………………12

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16
 COMPETENCIAS Y RESULTADOS DE APRENDIZAJE

Competencias Específicas

Se espera que a través de los temas estudiados en la presente Unidad; los

estudiantes logren las siguientes competencias:

✓ Identify the techniques used by a qualitative researcher.

✓ Be aware of the key characteristics and qualities that a researcher must have.

✓ Consider the ethical behavior that a professional must have.

Resultados de Aprendizaje

Se espera que a través de los temas estudiados en la presente Unidad; se logre

alcanzar el siguiente Resultado de Aprendizaje:

Demonstrate understanding of the different associated qualitative methods and their

application in the context of pedagogy.

Con este propósito se ha organizado la Unidad con los siguientes temas vitales para su

comprensión:

✓ Subtopic 1: Educational research and inquiry (What is it and as inquiry)

✓ Subtopic 2: Critical role of the researcher

✓ Subtopic 3: How to be a qualitative researcher?

✓ Subtopic 4: Ethical behaviour

 DESARROLLO DEL CONTENIDO DEL TEMA 2

TOPIC 2

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Objetivo
• Provides students with a detailed overview of educational research using a
qualitative system.

Introducción

Educational research considered as a discipline currently results from the adjustments

that the educational system has experienced over time because of changes in
information systems and the impact of technological advances. In this sense,
the gathering of information has revolutionized the research process. As a
result, a researcher must resort to different types of sources in order to obtain
reliable information about the phenomenon he or she plans to study.
Furthermore, in this research case, inquiry is considered to be key for
intellectual development in students or subjects, as they are their own sources
of information as researchers.
On the other hand, the ethical behavior that a professional, researcher or active
subject in education must have is very important since it is indeed essential to
act with ethical principles and values in any circumstances, considering
personal integrity and professional training.
 DESARROLLO DE LOS SUBTEMAS DEL TEMA 2

Subtopic 1: Educational research and inquiry

Given the precipitous changes in knowledge and the complexity of paradigms in society,
the demand for professionals with levels of positive response to any type of
circumstance grows respectively in the reality of the current educational system. For
this reason, educational research in this situation is a key activity aimed at acquiring or
discovering new knowledge. In addition, to be seen as a discipline that tries to provide
an answer to unknown’s problems through processes that validate truthful and reliable
information (Morales, Izquierdo, & Soler, 2008).
Over the time, educational research, in its context, has revolutionized the way of
conducting research practices, thanks to changes in access systems and exchange of
information and, of course, to technological advances, changing the processes of
gathering and processing of information that become more complex (Morales et al.,
2008).
Currently educational research is in the focus of attention because it is presented as a
generator of knowledge aimed at improving the teaching system. Based on the above,
school practices raise controversies in the forms that the educational system has taken,
changing its design, development and tools for inquiry (Suárez, 2007).
According to Camacho, Casilla, & de Franco (2008) inquiry is a process that is formed
from the earliest stages of human development, in fact, a young child is always making
inferences through inquiring out of curiosity. For example: Where did your ball end up?
Where is your favourite toy? Then, inquiry refers to the ability that the human being
has to ask questions that turn out to be necessary tools to understand and analyse the
object of study (Camacho et al., 2008).
According to the National Standards, inquiry is defined as activities carried out by
students such as: observing, collecting data, asking questions, evaluating books,
socializing results and examining sources of information, which requires aspects such
as: knowledge of theories, logical and critical thinking, skills in the identification of
concepts, among others (Camacho et al., 2008).
From these points Connelly & Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (1977) conceive
research at three levels that are visualized below:

Figure 1. Levels of Inquiry

The last two levels are applicable for classroom work, since they consider inquiry as an
effective form of learning and instruction methodology, encouraging students to become
problem solvers (Camacho et al., 2008).
In order to carry out an effective inquiry, it is very important to make a parameterization
in its context. So, we ask: What is parameterization? Parameterizing refers to the
analysis of the object of study but with elements that can be measurable or observable
in order to be able to carry out an evaluation of data corresponding to the conduct or
behaviour that the phenomenon develops (Morales et al., 2008).
Based on the foregoing, it can be affirmed that the inquiry applied to educational
research is a strategy that contributes positively to the critical and reflective
development of the students to make them able to ask questions about what to do?
When to do it? How to do it? and at the same time analyse and synthesize definitions
related to the case study (Lipman, Sharp, & Oscanyan, 1992).
 Subtopic 2: Critical role of the researcher

The research methodology is commonly established by the critical foundation of the

researcher, who is the one whose purpose is to learn during the development and
research process. According to Aravena, Kimelman, Micheli, Torrealba, & Zúñiga (2006),
it is important to highlight that the researcher will be the one who determines certain
significant questions, in terms of answering questions such as the following:
• What will be investigated?
• For what reason is this phenomenon to be investigated?
• When is it advisable to investigate the phenomenon?
• How and what procedures could be used to arrive at the formative phenomena
studied?

