UNCOMMON QUALITATIVE METHODS

Learning Objectives
(a) review characteristics of qualitative methods
(b) explore other qualitative methods
Introduction
In qualitative research, experience is important, whether by you or by your respondents. Qualitative Research is
concerned with how the complexities of the social and cultural world are experienced, interpreted, and understood in a
particular context, at a particular point in time. Its emphasis is on discovery and description, and the objectives are
generally focused on extracting and interpreting the meaning of experience through meaningful reflection and
understanding (reflectivity) [Anacin, et.al., 2018].
In this lesson, you will be reviewed of some common qualitative methods that are expected that you have learned
in the primitive years of research endeavor, and would introduce peculiar qualitative methods that emerge through time.
Your task is to identify the contexts and contributing factors that lead to the development of such peculiar methods.
Lesson Proper
Let’s first review some definitions recurring the idea of methodology from Cristobal & Dela Cruz-Cristobal
(2017):
A method is a technique which the researcher uses to gather and generate data about the subjects of their
study.
A methodology explains why the researcher chose to use particular methods. It includes descriptions of
any and all theoretical and/or ideological concepts informing and influencing the course of the study, and
the rationale behind adhering to these concepts.
A research design structures a study in ensuring the data collected and generated contain the needed
information to answer the inquiry.
Common qualitative methods include ethnography, historical method, phenomenology, grounded theory,
survey study, participant observation and case study. It is best summarized below. (Libero, 1993; Anacin, et.al., 2018;
Cristobal & Dela Cruz-Cristobal, 2017).

Methods Conceptualization
Ethnography - requires prolonged direct contact with a group/culture or
subculture and its members, with the aim of looking for rounded,
holistic explanations on a certain phenomenon
Historical Method - concerns with identification, evaluation, synthesis of data from the
past to confirm or reject a hypothesis
Phenomenology - examines human experiences through the eyes of the subject/s and
with the help of a process known as bracketing
Grounded Theory - involves a rigorous, systematic collection of rich data and
formulating a theory based on that data
Survey Study - enables the researcher to collect data from at least a part of the
population as basis for assessing the incidence, distribution and
interrelations of phenomena as they occur in the lives of the people
Participant Observation - characterized by a prolonged period of intense social interactions
between the researcher and the respondent, in the milieu of the
latter, during which time, data, in the form of field notes, are
unobtrusively and systematically collected
Case Study - involves the intensive description and analysis of a phenomenon,
social unit, or system bound by time or place, which is considered
as a case, to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation and
meaning of those involved

However, these common qualitative methods sometimes can’t answer fully some questions due to the context of
the problem. Hence, there were emergent methodologies that were identified by Libero (1993), Sevilla (1998) and Bueno
(2016):

Documentary Analysis Discourse Analysis Content Analysis

Hermeneutics Basic Interpretative Narrative Analysis
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Conversation Analysis Participatory Action Research
Delphi Problematique Analysis
A) Documentary Analysis
This involves gathering information by analyzing written records and documents in order to solve a
problem. If you want to determine the extent in which books in the school carry the teaching of values,
you may conduct a documentary analysis.

B) Discourse Analysis
It focuses on text and talk as social practices. Researchers from this tradition are interested in how
discourses are organized to be persuasive, or to present a particular ‘world view’, and would search for
these patterns in the words that are used (linguistic repertoire) and the way that they are utilized (rhetoric
strategies).

Discourse analysis is the study of language in use, and any language use (detailed transcripts of
recorded speech for example, but also texts such as newspapers, policy documents, etc.) can be
considered in this way. Researchers would also be interested in the function of discourse as well as its
content.

Discourse analysts might for example study the different ways that people view eating chocolate – do we
adopt a discourse which encourages us to see ourselves as helpless chocoholics who are victims of our
cravings, or one which emphasizes our ability to control the amount of chocolate we eat?

C) Content Analysis
This term often refers to a technique rooted in quantitative approaches, nonetheless, its emphasis lies on
counting/frequency (usually absent from most other methodologies), where researchers would count
occurrences of a word, phrase or theme. They would devise very specialized rules for coding (usually of a
form that can be used by computers). This approach is particularly suitable when analyzing documents,
for example, newspaper texts, responses to open-ended questions.

