INTRODUCTION

TO
QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
Alisha Chettri
 ○Qualitative research explores attitudes, behaviour and experiences through such
methods as interviews or focus groups.
WHAT IS
○QR attempts to get an in-depth opinion from participants
QUALITATIVE
○Since it includes study of attitudes, behaviour and experiences which are important
RESEARCH ? fewer people take part in the research. However, contact with the people lasts longer

○QR includes many different methodologies such as case studies, interviews,

observation, narrative analysis, focus group discussions, phenomenological analysis etc.
 ○ Specific relevance to the study of social relations
WHY
○ Locally, temporally and situationally limited
QUALITATIVE narratives are required
RESEARCH? ○ Use of inductive strategies rather than deductive
(instead of starting from theories and testing them)

○ Study of subjective meanings and everyday

experience and practice is essential
 ○ Random samples are selected fro representation

○ General statements are made as independently as possible about

the concrete cases that have been studied

LIMITS OF ○ Observed phenomena are classified on their frequency and

distribution
QUANTITATIVE ○ Conditions of study are controlled
RESEARCH ○ Studies are designed to exclude researcher’s and participant’s
influence and views

○ Standardized surveys are used

○ Ideas of objectivity
FEATURES OF ○ Appropriateness of methods and theories
QUALITATIVE
○ Perspectives of the participants and their diversity
RESEARCH
○ Reflexivity of the researcher and the research

○ Variety of approaches and methods in qualitative

research
 “Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be
counted.”- Einstein

○ QR is a strategy for systematic collection, organization and interpretation of

QUALITATIVE textual information

RESEARCH ○ Uses inductive approach to generate novel insights into phenomena that are
difficult to measure quantitatively

○ Qualitative methods can generate a comprehensive description of processes,

mechanisms and settings

○ QR can characterize participant perspectives and experiences in great depth

○ For qualitative psychologists, a key interest is ‘people’s grasp of their world’

○ Looks into subjective experience and how people construct their world
through social, cultural and linguistic practices they are born into
 QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE

CONCEPTUAL Concerned with Concerned with

understanding behaviour discovering
QUALITATIVE 
 from informant’s
perspective
facts about social
phenomena Assumes a
Vs Assumes a dynamic and
negotiated reality
fixed and measurable
reality
QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGICAL Data Collection- Data collected through
Observation & Interview measuring things
Data analysis- Themes Data analysis- numerical
from participants comparisons and
descriptions statistical inferences
Data reporting- In Data reporting- Statistical
language of the analysis
informants
GENERAL Regards phenomenon Information about
which can be observed quantities and numbers
but not measured Eg:
language
 QUALITATIVE
PURPOSE To gain an understanding of
underlying reasons and
motivations
To uncover prevalent trends
in thought and opinion
SAMPLE Usually a small number of
non-representative cases
EXAMPLES Focus Group Discussions,
Interviews, Participant
observation
TOOLS Research diaries, audio
visual equipment, software
analytic packages
STRENGTHS Detailed & in-depth,
participant led, meaningful,
high in ecological validity
QUANTITATIVE
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To quantify data and
generalise results from a
sample to the population
Usually a large number of
cases representing the
population of interest
Surveys, Experiments
Test scores, scales,
psychometric measures
Standardised procedures,
fast, researcher control ,
possibility of large sample
sizes
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QUALITATIVE QUANTATIVE

Approach: Inductive Deductive

Goal: Depth, generate hypotheses
Setting: Natural
Sampling: Purposeful
Data Collection: Interviews
Data Analysis: Iterative
Test hypotheses
Experimental/ Quasi
Random
Surveys, Clinical data
Statistical Tests

MIXED
METHOD
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○ Some early psychologists were open and responsive to the value of
understanding subjective experiences
○ William Wundt & William James sought to establish psychology
as a science of experience
HISTORY OF ○ Introspection Method- Wundt