When speaking of knowledge, we refer to reflecting on an event or phenomenon, in this

context, knowing is the action by the researcher (subject) that learn an object of
knowledge or study. However, it is necessary to be able to distinguish between knowing
and knowing. In both cases, one has the idea of what can happen; but knowing
undoubtedly refers to reason, that is, experience that has been had with an object or
individual, and knowing instead refers to the skills learned over time such as speaking
a language or playing a sport (Aravena et al., 2006).
Indeed, the researcher is the one who proposes to obtain or achieve knowledge,
therefore, when carrying out an investigation, the subject (researcher) sets a goal that
is to finish the study with reliable knowledge results. In this sense, the researcher in the
research process is based on knowing "a reality" with which he does not necessarily
interact but that is unknown in the field (Aravena et al., 2006).

Investigator training
Alfaro (2010) states that a researcher has abilities, attitudes, knowledge and skills that
differentiate him, because he is able to see opportunities where there are problems,
that is, he transforms reality into methodological processes that confront the way of
seeing things. For this reason, the training of a researcher is essential for his
development and growth, since he must have confidence in his capabilities to carry out
research with truthful results, carrying out a set of guidelines to address the
phenomenon under study (Aravena et al., 2006).

In this sense, research is a process that requires theoretical elements, scientific

techniques and complex tools for its study. In effect, according to Grajales (1999) is “a
constant dialogue that occurs between the theory and a fragment of the 'reality' studied,
in whose development the theory is specified and the fragment or segment of reality is
taking depth beyond what it was”. Furthermore, it is essential to consider that the
researcher is the main actor who must make fundamental decisions in the research.

Decisions
Decision making for a researcher is an arduous task since the success of the
investigation at the end of the project depends on it, clearly the researcher must define
what he wants to know and what strategies he could use to approach the object. As
Max Weber points out, all phenomena that occur in reality are very relevant, some may
be more notable for being frequent, others for being particular and even others for
being new in reality, everything can be related to everything. However, it is the
researcher's job to select and choose among the diversity of present alternatives, the
same ones that require knowledge regarding their characteristics (Aravena et al., 2006).
Selection is one of the many decisions that a researcher / actor must execute to carry
out an investigation. Among other decisions, the researcher must make the angle of
observation or the distance to the object of study, in addition to the theoretical ideas
that could be used in the study. However, it must be known that a decision cannot be
made without prior knowledge of these theories or opinions. In this sense, the criteria
of the researcher are important, who must investigate and analyse each alternative
regarding the case study, as well as the potential advantages and disadvantages that
can be presented in each decision made (Aravena et al., 2006).
 Subtopic 3: How to be a qualitative researcher?

A qualitative researcher, at first instance, must recognize the reflective nature of social
research. In this sense, the researcher is part of the social world that is studied, that is,
he is considered as a key tool for qualitative research. In a qualitative investigation, the
researcher does not start from a structured methodology but from a real event,
therefore, a qualitative researcher begins with observations of a particular phenomenon,
with the aim of organizing his observations and achieving an interpretation (Aravena et
al., 2006).
Unlike a quantitative researcher who must approve and measure the presence of
characteristics of a particular phenomenon, a qualitative researcher focuses on
identifying the number of qualities that the phenomenon possesses by relating the
information of its characteristics in order to build a theory based on the observations.
Aravena et al., (2006) state that a qualitative researcher does not need to select all the
cases at the beginning for carrying out the study because they would appear as the
investigation progresses. In this sense, a qualitative researcher is guided by
unstructured research strategies (Aravena et al., 2006).
Qualitative research demands the researcher or subject a series of characteristics and
qualities. According to the above, they are detailed below:

CHARACTERISTICS QUALITIES
• Observer • Good command of verbal and non-
• Creative verbal language
• Curious • Knowledge capacity
• Analytical • Sensitivity to the environment
• Critical • Open to dialogue
• Flexible • Capacity of concentration

Table 2. Levels of Inquiry

It is important to consider each characteristic and quality that a qualitative researcher
must have. Indeed, a qualitative researcher is sensitive to the aspects that they can
cause in individuals (objects of study), that is, they tend to become naturalists because
they interact with informants in a normal and not forced way. Furthermore, they try to
understand people within their frame of reference in order to understand the
phenomenon in question. For a qualitative researcher, all perspectives are valid since
their objective is to find a detailed understanding of what is happening in their
environment (Álvarez-Gayou, 2004).
Undoubtedly, one of the main characteristics in addition to those detailed above that
differentiates a qualitative researcher from a quantitative one are the techniques used
in the study of a particular phenomenon. In this sense, according to Aravena et al.,
(2006) the most frequent techniques used by a qualitative researcher are:

