Qualitative Research:

The 5 Traditions

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 What is Qualitative Research?
• A holistic approach to questions--a
recognition that human realities are
complex. Broad questions.
• The focus is on human experience
• The research strategies used
generally feature sustained contact
with people in settings where those
people normally spend their time.
Contexts of Human Behavior.
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 Qualitative Research cont.
• There is typically a high level of
researcher involvement with subjects;
strategies of participant observation
and in-depth, unstructured interviews
are often used.
• The data produced provide a
description, usually narrative, of
people living through events in
situations.
Cited from Boyd, pp. 67-68 in Munhall, 2001
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 Types of Qualitative Data
• 1.Interviews

• 2.Observations

• 3.Documents

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 Types of Qualitative Data
• 1. Interviews
– Open-ended questions and probes yield
in-depth responses about people’s
experiences, opinions, perceptions,
feelings and knowledge.

– Data consist of verbatim quotations with

sufficient context to be interpretable.

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 Types of Qualitative Data cont.
• 2. Observations
– Fieldwork descriptions of activities,
behaviors, actions, conversations,
interpersonal interactions, organizational
or community processes, or any other
aspect of observable human experience.

– Data consist of field notes: rich detailed

descriptions, including the context within
which the observations were made.
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 Types of Qualitative Data cont.
• 3. Documents
– Written materials and other documents,
programs records; memoranda and
correspondence; official publications and
reports; personal diaries, letters, artistic
works, photographs, and memorabilia; and
written responses to open-ended surveys.

– Data consists of excerpts from documents

captured in a way that records and preserves
context.

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 Qualitative Traditions of Inquiry
• 1. Biography--Life history, oral
history
• 2. Phenomenology--The lived
experience
• 3. Grounded theory
• 4. Ethnography
• 5. Case Study

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 Biographical Study

– The study of an individual and her or his

experiences as told to the researcher or
found in documents and archival
material.

– Life history--The study of an individual’s

life and how it reflects cultural themes
of the society.

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 Biographical Study cont.
– Oral history--The researcher gathers
personal recollections of events, their
causes, and their effects from and
individual or several individuals.

– The researcher needs to collect extensive

information about the subject of the
biography

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 Biographical Study cont.

☸The writer, using an interpretive approach,

needs to be able to bring himself or herself
into the narrative and acknowledge his or
her standpoint.

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 Phenomenology
– Describes the meaning of the lived
experience about a concept or a
phenomenon for several individuals.

– It has roots in the philosophical

perspectives of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre,
Merleau-Ponty, etc.
--Max Van Manen, Munhall (Nursing)

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 Phenomenology

• Moustakas, 1994, p. 13: “to determine

what an experience means for the
persons who have had the experience
and are able to provide a
comprehensive description of it. From
the individual descriptions, general or
universal meanings are derived, in
other words, the essences of structures
of the experience.”

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 Grounded Theory

– Based on Symbolic
Interactionism which posits
that humans act and interact
on the basis of symbols, which
have meaning and value for the
actors.

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 Grounded Theory cont.
• The intent of grounded theory
is to generate or discover a
theory that relates to a
particular situation. If little is
known about a topic,
grounded theory is especially
useful
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 Grounded Theory cont.

– Usually have a question, don’t

do
a literature review in the
beginning.

– Usually do 20-30 interviews

(maybe more than one time for
each person)
Spring 2006 Qualitative Research--Simpson 16
 Grounded Theory cont.

– Data collection and analysis occur

simultaneously, until “saturation” is
reached.

– Data reviewed and coded for categories

and themes.

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 Grounded Theory cont.
– Data analysis generates a visual
picture, a narrative statement or a
series of hypotheses with a central
phenomenon, causal conditions,
context and consequences.

– The researcher needs to set aside

theoretical ideas or notions so that
analytical or substantive theories can
emerge from the data.

– Systematic approach
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 Ethnography
– A description and interpretation of a
cultural or social group or system. The
researcher examines the group’s
observable and learned patterns of
behavior, customs, and ways of life.

– Involves prolonged observation of the

group, typically through participant
observation.

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 Ethnography

– Field Work
– Key Informants
– Thick description
– Emic (insider group perspective) and
Etic (researcher’s interpretation of
social life).
– Context important, need holistic view.
– Need grounding in anthropology.

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 Ethnography cont.

– Need extensive time to collect data

– Many ethnographies may be written in a

narrative or story telling approach
which may be difficult for the audience
accustomed to usual social science
writing.

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 Ethnography cont.

– May incorporate quantitative data

and archival documents.

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 Case Study

– A case study is an exploration of a

“bounded system” or a case (or
multiple cases) over time through
detailed, in-depth data collection
involving multiple sources of
information rich in context.

– The context of the case involves

situating the case within its setting.
which may be physical, social, historical
and/or economic. 23
 Case Study cont.

– Data collection strategies include direct

observation, interviews, documents,
archival records, participant
observation, physical artifacts and
audiovisual materials.

– Analysis of themes, or issues and an

interpretation of the case by the
researcher.

