CHAPTER 2

DESIGNING
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
THEORY AND
CONCEPTS
• IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES, THERE ARE CERTAIN
PATTERNS OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THINGS THAT
OCCUR WITH SUCH REGULARITY THAT THEY ARE
DEEMED LAWS: OCCURRENCES OF UNIVERSAL
CERTAINTY.

• ONE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC

RESEARCH IS TO MAKE SENSE FROM THESE VARIOUS
PATTERNS. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY CREATING,
EXAMINING AND TESTING, AND REFINING THEORY.
WHAT IS THEORY?

THEORY CAN BE DEFINED AS GENERAL AND, MORE

OR LESS, COMPREHENSIVE SET OF STATEMENTS OR
PROPOSITIONS THAT DESCRIBE DIFFERENT ASPECTS
OF SOME PHENOMENON. (BABBIE, 1998; HAGAN,1993;
SENSE,1997)
• IN AN APPLIED CONTEXT, THEORIES CAN BE UNDERSTOOD AS
INTERRELATED IDEAS ABOUT VARIOUS PATTERNS, CONCEPTS,
PROCESSES, RELATIONSHIPS, OR EVENTS.

• IN A FORMAL SENSE, SOCIAL SCIENTISTS USUALLY DEFINE

THEORY AS A SYSTEM OF LOGICAL STATEMENTS OR
PROPOSITIONS THAT EXPLAIN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
TWO OR MORE OBJECTS, CONCEPTS, PHENOMENA, OR
CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANS—WHAT ARE SOMETIMES
CALLED VARIABLES (BABBIE, 1992; DENZIN, 1978; POLIT &
HUNGLER, 1993).
WHAT IS CONCEPT?
• IN ORDER TO CONSTRUCT THEORIES, ONE NEEDS
SOME SMALLER COMPONENTS OR WHAT
JONATHAN TURNER CALLS THE "BASIC BUILDING
BLOCKS OF THEORY,“ NAMELY, CONCEPTS.

• CONCEPTS, THEN, ARE SYMBOLIC OR ABSTRACT

ELEMENTS REPRESENTING OBJECTS, PROPERTIES,
OR FEATURES OF OBJECTS, PROCESSES, OR
PHENOMENON.
• CONCEPTS MAY COMMUNICATE IDEAS OR INTRODUCE
PARTICULAR PERSPECTIVES, OR THEY MAY BE A
MEANS FOR CASTING A BROAD GENERALIZATION

• CONCEPTS PROVIDE A MEANS FOR PEOPLE TO LET

OTHERS KNOW WHATTHEY ARE THINKING, AND
ALLOW INFORMATION TO BE SHARED.
IDEAS AND THEORY
• EVERY RESEARCH PROJECT HAS TO START SOMEWHERE;
TYPICALLY, THE STARTING POINT IS AN IDEA. SOMETIMES
THIS IDEA ORIGINATES BECAUSE OF A PARTICULAR PROBLEM
OR SITUATION ONE ACTUALLY EXPERIENCES.

• IN SOME SITUATIONS, IDEAS MOVE FROM INFORMATION YOU

HEAR BUT MAY NOT ACTUALLY EXPERIENCE YOURSELF.
THEORY-BEFORE-RESEARCH MODEL:

IDEA THEORY DESIGN DATA

COLLECTION

FINDINGS ANALYSIS
RESEARCH-BEFORE-THEORY MODEL:

IDEA DESIGN DATA COLLECTION

THEORY

FINDINGS
ANALYSIS