Name : Safhira Auralia Rahman

Student Number : 2217001

Qualitative Data Analysis

Summary of Merriam (2009) Book:

Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation, (pp. 3-37)

The categories of basic and applied research are often separated. The purpose of basic
research is the development of knowledge, which is driven by interest in the subject about a
topic. Although both evaluation and research are methodical kinds of inquiry, they differ in
the questions they ask. Data or evidence on the advantages of a program, procedure, or
approach are gathered through evaluation research. The purpose of action research is to solve
a particular issue in a particular environment, such as a workplace, program, organization, or
school. Through a methodical process called research, we can learn more about a subject than
we did before we started. This method can be used to advance the body of knowledge in a
topic (pure research), improve the practice of a specific discipline (applied research),
determine the value of something (evaluation research), or solve a specific, localized issue
(action research).

Anthropologists and sociologists began posing questions about people’s lives, the
social and cultural contexts in which they lived, the ways in which they understood their
worlds, and other topics decades before what we now refer to as “qualitative research” or
“qualitative inquiry” grown in popularity. Professionals in the areas of education, law,
counselling, health, and social work have frequently been drawn to particular examples in
order to comprehend a problem. For instance, Piaget studied his own two children in order to
construct his theory of cognitive development. The portrayal of people’s experiences in
particular social circumstances has always piqued the curiosity of investigative journalism, as
well as the humanities and arts. The publication The Discovery of Grounded Theory:
Strategies for Qualitative Research by sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss
appeared in 1967. Their book argued that creating theory from inductively examining social
phenomena is preferable than testing theory. The philosophical foundations of this kind of
research can also be used to understand its nature. However, there isn’t much consistency in
the way that writers explain this component of qualitative research.
 Investigating how people interpret their perceptions of the world is just one aspect of
critical research. Critical research has origins in many traditions and now includes a range of
methodologies. By illustrating how different researchers from various perspectives might
approach conducting research on the subject of high school dropout, or as it is sometimes
referred to, noncompletion, differences among these four philosophical orientations as they
would play out in a research study can be illustrated. By illustrating how different researchers
from various perspectives might approach conducting research on the subject of high school
dropout, or as it is sometimes referred to, noncompletion, differences among these four
philosophical orientations as they would play out in a research study can be illustrated. A
qualitative investigation generates highly descriptive results. Instead of using figures, words
and images are employed to explain what the researcher has discovered about a phenomenon.
There will probably be descriptions of the situation, the participating parties, and the
interesting activities. A qualitative study’s design is flexible and emergent, adapting to the
evolving circumstances of the ongoing research. However, this is not always the case because
funding organizations, committees overseeing theses and dissertations, and review boards for
studies involving human beings frequently demand that the study’s design be predetermined.

A variety of philosophical perspectives and methodological approaches are included

in the category of research known as qualitative research. A basic, interpretive study is the
kind of qualitative research that is most prevalent. Instead of conducting a phenomenology,
grounded theory, narrative analysis, critical, or ethnographic study, one conducts a qualitative
research study. Learners create reality in interaction with their social contexts, which is a key
aspect of qualitative research.

There are six types of qualitative research that are commonly found in social sciences and
applied field of practice:

 Basic qualitative research can be found in all academic areas and in practical
applications. Interviews, observations, or document analysis are used to gather data.
The disciplinary theoretical framework of the study will determine the inquiries that
are made, the observations that are made, and the texts that are thought to be
important. All qualitative research is concerned with the construction of meaning and
how individuals interpret their surroundings and selves. A basic qualitative study’s
main objective is to identify and analyse these meanings.
 Others believe that all qualitative research is phenomenological since it shares the
same philosophical foundation as phenomenology, which is true in some aspects. The
process of repeatedly going back to the core of the experience to derive the inner
structure or meaning in and of itself is known as phenomenological reduction.
 Ethnography is probably the qualitative research method that researchers are most
familiar with. Both a process and a product come from ethnography. Even though
anthropology was the field where ethnography first emerged, today scholars from
many different disciplines and fields are able to conduct an ethnographic study. All
forms of ethnography have a focus on human society and culture in common. Despite
having many different definitions, culture is fundamentally the beliefs, values, and
attitudes that guide a particular set of people’s behaviour patterns.
 Sociologists Glaser and Strauss first described grounded theory as a particular
research methodology in their 1967 book, The Discovery of Grounded Theory. For
resolving problems about process, or how something changes over time, grounded
theory is especially beneficial. Data for investigations using grounded theory might
originate from interviews, observations, and a range of documentary sources.
Grounded theory research has its own terminology and methods for carrying out a
study, just as other forms of qualitative research.
 In qualitative research, stories, often known as “narratives,” have gained popularity as
a source of data. The use of tales as application based, first-person narratives of
experience given in story form with a beginning, middle, and finished essential to this
kind of qualitative research. These accounts of experience can also be referred to as
biographies, life histories, oral histories, auto-ethnographies, and autobiographies.
Like other qualitative research types, narrative research analyse stories using a variety
of methodological techniques (Riessman, 2007).
 The purpose of critical inquiry is to challenge, transform, and empower. Critical
research, according to Patton (2002, p. 131), “seeks not simply to study and
understand society but rather to critique and change society.” The practice of critical
research today draws from a number of traditions and uses a range of methodologies.
Critical analysis places more emphasis on context than on specific people. For
instance, critical educational research explores the context in which learning occurs,
including the larger social systems, the institutions and cultures that influence
educational practice, and the structural and historical frameworks that determine
practice.