Doing Qualitative Research: A Step-by-Step Guide for Undergraduate Students

HANDOYO PUJI WIDODO

Discipline of Linguistics, University of Adelaide
handoyopw@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:
This article offers a step-by-step guide to doing a qualitative undergraduate research
project. It begins by reviewing the nature of doing a research project as staged and
negotiated activity. Then, it discusses how to frame and position a research project topic;
formulate workable research questions and purpose statements; write up research
rationale or background, context, operational definitions of key terms, and
contributions/significance; and develop and present a literature review. The article also
addresses the ways to choose and present research methodology; manage, analyze, and
interpret empirical data and report findings; and draw sound conclusions and spell out
actionable recommendations and limitations of the study. The remaining sections of the
article also present ideas of how to write abstract and acknowledgment sections and
address some key ethical issues in doing qualitative research with humans.

INTRODUCTION

Doing a research project for bachelor thesis writing is both rewarding and challenging. It is
the rewarding task because it entails academic merits (e.g., contributing knowledge to a
particular field or area of study) and affords students an opportunity to tap into their
intellectual capability. More crucially, they can be recognized as emerging scholars. Given
these, one of the challenges of writing a thesis is that students need to bring together
these tasks: selecting a topic, reading suitable sources (e.g., books and articles),
conducting sustained research (fieldwork), arriving at own viewpoints, planning a thesis,
writing a first draft, and then revising and polishing it. These tasks require students to
manage their own time.
To help undergraduate students who are majoring in English Education or TESOL, this
article provides a practical step-by-step guide to doing qualitative research. It discusses
key issues in undertaking a qualitative research project for bachelor thesis writing,
including: (a) framing and positioning a research project topic; (b) formulating good
research questions and purpose statements; (c) writing up research rationale or
background, context, operational definitions of key terms, and contributions or significance;
(d) developing and presenting a literature review; (e) choosing and presenting research
methodology; (f) managing, analyzing, and interpreting empirical data and reporting
findings; and (g) drawing sound conclusions and spelling out actionable recommendations
and limitations of the study. The article also presents how to write abstract and
acknowledgment sections and pinpoints some key ethical issues in doing qualitative
research with human participants. Before the article presents these issues, it reviews the
nature of doing a research project as staged and negotiated activity.
DOING A RESEARCH PROJECT AS STAGED AND NEGOTIATED ACTIVITY

Doing a research project requires negotiation between involved parties such as students,
supervisors, gatekeepers (e.g., school authorities), and participants. Therefore, students
as researchers need to communicate their research project to the interested parties.
Generally speaking, undertaking a research project as part of the bachelor program
completion involves three main stages:
(a) writing up a research project proposal;
(b) undertaking fieldwork (data collection); and
(c) writing up a report (e.g., a thesis).

Before a student starts writing up a research proposal, she or he needs to read published
refereed/peer-reviewed articles extensively in order to identify what has been discussed,
studied, and reported. It is important to keep in mind that through extensive reading,
students should focus on work relevant to their research project topics, and they read to
write. Secondary sources may be books, book chapters, and other texts (e.g.,
governmental documents). Major texts here mean seminal work written by well-regarded
or seasoned scholars or academics who publish extensively in a particular area. A
research project proposal aims to help students think of why a selected topic is worthy of
close investigation and of how students are going to manage it. Basically, as Bloomberg
and Volpe (2008) define, a proposal is a well-thought action plan that identifies:

 a narrowly defined and clearly written problem statement;

 a purpose statement that describes how the problem will be addressed;
 research questions that are tied to the purpose, and when answered will shed light on
the problem;
 a review of the literature and relevant research to determine what is already known
about the topic; and
 data collection and data analysis methods (pp. 17-18).

―A completed proposal is the point at which you present and justify your research ideas to
gain approval from a faculty committee to proceed with your study‖ (Bloomberg & Volpe,
2008, p, 17). This idea suggests that completing a proposal is sort of negotiating student‘s
research project with her or his advisor or supervisor who understands the research topic.
Assuredly, students need to seek for the right advisors or supervisors based on the
following considerations:
(a) expertise: Supervisors should be process and content experts. A process expert
supervisor is the one who understands a research process based on particular
research methodology. A content expert supervisor is the one who is well-versed in
student‘s research topic.

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 (b) chemistry: Both students and supervisors should build a good working rapport.
Good lines of communication between a principal supervisor and a co-supervisor
and between these supervisors and a student should be created.
(c) access and availability: Supervisors should be always available for supervisory
meeting or advisement time and feedback.
(d) sincerity: Supervisors should be willing to provide a student with personal and
professional support and encouragement. In other words, they should have a
genuine interest in assisting her or him to succeed.
Once the proposal has been approved, a student needs to proceed to undertake
empirical research or fieldwork (data collection). This fieldwork involves:
(a) preparing research instruments;
(b) negotiating entry with prospective participants;
(c) briefing them on a proposed research project;
(d) collecting data; and
(e) conducting a post-study briefing.

Certainly, the length of fieldwork depends on:

(a) research questions examined,
(b) breadth and depth of empirical data,
(c) stages of research,
(d) research design, and
(e) number of research instruments deployed.