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 Feminist Research
• Uses feminist theory as the philosophical underpinning
of the approach.
• Assumes most formal knowledge is generated by men.
• Assumes that patriarchy and the use of power is harmful
to women.
• Some feminists also recognize social class and race as
socially generated constructs that are used to oppress
others.

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 Feminist Research is often classified in the
“qualitative research” family because:
• It is used to generate new knowledge.
• It’s purpose is to create social change.
• It argues against the “top-down,” hierarchal relationships
associated with male-dominated knowledge by
minimizing the social distance between researcher and
subject. Respondents often participate in the research
process.
• It focuses on the position in society of research subjects
and the researcher.
• The perspectives or standpoint of the subject and
researcher are central in data collection and analysis.

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 The term standpoint refers to:
• The perspectives or lived experiences of the
researcher and his or her subjects.
• These perspectives vary based on the
location of individuals in the social structure.
Are their perspectives different from those
with privileged positions in society. Is this
standpoint associated with oppression based
on social class, ethnicity/race, gender, sexual
orientation etc. or some combination of these
attributes.
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 Designing a Qualitative Study

• Problem Statement or Statement of

Need for the Study
• No hypothesis; Research questions
which you want to answer instead.
• Opinions differ about the extent of
literature needed before a study
begins.
• Need to identify the gaps in
knowledge about the topic.
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 Qualitative Study Design cont.
• Research questions that are too broad:
– Does Buddhism account for the patience
that seems to dominate the Thai world
view?

– How do leaders make their decisions?

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 Qualitative Study Design cont.
• Research questions better answered
by quicker means:

– What television programs do Brazilians

watch most?

– Where can you buy postage stamps in

Italy?

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 Qualitative Study Design cont.

• Examples of Qualitative Questions

– What do people in this setting have to know in order to
do what they are doing?

– What is the story that can be told from these

experiences?

– What are the underlying themes and contexts that

account for the experience?

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 Qualitative Sampling Strategies

• No probability sampling

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 Sampling Strategies cont.
• Decisions about sampling and
sampling strategies depend on the
unit of analysis which has been
determined.
– individual people
– program, group organization or
community
– genders, ethnic groups, older and
younger

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 Sampling Strategies cont.
• Purposeful or Judgment Sampling
– “In judgment sampling, you decide the
purpose you want informants (or
communities) to serve, and you go out
to find some” Bernard, 2000:176

– “Key Informants” are people who are

particularly knowledgeable about the
inquiry setting and articulate about their
knowledge.

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 Sampling Strategies cont.
• Purposeful Sampling Strategies
– Maximum variation
– Homogeneous
– Critical case
– Theory based
– Confirming and disconfirming cases

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 Sampling Strategies cont.

– Snowball or chain
– Extreme or deviant case
– Typical case
– Intensity
– Politically important cases
– Random purposeful

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 Sampling Strategies cont.

– Stratified purposeful
– Criterion
– Opportunistic
– Combination or mixed
– Convenience

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 Qualitative Data Collection
• Rather than developing an instrument
to use, the qualitative researcher is the
instrument.
• Recording data: Field notes, tape
recorders, video and photographic data
• Interviews must be transcribed.

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Fieldwork Strategies and Observations
• “In the fields of observation, chance
favors the prepared mind.” Louis
Pasteur

• “People only see what they are

prepared to see.” Ralph Waldo
Emerson

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 Fieldwork Observations

• Learn to pay attention, see what there

is to see, and hear what there is to
hear.
• Practice writing descriptively
• Acquiring discipline in recording field
notes
• Knowing how to separate detail from
trivia to achieve the former without
being overwhelmed by the latter.
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 Fieldwork Observations cont.

• Use rigorous methods to validate and

triangulate observations.
• Reporting strengths and limitations of
one’s own perspective, which requires
both self-knowledge and self-
disclosure.
• Participant observer or onlooker or
both

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 Qualitative Interviewing
1. Informal conversational interview

2. Interview guide approach

3. Standardized open-ended interview

4. Closed, fixed-response interview

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 Qualitative Interviewing cont.
• Sequencing questions
• Use words that make sense to the
people being interviewed.
• Ask truly open-ended questions
• Avoid questions which can be
answered with a yes or no.
• One idea per question.
• Be careful with Why questions.

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 Qualitative Data Analysis
• When does analysis begin? During
data collection.
• Thick description is the foundation for
qualitative analysis and reporting.
• Organize the data. Read all the data
and get a sense of the whole.
• Coding for recurring themes and
categories

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 Qualitative Data Analysis
• Computer-assisted qualitative data
management and analysis
– Ethnograph
– NUD*IST (Non-numerical Unstructured
Data With Indexing, Searching and
Theorizing) QSR N6 and QSR NVivo
– ATLAS.ti

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 Qualitative Data Analysis
• Coding data
• Finding Patterns
• Labeling Themes
• Developing Category Systems
• Looking for emergent patterns in the
data

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 References
Bernard, H.R. (2000). Social Research Methods:
Qualitative and Quantitative approaches. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage
Creswell, J.W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research
Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage
Munhall, P.L. (2001). Nursing Research: A Qualitative
Perspective, 3rd Edition. Sudbury, MA: Jones and
Bartlett
Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation
Methods, 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

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