Qualitative research

Dr. Mahesh Kundagol

Usual scene
How is your condition now? Can you explain how much percent? Village settings. Psychiatry

Quality and quantity

Symptom analysis. Mild . Moderate. Severe.

Quality

Grading 103 F 120/80mmhg

Quantity

Research
Understanding the interaction between disease and society and delivering effective health care services relies not only understanding the nature of health and disease, but also on understanding people and their beliefs about health, their health behavior and how they work in organizations such as health services.

Qualitative research
A form of social inquiry that focuses on the way people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live. It involves studying the things in their natural settings. It consists of set of interpretive, and material practices that makes the world visible.

Definition
Qualitative Research is collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what people do and say. Qualitative research refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions, characteristics, similes, symbols, and descriptions of things. Ex-Rabies, Epilepsy and iron metal.

Qualitative research is subjective and uses very different methods of collecting information, including individual, indepth interviews and focus groups. The nature of this type of research is exploratory and open-ended.

Contd..
Its a form of social enquiry that focuses on the way people interpret and make sense of their experiences and the world in which they live. Qualitative research is used in the exploration of behavior and the perspective and experience of people studied.

Contd..
The basis of qualitative research lies in the interpretive approach to social reality. Qualitative research has traditionally been used predominantly in the social sciences, in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and psychology, business and organizational studies, health care, and education.

Contd..
The qualitative research is also called naturalistic inquiry, field research, case study approach, interpretive research, participant observation, interviewing and ethnography. Qualitative researches are sometimes called as story tellers because their findings are often presented in the form of story line.

Purposes of Qualitative methods

To emphasize on quality rather than quantity by understanding why people do the things they do. To find out how behaviors, systems and relationships, are maintained or change. To understand how social organizations function and ideology behind use of qualitative techniques. To stimulate action-experience-learning cycle of participants and community.

Characters
Qualitative research methods have number of recognizable characteristics which identify it from other areas of research, they are as follows i) Natural settings- Research is carried out in everyday life situations. ii) Primacy of data- Theoretical framework is not predetermined but derived from data as it is collected.

Contd..
iii) Situation Bound Researchers are sensitive to the situation of research and immerse themselves in the setting and situation. iv) Contextualism- Events and actions are studied as they occur in real life settings. v) Engagement- Deals with familiarization and location as far as possible within the action or within similar situations. This can include reading of document and by observation.

Contd..
vi) Thick description- Develops from data and context, truthful plus theoretical and analytic description.

Relationship between researcher and researched aimed at being non-judgemental where the goal is to pursue knowledge.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

What are the type of questions asked? Quali: Why? How?
Quanti: How many What

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Purpose Quali: To understand & interpret social interactions. Quanti: To test hypotheses, look at cause & effect, & make predictions.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Group Studied Quali: Smaller & not randomly selected. Quanti: Larger & randomly selected.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Variables Quali: Study of the whole, not variables. Quanti: Specific variables studied

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Type of Data Collected Quali: Words, images, or objects.
Quanti: Numbers and statistics.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Forms of Data Collected
Quali: Qualitative data such as open ended responses, interviews, participant observations, field notes, & reflections.

Quanti: Quantitative data based on precise measurements using structured & validated datacollection instruments.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Results Quali: Particular or specialized findings that is less generalizable. Quanti: Generalizable findings that can be applied to other populations.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

Final Report
Quali: Narrative report with contextual description & direct quotations from research participants.

Quanti: Statistical report with correlations, comparisons of means, & statistical significance of findings.

Qualitative versus Quantitative

What is to be observed? Quali: Qualities Behavior Complexities Quanti: Quantities Scales Trends

Qualitative versus Quantitative

How are the questions are put (methods)? Quali: Document review Participant observations Interviews Focus group Workshops
Quanti: Application forms Questionnaires IQ Tests Measurements

Qualitative versus Quantitative

How the results are interpreted (analysis)?
Quali: Explore, explain, understand Narrative Particular Mainly inductive reasoning: conclusions can be drawn from the evidence no matter how incomplete

Quanti: Describe, measure, predict Statistical tables and chart Universal Mainly deductive reasoning: everything is known before conclusions can be drawn

Types of Qualitative Research

I. Field research. II. Case Study approach. III. Ethnography. IV. Grounded theory. V. Phenomenology. VI. Contextualism. VII. Conversation analysis / Narrative Analysis

Field research
It is the study and data collection in a natural setting i.e. outside the labs or libraries. Data takes the form of field notes on the pattern of interaction as well as the rules and the rituals they observe.

Case Study approach

A descriptive intensive analysis of an individual, unit, or phenomena selected for its typicality or uniqueness. It is the study of a single unit that has clear boundaries An event is studied in its context. Different methods could be used to conduct this analysis but the focus is on the unit of analysis, like an individual students experiences.

Ethnography
Ethnography is the research method of anthropology, studying human society and culture. . Knowledge is increased rather than application in practice. Extensive fieldwork is usually required in order to give a cultural interpretation of the data. Description of the culture (the beliefs, traditions, practices, and behaviors of a group of individuals) and an interpretation of the culture are necessary components of ethnographies.

 Example: Native American students training to be teachers were followed through interviews over a five year period to chart the progress towards a goal of facilitating the development of Native American teachers and to better understand and address their unique problems. Their beliefs, views about self, and concerns were presented.

Grounded theory
Derives a theory from collected data that is grounded in the data. Deals with a specific situation like how students handle multiple responsibilities or what constitutes an effective lesson plan. The method involves comparing collected units of data against one another until categories, properties, and hypotheses that state relations between these categories and properties emerge. These hypotheses are tentative and suggestive, not tested in the study. It is useful where a little is known about the topic.

 Example: Ten school counselors were given structured interviews to help determine how their professional identity is formed. This data was coded first to form concepts and then to form connections between concepts. A core concept emerged and its process and implications were discussed. School counselors professional interactions were identified as defining experiences in their identity formation.

Phenomenology
This is a not a research method but a philosophical approach to the study of phenomena, human experience. Aims to find the essence or structure of an experience. The exploration of live experiences of people which is mainly used in the areas of health, psychology and education.

Contextualism
In this the participants are studied in the context. It is an approach to understand the context. An understanding of the context helps to locate the actions and perceptions and hence grasp the meaning to be communicated. Context includes the economic, political and cultural framework Attitude of the people according to the context.

Conversation analysis
It is the examination of the ordinary language. It questions how everyday conversations and interactions work. Researches primarily examine speech patterns, facial expressions, gestures and body language.

Source: http://bit.ly/16PP10O