Unit 2: Lesson 04

Qualitative
Research in
Different
Areas of Knowledge
WITH GROUP 2
Welcome
HUMSS
Students!
 RESEARCH IN DIFFERENT
AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE
Research studies happen in any field of knowledge.
Anthropology, Business, Communication, Education,
Engineering, Law, and Nursing, among others, turn in a
big number of research studies that reflect varied
interests of people.
RESEARCH IN DIFFERENT
AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE
Belonging to a certain area
of discipline, you have the
Don't you wonder how option to choose one from
people in these these three basic research
areas conduct their approaches: positive or
research studies? scientific, naturalistic, and
triangulation or mixed
method.
 Scientific Approach

The scientific approach gives stress to measurable and

observable facts instead of personal views, feelings, or
attitudes. It can be used in researches under the hard
sciences or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
Mathematics) and natural sciences (Biology, Physics,
Chemistry).
Scientific The positive or scientific approach allows control
of variables or factors affecting the study.

Approach (Laursen 2010)

To become positivist or scientific in conducting
your research study, you must collect data in
controlled ways through questionnaires or
structured interviews. For instance, in the field of
medicine, to produce a new medicine, a medical
researcher subjects the data to a controlled
laboratory experiment. These factual data
collected are recorded in numerical or statistical
forms using numbers, percentages, fractions, and
the like.
 Naturalistic Approach

THE NATURALISTIC
THE NATURALISTIC THE NATURALISTIC APPROACH
APPROACH
LETS YOU PRESENT THINGS
APPROACH, ON THE OTHER QUALITATIVELY FOCUSES
HAND, IS THROUGH VERBAL LANGUAGE.
PEOPLE-ORIENTED USING WORDS RATHER THAN ON DISCOVERING THE
. DATA NUMBERS AS THE REAL CONCEPT OR
COLLECTED, IN THIS CASE,
UNIT OF ANALYSIS, THIS SECOND
RESEARCH APPROACH CONCERNS
MEANING BEHIND
REPRESENT PERSONAL ITSELF WITH PEOPLE'S LIFESTYLES
VIEWS, ATTITUDES, QUALITATIVE DATA-ONE TYPE OF AND SOCIAL
DATA THAT EXISTS IN ABUNDANCE RELATIONS.
THOUGHTS, IN SOCIAL
EMOTIONS, AND OTHER SCIENCES, WHICH TO OTHERS
SUBJECTIVE TRAITS OF EXISTS AS SOFT SCIENCES.
PEOPLE IN A NATURAL
SETTING.

Having the intention to collect data
from people situated
in a natural setting, social
researchers use
unstructured
interviews and participant
observations
All in all, from a social science researcher's
viewpoint, these qualitative data resulting
from naturalistic approach of research serves
as the basis for determining universal social
values to define ethical or unethical behavior
that society ought to know, not only for the
benefit of every individual and community but
also for the satisfaction of man's quest for
knowledge. (Sarantakos 2013; Ransome
2013)
 Literature and Art Criticism

Researches in these where the researchers, using well-

chosen language and appropriate
subjects happen in any organizational pattern, depend
greatly on their interpretative and
of the following reflective thinking in evaluating the
humanistic categories: object of their study critically

Philosophical Research Historical Research

where the focus of inquiry is on where the investigation centers on
knowledge and principles of being events and ideas that
and on the manner human beings took place in man's life at a particular
conduct themselves on earth period.
Hard Sciences vs. Just like in other subjects under soft

Soft Sciences
sciences such as marketing, man's
thoughts and feelings still take center
stage in any research studies. The
purposes of any researches in any of
these two areas in business are to
increase man's understanding of the
truths in line with markets and
marketing activities, making him more
intelligent in arriving at decisions about
these aspects of his life.
Hard Sciences vs. Soft Sciences

A quantitative or qualitative kind of

research is not exclusive to hard sciences
or soft sciences. These two research
methods can go together in a research
approach called triangulation or mixed
method approach. This is the third
approach to research that allows a
combination or a mixture of research
designs, data collection and data analysis
Thus, there is no such thing as a clear
dichotomy between qualitative and
quantitative research methods because some
authorities on research claim that a symbiotic
relationship, in which they reinforce or
strengthen each other, exists between these
two research methods. Moreover, any form of
knowledge, factual or opinionated, and any
statistical or verbal expression of this
knowledge are deduced from human
experience that by nature is subjective.
(Hollway 2013)
 Additional
In the field of Humanities, man's social life is also
subjected to research studies. However, researchers in
this area give emphasis not to man's social life, but to
the study of the meanings, significance, and
visualizations of human experiences in the fields of Fine
Arts, Literature, Music, Drama, Dance, and other
artistically inclined subjects.
Thank You