Currently, ethics in research with human participants is of great concern. For this reason,
participants should be well-informed of the research project by briefing them on the project
before embarking on data collection (fieldwork). During this fieldwork, student researchers
should work with participants ethically and build a good rapport with them.
The final stage of doing a research project is research report writing. This task involves
reviewing, managing or coding, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting or reporting data
(findings). These findings should answer research questions and conform to a review of
the literature. In addition, students need to draw conclusions and voice recommendations
and implications. Assuredly, student researchers need to make use of linguistic resources
(e.g., Online Macmillan Dictionary and Springer Exemplar) for reporting the findings so that
a research report is well-written. Reliable online Dictionaries and corpora are of great help
when students are lack of linguistic resources.
Thus, undertaking a research project for bachelor thesis writing is a complicated process,
which involves three main stages: (1) writing up a research project proposal as a sort of

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idea or concept negotiation with supervisors; (2) doing fieldwork as a way of collecting
empirical data and working with participants or data; and (3) making sense of the data and
writing up a research report as a medium of communicating findings to readers (e.g.,
supervisors, examiners, student researchers).

FRAMING AND POSITIONING A RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC

The first step in doing a research project is deciding what to examine, why it is worthy of
close investigation, and how to manage it. To identify a good research topic, students
need to consider the following:

 The topic should spark student‘s interest;

 It should concern something students would like to know more;
 It should suit student‘s personal and professional growth and development;
 The topic should provide potential contributions to the current literature and
practice.
 It should be researchable and worthy of close investigation.
 It should be anchored in a particular theoretical or conceptual foundation or
orientation.
In the area of English language teaching (ELT), students can explore possible topics,
which can be drawn from the entire process of language curriculum development (See
Appendix 1: Language Curriculum Development Processes). Please bear mind that
some literature differentiates between curriculum as a plan and curriculum as an
enactment. The curriculum as a plan involves needs analysis, pedagogic benchmarking,
syllabus design, and lesson planning. The curriculum as enactment embraces the totality
of pedagogy and assessment in which pedagogic outcomes are achieved.
Suppose a student picks needs analysis as a research topic, here is a way to narrow down
the topic.
Example 1: Needs Analysis
Topic needs analysis
Concern Vocational high school students lack English vocabulary,
which is a springboard for understanding accounting
related texts. A large number of the students have
difficulty understanding the texts, which contain many
technical words.
Related Keywords accounting students, accounting texts, English for specific
purposes (ESP), English vocabulary, needs analysis,
vocational high school

The related keywords can be outlined as follows:

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 Needs Analysis

ESP

Accounting Students

Vocational High School Accounting Texts

Vocabulary

It is important to know that there are two types of keywords: reinforcing and elaborating.
The reinforcing keywords are derived or taken from the title of the paper, but the
elaborating keywords are crucial constructs that depict the entire paper or article. Students
may write reinforcing and elaborating keywords or one of them, depending on how they
frame their theses. More crucially, these keywords help the reader easily retrieve a
particular thesis.

Based on the outline above, the student has to ensure whether the topic ‗needs analysis
on accounting vocabulary or vocabulary in the area of ESP has been studied or reported in
the literature. In doing so, she or he has to search for the topic on Google Scholar or other
reliable online databases. Alternatively, the student may visit journals, which are devoted
to publishing ESP and vocabulary related articles. Once the student has picked the topic,
she or he has to make sure whether it has been researched or is being debated.

Here are useful suggestions for locating an issue or concern and for knowing what has
been discussed or studied through:

 using the Google Scholar;

 deploying library databases (e.g., Sydney eScholarship Repository, Sydney Digital
Theses the link: http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/345; ANU Digital
Collections: https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/);
 visiting major journals in the last 5 years;
 reading seminal books;
 examining local/national/global policies; and
 reading national/international conference proceedings.

It is important to bear in mind that students may pick research topics in such other areas
as: anthropology, identity, literature, professional development, pragmatics, psychology,
second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, technology, translation, World Englishes,

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and other related areas, but the students need to connect the contributions of these areas
to ELT.

FORMULATING WORKABLE RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND PURPOSE

STATEMENTS

Workable research questions should be clearly, specifically, and unambiguously stated. As

Maxwell (2005, as cited in Bloomberg and Volpe, 2008, p. 37) categorizes, there are three
major questions in qualitative research or inquiry, including:

1. Descriptive Questions: These ask what is happening in relation to easily observable

events and behaviors;
2. Interpretive Questions: These aim to explore the meanings of things, situations, and
conditions for the people involved semiotically; and
3. Theoretical Questions: These are intended to investigate why particular things take
place and how they can be explained.

Please take a careful look at examples of descriptive, interpretive, and theoretical

questions.
Descriptive Questions:
What English vocabulary do accounting students need to develop?
What English vocabulary are commonly used in accounting texts?
Interpretive Questions:
Why do students have difficulty understanding accounting texts?
Why is vocabulary important to develop for students to understand accounting
texts written in English?
Theoretical Questions:
How does vocabulary contribute to students‘ understanding of accounting texts?
How does sufficient vocabulary acquisition/development help students
understand accounting texts?

