Qualitative Research Design

Part 1: Design principles and research

questions
Presentation by Victoria Clarke
Associate Professor of Qualitative and Critical
Psychology, UWE
August 2021
PowerPoint slides from the Braun, Clarke & Hayfield
Qualitative Methods Online Teaching & Learning
Resources Collaboration (QMOTLRC)
Topic overview
o Understanding the different considerations that inform
qualitative research design
o Understanding what constitutes robust and coherent
qualitative research design

o There are a series of optional ‘pauses for reflection’

throughout the lectures – you can pause the audio-lecture and
work through the questions on the slide. The various ‘pauses
for reflection’ will take you through the process of designing a
qualitative study (and help you to reflect on the extent of your
existing knowledge of the range and diversity of qualitative
methods and to identify areas where you need to learn more).
Lecture overview
o Part 1: Design principles and research questions
o Part 2: Methods of data collection, ‘sampling’ and
recruitment
o Part 3: Data analysis and ethics
Designing qualitative research
• Need an overall design, including:
• Goals of study.
• Theoretical framework (‘big’ theory
- ontology and epistemology – and
lower level theory).
• Research question(s) (aims and
objectives).
• Ethical considerations.
• ‘Sampling’ and recruitment
strategy.
• Method(s) to generate data.
• Method(s) to analyse data.
Principles of successful
qualitative research design
• Design coherence or ‘fit’ and ‘methodological integrity’ (Levitt et
al., 2017: 9-10) – theses concepts capture when:
• “research designs and procedures (e.g., autoethnography,
discursive analysis) support the research goals (i.e., the
research problems/questions); respect the researcher’s
approaches to inquiry (i.e., research traditions sometimes
described as world views, paradigms, or
philosophical/epistemological assumptions); and are tailored
for fundamental characteristics of the subject matter and the
investigators.”
• Choose between ready-made or ‘off-the-shelf’ methodologies
(Chamberlain, 2012) and theoretically flexible methods and
build your own methodology…
The importance of design
coherence or 'fit’ and flexibility
o Relationship between research
question(s), data collection and data
analysis:
o “A good qualitative research design
is one in which the method of data
analysis is appropriate to the
research question, and where the
method of data collection generates
data that are appropriate to the
method of analysis.” (Willig, 2001:
21)
o Flexibility in qualitative research design –
‘emergent design’.
Three types of question in
qualitative research
1.The research question -
What are men’s experiences of depression?
How is depression represented in
mainstream media?
2.The questions participants are asked -
Tell me about your depression?
When did you first identify it as depression?
What things make you feel worse? Better?
3.The questions you need to ask of your data,
in order to answer your research question -
What ways do men frame depression (e.g.
biological, social, psychological)?
Where is responsibility for change located?
(the person, medication etc.)
Where to start with qualitative
research design?
o Theoretical route – what are my
epistemological/ontological/methodological
assumptions?
o Technical route – what is my research question?
o Pragmatic route – what resources do I have?
Pause for reflection 1
• For the ‘pauses for reflection’ activities in this
lecture, either draw on a qualitative project you are
planning to conduct or develop a hypothetical
project:
• For your planned or hypothetical research project, which
of these considerations – theoretical, technical,
pragmatic - will inform your research design?
• Will any of these considerations take precedence?
Developing a research question
o Research topic and research question(s) are related, but the topic
is usually broader.
o Both the topic and the question need to fit with the
methodological framework you are using.
o Research questions guide the design and the doing of research.
o Research questions can evolve as the study progresses.
o Research questions “should have some social relevance and
originality” (Gough et al., 2003: 5).
o “The reflective and interrogative processes required for
developing research questions can give shape and direction to a
study in ways that are often underestimated.” (Agee, 2009: 439)
Types of research question
suitable for qualitative research
o People’s experiences of X.
o People’s understandings of X.
o People’s perceptions, views and opinions related to X.
o What people say they do (or do) in relation to X.
o Factors that influence or the social processes
surrounding X.
o Explaining the shape and texture of X or the (often
implicit) rules and norms that govern X.
o The ways X is represented (in particular contexts).
o The construction of X within language (language
practice - what language does).
Pause for reflection 2
• Reflect on your planned or develop a hypothetical
research question - which type (or types) of
question in the typology does it reflect?
Relationship between
research question and
theory
o Questions need to make sense within your
theoretical framework -
o Experiential:
o How do people account for the
onset of depression? 
o What are women’s experiences of
depression? 
o Critical:
o How do people account for the
onset of depression? 
o What are women’s experiences of
depression? 
Pause for reflection 3
• Decide whether each of the
following research questions is
experiential or critical in
orientation:
• How is depression represented
in mainstream media?
• How do women with postnatal
depression manage parenting
responsibilities?
• Our take on these research
questions is on the next slide.
Experiential or critical?
• How is depression represented in mainstream media? –
Critical.
• How do women with postnatal depression manage
parenting responsibilities? – Experiential.
 Mapping the overall picture of BIG Q
BIG Q Qualitative
Research

Underpinned by ontological &

‘Experiential’ epistemological positions ‘Critical’

Delimits Delimits
… and research questions
research research
practice practice

Types of Modes of Modes of Types of Modes of Modes of

research data data research data data
questions collection analysis questions collection analysis

To some To some
extent extent
Pause for reflection 4
• Map your research design:
• Is it experiential or critical?
• What are your ‘ologies? (see the lecture ‘Foundations of
Qualitative Research 2’)
• What type of research question(s) are you asking?
References for part 1
• Agee, J. (2009) Developing qualitative research questions: A reflective
process. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(4), 431-
447.
• Chamberlain, K. (2012). Do you really need a methodology? Qualitative
Methods in Psychology Bulletin, 13, 59-63.
• Gough, B., Lawton, R., Madill, A., & Stratton, P. (2003). Guidelines for the
supervision of undergraduate qualitative research in psychology. The Higher
Education Academy Psychology Network Report and Evaluation Series (3).
LTSN Psychology.
• Levitt, H. M., Motulsky, S. L., Wertz, F. J., Morrow, S. L. & Ponterotto, J. G.
(2017). Recommendations for designing and reviewing qualitative research in
psychology: Promoting methodological integrity. Qualitative Psychology, 4(1),
2-22.
• Willig, C. (2001). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures
in theory and method. Open University Press.