A Discussion of Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

This will be a discussion of qualitative research. It will define qualitative research, as well as look at the similarities and differences in the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms. Furthermore, this discussion will look into qualitative case study research and phenomenological research, with further contemplation of purposes, methods, and limitations for these two methods.

Qualitative research is concerned with understanding people’s many layers of envisioned reality. It is observation of the human practice, descriptive in manner, with careful, detailed factual description of people, objects and action. Viewed in a nonpositivism style, those who look at research in this manner believe all that is important and cannot be measured as in quantitative, concrete measurement. They believe there is an interaction between researcher and participant that has to be accounted for. This being said, experiments cannot be reproduced from one environment to another because the conditions are different, the context of the situation changes and interactions cannot be the same for different researchers and participants (Long, 2014a).

Qualitative and quantitative research have many differences. Qualitative is exploratory, interpretive, subjective, descriptive, emergent, looks to produce or reach a hypothesis by what is observed, has unknown variables, is flexible, and uses personal views. Qualitative research is confirmatory, predictive, objective, deduces and test the hypothesis, has known variables, is not flexible, but is a fixed, static designed to control variables, and tries to be bias-free. Qualitative research collects data through interviews, observation, surveys, review of artifacts, and self inqu...

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... of qualitative research that I feel are most used in art therapy.

Works Cited

Carolan, R. (2001). Models and paradigms of art therapy research. Art Therapy: Journal Of The American Art Therapy Association, 18(4), 190-206.

Kapitan, L. (2007). Will art therapy cross the digital culture divide?. Art Therapy: Journal Of The American Art Therapy Association, 24(2), 50-51.

Long, C. (2014). Qualitative Research in Creative Art therapy: Long: Lesson 2, Jan, 30, 2014.

Long, C. (2014). Qualitative Research in Creative Art therapy, Sullivan:Lesson 2,, Feb. 1,. 2014.

Metzi, E. S. (2008). Systematic analysis of art therapy research published in art therapy: Journal

of AATA between 1987 and 2004. The Arts In Psychotherapy, 35(1), 60-73. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2007.09.003

Wheeler, B. L. (2005). Music Therapy Research (Second Edition). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.