When embarking on a qualitative research project, students need to word questions in the
following ways:
- Questions should start with open-ended question words like how, in what
ways, what, why.
- Questions do not solicit yes-no questions.
- Questions do not contain the following terms: affect, influence, cause, effect,
amount, effective, efficient. These terms, to some extent, suggest
quantitative studies (e.g., experimental and correlational studies). Some
qualitative studies may deploy such words as impact, affect, or influence, but
they have different meanings from a quantitative perspective.
- Questions do not imply a cause-effect relationship.
- Questions do not suggest measurement.

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Once a student has worded research questions, she or he can proceed to write purpose
statements. These statements are the major intents of the study because they can help
the reader grasp the focus of the study. More importantly, purpose statements can help
students choose appropriate qualitative research design. Commonly deployed qualitative
research designs in TESOL and Applied Linguistics will be discussed in the next section.
In other words, there is a close relationship between research design and purpose
statements. For example, if a student decides to opt for a case study, she or he is trying to
understand, describe, and explore a particular phenomenon. Assuredly, purpose
statements should be clearly stated based on the worded research questions. Here are
examples of research questions and purpose statements to see how they are closely
related:

Research Questions:
 What English vocabulary do accounting students need to develop?
 What English vocabulary is commonly used in accounting texts?
Purpose Statements:
 This study aims to explore types of English vocabulary students need to
develop in order to understand accounting texts.
 This research study attempts to examine a variety of English vocabulary that
commonly appears in accounting texts.

To conclude, research topic, problem, purpose, and questions can be defined as follows:
 A research topic is the broad subject matter addressed by the study.
 A research problem is a general educational issue, concern, or controversy
addressed in research that narrows the topic.
 A purpose is the major intent or objective of the study used to address the problem.
 Research questions narrow the purpose into specific questions that the researcher
would like answered or addressed in the study.
Creswell (2012, p. 60)

WRITING UP RESEARCH RATIONALE OR BACKGROUND, CONTEXT,

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS, AND SIGNIFICANCE OR CONTRIBUTIONS

In both a research proposal and report, students need to write up a research rationale or
background using two different approaches: moves proposed by Swales (1990) and
genre-representation suggested by Kamler and Thompson (2004, p. 206). Through a
moves lens, a research rationale or background section should discuss:

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  Move 1 (Establishing a territory): (i) claiming centrality, (ii) making topic
generalizations, (iii) reviewing items of previous research
 Move 2 (Establishing a niche): (i) counter-claiming, (ii) indicating a gap, (iii)
question-raising, (iv) continuing a tradition

Framed in the Genre-Representation approach, the research rationale or background

section should answer the following questions:
 What is the research problem being addressed?
 How do I locate the significance of my work?
 What conversation am I in? Where am I standing to research this problem?
 What do I offer as an alternative to existing research?
 What is my argument?
 How do I represent myself as a researcher? (I, we, passive, the
paper/article/chapter)
 How much reference do I make to the research method/methodology and in what
way?
 How much reference do I make to [thesis]?
 Given that researchers do not work alone and are part of a larger global research
community, what should I say about the location of my research?

Students can frame the research rationale or background by asking the following queries:

Claiming centrality or making topic generalizations:

 Why is vocabulary a crucial linguistic tool for making meaning of a text?
 What sort of vocabulary is being addressed?
 Why is specific or technical vocabulary needed in a particular area such as
accounting?
Reviewing items of previous research:
 What can previous studies on technical vocabulary inform us as researchers?
Indicating gaps:
 What gaps or voids are we trying to fill or how will our proposed research project
differ from the previous studies on the same concern?
Indicating a research project focus or structure:
 What are the foci of the proposed research project?

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It is important to keep in mind that there are different types of gaps as listed below:
 Conceptual or theoretical gaps: Use different theories or concepts
 Empirical gaps: Problematize or critique previous findings
 Methodological gaps: Deploy different methodological approaches and
designs
 Analytical gaps: Utilize unique analytical approaches and techniques
 Practical/contextual gaps: Apply particular methods/techniques/concepts to
different situations
 Policy gaps: Problematize the existing policy

Once students have framed the research rationale or background, they can move on to
write up a research context. In this respect, the students need to know what issue is being
discussed or debated in a particular context or situation. The context here can refer to an
institution (e.g., a school or classroom), level of education (e.g., elementary or tertiary
education), policy (e.g., curriculum), students‘ problems (e.g., lack of technical
vocabulary), and other situations that bring up a main concern or problem.

In the introduction section, it is also important to spell out operational definitions of key
terms and research contributions/significance. Firstly, operational definitions of key terms
serve some purposes, such as (a) to provide a better understanding of key terms in the
study, (b) avoid ambiguity or confusion, and (c) to define abstract words. Here are
examples of simple operational definitions of key terms:
Needs A systemic way to identify students‘ expectations of learning
analysis English for accounting, strengths and weaknesses of
linguistic resources, and awareness of particular social
discourses
ESP English is taught for accounting students in the
occupational/professional context in which this course
involves a needs analysis.
Accounting Students who are majoring in accounting in the second year
students
Vocational Those which offer areas of vocation such as accounting,
high schools tourism, engineering at a secondary level and run internship
programs
Accounting Written texts that discuss accounting related issues and
texts contain different text types (e.g., information reports) and
text forms (e.g., journal articles).
Vocabulary A wide range of technical words, which are found in
accounting texts. These words range from low frequency to
high frequency.

