Qualitative Research

in Practice
Lecture – 5
Research Methods

Department of Business Administration

IQRA University (Gulshan Campus)

15/10/2014
Major Types of Qualitative
Approaches
• Narrative Research
• Phenomenology
• Grounded Theory
• Ethnography
• Case Study
• Action Research
• Historical Research

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Narrative Research
Description

Study of a single person and gathering data through the collection of

stories that are used to construct a narrative about the individual’s
experience and the meanings he/she attributes to them.

Focus

Collecting the stories of lived experiences via focusing on questions

about:

• Basic facts: What was going on?

• Definition: What is it?
• Evaluation: How do you evaluate the facts and the definition? 3
• Policy: What should be done?
Narrative Research (cont.)
Objective
Chronological story of an individual’s life to:
• Organize facts to understand the historical context
• Define body of facts to understand the nature of a problem
• Evaluate the historical event in terms of certain criteria
• Propose a solution to a problem

Data Collection
Collects the individual stories told to the researcher or gathered through field texts;
primarily via interviews and documents, where researcher:
• Gathers stories and analyzes them for elements of the story
• Rewrites the story to place it in a chronological sequence

Where:
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• Re-story provides a causal link among ideas
• Information would include interaction, continuity, and situation
Narrative Research (cont.)
Data Analysis

Stories, re-stories, description of context, themes, where focus is on:

• Relevant facts and content to research interest

• Authority and credibility of the source: reliability
• Timeliness of the evidence
• Quality of the source: writing, accuracy, and thoroughness

Example

“…….to understand, the experiences of a veteran teacher who has been

moved into an administrative position in her school………?”

“……..to study, what does “inclusion” mean to a special needs child who is 5
placed in a regular education classroom……….?’
 Phenomenology
Description
Describes “how one orients to lived experience” because it wants to be attentive to how
things appear, as our experience is directed toward things only through particular concepts,
thoughts, ideas, images, etc.

It is the study of structures of experience, or consciousness; appearances of things, or

things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience things.

Focus
Understanding the essence of experiences surrounding a phenomena:

• Focusing on lived experience

• Describes what is given to us in immediate experience without being obstructed by
preconceptions and theoretical notions
• Understanding the structure of experience through a new perspective (“new eyes”) 6
• What is the nature of meaning of something?
Phenomenology (cont.)
Objective

A description of the ‘essence’ of the experience to address; how can we

have knowledge of the world, as it really is?

Data Collection

Long interviews with up to 10 people

Studies the structure of various types of experience including:

• Perception
• Thought
• Memory
• Imagination
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Phenomenology (cont.)
Data Analysis
Statements, meanings, meaning themes, general description of
experience:

• Describe a type of experience just as we find it in our own (past) experience

• Interpret a type of experience by relating it to relevant features of context
• Analyze the form of a type of experience
• Focus on people's subjective experiences and interpretations of the world
• Develop an understanding of how the world appears to others

Example
“……the purpose of this study was to examine the meaning of being “left out”
for a teenager – examines in-depth the experiences of being “left out” from the
perspectives of the teenager experiencing this phenomena……..” 8
Grounded Theory
Description

The aim of grounded theory is to generate or discover a theory, where one

may not want to test existing hypothesis.

Focus

Developing a theory grounded in data from the field - discovery of basic

social processes in the data

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Grounded Theory (cont.)
Objective
To generate a theory or a theoretical model

The purpose of grounded theory research is to develop new concepts and theories of
business-related phenomena, where these concepts and theories are firmly grounded in
qualitative data

Data Collection
Interviews with 20-30 individuals to ‘saturate’ categories and detail a theory

• In-depth interviews - most commonly used

Relies on open ended questions

• Questions can be modified to reflect emerging theory

Observational methods 10
 Grounded Theory (cont.)
Data Analysis
Analyzed via coding and memo writing

Types of coding:

• Open coding refers to the process of generating initial concepts from data

• Axial coding to the development and linking of concepts into conceptual families- coding paradigm

• Selective coding to the formalizing of these relationships into theoretical frameworks

Memo writing is the intermediate step between coding and the first draft of completed
study

Hypotheses and ideas recorded during analysis

Not be treated as complete and fixed, as they are initial analytical thoughts and can be 11
altered as thinking changes
Grounded Theory (cont.)
Example

“……..the purpose of this study was to understand the ‘relationship of a

social club to the teachers’ who frequently visit it on Friday evening.
Researcher found that teachers used the social club to facilitate their
movement from “professional” to “personal” self – it examined a
phenomena of interest to the researcher (i.e., teachers congregating at
a particular social club on Friday evenings) and developed a conceptual
understanding of it………”

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Ethnography
Description

Kind of description that can only be emerge from spending a lengthy

amount of time intimately studying and living in a particular social
setting

Focus

Describing and interpreting a social group using the lens of culture to

understand the phenomenon being examined

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Ethnography (cont.)
Objective

