Qualitative Research Methodology

Session 7 & 8
By
Dr. Qudsia Kalsoom
Department of Educational Leadership & Management,
BNU
 Contents
• Qualitative vs Quantitative
• Characteristics of Qualitative Research
• Major Types of Qualitative Research
 Characteristics of Qualitative Research
1. Naturalistic inquiry: No experimental or laboratory conditions are established.
2. Inductive inquiry: Qualitative research DOES NOT test hypothesis or theory.
Instead it builds a theory in the light of inductive data analysis. The research starts
with an open-ended question like:
What happens to university students’ environmental practices when they are
engaged in an environmental education project?
On the other hand a QUANTITATIVE researcher will be interested in answering the
following question.
Do environmental education projects change university students’ environmental
practices?
An associated hypothesis would be:
Environmental education research project change university students’
environmental practices.
 Characteristics of Qualitative Research
3. Holistic Perspective and context specificity: Qualitative research
investigates a phenomenon under study as a WHOLE. It does not
investigate variables in isolation. It takes into account the whole context
and complexity. For example, a QUALITATIVE researcher would study the
influence of environmental education project on university students’
environmental practices holistically. It would include the context (time
and space) under which the study is carried out. It would also include the
challenges associated with implementing environmental education
project with the university students.
On the other hand, QUANTITATIVE researcher would be interested in
answering the question “Do environmental education projects change
university students’ environmental practices?”. The quantitative researcher
would investigate the impact of environmental education projects
(independent variable) on university students’ environmental practices
(dependent variable). The quantitative researcher will not be interested in
the context and challenges associated with the project.
 Characteristics of Qualitative Research
4. Qualitative Data: Qualitative researchers collect data in words or
pictures. Data is often generated by means of interviews, direct
observation, to the analysis of artifacts, documents and cultural
record. Qualitative findings include direct quotations from the
respondents or direct text from the documents.
For example, if a qualitative researcher finds that environmental
education project brought changes in the university students’
practices regarding the use of water then the researcher needs
to provide respondents’ quotes as an evidence. For example:
After participating in the environmental issues awareness
project, I have started using water more carefully. I encourage
my family too to use water carefully. [Respondent C]
 Characteristics of Qualitative Research
5. Personal Contact and Insight: Qualitative researcher has direct contact with the
study respondents. Therefore, researcher's personal experiences and insights
are important part of the inquiry. For example, a female researcher who has
experience of working at a leadership position would bring her experience and
insight into research related to women leadership. While conducting in-depth
interviews, she might focus on some points which male researcher might
overlook. If the same research is carried out by a male researcher, then he
might focus more on other points.
6. Dynamic systems and methodological flexibility: Qualitative research focuses on
the process. There are no rigid decisions regarding the number of respondents
or methods of data collection. The researchers are flexible in choosing data
collection methods. Moreover, the qualitative researchers believe that human
behavior is highly personal and situational and is subject to dynamic change
over the course of time. Consequently, the researcher may believe that there is
not necessarily one single, objective truth, but multiple realities depending on
the individuals’ subjective experience (Capaldi & Proctor, 2005).
 Characteristics of Qualitative Research
7. Unique Case Orientation: Qualitative researcher deals each case
under study (a person, group of people, a book, an artifact etc.) as
a unique and specialized case. The researcher is not interested to
make any generalizations based on an individual case.
8. Empathetic Neutrality: A qualitative researcher creates truth. The
researcher is respondents’ voice. The researcher does not try to be
indifferent or does not detach herself/ himself from the subjects/
respondents. However, the researcher tries best to remain neutral
and non-judgmental regarding the study findings.
Common Qualitative Research Designs

o Narrative Research
o Case Study
o Phenomenology
o Grounded Theory
o Ethnography
o Descriptive Research (can be done through quantitative and
qualitative research methodologies)