These key terms can be defined in greater detail. Once all the related key terms have
been clearly defined, students can continue writing up research contributions/significance.
The contributions/significance can be theoretical (refining theories), empirical (advancing
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empirical findings), practical (innovating common practices), conceptual (advancing
concepts), methodological (enhancing/proposing methods/procedures), and analytical
(enhancing/proposing analytical methods). Here are examples of research contributions:
Theory This study will expand on a lexical approach to teaching reading for
specific purposes.
Practice This study will provide the reader with an instructional model of
incorporating a lexical approach to teaching reading to help
accounting students acquire technical vocabulary.
Research This study will provide empirical insights into how vocabulary
facilitates meaning making.
Policy This study will form the basis for designing ESP course syllabus and
program such as English for accounting.

DEVELOPING AND PRESENTING A LITERATURE REVIEW

Creswell (2012) define ―[a] literature review [as] a written summary of journal articles,
books, and other documents that describes the past and current state of information on the
topic of your research study‖ (p. 80). Doing a literature review is a way of showing
student‘s knowledge about a particular area of study (e.g., needs analysis and technical
vocabulary). Conducting a literature review also informs the student of well-regarded
researchers and research groups in the area. Finally, with some modification, the literature
review involves:
o distinguishing what has been done from what needs to be done,
o discovering important variables relevant to the topic,
o synthesizing and gaining a new perspective,
o identifying relationships between ideas and practices,
o establishing the context of the topic or problem,
o rationalizing the significance of the problem,
o enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary,
o understanding the structure of the subject,
o relating ideas and theory to applications,
o identifying the main methodologies and research techniques that have been
used, and
o placing the research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-
the-art developments.
(Hart, 1998, as cited in Randolph, 2009, p. 2)

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According to Knopf (2006, p. 127), doing a literature review can have several
benefits:

 It can give you a general overview of a body of research with which you are
not familiar.
 It can reveal what has already been done well, so that you do not waste time
"reinventing the wheel."
 It can give you new ideas you can use in your own research.
 It can help you determine where there are problems or flaws in existing
research.
 It can enable you to place your research in a larger context, so that you can
show what new conclusions might result from your research.

There are some steps in conducting a literature review:

 Identify key terms to search for relevant literature.
 Locate literature on a topic by consulting several types of materials and
databases, including those available at an academic library and on the
Internet.
 Read and re-read the reading materials.
 Critically evaluate and select the literature for review.
 Organize the literature selected by abstracting or summarizing main points of
each reading material.
 Write a literature review that reports summaries of the literature for inclusion
in a research report. Literature review writing can involve synthesizing what
has been discussed and studied.
 Develop a conceptual framework (If any).

There are two types of a literature review: (1) a theoretical or conceptual review and (2)
an empirical review. The theoretical or conceptual review contains a synthesis of related
concepts or theories, which strengthen research problems and questions, but the empirical
review comprises previous studies along with key findings. As a rule of thumb, the
empirical review summarizes research rationale and context, questions, purposes,
methods, and key findings of the previous studies.

The empirical literature review should focus on:

 the key issues which underlie the research project;

 the major findings on the research topic, by whom and when;
 the main points of view and controversies that surround the issue being
investigated;
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  a critical evaluation of these views, indicating strengths and weaknesses of
previous studies on the topic; and
 general conclusions about the state of the art at the time of writing, including what
research still needs to be done; that is, the gap that remains in the research that
the study will aim to fill.
(Paltridge & Starfield, 2007, p. 101).

Further, Paltridge and Starfield (2007, p. 101) suggest that the literature review be
arranged based on (a) the various questions to be asked; (b) the various topics and sub-
topics that are central to the study; (c) the specific variables in the study; (d)
chronologically from oldest to more recent research; (e) different points of view; or (f) a
combination of these.

In writing a thesis or research report, students make use of a wide range of reporting
verbs, which show statements, judgments, opinions, suggestions, or disagreements. Here
are some examples of reporting verbs:
point out argue confirm state doubt
propose observe identify report agree (with)
add describe show explain present
indicate assert believe question dispute
maintain support think challenge dismiss
recommend say urge suggest disagree (with)
claim flesh out affirm pinpoint elaborate
touch on emphasize categorize delineate exemplify

Students often ask what tense they should use when doing a literature review. Reporting
verbs in the literature review are often in the simple present, the simple past, or the
present perfect. Paltridge and Starfield (2007, p. 109) suggest choices of tense and
reasons for their use.
Choice of Tense Reason
Simple a generalization is being made.
Present a reference is being made to the state of current
knowledge.
previous findings are being presented/are accepted as
facts.
Simple a reference is being made to a single study.
Past a specific piece of research and its findings are being
referred to.
Present a general area of investigation or inquiry is being referred
Perfect to.
a general statement is made about previous research.

