LESSON 1: Kinds of Quali Research,

Approaches, Characteristics, Uses,

Strengths & Weaknesses
 WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

 Cresswell (1994) defines qualitative research as “an inquiry

process of understanding a social or human problem based on
building a complex holistic picture formed with words, reporting
detailed views of informants and conducted in a natural setting”.
 Locke, Spiduso and Silverman (1987) emphasize that the intent
of qualitative research is to understand a particular social
situation, event, role, group or interaction
 Franenkel and Wallen (1990) stress that researchers are
interested in understanding how things occur.
WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

Qualitative research, by its very nature, is essentially

a descriptive analysis and follows inductive process of
reasoning, that is, from specific situations like a student’s
losing interest or motivation to study, to arriving at a
generalization of what has caused such behavior, based
on observations, interviews or self-disclosures in written
forms like school compositions, or more popularly, in
social network posts, blogs or videos.
 WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

Two styles comes from the nature of the data:

1. Soft data in the form of impressions, words, sentences, photos,
symbols and so forth, dictate different research strategies and
data collection techniques
2. Hard data in the form of numbers
KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

Marshall and Rossman (1995) describe succinctly varied

qualitative research methods:
1. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
demands immersion in the natural setting of the
research participant/s
The research participant is able to hear, see and
experience reality as the research participants perform
activities and deal with one another during a period of
time.
 KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

2. OBSERVATION
Entails the systematic noting or recording of events, behaviors
and artifacts (objects) in the social setting chosen for study
The research learns about behaviors and the meanings
attached to those behaviors
The value here is that the researcher is able to discover the
recurring patterns of behavior and relationships
Able to note body language and affect, in addition to the
person’s words
KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

3. IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWING
Resembles conversation, but with pre-determined response
categories
A degree of systematization in questioning may be necessary ,
especially in a multisite case study or when many participants are
interviewed
Large amounts of data are gathered quickly and immediate follow-up
and clarifications are possible
Interviewers should have excellent listening skills, and be equally
skillful at personal interaction, question framing and gentle probing for
elaboration
KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

4. FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWING

Involves 7-10, at times 6-8 people, who are unfamiliar with one another and
have been selected because they share certain characteristics that are
relevant to the research inquiry or problem
The interviewer creates a permissive environment, asks focused questions, in
order to encourage discussion the expression of differing opinions and points
of view
These interviewers are conducted several times with different individuals so
that the researcher can identify trends in the perception and opinions
expressed, which are revealed through careful, systematic analysis (Krueger,
1988, as cited in Marshall and Rossman, 1995)
 KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

4. FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWING

This method also provides quick results;
the discussion is freewheeling, not “stiff”,
which can happen in a one-on-one
interview.
The moderator or researcher must be an
expert in keeping the discussion focused on
the research problem or inquiry
KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

5. CONTENT ANALYSIS
Calls for systematic
examination of forms of
communication to document
patterns objectively as shown in
letters, minutes of meetings,
policy statements and a lot
more.
KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

6. NARRATOLOGY
Can be applied to any spoken or written story
Narrative inquiry requires a great deal of sensitivity between
participant & researcher
Ideally, a friendly atmosphere pervades during the story telling,
retelling and reliving of personal experiences
Needless to say, the researcher must be an active listener and an
adept reader (for written stories), attentive to recurring patterns,
as well as the narrator’s feelings, views and values as reflected in
both oral and written stories
KINDS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

7. FILMS, VIDEO AND

PHOTOGRAPHS
These provide visual records of
events, especially the films and
videos which capture the perspective
of the filmmaker or videographer
Pictures manifest the intent,
interests and values of the
photographer
 CHARACTERISTICS & USES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

