PRAS01A - Practical Research 1 (Ms.
Kristena Ditan) CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
LESSON 3: Different Types of Research
GENERAL FORMS OF RESEARCH
General forms of research - define the purpose and approach
of the study
1. Scientific Research
is a research method that seeks to explain naturally occurring
phenomena in the natural world by generating credible
theories.
2. Research in Humanities
Seeks to define the purpose of human existence by tapping
into historical facts and future possibilities.
3. Artistic Research
It provides alternative approaches to established concepts by
conducting practical methods as substitutes for fundamental
and theoretical ones.
NOTE!: Any of the three (3) forms of study are by no means a
better approach than the other. However, what differs among
the three is the objective of the study and the means to
achieve it. Nevertheless, whichever of the three are followed
by the researcher, the true goal of any research remains the
same – to further the current established knowledge on
different areas of study
RESEARCH METHOD
determines the approach that the researcher takes in
identifying relevant data for the research and collecting and
analyzing the information gathered in research.
THERE ARE TWO BROAD CATEGORIES OF RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY:
1. Qualitative research method
Polit and Beck (2004) define quantitative research as the
traditional positivist scientific method with refers to a
general set of orderly, disciplined procedures to acquire
information
2. Quantitative research method
“Is defined as the “naturalistic method of inquiry of research
which deals with the issue of human complexity by exploring
it directly” (Polit and Beck, 2008)
- It utilizes naturalistic methods of inquiry as the research
place great emphasis on the analysis of experiences of the
individual.
- It attempts to explain the human experience.
- It focuses on gaining insights and understanding about an
individual’s perception and interpretation of events.
- It collects data through methods such as interview and
participative observation
- Lastly, the researcher does not have to be concerned with
numbers and complicated statistical analyses.
Kania (2008) presents the following key distinguishing
characteristics of qualitative research:
- It is conducted in systematic and rigorous way.
- It usually follows an iterative process.
- It focuses on gathering information from people who
can provide the richest insights into the phenomenon
or interest.
- Collection of data is continuous until saturation, or
when it reaches the point where no information is
revealed with respect to the key themes emerging from
data.
- Qualitative data collection examines everyday life in
its natural context or in an uncontrolled naturalistic
setting.
THE VALUE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
- Qualitative data provides context and meaning.
This will give a sense of the who, what, when, and
where the study.
THE VALUE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
1. Qualitative data provides context and meaning.
This will give a sense of the who, what, when,
and where the study.
2. Qualitative research can complete the picture
by delving into the why and the how. It can
explore narrowly-defined issues in greater
depth, explaining the setting in which behavior
can takes place. It gives complete picture of the
issue being studied.
3. The value of qualitative study comes from its
focus on the lived experience of the
participants, which enabled development of
greater understanding concerning the outcomes
that are important, relevant, and meaningful to
the people involved.
RESEARCH DESIGN:
- It enables the researcher to organize the components
of research.
- It will ensure that the research or study will effectively
address the research topic or problem.
- It also a template for the collection, measurement,
and analysis of data.
- It determines the research design that will be used in
the study.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Having a well-developed research design will enable the
researcher to achieve the ff:
1. Clearly identify and describe the research problem or
topic and justify the selection of the appropriate design
to be used.
2. Review and synthesize previous studies and literature
related to the topic.
3. Clearly identify hypotheses that are significant to the
problem.
4. Determine the data necessary to test hypotheses and
explain how the data will be obtained.
5. Describe the methods of analysis that will be used on
the data gathered in order to evaluate.
COMMON TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGN
1. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
The researcher immerses with the people and becomes
a part of their culture|
2. HISTORICAL
This study is concerned with identification, location,
evaluation and synthesis of data from past events
3. CASE STUDY
This design involves a comprehensive and extensive
examination of a particular individual, group or situation
over period of time.
4. GROUNDED THEORY STUDY
This design involves comparing collected units of data
against one another until categories, properties and
hypotheses that states relations between these
categories and properties emerge.
5. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
The main source of data are the life accounts of
individuals based on their personal experiences.
6. CRITICAL QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
This study seeks to bring about change and empower
individual by describing and critiquing the social,
cultural, psychological perspectives on present-day
contexts.
7. POST MODERN RESEARCH
As opposed to the traditional forms of qualitative
analysis, the approach of this type of research seeks to
analyze the facts that have been established as truths,
the ability of research and science to discover the truth,
and all generalizations and typologies.