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Based on the following questions below, here is a rough outline of a literature review:
Descriptive Questions:
What English vocabulary do accounting students need to develop?
What English vocabulary is commonly used in accounting texts?
Interpretive Questions:
Why do students have difficulty understanding accounting texts?
Why is vocabulary important to acquire for students to understand accounting
texts written in English?
Theoretical Questions:
How does vocabulary contribute to students‘ understanding of accounting texts?
How does sufficient vocabulary acquisition help students understand accounting
texts?

A Rough Outline of a Literature Review:

 Vocabulary: Definitions and Types
 Vocabulary in English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
 Needs Analysis in ESP: Definitions, Scopes, Approaches, Methods, and
Procedures
 Vocabulary in Reading for Specific Purposes
 Vocabulary and Reading Fluency
 Vocabulary and Meaning Making

Certainly, students can develop a more detailed outline as they undergo a research
process. The literature review can be developed based on emerging findings. These
emerging findings help the students reframe their literature review.

CHOOSING AND PRESENTING RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Empirical research is a step-by-step process of collecting and analyzing information to

enhance our understanding of a particular topic or issue. Basically, empirical research
comprises three steps: (1) pose a question, (2) collect data to answer the question, and
(3) present an answer to the question. Creswell (2012, p. 7) suggests six steps in the
empirical research process: (1) identifying a research problem, (2) reviewing the literature,
(3) specifying a purpose for research, (4) collecting data, (5) analyzing and interpreting the
data, and (6) reporting and evaluating research
In general, there are two research approaches: quantitative and qualitative. Here are major
characteristics of both research approaches (Creswell, 2012).
Quantitative (p. 13):
 Describing a research problem through a description of trends or a need for an
explanation of the relationship among variables
 Providing a major role for the literature through suggesting the research
questions to be asked and justifying the research problem and creating a need

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 for the direction (purpose statement and research questions or hypotheses) of
the study
 Creating purpose statements, research questions, and hypotheses that are
specific, narrow, measurable, and observable
 Collecting numeric data from a large number of people using instruments with
preset questions and responses
 Analyzing trends, comparing groups, or relating variables using statistical
analysis, and interpreting results by comparing them with prior predictions and
past research
 Writing the research report using standard, fixed structures and evaluation
criteria, and taking an objective, unbiased approach
Qualitative (p. 16):
 Exploring a problem and developing a detailed understanding of a central
phenomenon
 Having the literature review play a minor role but justify the problem
 Stating the purpose and research questions in a general and broad way so as to the
participants‘ experiences
 Collecting data based on words from a small number of individuals so that the
participants‘ views are obtained
 Analyzing the data for description and themes using text analysis and interpreting
the larger meaning of the findings
 Writing the report using flexible, emerging structures and evaluative criteria, and
including the researchers‘ subjective reflexivity and bias

Students can decide whether either a quantitative approach or a qualitative track is chosen
based on research problem, questions, and purpose statements accompanied with a
sufficient literature review. Thus, the problem, the questions, the purpose statements, and
the literature review assist students to make an informed decision on the chosen research
approach. Once students have decided to opt for either quantitative or qualitative, they
need to specify a research design. This research design informs students of specific
research methods such as sampling, data collection instruments or protocols, procedures,
data analysis, and final interpretation of results. Research designs are the specific
procedures involved in the research process: data collection, data analysis, and report
writing. Each of the research approaches has different research designs. In this article,
qualitative research designs are focus of discussion. Here are commonly used qualitative
research designs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and
Applied Linguistics:
Narrative Inquiry This empirical research involves eliciting and documenting
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 story-as-lived-experience artifacts. Stories can be obtained
through interviews, diaries, biographies.
Life Story Interview ―A life story is a fairly complete narrating of one‘s entire
experience of life as a whole, highlighting the most important
aspects‖ (Atkinson, 1998, p. 8). The life story interview uses
storytelling as a tool for eliciting and analyzing the data.
Open-ended interviewing is a main way to gather empirical
data.
Case Study Yin (2003, cited in Hood, 2009, pp. 70-71) categorizes a
case study into two: exploratory and descriptive. ―An
exploratory case study is used when little is known about
the case being examined; A descriptive case study aims
only to present a detailed, contextualized picture of a
particular phenomenon.‖ Case study data can be gathered
through interviews, classroom observations, document
artifacts (e.g., diaries, documents).
Ethnography ―Ethnographic approaches are particularly valuable when not
enough is known about a context or situation‖ (Mackay &
Gass, 2005, p. 169). Through ethnographic studies,
researchers look at cultures for what people do (behaviors),
what they say (language), the potential tension between
what they do and ought to do, and what they make and use
such artifacts as standardized test scores, photos, handouts.
Ethnographic data can be collected through participant
observations, interviews, and verbal and non-verbal artifacts.
Action Research Kemmis and McTaggart (1986, pp. 11–14) describe the
essential stages as a self reflective action research cycle of
planning, action, observation, and reflection, where you:
 identify a focus area of your practice that presents a
‗puzzle‘, problem, or question and plan strategies to
change or improve the situation.
 collect information systematically about this focus area.
 analyze and reflect on what the data you have collected
are telling you about the situation.
 act as necessary again to change or improve the
situation.
The action research data can be collected through
observations, document analysis, questionnaires, and
interviews.
Survey This research design attempts to examine as much
information as possible qualitatively though the data can be
descriptively quantified. Dornyei (as cited in McKay, 2006, p.
35) points out, surveys can provide three types of
information:
 Factual information—Factual questions are used to find
out more about the characteristics of individual teachers
and learners (e.g., students‘ age, gender, ethnicity,
language background, proficiency level).

