Introduction
For a century, researchers in many disciplines and fields have widely used the approach known as qualitative research in their studies. There are many definitions of qualitative research that have been provided. Following are some of the definitions of qualitative research:
“Qualitative research is a research strategy that usually emphasizes words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data.” (Bryman, 2008, p.366).
“Qualitative research is an umbrella term for an array of attitudes towards and strategies for conducting inquiry that are aimed at discovering how human beings understand, experience, interpret, and produce the social world.” (Sandelowski, 2004, p.893).
In the above definitions, the authors manage to succinctly capture the significant of the qualitative research. Qualitative research is used to define problem or develop an approach to the problem. Besides, it is also used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore the implications related to the problem. There a number of methods and techniques of data collection such as interviews, documents, observations and focus groups that can be adopted during a qualitative research. Researchers may adopt a variety of methods and techniques for data collection during qualitative research but appropriate methods should be identified and adopted depending to the needs of the research in order to acquire the desire result.
As mentioned earlier, interviews, documents, observations and focus groups are the most commonly used method in data collection for qualitative research. Observation is one of the basic methods used in data collection and it has long been a major tools being used extensively in study by researchers. This ...
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...arch, NJ, Prentice Hall.
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Mack, N., Woodsong, C., Macqueen, K., Guest, G., & Namey, E. (2005). Qualitative research methods a data collector's field guide. Research Triangle Park, N.C.: Family Health International.
There are two types of research that can be conducted in research studies, these are qualitative and quantitative (Newman, 2011). Qualitative research is a process that uses detailed oriented methodology that tries to achieve a profound knowledge or understanding of specific incident and circumstance, wh...
The frame of qualitative research is broadly within the socially constructed, advocacy /participatory theories that assert that social construction determine meaning, and therefore, there are multiple truths to discover (Parylo, 2012). Some of the data from qualitative research is collected from interviews, observations, and field notes. The researcher adds codes to the data to allow for analysis and interpretation, taking into account the context and personal values of the researcher (Parylo, 2012). Creswell (2014) notes that qua...
To complete the above fieldwork exercise, the method of qualitative research utilised was Ethnography. Ethnography is a method in which the ethnographer or researcher becomes either an overt or a covert participant in the lives of people (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2105). It involves collecting any data that is available to explore the focus of the research (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). One could suggest Ethnography is a method to study society and culture (Berg and Lune, 2017).
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.
Methods, which provide this type of data, include; interviews, observations as well as focus groups. The advantages of using Qualitative methods such as those listed previously is that they can produce “an extensive base of knowledge” to complex areas of research (Ulin et el. 2005, p.9) such as children’s behavior in school. Another advantage is it will often take place in a natural environment, thus making participants more likely to be more truthful and ther...
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.
In this paper, I will define quantitative and qualitative research methods and provide examples in the context of social issues which will hopefully provide insight into how this methods are properly applied.
Liamputtong, P. & Ezzy, D., 2005, Qualitative research methods, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 12-31.
Participant Observation Participant observation (PO) is a qualitative method that derives from ethnography. It usually lives among distant people to understand their way of life with a mixture of involvement and detachment. By emerging oneself into the environment, PO helps to focus on understanding the nature, more than just assessing the magnitude and distribution of phenomena quantitatively. For writers such as Spradley, he used the term PO to refer to the general approach of fieldwork in ethnographic research and Agar used PO as a cover term for all the observation and formal and informal interviewing in which anthropologists engage (Dewalt & Dewalt, 2001). Hence, the term is accepted universally as the central and defining method of
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.
Stejskal, S.M. (2010) Quatiative and Qualitative Research Methods are not and should not be Mutually Exclusive, Grinn Verlag.
Another characteristic of qualitative research is that it is personal and contains very little scientific terminology. For example, the researchers seek to understand human issues and problems or why humans behave in a certain manner. This type of empathetic approach in a quantitative research is a very unique in characteristic. Also, in a qualitative research, researches interact with the participants or sample, this is very important because they need to observe their behavior. As a result, it causes the research to be more up close and personal. This type of approach is what makes a qualitative research unique or different from quantitative research. (Smith &...
...chniques and procedures among those associated with quantitative or qualitative research. A literature review, which included document analysis, was used to answer sub-questions one, two and three. A model building approach was suggested to answer sub-question four. In addition, the study uses a case study as a proof-of-concept. The use of a case study is a qualitative empirical study to strengthen the research validity. Since the research methods directly responding to the research questions (Literature review and Model building) make use of textual data, we classified this study as a qualitative study. Table 3.1 below summarises the classification of this study in terms of the dimensions discussed above.
Qualitative data analysis is composed of document, observation, interviews, focus groups, and being able to discuss what is being found in each of the piece of data collected (Chenail, 2012). Qualitative data analysis can be viewed as understanding the analysis of data. For qualitative data to be successfully analyzed, the researcher must be able to maintain control of their study, be able analyze their study, analyze themselves, and be able to present this found data in various publications (Chenail, 2012).