QUALITATIVE ○ James also used introspectionist methods and analysing documents

such as personal letters, autobiographies and diaries
RESEARCH ○ Edward Titchener proposed experiments which had both
qualitative and quantitative dimensions
○ Allport propagated idiographic method
○ 1970’s saw a rising support in qualitative methods and supported
that they were more relevant and naturalistic ways to understand
people
○ US psychologist Giorgi developed the descriptive
phenomenological method
○ 1980’s, discourse analysis emerged
○ 1990’s saw psychologist’s engagement with grounded theory and
narrative analysis
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○ Auguste Comte- Positivism is an approach to social science that would
be positive in its attempts to achieve reliable, concrete knowledge an
which we could act to change the social world for the better

LOGICAL ○ Late 19th- Early 20th century phenomena

POSITIVISM ○ Vienna Circle- wanted to put philosophy on firmer foundation and

seeked clarity

○ Verifiability- meaningful only if it can be verified empirically (facts

about the world)

○ Held all metaphysical sentences meaningless

○ Positivism- The only valid knowledge is one gained through Scientific

Method (experiments, observations)
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○ Only scientific knowledge is true and factual

○ Vienna Circle (had first hand knowledge of science) was

impressed by science, development in logic and mathematics
LOGICAL
POSITIVISM ○ Were depressed at the state of philosophy, metaphysical views that
were locked in pointless disputes without progress

○ Believed that philosophy has to contribute to knowledge

generation

○ Wanted to make genuine contributions to science

○ “what is it that you know and how do you know it?”

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○ Individuals seek understanding of the world in which
they live and work

SOCIAL ○ They develop subjective meanings of their experiences-

Meanings directed towards certain objects or things
CONSTRUCTIVISM
○ The goal of research is to rely as much as possible on the
participants’ views of the situation

○ Looks at the meaning of reality (what is real?, what is

constructed by humans?)

○ Things that are socially constructed.Examples: money,

gold, language, books
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○ How is knowledge constructed?

SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIVISM 1. From External World

2. From Internal Processes

3. From interaction of external & internal factors

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○ Adopting an attitude of self awareness and active reflection

throughout the research process

REFLEXIVITY
○ Thinking about the ‘baggage’ brought to the process and

questioning how it has shaped and moulded research

○ Willig (2001) identified 2 types of reflexivity:

1. Personal Reflexivity

2. Epistemological Reflexivity
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○ Contextual and Ethical Reflexivity refers to issues related to

appropriateness of doing research with some groups and issues related to
informed consent
REFLEXIVITY
○ Reflexive process is not simply done before and at the end of the
research

○ Reflexivity can be practiced by maintaining audit trail and reflective

diary

○ Reflexivity involves three sets of relationships- with the self, with the
research participants and with the readers or audience (Doucet, 2008)

○ Reflexivity creates more ethical research (Bishop & Shepherd, 2011)

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○ ARBER (2006): Ethnographic study where

ILLUSTRATIONS she had a dual role as a practitioner and
OF REFLEXIVE researcher. Mentioned that reflexive
PRACTICE accounting enhanced the credibility of her
study
○ CARRINGTON (2008): emphasised the
use of reflexive autobiography
○ SHAW (2010): Reflexive attitude in data
generation and interpretation is important
and useful
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○ Qualitative researchers do not strive to eliminate subjectivity

instead they acknowledge it and move with it

SUBJECTIVITY ○ Researchers should seek out their subjectivity during the time
of their research

○ It would help them become aware of how subjectivity might

shape the outcomes

○ Researcher is the instrument

○ Researcher needs to rely on the self as the research instrument

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○ Qualitative Research tries to draw on the power
relations between the researcher and the participants

○ The developmental nature of the research process

POWER leads to changes in power relations. There are five
RELATIONS stages:

1. Initial Stage of Participant Recruitment

2. Data Collection
3. Data Analysis and Production of the Report
4. Validation
5. Additional Publications from the same source material
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○ What is qualitative research?

TAKE HOME ○ What are the features of qualitative research?

POINTS
○ Differentiation between qualitative and
quantitative research

○ History of qualitative research

○ Paradigms in qualitative research