Qualitative Research 1

Mohammad Aloufi
Chapter Objectives
• By the end of this topic and with further reading and
research, you are expected to:
• Define qualitative research design;
• Explore decisions that are identified in a research design for a qualitative
study;
• Review the five (5) main forms of qualitative research designs:
3.1. Ethnography
• 3.2. Phenomenology
• 3.3. Grounded theory
• 3.4. Case study
• 3.5. Meta synthesis
• Discuss and evaluate the different types of qualitative research designs.
Examine various threats of the validity of qualitative studies;
Identify the process of qualitative data analysis and its interpretation;
and, delineate new terms in the chapter
Characteristics of Qualitative Research
Design
• The qualitative approach communicates the findings in a
manner different from the numerical manner used in
quantitative research and uses qualitative variables like
thoughts, perceptions, attitudes, and experiences instead of
numeric variables.
• Qualitative research involves collecting and analysing non-
numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand
concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather
in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for
research.
• For example, a researcher may want to compare
how well private school students perform
academically and socially in comparison to public
school students.
• The academic holds a structured
interview with students and teachers
in 5 different private schools.
• He does the same for 5 separate public
schools.
• He determines that private school
students perform better, behave
better, and have parents who are more
involved.
Qualitative Design Features
Intervention, Control, and Masking
• Qualitative research is almost always nonexperimental
• Qualitative researchers do not concep- tualize their studies
as having independent and dependent variables, and they
rarely control or manipulate any aspect of the people or
environment under study.
• Masking is also not a strategy used by qualitative researchers
because there is no intervention or hypotheses to conceal.
• The goal is to develop a rich understanding of a
phenomenon as it exists and as it is constructed by
individuals within their own context.
Qualitative Design Features
Comparisons
• Qualitative researchers typically do not plan in advance to
make group comparisons because the intent is to describe and
explain a phenomenon thoroughly
Research Settings
• Qualitative researchers usually collect their data in real-world,
naturalistic settings.
Timeframes
• Qualitative research, like quantitative research, can be either
cross-sectional, with one data collection point, or longitudinal,
with multiple data collection points over an extended period,
to observe the evolution of a phenomenon.
Overview of
Qualitative
Traditions
The research traditions
that have provided a
theoretical
underpinning for
qualitative studies come
primarily from the
disciplines of
anthropology,
psychology, and
sociology. As shown in
the below Table
Approaches to Qualitative Research
Traditions
The main various approaches to qualitative research are
elaborated in detail as follows

• Ethnography Research
• Phenomenological Research
• Grounded Theory Research
• Case Study Research
• Meta-synthesis
Ethnography Research
• Ethnography is a type of qualitative inquiry that involves the
description and interpretation of a culture and cultural behavior.
• Culture is, in itself, not visible or tangible, it must be constructed
through ethnographic writing.
• Culture is inferred from the words, actions, and products of
members of a group.
• Ethnographers seek to learn from (rather than to study)
members of a cultural group—to understand their world view.
• Three broad types of information are usually sought by
ethnographers: cultural behavior (what members of the
culture do), cultural artifacts (what members of the culture
make and use), and cultural speech (what people say).
Ethnograph
y Research
For example:
• Observing a group of
children playing.
• Observing employees in a
corporate office.
• Observing medical
personnel in a high-volume
hospital.
Phenomenology
• Phenomenology, rooted in a philosophic tradition developed by
Husserl and Heideg- ger, is an approach to exploring and
understanding people’s everyday life experiences.
• Phenomenological researchers ask: What is the essence of this
phenomenon as experienced by these people and what does it
mean?
• Essence is what makes a phenomenon what it is, and without
which it would not be what it is
• The phenomenological approach is especially useful when a
phenomenon has been poorly defined or conceptualized.
• or health researchers, these include such topics as the meaning
of suffering, the experience of domestic violence, and the
quality of life with chronic pain.
Phenomenolog
y
Research

Example of a descriptive
phenomenological study:
• Porter (2007) used
descriptive
phenomenological methods
to describe the day-to-day
experiences of frail older
women and the problems
they faced preparing food.
Grounded Theory
• Grounded theory (GT) is a research method concerned with
the generation of theory, which is ‘grounded’ in data that
has been systematically collected and analysed.
• It is used to uncover such things as social relationships and
behaviours of groups, known as social processes.
• It was developed in California, USA by Glaser and Strauss
during their study—‘Awareness of Dying’.
• It is a general methodology for developing theory that is
grounded in data which is systematically gathered and
analysed.
Grounded Theory

• The grounded theory approach is based on inductive

reasoning which is in clear contrast with the hypothetical
and deductive approach to quantitative research.
• Grounded theory involves the collection and analysis of
data. The theory is “grounded” in actual data, which means
the analysis and development of theories happens after you
have collected the data.
Grounded Theory Vs Traditional Research
Case Studies
• The case study method of research is focused on exploring
individuals, groups, and phenomena
• In a case study, researchers obtain a wealth of descriptive
information and may examine relationships among different
phenomena or may examine trends over time.
• Case study researchers attempt to analyze and understand
issues that are important to the history, development, or
circumstances of the entity under study.
• The case study methodology in qualitative research is
applicable to be used when the researches focuses to
answer “how” and “why” things happen, the behaviours of
the study subjects cannot be manoeuvred, the context of the
Case
Studies
Example of a case study:
• James and colleagues (2007)
conducted an in-depth case
study of a family facing a
member’s death through
cancer. Data were collected
over a 10-month period
through interviews, diary
notations, and conversations
with all family members.
Meta-synthesis

• Qualitative meta-synthesis refers to an interpretive,

analytical technique that utilizes qualitative findings
obtained in literature as the basis for researching and
providing a better understanding regarding a particular issue
or phenomenon.
• The qualitative meta-synthesis process provides researchers
with an opportunity to single out a specific question
regarding a particular research area and then determine the
relevant qualitative studies and evidence in the quest to give
an accurate answer to the identified research question.
Meta-synthesis
Process