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  Behavioral information—Behavioral questions seek to
find out what students or teachers have done or regularly
do in terms of their language teaching and learning. Such
questions are frequently used on language learning
strategy questionnaires in which students are asked, for
example, to report how often they look up unfamiliar
words in a dictionary or make an outline before they write
an essay.
 Attitudinal information—Attitudinal questions seek to find
out more about the opinions, beliefs, or interests of
teachers or learners. These questions are often used in
needs analysis research when researchers want to
gather information on such topics as what learning goals
students have or what skill areas they are most interested
in.

The survey data can be gathered through questionnaires

and interviews.
Diary studies Diary study in second language learning, acquisition, or
teaching is an account of a second language experience as
recorded in a first person journal.
Discourse analysis or When we are interested in understanding how language as
studies social discourse is used in communication – spoken, written,
or both (verbally, visually, or both) – we can employ
discourse analysis or studies to gain that understanding.
The discourse analysis data can be collected through
written, spoken, and non-verbal and visual texts. There is a
plethora of approaches to this analysis, including (a)
conversational analysis, (b) corpus analysis, (c) interactional
analysis, (d) genre analysis, (e) systemic functional social
semiotics, (f) Appraisal theory, (g) pragmatics, (h) speech
acts, (i) multimodal classroom discourse analysis, and other
relevant approaches to ELT.
Classroom research This research design tries to look at classroom phenomena
(e.g., teacher talks, students‘ talks, teacher-student
interactions, seating arrangements) without providing any
pedagogical treatments in the classroom. This research
attempts to examine naturally occurring phenomena in the
language classroom.
Integrated or mixed A research project may include more than two research
design designs such as ethnography and classroom action research
(ethnographic classroom action research) or ethnography
and case study (ethnographic case study) to garner rich
data.

The following research questions can be examined using a case study both exploratory
and descriptive. The data can be collected through classroom observations, interviews,
and text analysis.

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 Descriptive Questions:
 What English vocabulary do accounting students need to develop?
 What English vocabulary is commonly used in accounting texts?
Interpretive Questions:
 Why do students have difficulty understanding accounting texts?
 Why is vocabulary important to acquire for students to understand accounting
texts written in English?
Theoretical Questions:
 How does vocabulary contribute to students‘ understanding of accounting texts?
 How does sufficient vocabulary acquisition help students understand accounting
texts?

MANAGING, ANALYZING, INTERPRETING, PRESENTING/REPORTING, AND

DISCUSSING DATA (FINDINGS)

Once all empirical data have been collected, students need to manage the data. In a
qualitative study, empirical data analysis include five core activities: (1) macro-micro level
data coding by dating and storing empirical data and classifying empirical findings based
on research questions through a codebook; (2) data reflection by looking critically at the
coded data; (3) data display by re-examining the findings for data reduction and
verification; (4) data reduction by screening out the findings relevant to the research
questions, and (5) conclusion drawing by looking at the entire findings for idea
generalization. This process allows for an emergent, careful, and detailed data analysis.
Qualitative data are generally analyzed using an interpretive framework in which
theoretical and empirical accounts are used as the basis for interpreting the data coded.
This interpretative framework may be based on a particular theoretical, conceptual, or
analytical orientation. For further details about qualitative data management, analysis, and
interpretation, students are advised to look at qualitative books. Thus, in this framework,
empirical evidence can be connected to relevant theories and previous studies in such a
way that the findings can be interpreted whether they support, complement, add to, or
expand on existing theories and previous empirical studies (Creswell, 2012).

Here are typical elements of reporting findings sections of theses.

Move Purpose
Presenting metatextual presents preparatory information by previewing, linking,
information providing background information, referring back to
methodology points to location of tables, figures and
graphs.
Presenting [findings] presents [findings], presents procedures, restates
research [questions], states what the data are and
highlights data for reader‘s attention, provides
evidence—e.g., statistics, examples; frequently presents
information visually (e.g. graphs, tables, figures,

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 photographs)
Commenting on [findings] begins to interpret [findings] and make claims, looks for
meaning and significance; may point to contribution to
field, makes comparison with previous studies (often for
justification of method or procedure) may comment on
strength, limitations or [adaptation/adoption] of [findings]
Source: Brett 1994; Posteguillo 1999;Thompson 1993;Yang and Allison 2003 as cited in
Paltridge & Starfield (2007, p. 135)

The discussion section of theses typically contains the following:

1) an overview of the significant findings of the study
2) a consideration of the findings in the light of existing research studies
3) implications of the study for current theory (except in purely applied studies)
4) a careful examination of findings that fail to support or only partly support the [questions]
outlined in the study
5) limitations of the study that may affect the [trustworthiness or rigor] of the [findings]
6) Recommendations for further research
7) Implications of the study for professional practice or applied settings (optional)
(Rudestam & Newton, 2001, p. 121)

Thus, the findings and discussions are certainly presented based on the research
questions. Each of the research questions may have emergent findings in which these
findings are unexpected ahead, and the findings form the basis for discussions. The key
findings and discussions lay the foundation of drawing sound conclusions.