A description of the cultural behavior of a group or individual

Data Collection

Primarily observations and interviews with additional artifacts, during

extended time in the field, e.g. 6 months – 1 year

A collection of data through fieldwork experiences

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Ethnography (cont.)
Data Analysis

Description, thematic analysis, interpretation

Researcher produces the participants’ views through closely edited

quotes and has final word on interpretation

Example

“…….the purpose of this study was to identify and describe the conflicts
that experienced teachers encountered as they switched from a
traditional approach to teaching mathematics to a constructivist-
sociological approach – examines the beliefs and practices of teachers
experiencing a common phenomena related to their approach to 15
teaching……..”
Case Study
Description

To study a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context and

boundaries between phenomenon where context are not clearly
evident, cases are analyzed either to build up or validate models or
theories, typically through collection of textual data through interviews.

Focus

Developing an in-depth analysis of a single case or multiple cases

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Case Study (cont.)
Objective
An examination of a specific instance of a phenomena in its natural
context viewed from the perspective of the participants.

Data Collection
• Documents (letters, agendas, progress reports)
• Archival records (Service records, organizational charts, budgets
etc.)
• Interviews (typically open-ended but also focused, structured &
surveys are possible)
• Direct observations (formal or casual; useful to have multiple
observers)
• Participant observation (assuming a role in the situation and getting 17
an inside view of the events)
Case Study (cont.)
Data Analysis
• Pattern matching (explanatory/descriptive) - comparing empirical based patterns
with predicted one(s)

• Explanation-building (mainly explanatory) - analyzing case study data by building

an explanation about the case and identifying a set of causal links

• Time-series analysis -“How” and “why” questions about relationships and

changes of events over time

Example
“…….this study explored the meaning of “inclusion” for three disabled students who
had been placed in a regular education setting, it examines in-depth a phenomena
of interest to the researcher (i.e., the meaning of inclusion) in a natural context
viewing it from the participant’s perspectives……..”
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Action Research
Description

It is often uniquely identified by its dual goal of both improving the

organization participating in the research project (usually referred to
as client organization) and at the same time generating knowledge.
Although applying very little (if any) control on the environment being
studied, the action research practitioner is expected to apply
intervention on this environment.

Focus

Providing solution to the problems in a program, organization or

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community
Action Research (cont.)
Objective

Discussion and suggestions on how to improve a ‘process’ or ‘situation’

by taking immediate action

Data Collection

It is not about writing what you think to be true but about collecting
data and making conclusions based on that data via:

• Experience – by observing (participant observation)

• Enquiry – by asking (informal interviews, formal structured interviews,
questionnaires)
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• Examine – by using records (archival documents, notes, memos, etc.)
Action Research (cont.)
Data Analysis

Description and interpretation of the issue/s; led to reflect on:

• Did the research actually lead to change or did a solution to a

problem make the difference?

Example

“…….to assess, how can our college move to a performance

based model for undergraduate teacher preparation programs –
how can disciplinary policies be enforced consistently in our
school.........?” 21
Historical Research
Description

A process of systematically examining the past events to give an

account of what has happened in the past.

Not a mere accumulation of facts and dates or even a description of

past events.

A flowing, dynamic account of past events which involves an

interpretation of these events in an attempt to recapture the nuances,
personalities, and ideas that influenced these events.

Focus

Develop a significant understanding of the historical context. 22

 Historical Research (cont.)
Objective

A description of systematic collection and criticism of the artifacts describe the

past events, another goal is to communicate an understanding of those events.

Data Collection
• Archival records

• Documents (i.e. diaries, memos, newspapers, books, etc.).

• Interviews (oral histories - with individuals who have had experience with or
have knowledge of the research topic)

• Relics (i.e. photographs, maps, architectural design, etc.).

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 Historical Research (cont.)
Data Collection (cont.)

Primary source – that has a direct involvement with the event being
investigated like a diary, an original map, or an interview with a person
that experienced the event.

Secondary source – that was created from a primary source such as

books written about the event, secondary sources are considered less
useful than primary sources.

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Historical Research (cont.)
Data Analysis
A description of data by the process of criticism (both; internal and
external).

Every information source must be evaluated for its authenticity and

accuracy because any source can be affected by a variety of factors such
as prejudice, economic conditions, and political climate.

Two types of evaluations every source must pass:

• External Criticism – determine the validity, trustworthiness, or authenticity of

the source i.e. handwriting analysis or determining the age of the paper on
which something was written.

• Internal Criticism – determine the reliability or accuracy of the information

contained in the sources collected; done by both positive and negative criticism. 25
Historical Research (cont.)
Example

“……..the purpose of study ‘A’ is to examine the changes in standardized

testing of ‘Drug X’ over the last 40 years. This study addresses the
historical developments characterizing the use of standardized ‘Drug X’
tests over a 40 years period……..”

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