Qualitative Research Methodology

Ben Daniel, PhD

Senior Lecturer & Coordinator of Educational Technology
Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC)

University of Otago
Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND
ben.daniel@otago.ac.nz
 Today’s Agenda
• Framing qualitative research project
• Qualitative approaches/design
• Steps in qualitative study
• Ethical considerations
• Sampling
Break
• Types of data
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Reporting qualitative study
 Workshop Outcomes
• Learn and practice inquiry processes for
conducting qualitative research

• Understand how to:

– frame the study,
– use an inquiry/approach
– describe methods of data collection
– select an appropriate sampling strategy
– perform steps in qualitative data analysis
– report your results
 Qualitative Research
Methodology—What it is?
 Quantitative vs. Qualitative:
• Thought of as Objective • Thought of as Subjective
• Tests a Theory • Develops a Theory
• Measurable • Interpretive
• Researcher stay away from the • Researcher is part of the process
process
• Strives for generalization – leads • Strives for uniqueness – leads to
to prediction understanding
• Basic element of analysis is • Basic element of analysis is
numbers words/ideas, voice, audio, etc
• Context free • Context dependent
 When to use Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research methodology is suitable when

a researcher:
– wants to generate new theories

– wants to achieve a deeper understanding of a social

phenomenon

– was to develop and narrate a detail participants stories

– wants to gain further analysis of a new phenomenon

Qualitative Research: Solving a Puzzle

• Solve this puzzle below

Hurrah

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Solving the Puzzle

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 Discussions
• In which projects would you expect to see a
qualitative methodology used?
– A comparison of the effectiveness of face-to-face teaching
method versus online teaching
– An investigation of Zanzibar public’s knowledge of the role of
SUZA in economic development
– Experiences of SUZA lecturers in the utilisation of OERs
– Tourists perceptions of Zanzibar as a holiday destination
Qualitative Research: Key Features
 Lack of General Standards: How to Judge?

Adapted from the Balanced Scorecard by Robert S. Kaplan and Dave P. Norton. Harvard Business School Press. 1996
Qualitative Research Methodology Process

(Daniel & Horsburgh, 2009)

Qualitative Research:
Framing the Study
Problem Statement: What it looks like

• A qualitative problem statement includes:

– a single sentence

– E.g. “The purpose of this study . . .”

– compose of a central phenomenon

– uses words (e.g. “explore,” “understand,”

“discover”) are used
 Tips for Wordings
• Begin: Use words such as “how,” “what,”

• Tell: What are you trying to know “discover,”

“generate,” “explore,” “identify,” or “describe”

• Inquire: “what happened?” to describe

• Ask: “What was the meaning to people of what

happened?” to understand

• Ask: “What happened over time?” to explore a

process
 Problem Statement: Exercise

Write up a problem statement for a qualitative

research project
 Sample

• “The purpose of this qualitative study (replace

later with type of qualitative tradition) will be to
..………(understand, describe, develop,
discover) the……(central focus)
for……(participants: person, process, groups)
at……(site of study)."
Qualitative Research
Design
 Qualitative Research Design

• A qualitative research design involves specifying

– a research topic
– philosophical assumptions,
– which data collection techniques will be used,
– approach to data analysis,
– approach to writing up
• A research design provides a road map for the
entire project
 Types of Research
Inquiries/Approaches

(Allyn and Bacon, 2008)

Approaches for Inquiry
 Qualitative Approaches

• A qualitative research approach refers to a general

way of thinking about conducting research

– It describes clearly the purpose of the research,

– the role of the researcher(s),

– the stages of research, and the method of data analysis

 Approaches
• Case Study

• Phenomenology

• Ethnography

• Grounded Theory

• Narrative Analysis
 Case Study

• Case study is used to describe a unit of analysis

– e.g. exploring academic staff experiences (satisfaction)

in the use of ITC for teaching
– e.g. Examining Secondary school students’ perceptions
of Nuclear Physics as a Scientific Discipline

• A case study looks at episodic events in a

definable time and setting
Exercise: Describe a Case in your field
 Ethnography

• Ethnographic research comes from social, cultural

anthropology—based on examination of cultures

• It is an in-depth description of a people through

“immersed” participant observation
– E.g. Understanding the culture of street children

• Ethnographers seek to place the phenomena studied

in their social and cultural context
Exercise: How would you use this
approach in your study?
 Phenomenology

• Phenomenological research is the study of lived

experience of participants

• As a research approach it is the study of essences

where researchers ask:
– What is the essence of this phenomenon as
experienced by people who lived it?
– What does it mean to them?
– E.g. investigating the life of teachers in secondary
schools in Zanzibar
Exercise: How would you use this
approach?
 Grounded Theory

• Goal to develop a theory from data

• Involves an iterative process

• Questions asked drive data and results

Exercise: How would you use this
approach?
 Narrative Inquiry
• It emphasize the importance of language as a
vehicle for communication

• Employed in Anthropology, Sociology, Education,

Nursing, Law, Linguistics, etc.

