what is qualitative research?. what are you curious about? what questions do you have about your...

What is Qualitative What is Qualitative Research?Research?


What are you curious about?

What questions do you have about your area of study?


Key Terms

Research: the notion of inquiring into, or investigating something in a systematic manner


Key Terms

2 Categories of Research:

1. Basic: motivated by intellectual interest in a phenomenon and has as its goal the extension of knowledge

- to know more about the topic


Key Terms

2 Categories of Research:

2. Applied: undertaken to improve the quality of practice of a particular discipline

- improve the way things are done


Key Terms

Models: overall framework for how we look at reality

- what reality is like & its basic elements

- nature and status of knowledge


Key Terms

Concept: clearly defined set of ideas deriving from a particular model

- ways of looking at the world to help define the research problem

- filing cabinet


Key Terms

Theories: arranged set of concepts to define and explain some phenomenon

- contain plausible relationships

- provides a footing for considering the world

- basis for considering how the unknown may be organized


Key Terms

Hypothesis: a proposition(s) set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena

- directly tested


Key Terms

Methodology: specific means of studying a topic, gathering data, and analysis of that data

- contain:

1. preference for certain methods

2. theory of scientific knowledge

3. range of solutions

4. systematic sequence of procedural steps


Key Terms

2 Types of Research:

Qualitative and Quantitative


Defining

Quantitative Research: the systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships.

a. Objective is to develop and employ mathematical models, theories and/or hypothesis pertaining to the topic being examined


Defining

Quantitative Research:

b. Measurement process is crucial

- provides the fundamental connection between empirical observation and mathematical expression of quantitative relationships


Defining

Qualitative Research:

To seize upon the interpretations people place on existence and to synthesize them so they are more readily available to us. This is a process of making large claims from small matters: studying particular rituals, poems, plays, conversations, songs, dances, theories, and myths and gingerly reaching out to the full relations within a culture or a total way of life.

James Carey (1975)


Defining


Generic term for investigative methodologies described as ethnographic, naturalistic, anthropological, field, or participant observer research.

- Emphasizes the importance of looking at variables in the natural setting in which they are found. Interaction between variables is important.


Defining


- Detailed data is gathered through open ended questions that provide direct quotations.

- The interviewer is an integral part of the investigation

(Jacob, 1988)


Defining


Umbrella term covering an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomenon in the social world


Defining


- an attempt to understand the meaning people of constructed /how people make sense of their world

(Van Maanen, 1979, p. 520)


Qualitative Research Characteristics:

1.Purpose: Understanding - Seeks to understand people’s interpretations.

2. Reality: Dynamic - Reality changes with changes in people’s perceptions.

mutual simultaneous shaping: multiple events occur to shape events/meaning



3. Viewpoint: Insider - Reality is what people perceive it to be.

4. Values: Value bound - Values will have an impact and should be understood and taken into account when conducting and reporting research.



5. Focus: Holistic - A total or complete picture is sought.

- cylinder

6. Orientation: Discovery - Theories and hypotheses are evolved from data as collected.



7. Data: Subjective - Data are perceptions of the people in the environment.

8. Instrumentation: Human - The human person is the primary collection instrument.



9. Conditions: Naturalistic - Investigations are conducted under natural conditions.

10. Results: Valid - The focus is on design and procedures to gain "real," "rich," and "deep" data.


Qualitative Research Competencies:

1. A questioning stance with regard to your work and life context

- Why are things the way they are?

2. High tolerance for ambiguity and flexibility


Qualitative Research Competencies:

3. Being a careful observer

4. Asking good questions

5. Thinking inductively

- moving from raw data to categories and concepts

6. Strong writing capabilities



Advantages:

1. Produces more in-depth, comprehensive information.

2. Uses subjective information and participant observation to describe the context, or natural

setting, of the variables under consideration, as well as the interactions of the different variables in the context. It seeks a wide understanding of the entire situation.



Disadvantages

1. The very subjectivity of the inquiry leads to difficulties in establishing the reliability and validity of the approaches and information.

2. It is very difficult to prevent or detect researcher induced bias.

3. Its scope is limited due to the in-depth, comprehensive data gathering approaches required.


Qualitative Research Characteristics

Qualitative research is all about exploring issues, understanding phenomena, and answering questions.

- Happens in nearly every workplace and study environment, nearly every day.


What people sayWhat people say

Mean, Need Mean, Need

CultureCulture or Desire or Desire

What people doWhat people do

Multiple Focus Points


Difference b/t Qualitative & Quantitative

Where quantitative research which attempts to gather data by objective methods to provide information about relations, comparisons, and predictions and attempts to remove the investigator from the investigation, the researcher is an integral part of qualitative research.

(Smith, 1983)

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Difference b/t Qualitative & Quantitative

Where quantitative research which attempts to gather data by objective methods to provide information about relations, comparisons, and predictions and attempts to remove the investigator from the investigation, the researcher is an integral part of qualitative research.

(Smith, 1983)


Philosophical Perspectives

Paradigm: a framework for observation and understanding that shapes what we see and how we understand it

- accepted assumptions


Philosophical Perspectives & Paradigms

Paradigms

1. Can not be true or false

2. Cyclical in nature

3. Theories and methods



Positivist:

1. Objective reality knowable only through empirical observations

2. Generalizable laws

3. Study of variables

- Cause & effect relationships



Positivist:

4. Hypothesis (predictions)

5. Quantifiable data



Interpretive:

1. Understanding human behavior and meanings the meanings in which they are embedded

2. No single reality – many factors

- Purposive meaning-making activities



Interpretive:

3. Humans are individuals and behavior can not be “pigeon-holed” or generalized

4. Unique explanations

5. Qualitative data



Critical:

1. Goal is to challenge, transform, and empower

2. Reads interactions in terms of conflict and oppression

3. Frame research questions in terms of power



Postmodern:

1. Sees explanations of the way things are in the world as myths or grand narratives

2. There is no single reality, but rather multiple truths

3. Celebrates diversity among people, ideas, and institutions


Languages of Qualitative Research

1. Naturalism: seeks to minimize presuppositions in order to witness subjects’ worlds in their own terms

- focuses on the factual characteristics of the object under study



2. Emotionalism: the primary issue is to generate data that gives an authentic insight into people’s experiences

- tend to favor open-ended interviews

- locates the “real” in real life

- concerned with authenticity



2. Ethnomethodology: the study of folks’ methods. Seeks to describe methods persons use in constructing reality in everyday life

- creates meaningful categories

- may lose sight of the topic due to focusing too much on the process of creation



2. Postmodernism: interdisciplinary movement based on the critique of all concepts and paradigms

- analyzes and questions modern achievements

- examines how we come to acknowledge and accept “truths” as being true


Should I use qualitative methods?

See questions on page 11

what is qualitative research?. what are you curious about? what questions do you have about your...

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