 The researcher takes place in a natural setting (home,

office, institution or community) where human behavior
and events occur. This enables the researcher to be
immersed in the actual experiences of the research
participants and to get as much detailed data as s/he
needs.
 The focus of qualitative research is on the participants’
perceptions and experiences and the way they make sense
of their lives (Franenkel and Wallen, 1998; in Cresswell,
2013)
 CHARACTERISTICS & USES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
 The method are interactive and humanistic, call for active
participation of research participants, and on the part of
the researcher, sensitivity to the needs of the participants.
 It uses various ways of collecting data: observations,
structured or semi-structured interviews, documents, and
now, emails, blogs, videos, stills and a host of others.
 Qualitative research results being emergent, new
discoveries during the data gathering process can lead to a
total revision of research questions, among others.
CHARACTERISTICS & USES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
 The theory or general pattern of understanding will emerge
as it begins with initial codes, develops into broad themes,
and coalesces into a ground theory or broad interpretation
(Cresswell, 2003)
 It is fundamentally interpretative. This includes a description
of an individual or setting, analyzing data for themes or
categories, and finally, making an interpretation or drawing
conclusions about its meaning, personally and theoretically,
stating the lessons learned and offering further questions to
be asked (Wolcott, 1994, as cited in Cresswell, 2013).
 CHARACTERISTICS & USES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
 The researcher may filter the data through a personal
lens that is situated in specific sociopolitical and
historical moments. One cannot escape the personal
interpretation brought to qualitative data analysis
(Cresswell, 2013)
 The researchers is the primary instrument in data
collection. S/he views social phenomena holistically. The
more complex, interactive and encompassing the
narrative, the better is the qualitative study.
CHARACTERISTICS & USES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

The qualitative researcher

systematically reflects on who he or she is
in the inquiry and is sensitive to his/ her
personal bias and how it shapes the study.
The persona-self becomes inseparable
from the researcher-self (Mertens, 2003,
as cited in Cresswell, 2013)
 STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
Strengths:
 Qualitative research can offer the best light on or best answers to
certain phenomena-social, economic, political or even psychological.
 Research results are exhaustive; even underlying meanings surface.
 It offers several avenues to understand phenomena, behavior, human
conditions and the like.
 It can build on, or even develop theories through consistent themes,
categories, relationships, interrelationships that are crystallized
during the data gathering and data analysis processes.
 STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
Weaknesses:
 Total immersion in the natural setting of the research can be
time-consuming and tedious and resource-draining, as well.
 There comes a point when the personal-self and the researcher-
self are inseparable, so, subjectivity, on the part of the
researcher, can happen. To prevent this, Locke et al (1987) stress
that from the beginning of the study, the researcher must
identify his/her personal values, assumptions and biases.
 Contrasting Characteristics of
Five QUALITATIVE APPROACHES
 FOCUS
NARRATIVE PHENOMENOLOGY GROUNDED ETHNOGRAPHY CASE STUDY
RESEARCH THEORY
Exploring Understanding Developi Describing Developin
the life of the essence of ng a and g an in-
an the experience theory interpreting a depth
individual grounded culture- descriptio
in data sharing n and
from the group analysis of
field a case or
multiple
cases
 TYPE OF PROBLEM BEST SUITED FOR
DESIGN
NARRATIVE PHENOMENOLOGY GROUNDED ETHNOGRAPHY CASE STUDY
RESEARCH THEORY

Needing to Needing to Grounding Describing and Providing

tell stories describe the a theory in interpreting an in-depth
of essence of a lived the views the shared understand
individual phenomenon of patterns of ing of a
experiences participant culture of a case or
s group cases
 UNIT OF ANALYSIS
NARRATIVE PHENOMENOLOGY GROUNDED ETHNOGRAPHY CASE
RESEARCH THEORY STUDY
Studying Studying several Studying a Studying a Studying
one or more individuals that process, group that an
individuals have shared the action, or shares the event, a
experience interaction same culture program
involving , an
many activity,
individuals more
than one
individua
l
 DATA COLLECTION
NARRATIVE PHENOMENOLOGY GROUNDED ETHNOGRAPHY CASE
RESEARCH THEORY STUDY
Using Using primarily Using Using primarily Using
primarily interviews with primarily observations multiple
interviews individuals, interviews and interviews, sources,
and although with 20-60 but perhaps such as
documents documents, individuals collecting other intervie
observations and sources during ws,
art may also be extended time observat
considered in field ions,
docume
nts,
artifacts
END