Prof Ruwan Abeysekera

 Research Philosophy
 Research Logic
 Research approaches
 Qualitative research
 Types of qualitative research
 Data collection method
 Sampling strategy
 Analysis of data
 The research philosophy characterises the
researcher’s particular belief about the
reality, which will be reflected in the nature of
the data collection, analysis and overall
phenomena to be perceived and interpreted
 Positivism and social constructivism are the
two contrasting views ( i.e. paradigms) that
can be taken to carry out research
 The main idea behind positivism is that the
reality exists externally and its properties
should be measured through objective
methods rather than inferred subjectively
through sensation, reflection or intuition
 The social constructivist philosophical stance
believes that reality is not objective
(subjective consciousness) or external, but is
socially constructed and given meaning by
people
 Research philosophy can be thought of in
three major ways: 1. ontological; 2.
epistemological; and 3. axiological.
 These ontological, epistemological and
axiological assumptions refer to the nature of
reality, how researcher gains it and the
values respectively
 Ontology refers to the assumptions that we
make about the nature of reality ( single
reality, multiple reality, does god exist?)
 It is characterised by two aspects: objectivism
and subjectivism
 Objectivism asserts that reality is out there to
be discovered. (single reality)
 Subjectivism asserts that reality is created by
the people ( multiple reality, reality is co-
constructed).
 Epistemology relates to relationships between
reality and the researcher ( how researcher
gains acceptable knowledge)
 Based on the ontological view the researcher
can take up either positivistic or social
constructivism approach
 The researcher who takes up the positivistic
approach believes in a pre-existing reality
and works with an observable and
measurable reality (numbers, hypotheses,
measurements)
 The researcher who takes up the social
constructivist viewpoint does not believe in
pre-existing reality and thus believes that
reality is socially constructed ( texts,
language, interviews, observations).
 Axiology studies judgements about value. It
relates to personal values in relation to a
research topic
 In the social constructivist approach
researchers believe that the research process
is value-laden and that research activities are
affected by researchers’ values and help to
determine the facts and interpretations of the
study
 Deductive approach- researcher might begin
with a specific theory of interest and then narrow
it down to few hypotheses (theory testing)
 Inductive approach -moving from more specific
observations to broader generalizations and
theories ( theory building ) -Qualitative
 abduction is used to combine both induction and
deduction and some studies use abduction logic
(theory building and theory testing)
 Two research approaches
1. Quantitative 2. Qualitative
1.The quantitative: also known as the
positivist approach, believes that the
researcher is independent of what is being
researched
2. Qualitative : the researcher interacts with
what is being researched.
Source: Collis and Hussey (2003).

Assumption Questions Quantitative Qualitative

Ontological What is the Reality is Reality is subjective and
nature of the objective and multiple as seen by
reality singular, apart participants in a study.
from researcher
Epistemologi What is the Researcher is Researcher interacts with
cal relationship independent that being researched
between from that being
researcher and researched
the researched?
Axiology What is the role Value-free and Value –laden and biased
of values? unbiased
Rhetorical What is the Formal Informal
language of
Based on set Evolving decisions
research?
definitions
Personal voice
Impersonal voice
Use of accepted qualitative
Use of accepted words
quantitative
words
 According to Creswell (2009), qualitative
research takes an inductive approach in the
data analysis and builds general themes from
the particular and the researcher makes
interpretation of the meaning of data.
a)the natural setting (field-focused), a source of data for
close interaction;
b)the researcher as the key instrument of data collection;
c) multiple data sources in words or images;
d)analysis of data inductively, recursively and
interactively;
e)participants’ meanings: focus on participants’
perspectives, their meanings, and their subjective views;
f)the theoretical lens: framing of human behaviour and
beliefs within a social-political/historical context or
through a cultural lens;
g)emergent design: emergent rather than
tightly prefigured design;
h)interpretive inquiry: the researcher reflects
on her or his role, the role of the reader, and
the role of the participants in shaping the
study
i)the holistic account: a holistic view of social
phenomena.
1. Case study
2. Ethnography
3. Narrative
4. Phenomenological
5. Grounded theory
 case study is an empirical inquiry that
investigates a contemporary phenomenon in
depth and within its real life context,
especially when the boundaries between the
phenomenon and its context are not clearly
evident
 Ethnography is holistic research in which the
researcher becomes a participant observer of
the problem environment
 Study of experiences “as expressed in lived
and told stories of individuals”
 This approach emerged out of a literary,
storytelling tradition and has been used in
many social science disciplines.
 E.g. biographical study
 Its aim is to describe an experience as it is
actually lived by the person.
 A phenomenological research study is a study
that attempts to understand people's
perceptions, perspectives and understandings
of a particular situation (or phenomenon).
 Grounded theory seeks to generate or
discover a theory-a general explanation– for
a social process, action or interaction shaped
by the views of participants
 this is a good design to use when there isn’t
a theory available to “explain or understand a
process”
 Interviews
 Focus groups
 Observation
 Documents as source of data
 Non-probability sampling
 Purposive sampling – choosing those who will
best enable us to answer the research
questions.
 Snowball sampling – identifying participants
through participants.
 Convenience sampling – choosing those
participants that are easiest to access.
 How many interviews are enough?
 Coding or indexing- involves placing like with like,
so that patterns can be found”. Coding can be done
deductively from pre-existing concerns, questions
and propositions, and inductively from the data
itself.

 Interpreting involves looking at data from a

theoretical or descriptive framework.
 Seeing through the eyes of the people being
studied
 Description and the emphasis on context
 Emphasis on process
 Flexibility and limited structure
 Concepts and theory grounded in data
 Is your research question about ‘why’
and/or ‘how’?
 Are you interested in ‘depth’ or
‘breadth’?
 Is subjectivity important?
 How many people can you reach?
 Are you confident about your math?
 How much ‘messiness’ can you
tolerant?
 Lots of direct quotations from the people who are
being studied
 Rich descriptions of what is being explored.
 Details about interactions between people.
 Lots of reporting of people’s behaviour and
actions.
 In-depth accounts of people’s experiences,
opinions and feelings.
 Personal accounts by the researcher of the
research process and her/his thoughts about
what is being studied.
 The style of writing is less’academic.’
 Ask specific questions.
 Ask people to give you some examples.
 Be flexible.
 Be reflective.
 Computer-aided Qualitative Data Analysis (Nvivo)?
 Use literature to explain your findings.
 Present your data
 Qualitative Research in Organizations and
Management: An international Journal
 Qualitative Inquiry
 Qualitative Research
 Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research
 Qualitative Research Journal