It is a technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified

characteristics of language (Carney, 1972). It is adjustable, but varies in its overall appearance which
means that a great deal of judgment and skill are required to use it.

Williamson et. al. (1977) said that researchers using content analysis are objective in their evaluation of
communications content because it is a systematic procedure that provides quantitative descriptions of
communications. They point out however that while the methodology may allow researchers to
“characterize efficiently a large number of materials, it also has the risk of missing the over-all sense of a
body of communications if you do not more than summaries of their content”.

Researchers using content analysis usually investigate thematic content of the communication using the
following goals:

(1) to make inferences about the values, sentiments, intentions or ideologies of the sources or authors
of the communications;
(2) to infer group or societal values through the content of communications; and
(3) to evaluate the effects of communications on the audiences they reach.

D) Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is the theory of interpretation and understanding in different kinds of human contexts,
religions as well as secular, scientific as well as that of everyday life. The purpose of this method is to
increase understanding of other cultures, groups, individuals, conditions, and lifestyles, both in the
present as well as the past.

In biblical exegesis, two traditional studies of interpretation were (1) literal interpretation which spells out
the messages as more or less explicit in the text itself, and (2) symbolic content interpretation which
attempts to reconstruct or create the divine meanings which were not there in a literal sense.

In education, the hermeneutical approach involves the study and meaning and comprises of theory and
practice of interpretation and understanding in the different social contexts in which human beings live
and work.

Interpretation consists of two elements: (1) grammatical (largely in terms of the linguistic principles of a
work) and (2) psychological (i.e. analyzing a text in terms of the thoughts and feelings of the author
through identification with or transformation into the other person).
 Essentially, hermeneutics involves cultivating the ability to understand things from somebody else’s point
of view, and appreciating the cultural and social forces that may have influenced their social outlook. It is
the process of applying this understanding to interpreting the meaning of written texts and symbolic
artifacts (sculpture and architecture) which may be either historic or contemporary.

E) Basic Interpretative
Merriam (2002) defines a basic interpretative study as one in which “the overall purpose is to understand
how people make sense of their lives and their experiences”. While this goal underlies all qualitative
studies, Merriam states that based on other strategies have additional purposes not found in basic
interpretative studies (developing theory in grounded theory, identifying the essence of a phenomenon in
phenomenology, etc.) For Merriam, the basic studies are those that do not share the special
characteristics of other strategies. For instance, a study that examines adult learning in a non-Western
culture. Although the culture was an important aspect of the interpretation, this is not ethnography
because it did not involve a prolonged stay or the researcher as a participant-observer.

F) Narrative Analysis
This focuses on people’s narratives/stories either about themselves or a set of events. Instead of looking
for themes that emerge from an account, it concentrates on the sequential unfolding of someone’s story. It
is time-consuming and usually includes a very small number of cases.

A narrative, or biography, describes a single person’s experiences in order to identify and understand
larger meanings that make up an individual’s story. A narrative is clearly very individualized, but can also
reveal broader truths that cut across many people’s experiences. It is written as a story that leads the
reader through the lived experiences of the individual.

Cresswell (2007) and Merriam (2002) listed three approaches that a narrative can take:
a) Biographical: the analysis is focused on significant events, people, and other biographical
elements of the person’s life
b) Psychological: the emphasis is on personal thoughts and motivations, and how the person’s
experiences shape those thoughts and motivations
c) Linguistic: the specific language used by the subject of the narrative is analyzed using
discourse analysis

Creswell (2007) listed several steps in developing a narrative:

 gather the stories of the individual through multiple data sources
 collect information on the context within which these stories occur
 “restory” these experiences into a general framework that may link key elements, provide a
chronological story, or explore larger themes
 explore the meaning of these stories, with input from both the researcher and the subject
Although narrative analysis is focused on the experience of single individuals, when framed property it
can provide insights into larger issues that cut across multiple experiences. For example, Merriam (2002)
reprints a narrative study in which a woman in a management position in a large corporation confronted
and dealt with issues of sexism (Bloom, 1996). Use of narrative can be a powerful tool for illuminating
and understanding broader issues beyond the single individual.
G) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
It is phenomenological attempting to understand how participants make sense of their experiences (it
does not assume that participants’ accounts refer to some verifiable reality) but it recognizes that this
involves a process of interpretation by the researcher.