DRAWING SOUND CONCLUSIONS AND SPELLING OUT ACTIONALE

RECOMMENDATIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH STUDIES

After students present and discuss the findings, they go on to draw sound conclusions and
actionable recommendations. Conclusions are conclusive statements of what students
now know after having done the empirical research. Drawing sound conclusions involves
evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing information. Certainly, the conclusions should be
backed up by the findings.

In the conclusions section, students both summarize and ‗wrap up‘ their work. As Evans
and Gruba (2002, as cited in Paltridge & Starfield, 2007, pp. 150-151) list, the features of
Conclusions include:

 The Conclusions are what the Discussion chapter has been arguing for.
 The Conclusions may be a separate chapter or they may be combined with the
Discussion chapter, labelled ‗Discussion and Conclusions‘.

18 | Doing Qualitative Research… (Widodo, 2013)

  The Conclusions reached in this chapter should be drawn from the Discussion
chapter.
 There should be no further discussion in the Conclusions chapter.
 The Conclusions should respond to the aims that were stated in the first chapter.

As Creswell (2012) emphasizes, students should provide at least one conclusion for each
finding. Writing up conclusions should be concise, clear, relevant, organized, and tight.
Each conclusion should be sufficiently detailed. Creswell provides a useful outline of
drawing sound conclusions. Here is the sample outline:
Findings Write Finding Statement 1
Interpretations List all possible interpretations succinctly
Conclusions Identify conclusions you draw from the first finding

Recommendations are based on the findings and conclusions. This is the final phase of a
logical thought process. Recommendations should be logically and clearly stated derived
from the findings, content and context specific, and practical. Recommendations should
have significant implications for theory, practice, research, and policy. In relation to
research recommendations, students can think of research study‘s limitations or
weaknesses. Drawing on these, the students can suggest further studies geared to
examine another dimension of the research‘s problem.

WRITING AN ABSTRACT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Once students have completed summarizing the finding and discussion sections and
wrapping up the entire study, they need to write their Abstract and Acknowledgements. As
Cooley and Lewkowicz (2003,p. 112) define,
[The Abstract] is written after the research has been completed and the writer knows
exactly what is contained in the body of the text. It is a summary of the text and it
informs readers of what can be found in the dissertation and in what order, functioning
as an overall signpost for the reader. Although it is the last part of a dissertation to be
written, it is generally one of the first a reader will look at. Indeed, if the Abstract is not
well written, it may be the only part of the dissertation a reader will look at!

Paltridge and Starfield (2007) point out that an Abstract is comprised of (a) overview of the
study, (b) aim of the study, (c) reason for the study, (d) methods used in the study, and (e)
findings of the study. The abstract may spell out recommendations for further research
studies. The abstract can be written as a summary of a thesis (the use of the simple
present tense is suggested) or as a summary of the research study undertaken (the
simple past and present perfect tenses are commonly used).

19 | Doing Qualitative Research… (Widodo, 2013)

The Acknowledgements also play an important part in the student‘s thesis because they
can show ―a lot about disciplinary membership and networks‖ and ―gratitude to the people
that have helped the student in the pursuit of their studies‖ (Paltridge & Starfield, 2007, p.
155). Paltridge and Starfield (2007) list moves in Acknowledgements sections:
Move Examples
Reflecting move The most rewarding achievement in my
life, as I approach middle age, is the
completion of my doctoral dissertation.
Thanking move
Presenting participants I would like to take this opportunity to
express my immense gratitude to all those
persons who have given their invaluable
support and assistance.
Thanking for academic assistance, In particular, I am profoundly indebted to
intellectual support, ideas, analyses, my supervisor, Dr James Fung, who was
feedback, etc. very generous with his time and
knowledge and assisted me in each step
to complete the
thesis.
Thanking for resources, data access The research for this thesis was financially
and clerical, technical and financial supported by a postgraduate studentship
support, from the University of Hong Kong, The
Hong Kong and China Gas Company
Postgraduate etc. Scholarship, Epson
Foundation Scholarship, two University of
Hong Kong CRCG grants and an RCG
grant.
Thanking for moral support, I’d include those who helped including my
friendship, and colleagues, etc. supervisor, friends, It is also appropriate
to thank for spiritual encouragement,
support, so I’d also include my friends in
church and family sympathy, patience,
members.
Announcing move
Accepting responsibility for flaws or Notwithstanding all of the above support
errors errors for this project, any and/or omissions are
solely my own.
Dedicating the thesis to an I love my family. This thesis is dedicated
individual/s to them.
Source: based on Hyland 2004b as cited in Paltridge & Starfield (2007, p. 161)

ETHICS IN RESEARCH

In qualitative studies, ethical issues include informed consent, confidentiality/anonymity,

and data use and storage. It is necessary to note that a research study that involves no

20 | Doing Qualitative Research… (Widodo, 2013)

humans (e.g., discourse or content analysis) does not need to go through a research ethic
review.