8. PHENOMENOLOGICAL DESIGN
This type of research seeks to find the essence or structure of
experience by explaining how complex meanings are built out
of simple units of inner experience. It examines human
experiences (lived-experiences) through the descriptions
provided by subject or respondents. The goal of this study is
to describe the meaning that experiences hold for each
subject.
Examples:
• A Qualitative Study on the Lived-experiences of Science
Teachers in the Bahamas Science
• The Subjective Experience and Phenomenology of
Depression Following First Episode Psychosis: A Qualitative
Study Using Photo-Elicitation
• Alternative Education Completers: A Phenomenological
Study
9. BASIC INTERPRETATIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY
This is used when a researcher is interested in
identifying how individuals give meaning to a situation
or phenomenon. It uses an inductive strategy which is a
process of analyzing patterns or common themes to
produce a descriptive account that summarizes and
analyzes the literature defined in the study.
Examples:
• Exploring the Ways New Faculty Form Beliefs About
Teaching: A Basic Interpretative Qualitative Study
• Workplace Learning of Professional Academic Advisors
at Urban Universities: A Basic Interpretative Qualitative
Investigation
• Creating A Future: A Study of Resilience in Suicidal
Female Adolescents
• Curriculum Orientation of Virtual Teachers: A Basic
Interpretative Qualitative Study of Secondary Teachers'
Development of Curriculum Orientation
10. INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS WEAKNESSES OF Qualitative design
The aim of this design is to explore in detail how participants
are making sense or give meanings in particular experiences, Anderson (2010), in her article “Presenting and Evaluating
events states for participants. The approach is phenomenolo- Qualitative Research,” also enumerates the weaknesses of
gical in that involves detailed examination of participant’s life qualitative research:
world; it attempts to explore personal experiences and is 1. The knowledge produced might not be applicable to other
concerned with an individual’s personal perception. people or setting.
2. Inflexibility is more difficult to maintain, assess, and
Examples: demonstrate.
• Exploring the Ways New Faculty Form Beliefs About 3. It is sometimes not as well understood and accepted as
Teaching: A Basic quantitative research within the scientific community.
Interpretative Qualitative Study 4. The researcher’s presence during data gathering, which is
• Workplace Learning of Professional Academic Advisors at often unavoidable in qualitative research, can affect the
Urban subjects’ response.
Universities: A Basic Interpretative Qualitative Investigation 5. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality can present
• Creating A Future: A Study of Resilience in Suicidal Female problems when presenting problems.
Adolescents 6. It is difficult to make quantitative predictions.
7. It is more difficult to test hypotheses and theories with
STRENGTHS OF QUALITATIVE DESIGN large participants pool.
Anderson (2010), in her article “Presenting and Evaluating 8. It might have a lower credibility with some administrators
Qualitative Research,” lists the ff strengths of qualitative and commissioners of programs.
research: 9. It generally takes more time to collect data compared to
quantitative research.
1. The study requires a few cases or participants. Data 10. Data analysis is often time-consuming.
collected are based on the participants’ own categories of 11. The results are more easily influenced by researcher’s
meaning. personal biases and idiosyncrasies.
2. It is useful for describing complex phenomena.
3. Issues can be examined in detail and in depth.
4. Interviews are not restricted to specific questions and can
be guided or redirected by the researcher in real time.
5. Subtleties and complexities about the research subjects or
topic are often missed by more positivistic inquiries.
6. It provides individual case information.
7. Cross-case comparisons and analysis can be conducted.
8. It provides understanding and description of people’s
personal experiences of phenomena.
9. It can describe in detail the phenomena as they are
situated and embedded in local contexts.
10. The researcher usually identifies contextual and setting
factors as they relate to the phenomenon of interest.
11. The researcher can study dynamic processes.
12. The researcher can use the primarily qualitative method
of grounded theory to inductively generate a tentative but
explanatory theory about the phenomenon.
13. It can determine how participants interpret constructs.
14. Data are usually collected in naturalistic settings in
qualitative research.
15. Qualitative approaches are especially responsive to local
situations, conditions, and stakeholders’ need.
16. Qualitative Data in the words and categories of
participants lend themselves to exploring how and why
particular phenomena occur.
17. You can use an important case to vividly demonstrate a
phenomenon to the readers.
18. It can determine idiographic causation (i.e., determination
of causes of particular event).