It is an approach popular in psychology and in some areas of nursing. It looks at subjective states so takes
an insider perspective. It is interpretative – it recognizes negotiation between researcher and researched to
produce the account of the insider’s perspective, so both researcher and researched are “present”.

The data are accounts, which researchers then code for emergent themes, look for connections, and
construct higher order themes. It is often combined with the constant comparison method and elements of
content analysis.

H) Conversation Analysis
 This involves studying the social organization of conversation and is concerned with establishing how
that organization is achieved; as such conversation analysis might only be used with ‘naturally occurring’
speech and it is not an appropriate way of considering interview data (where the organization of talk is
established by the formal interview process). Conversation analysis explores how social interactions are
structurally organized and does this by analyzing detailed transcripts of tape recordings, examining such
things as turn-taking, lengths of pauses, inflections and so on.

I) Participatory Action Research

It is an approach to research and social change that can be considered a type of qualitative research. It
usually involves individuals and groups researching their own personal beings, sociocultural settings
and experiences. They reflect on their values, shared realities, collective meanings, needs and goals.
Knowledge is generated and power is regained through deliberate actions that nurture, empower and
liberate persons and groups. The researcher works in partnership with participants throughout the research
process.

Participatory Action Research can be time consuming because sometimes delays can occur when
researchers from outside the community and community members need to negotiate phases in the
research. Research describing this method should ideally discuss the negotiation processes used in the
research.

J) Delphi
According to Linstone and Turoff (1975), Delphi may be characterized as “a method for structuring a
group communication process so that process is effective in allowing a group of individuals, as a whole,
to deal with a complex problem”.

The Delphi technique was really a result of defense research in the U.S. in the early 1950’s. At that time,
the U.S. Air Force sponsored a study conducted by Rand Corporation to “obtain the most reliable
consensus of opinion of a group of experts… by a series of intensive questionnaires interspersed with
controlled opinion feedback.”

The Delphi technique is still in its infancy, but it is fast becoming a popular forecasting tool. Here is how
Delphi works. Suppose that you would be interested to know what will be the five most significant events
that will bring the Philippines right into the information society during the next ten years, this is what you
may do using this technique:

(1) Select communicators experts and ask the, through a questionnaire, the following question: “What do
you think will be the five most significant events that will bring the Philippines right into the heart of
the information society ten years from now? Please rank-order them accordingly.”

(2) Upon getting the responses back, you put together all responses and rank the first five events. Then,
return to the respondents the list of the top five events based on their rankings. Ask them if they agree
with the ranking. If they do not, ask them to re-rank the five events and return their responses to you.

(3) Go through the process again of making another ranking based on the respondents’ answers. This
process may go until a consensus is reached (perhaps about five rounds). A consensus shall have been
deemed reached if there would be no more alterations in the rankings.

(4) The final listing of events shall indicate that these would most likely be the significant events that
would bring the Philippines into the information society in ten years’ time.
The Delphi technique is an interesting methodology, but it is laborious and time consuming.
K) Problematique Analysis
It is a naturalistic methodology for describing the structure of problems that exist in social systems. The
basic purpose of this method is to identify the causes of the problem rather than the solutions. In the
process of employing problematic analysis, you identify the factors that influence the system, show the
hierarchal relationships of these factors and trace the root causes of the problems of the system.