A pre-study briefing session is usually convened before collecting data begins. This
session is intended to inform prospective participants of a research project including the
research focus, goals, and objectives, the benefits or expected contributions to prospective
participants, the level of engagement; and fieldwork timelines (schedules). These details
should be spelled out in the participant information sheet. The session also brings to the
surface potential conflicts of interests and ethical issues (Sales & Lavin, 2000). At the pre-
study briefing meeting, a copy of informed consent form and research information sheet
should be distributed to all participants in order to inform them of the research study
agenda and to seek their informed voluntary engagement (Oliver, 2010). It is important to
note that all research information sheets and consent forms may be available in another
language (e.g., Bahasa Indonesia) at an appropriate register level to help research
participants fully understand the research project.

It is important to ensure that all empirical data should be kept confidential by the use of
pseudonyms, the blurring of empirical artifacts such as pictures or photos (if these visual
artifacts are legally, culturally, or socially inappropriate), and the creation of composite
pictures of research participants (Creswell, 2012; Mendoza-Denton, 2008). Prospective
participants are advised that data and results appear in a bachelor thesis, and may be
published in journal articles in which all the data remain anonymous. All empirical written
data should also be locked in a secure location. All electronic data need to be stored on
password locked computers both a laptop and desktop so that access to the data is denied
to all except a researcher and an appointed debriefer. All the electronic empirical data
must be stored in a password locked external disk/drive and drop box in case both the
laptop and the desktop are out of order. The collected empirical data need to be retained
for 5-7 years. In case the data are retrieved or used for other research purposes or data
clarification, the interested parties should seek permission from participants. Assuredly,
informed consent forms signed by the participants must be released.

During fieldwork, a relationship between a researcher and participants (the researched)

needs to be established based on integrity, justice, and respect. Prospective participants
need to be recognized as research partners who share knowledge and experience so that
that the construction of knowledge and experience is jointly created by both a researcher
and prospective participants. In addition, a post-study debriefing session should be
conducted to allow for ―the credibility of the data in qualitative research‖ and for ―the
establishment of the overall trustworthiness of the findings‖ (Lincoln & Guba, as cited in
Spall, 1998, p. 280). This post-study debriefing includes peer debriefing involving co-

21 | Doing Qualitative Research… (Widodo, 2013)

investigators (e.g., supervisors) and an appointed debriefer or an expert peer who is
competent in the research topic, research methodology, and ethical issues. The peer
debriefing aims to reduce the researcher‘s personal bias (Guba & Lincoln, 1989). This
audit trail also helps bring to the surface ethical issues and any information from
prospective participants during fieldwork. The post-study debriefing is also intended for
member checking and data verification from prospective participants to maintain
information accuracy and originality (Creswell, 2012) inasmuch as all the data are jointly
constructed by research participants and a researcher.

Shamoo and Resnik (2009) list some ethical principles:

Honesty
Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Honestly report data, results,
methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or
misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public.
Objectivity
Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer
review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of
research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-
deception. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research.
Integrity
Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of
thought and action.
Carefulness
Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work
and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as data
collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies or journals.
Openness
Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas.
Respect for Intellectual Property
Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use
unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is
due. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research. Never
plagiarize.
Confidentiality
Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for
publication, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and patient records.
Responsible Publication
Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to advance just your own
career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative publication.
Responsible Mentoring
22 | Doing Qualitative Research… (Widodo, 2013)
 Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote their welfare and allow them
to make their own decisions.
Respect for colleagues
Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.
Social Responsibility
Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through
research, public education, and advocacy.
Non-Discrimination
Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, race,
ethnicity, or other factors that are not related to their scientific competence and
integrity.
Competence
Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through
lifelong education and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a
whole.
Legality
Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies.
Human Subjects Protection
When conducting research on human subjects, minimize harms and risks and
maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy; take special
precautions with vulnerable populations; and strive to distribute the benefits and
burdens of research fairly.

CONCLUSION

This article has presented a step-by-step guide to undertaking a qualitative research

project for bachelor thesis writing, including (a) framing and positioning a research project
topic; (b) formulating workable research questions and purpose statements; (c) writing up
research rationale/background, context, operational definitions of key terms, and
contributions/significance; (d) developing and presenting a literature review; (e) choosing
and presenting research methodology; (f) managing, analyzing, and interpreting empirical
data and reporting findings; and (h) drawing sound conclusions and spelling out actionable
recommendations and limitations of the study. In addition, the article has briefly described
how to write up the thesis abstract and acknowledgement section. It is also important to
keep in mind that students need to take into account some important ethical issues when
doing qualitative research with human participants. They should remember these
fundamental issues while undertaking a qualitative research project for bachelor thesis
writing. Thus, this project should be ethically undertaken in that it involves considerable

23 | Doing Qualitative Research… (Widodo, 2013)

time, energy, process, and effort. In doing so, students must have personal and
professional commitment to thesis writing completion.

REFERENCES

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Sales, B. D., & Lavin, M. (2000). Identifying conflicts of interest. In B. D. Sales & S.
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APPENDIX 1

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