• Stories are symbolic actions that create social

reality
Structure of a Story
Exercise: How would you use this
approach?
Ethics
 Important Ethical Considerations
• Mutual respect and trust(prolonged interaction)

• Respect for social and cultural contexts

• Voluntary participation

• Informed consent

• Beneficence – doing good for others and preventing harm

• Confidentiality
 Group Task
• Develop a research statement that employs a
qualitative research methodology

• Identify an appropriate approach and discuss

with others why this is relevant to the problem
you described
Sampling Strategy
 Literature Review

• Literature review is often carried out before or

after data have been collected and analyzed

• Some researcher delay review to avoid leading

the participants
 Exercise
Epistemology and Ontology
• What are your beliefs about your area of
research?

• What are your experiences and how does that

inform your views on knowledge?

• What methods of investigation is relevant to your

study
 Selection of Participants

• The sampling techniques is often non-probabilistic

• Clear criteria and rationale for sample selection

• The goal is not generalization of findings but rich

descriptions of phenomenon as it is experienced
Sampling Techniques
 Some Facts: Data Collection
• “Informant-driven” rather than “theory-driven”

• Data is collected in the “field” – the natural world

where people live and experience life

– an investigator should be nonintrusive

– spends a prolonged time in the field

• Some researchers used multiple methods

Break
Data Collection Methods
 Method of Data Collection

• Qualitative research usually involves one or more

of the following data collection techniques
– In-depth interviewing
– Observation—including participant and non-participant
observation
– Focus groups
– Textual/content analysis
 Purpose of Interviews

• The qualitative research interview seeks to:

– describe meanings of central themes in the life world of

participants

– enable participants to tell their story the way they wish

– ask participants one general questions but encourage

them to open up and lead them with little influence
 Key Facts

• Interviews are often effective when a

researchers gain rapports from participants
Types of Interviews
Choose a topic: 5 minutes interview
Interview Process Stages
 Participant Observation

• In participant observation a researcher immerses in

a chosen setting for a period of time in to gain an
inside perspective of a culture

– The term culture is broadly defined to include activities,

behaviours, values, expectations within a group

– What to look for—e.g. what makes postgraduate

students different from undergraduate students at
SUZA?
 Participant Observation Template

• Guiding questions to • Alternative Approach

participant observation – How are people arranged in
– Who is present?
– What is happening?
– When does the activity
happen?
– Where is the activity
happening
– Why is the activity happening
– How is the activity
organized?
the environment?
– What are the people doing?
– How are people related?
– How are their activities
organized?
– Is there a sequence or pattern
to events?
– What are their values, beliefs,
assumptions?
Data Analysis
Qualitative Data Types
• Largely unstructured
– Text
– Video
– Pictures
– Sounds
– smell
– taste
 Preparation for Analysis

• Transforming data into usable form of analysis

• Developing a meaning way to organise or sort

data
 Before Data Analysis: Think about

• How to map the range, nature and dynamics of

phenomena

• How to find associations

• How to look for explanations

• How to develop new ideas, theories or strategies

 Typical Steps of Data Analysis
• Organize and prepare the data for analysis

• Reading all transcripts

• Marking notes

• Developing a codebook
 Coding of Qualitative Data

• Codes are chunks of information connected to

specific setting in data

• Coding is the most difficult operation for

inexperienced researchers to master

• The level of determining coding/unit of analysis

subjective and negotiable
 Basic Types of Coding

– Open coding: condensing information into

preliminary analytic categories or codes

– Axial coding: organising codes, linking and

identifying taxonomies or keywords, ideas etc.

– Selective coding: examining previous codes to

identify and select specific passages that will support
the conceptual coding categories previously
developed
 Tools for the Analytical Process
• Summaries
– Should contain the key points that emerge from undertaking
the specific activity

• Self Memos
– Allow you to make a record of the ideas which occur to you
about any aspect of your research, as you think of them

• Researcher Diary
– Reflections
 CAQDA Software Packages

• Data management environments—helps to

manage, classify and interpret data

• Types
– NVivo
– Atlas-ti
 Project Exercise: a Research Proposal

Assume that you are employed by a nonprofit organization that has worked for
years to provide poor people with affordable housing in Stone Town. The funding
agencies have indicated that they are pleased with the number of homes your
organization has built, but they want to learn about the impact of those homes on
those who live there before renewing the grants that support your organization’s
housing program.
• Discuss in groups how you would approach this project
• Develop a research statement based on a qualitative paradigm
• What appropriate research approach would you use and why?
• How would you collect data?
• How would you approach your data analysis?
Writing up the Report
 Reporting Qualitative Research
• Narrative form of reporting is common
– and quotations are used to illustrate & substantiate

• Attention paid to how meaning is derived and how labels

come to be applied and how assumptions are made

• The explanation and analysis built from the data will

include:
– Comparing differences and similarities of themes in the data
– Tracing developments
– Descriptive explanations and theorizing
 Thank you!

Ben Daniel, PhD

Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC)
University of Otago
Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND
ben.daniel@otago.ac.nz