Qualitative research has gained significant recognition in the social science sphere with its holistic and purposeful pursuit in illuminating new areas for research lacking through quantitative research. (Carey, 2012; Cleary, Horsfall, & Hayter, 2014; Reeves, Kuper, & Hodges, 2008; Stevenson, Britten, Barry, Barber, & Bradley, 2000; Thyer, 2012). Qualitative research uses a variety of methodologies to explore an individual’s inner world, expand our understanding of a social phenomenon, and advance and discover new theories (Carey, 2012; Fortune, Reid, & Miller, 2013; Saldana, 2011; Thyer, 2012). Stevenson (2000) describes qualitative research as an in-depth investigation into the inner world of reasoning, decision-making and meaning. Furthermore, qualitative research takes into account the context and history that shapes presented information and ventures to understand participant’s experiences, thoughts, opinions, and feelings towards their social reality (Ivey, 2012; Nielsen, 2011; Thyer, 2012). The process of a qualitative research although complex and multilayered, includes col...
Described below is a critical appraisal of a qualitative article by Lisa Booth using the frame-work suggested by Ryan, Coughlan and Cronin 2007 to establish its believability, robustness, credibility and integrity (Ryan, Coughlan & Cronin, 2007).
As social workers there will be numerous times in which one must do research on a certain topic or case they are working on. When conducting both qualitative and quantitative research, there is a logical sequence of events; both types articulating a clear problem statement must precede all other tasks (Yegidis, Weinbach, & Myers, 2012, p. 55). If one does not have a clear problem statement, then the results may not be exactly what one is looking to achieve. Time is a precious entity, whether you are a client, researcher, social worker, whatever the case; one must a clear research problem so that time is not wasted on other aspects that have nothing to do with the end result. Conducting research can be an intense process, in using the proper
Thematic analysis is espoused to be the foundational approach to qualitative analysis and methods (Saunders et al., 2016 as stated in Braun and Clarke, 2006: 78) and it is a useful method used to identify and analyse the order and patterns of qualitative data (Attride-Stirling, 2001). Qualitative research method depicts the correlation that exists between data and events, creating the pictorial representation of what one thinks a given data says (Saunders et al., 2016). They also opined that, qualitative data analysis is cogent, interactive and iterative. Also, Joana and Jill (2011) and Saunders et al (2016) postulate that, qualitative research brings meanings from words and images as opposed to numbers. However, despite its robustness and rigour of its application, it is skewed more to the interpretivist ideologies since researchers draw conclusion from participants and the hypothesis being forecasted (Joana and Jill, 2011; Saunders et al., 2016).
Qualitative research is an approach that attempts to situate an activity that locates the observer in the world by providing the study to occur in their natural setting and by attempting to make sense of, or interpret information (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). A characteristic of qualitative research is to use a variety of empirical materials such as personal experience, interviews, and questionnaires. It is imperative to understand the task at hand and how to fully carry out the study when using a qualitative research approach in order to find out the information needed. One view of qualitative research is it involves examining individual’s experiences and documenting those experiences in detail (Jones, 2011). By documenting these observations the researcher is ensuring validity in his or her data and giving the correct creditability to those who participated in the study.
The article, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Intervention for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: A Preliminary Program Evaluation”, written by Jacquelyn Lee, Stacey Kolomer and Donna Thompson and published in The Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal in 2012, (Lee, Kolomer, Thomsen 2012) reports the results of a study designed to evaluate the use of a preliminary program evaluation designed to address the needs of children exposed to domestic violence.
Ulin,R.P., Robinson,E.T.,Tolle,E.E. (2005) Qualitative Methods in Public Health: A Field Guide for Applied Research. San Francisco: Family health international. in Humanities a
focused on the key qualitative research methods. For each article review, a brief description, guided by Myers (2013), and a critique, guided Pratt (2009), is provided. A summary of the five articles identifying the research method, data collection technique, data analysis approach and critique is provided in Table 1. The narrative review of each article coupled with figures and tables to organize and visualize thoughts (Pratt, 2009) follows the summary table.
For my research I’m going to use primary data, secondary data, quantitative and qualitative research methods. As my research field is healthcare I’m going to conduct a review of work regarding it. According to primary research methods I will collect data directly from staff, service users, managers, service user’s relatives and etc.
Although reports reveal that severely ill COPD patients experience anxiety and affects their quality of life, limited investigations have been done on what this anxiety entails. Taking into consideration the high percentage of mortality in patients with severe COPD, Strang et al. (2014) believe that severe COPD precipitates existential and death-related anxiety. Strang et al. (2014) state that COPD patients have a lesser expectable prognosis than patients who are suffering from disseminated cancer; however, palliative management services are not presented because of the lack of acknowledgement for the need of palliative care in spite of the fact that it is considered a life-threatening condition related to anxiety-aggravating symptoms.
This essay intends to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the quantitative and qualitative approaches to research which addresses young people and bullying using two journal articles. The first article (quantitative) aims to “establish the relationship between recurrent peer victimisation and the onset of reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in the early teen years” (Bond et al. 2001, p. 480) while the second article (qualitative) aims to “investigate the nature of teenage girls’ indirect aggression” (Owens et al. 2000, p. 70).The two articles will be critically compared in terms of research design, methods used, approach to data analysis, reported results and the plausibility and appropriateness of the conclusions and recommendations posed. The aim of this essay is thus to evaluate and assess the methods of social science research currently undertaken in published research.
Qualitative research was designed as a way to be directly connected with the subjects researched. Participant researchers may choose to merely observe and collect data or to be an active participant. Covert participation has the advantage of reducing the “reactive effects” of the social setting or group (Bachman & Schutt, 2012). Most researchers who use the participation method of research will often strike a balance between participation and observation. Through participation, an observer may gain the trust of the research subjects which can provide more fruitful results. Some research may however be unethical or a violation of law. A good researcher should use prudence beforehand when crafting their research design.
Bailey, L. F. (2014). The origin and success of qualitative research. International Journal Of Market Research, 56 (2), 167-184. doi:10.2501/IJMR-2014-013
Truly, qualitative methods offer us valuable information, as we are able to understand the context where participants operate. We learn to apprehend the variables ...
Qualitative and Quantitative study designs both can be beneficial in research design. They both provide valuable options for researchers in the field. These techniques can either be used separately in a research study or they can be combined to achieve maximum information. This paper will define the terms qualitative and quantitative; describe the similarities and differences between each; discuss how qualitative and/or quantitative research designs or techniques could be used in the evaluation of my proposed research; and discuss why linking analysis to study design is important.
The scope of any qualitative interview research is to see the topic with the eyes of the interviewee, and to explain the reasons why the interviewee reaches a particular perspective. In order to achieve such a goal, a qualitative research interview must have specific attributes. The structure of the interview should be kept open, a sufficient number of open questions should be included, and the main focus should be on situation and action sequences rather than abstractions and general opinions (King, 1993).