A. Participant observation;
B. Individual and group qualitative interview;
C. Discussion groups;
D. Focus groups;
E. Life history or life hist
F. ory (historiography);
G. Documentary information: written (Minutes, press, records) and visual (images,
photographs)

Each exposed technique used has a parameter that the qualitative researcher must be
able to manage in order to obtain positive results in the investigation of the study
phenomenon. (Aravena et al., 2006)
 Subtopic 4: Ethical behaviour (conduct)

Ethical behavior refers to the way the individual (researcher) proceeds, conduct that is
aligned between professional and personal life. Ethical conduct is the basis of the human
being's morality, established by norms and parameters that regulate his way of acting
(Tójar & Serrano, 2000).
In any type of circumstances, human beings impose dilemmas about what is right or
wrong. In the educational environment, ethical proposals increase, since there are a
series of rights that cannot be violated so as not to violate the coexistence, integrity and
sensitivity of individuals according to the code of ethics or deontology. In this aspect,
according to Tójar & Serrano (2000), unethical practices, also called bad practices, refer
to the prestige of the researcher since the scope of these practices reaches human
discipline.

Ethics
Ethics refers to the part of philosophy that illustrates the reason for morality and tries
to rationally construct concepts that help to understand the dimension of morality in the
human being. (Cortina, Orts, & Navarro, 1996).

Professional ethics
Professional ethics refer to the set of norms, principles and values that improve conduct
in the development of work activities, and that determine the behavior guidelines based
on universal values. It is essential to consider ethics as the basis of success in any job,
since it implies a series of practices and values such as responsibility, respect,
punctuality, among others.
According to Tójar & Serrano (2000), one of the most controversial problems of the
human being is precisely when an ethical decision must be made. It is the point where
the true professional training and integrity of the human being is put into balance. In
fact, there are three factors that influence human beings to make ethical decisions, and
they are detailed below:
 • Individual values: They vary according to time and culture; however, the
knowledge and experiences of the individual will help to determine which
behavior is ethical and which is not.
• Behavior and values of third parties: refer to the influences of third parties,
whether they are good or bad.
• Code of ethics: It is a code that guides individuals to have ethical conduct in
any circumstance presented.
On the other hand, the plurality of methodologies in educational research harbors its
own peculiarities independent of the researcher. In a complex circumstance according
to Spradley (1979) where the unethical behavior of some professionals can be observed,
the question to be asked is: What to do if the researcher during the process of his
investigation is aware of cases of corruption or fraud of funds ?. In this sense, one can
have both physical and psychological abuse. Indeed, in situations like this, the duties of
a researcher and his obligations as a citizen are faced in complex decisions against
society (Tójar & Serrano, 2000).
 PREGUNTAS DE COMPRENSIÓN DE LA UNIDAD

Why is it necessary to make a parameterization in an educational research?

It is necessary to have a more detailed management of what is happening with the

phenomenon under study, since it can be analysed in a better way having elements that
can be observed in order to have a reliable interpretation of data.

When is it considered that the inquiry is formed in the human being?

Inquiry has its beginning in the early stages of human life, that is, it is formed according
to its development and growth, experiences and situations throughout life.

Does a qualitative researcher need to have a structured methodology?

No, what characterizes a qualitative researcher is having an open and no structured

methodology in order to be able to feed on information as the research progresses.

Are the techniques used by a qualitative researcher the same for a

quantitative one?

No, the techniques used by a qualitative researcher are different from those used by a
quantitative researcher, among those used in qualitative research are: observation,
individual and group interview, focus group, among others.

Why is it important to have professional ethics?

Because ethics is the basis of success in labour relations since a professional who has
no ethics loses credibility in any circumstance in his job.
 MATERIAL COMPLEMENTARIO

Los siguientes recursos complementarios son sugerencias para que se pueda ampliar la
información sobre el tema trabajado, como parte de su proceso de aprendizaje autónomo:

Videos de apoyo:

• The Qualities of a Good Qualitative Researcher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSdxYb2IVwg

• Ethics in Research
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDzS6T1k7Zk

• Ethics in Qualitative Research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAquVX1bF7U

Bibliografía de apoyo:

• Metcalfe, A. S. (2016). Educational research and the sight of inquiry: Visual

methodologies before visual methods. Research in Education, 96(1), 78-86.
DOI: 10.1177/0034523716664577

Links de apoyo:

https://es.slideshare.net/MohaiminulIslamBappy/research-ethics-74663285

https://es.slideshare.net/mirakdesai/ethics-in-research-45880423
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