Founded on systems theory, problematic analysis assumes that a communication system (Libero, 1985):
a) is purposive,
b) exists in a hierarchy of suprasystem and subsystem functions,
c) functions are irrelated and integrated to achieve a purpose,
d) interacts with environment,
e) requires inputs from its environment,
 f) has complex problems each with multiple sectors
It puts emphasis on the accurate description of interrelationships of factors or problem symptoms and
causes as identified and felt by informers, as determined by the evaluators from the analyses of records
and documents, and as observed from the natural setting. A very useful result of problematique analysis is
the problematique map which indicates the various interrelationships and interactions among variables.
This is because problematique analysis is based on the systems assumption that problems in human
systems are not simple and unitary; that they are really clusters of multiple problems themselves having
multiple causes (Molenda and DiPaolo, 1978). These clusters of multiple problems are always interrelated
and, therefore, must be viewed as a whole.
There are four basic steps in doing problematique analysis (Libero, 1985). They are as follows:
1) define the boundaries of the system of interest;
2) define the critical functions that ought to exist in the system;
3) gather evidence; and
4) determine whether or not the critical functions of the system are properly operating.
In gathering information, particularly from informants, you will need to ask probe questions. When a
question uncovers a problem symptom, ask the following probe question: “What caused this?”. If the
answer to this probe question still indicates a problem symptom, ask again the same probe question until
you arrive at the following:
1) a super ordinate influential factor or ultimate factor or ultimate cause is identified;
2) the influential factor is traced to another critical function of the system;
3) the influential factor is traced to a problem outside of the system under study; or
4) the influential factor loops back to a pre-established influential factor or problem symptom.
When you put the information into a schematic form, you produce a problematique map (Figure 6 and
Figure 8). The advantage of the problematique map (also called a problem structure map) is that you can
pinpoint right away where the problems are and appropriate solutions may be applied where they are
supposed to be applied.

References

 Anacin, Carljohnson G., Basaen, Cleofas M., & Galanza, Rolando A. (2018). From Practical Research to Research to Research or
Capstone Project: A Step-by-Step Guidebook for the SHS and Beyond. Mutya Publishing House, Inc: Potrero, Malabon City.

 Bueno, David C. (2016). Practical Qualitative Research Writing. Great Books Trading: West Avenue, Quezon City.

 Cristobal, Amadeo Jr., P. & Dela Cruz-Cristobal, Maura Consolacion (2017). Practical Research 1 for Senior High School. C&E
Publishing, Inc.: EDSA, South Triangle, Quezon City.

 Libero, Felix (1993). How to Write a Thesis Proposal. University of Philippines Los Banos, College of Agriculture. College of
Agriculture Publications Program: Laguna, Philippines.

 Sevilla, Conseulo G. (1998). A Research Primer. Rex Book Store: Florentino St., Quezon City.
 Learning Activities

A. Generating Exemplifications

Presented below is a three-column table. Use your research skills as well as your exploratory mind. You may
utilize journal articles online or you may search in various libraries nearby about studies that used such eccentric designs.

As indicated with the row’s type of research design, you will cite the title of a journal article that use such method
on the second column. On the third column, you will briefly describe its characteristics as well as the steps undertaken
brought by the influence of that method. You will be graded based on the following: 2 – right justification, and 1 –
coherent presentation of ideas.

Method Research Title Description & Procedures

Documentary
Analysis

Discourse Analysis

Content Analysis

Hermeneutics

Basic Interpretative

Narrative Analysis

Interpretative
Phenomenological
Analysis

Conversation
Analysis

Participatory Action
Research

Delphi

Problematique
 Analysis

B. Comparing Problematique Analysis and Partial Least Squares Path Modeling

Having read the problematique analysis presented in this material, you are to compare it to another method which is
the PLS – path modeling. You may assess this link to read the below journal article:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IMDS-09-2015-0382/full/html. Afterwards, answer the guide
questions presented in the table. Please be minded of the criteria: accuracy – 2, and presentation of ideas – 1.

1) In what areas the two

methods similar? List as
many as possible.

2) In what areas the two

methods differ? List as
many as possible.

3) Given that you’ll study the

phenomenon of ‘cancel
culture’ which method is
more suited? Justify.

4) Among the two, which is

deductive or inductive, are
both deductive, or both
inductive, or neither is
inductive nor deductive; if
neither, what is/are the
approach/approaches they
embody/embodies?
5) How do problematique
analysis and PLS-path
modeling be applied in
context?

C. Comparing Different Qualitative Analyses

Use the Six-circle Venn diagram below. Find the similarities and differences of each method. List at least three
relevant points. You will be graded based on the following: organization of ideas – 1, novelty of the idea – 2, and logical
comparatives – 2.
 Documentary Analysis
Discourse Anal

Content Analysis

Narrative An

Conversation
Analysis
IPA