Collecting Qualitative

Data

Created by: Ana Mar’atul Azizah & Ainun

Nihayati Rohmah
Qualitative Data Collection?

Qualitative data collection is more than simply deciding on

whether you will observe or interview people.

Five steps comprise the process of collecting qualitative data:

1. You need to identify your participants and sites

2. Gain access
3. Determine the types of data to collect
4. Develop data collection forms
5. Administer the process in an ethical manner.
Some basic differences between
quantitative and qualitative data collection
are :
◆ In quantitative research, we systematically identify our participants and sites
through random sampling; in qualitative research, we identify our participants
and sites on purposeful sampling, based on places and people that can best
help us understand our central phenomenon.

◆ In both quantitative and qualitative research, we need permissions to begin

our study, but in qualitative research, we need greater access to the site
because we will typically go to the site and interview people or observe them.
This process requires a greater level of participation from the site than does the
quantitative research process.

◆ In both approaches, we collect data such as interviews, observations, and

documents. In qualitative research, our approach relies on general interviews
or
observations so that we do not restrict the views of participants. We will not use
someone else’s instrument as in quantitative research and gather closed-ended
information; we will instead collect data with a few open-ended questions that
we design.
◆ In both approaches, we need to record the information supplied by the
participants. Rather than using predesigned instruments from someone else or
instruments that we design, in qualitative research we will record information on
self-designed protocols that help us organize information reported by
participants to each question.

◆ Finally, we will administer our procedures of qualitative data collection with

sensitivity to the challenges and ethical issues of gathering information face-to-
face and often in people’s homes or workplaces. Studying people in their own
environment creates challenges for the qualitative researcher that may not be
present in quantitative research when investigators mail out anonymous
questionnaires or bring individuals into the experimental laboratory.
ifferent sampling approaches for selecting participant
1. Purposeful Sampling

The research term used for qualitative sampling is purposeful

sampling. In purposeful sampling, researchers intentionally
select individuals and sites to learn or understand the central
phenomenon. The standard used in choosing participants and
sites
Allisstrategies
whether they are to
apply “information
sampling rich” (Patton,
a single time1990, p. 169).
or multiple
times during a study, and you can use them to sample from
individuals, groups, or entire organizations and sites. In some
studies, it may be necessary to use several different sampling
2.strategies (e.g., to
Maximal Variation select teachers in a school and to select
Sampling
different schools to be incorporated into the sample).
Maximal variation sampling is a purposeful sampling
strategy in which the researcher samples cases or individuals
that differ on some characteristic or trait (e.g., different age
groups). This procedure requires that you identify the
characteristic and then find sites or individuals that display
different dimensions of that characteristic. For example, a
researcher might first identify the characteristic of racial
composition of high schools, and then purposefully sample three
3. Extreme Case Sampling
Extreme case sampling is a form of purposeful sampling in
which you study an outlier case or one that displays extreme
characteristics. Researchers identify these cases by locating
persons or organizations that others have cited for achievements
or distinguishing characteristics (e.g., certain elementary schools
targeted for federal assistance). An autistic education program in
4. elementary
Typical Sampling
education that has received awards may be an
outstanding case to purposefully
Typical sampling is a form sample.
of purposeful sampling in which
the researcher studies a person or site that is “typical” to those
unfamiliar with the situation. What constitutes typical, of course, is
open to interpretation. However, you might ask persons at a
research site or even select a typical case by collecting
demographic data or survey data about all cases. You could study a
typical faculty member at a small liberal arts college because that
5.individual
Theory or Concept Sampling
has worked at the institution for 20 years and has
Theory
embodied theor concept
cultural normssampling is a purposeful sampling
of the school.
strategy in which the researcher samples individuals or sites
because they can help the researcher generate or discover a
theory or specific concepts within the theory. For example, you
have chosen these sites because study of them can help generate
6. Homogeneous Sampling
In homogeneous sampling the researcher purposefully
samples individuals or sites based on membership in a subgroup
that has defining characteristics. To use this procedure, you need
to identify the characteristics and find individuals or sites that
possess it. For example, in a rural community, all parents who
have children in school participate in a parent program. You
choose members of this parent program to study because they
7. Critical Sampling
belong to a common subgroup in the community.
The sampling strategy here is to study a critical sample
because it is an exceptional case and the researcher can learn
much about the phenomenon. For example, you study teenage
violence in a high school where a student with a gun threatened a
teacher. This situation represents a dramatic incident that
8. Opportunistic Sampling
portrays the extent to which some adolescents may engage in
Opportunistic
school violence. sampling is purposeful sampling undertaken
after the research begins, to take advantage of unfolding events
that will help answer research questions. In this process, the
sample emerges during the inquiry. Researchers need to be
cautious about engaging in this form of sampling because it might
divert attention away from the original aims of the research.
9. Snowball Sampling
Qualitative snowball sampling is a form of purposeful
sampling that typically proceeds after a study begins and occurs
when the researcher asks participants to recommend other
individuals to be sampled. Researchers may pose this request as
a question during an interview or through informal conversations
10.with individuals
Confrming and at a research Sampling
Disconfrming site.

Confirming and disconfirming sampling is a purposeful

strategy used during a study to follow up on specific cases to test
or explore further specific findings. For example, you find out that
academic department chairs support faculty in their development
as teachers by serving as mentors. After initially interviewing
chairs, you further confirm the mentoring role by sampling and
studying chairs that have received praise from faculty as “good”
mentors.
 Sample Size or Number of Research Sites
◆ It is typical in qualitative research to study a few individuals or a few
cases. This is because the overall ability of a researcher to provide an in-
depth picture diminishes with the addition of each new individual or site.
One objective of qualitative research is to present the complexity of a site
or of the information provided by individuals.

◆ In some cases, you might study a single individual or a single site. In

other cases, the number may be several, ranging from 1 or 2 to 30 or 40.
Because of the need to report details about each individual or site, the
larger number of cases can become unwieldy and result in superficial
perspectives. Moreover, collecting qualitative data and analyzing it takes
considerable time, and the addition of each individual or site only
lengthens that time.
Thank you....