The Nature of Qualitative

Research

VINCENT ROI DELAY DR. ACE D. BARREDO

Reporter Course Facilitator
 What is Qualitative
Research?
 Research studies that investigate the quality of relationship, activities,
situations, or materials that frequently referred to as Qualitative Research.

 involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or

audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to
gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research

 relies on data obtained by the researcher from first-hand observation,

interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, participant-observation, recordings
made in natural settings, documents, and artifacts.
 Qualitative Research
Question examples
How does social media shape body image in teenagers?
How do children and adults interpret healthy eating in the UK?
What factors influence employee retention in a large organization?
How is anxiety experienced around the world?
How can teachers integrate social issues into science curriculums?
 Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Quantitative Methodologies Qualitative Methodologies
 Preference for precise hypotheses stated  Preference for hypotheses that emerge as
at the outset study develops
 Preference for precise definition stated at  Preference for definition in context or as
the outset study progresses
 Data reduce to numerical scores  Preference for narrative description
 Much attention to assessing and  Preference for assuming that reliability of
improving reliability of scores obtained inference adequate
from instruments.
 Assessment of validity through a variety  Assessment of validity through cross-
of procedures with reliance on statistical checking sources of information.
indices.  Preference for expert information
 Preference for random techniques for (purposive) samples.
obtaining meaningful samples
 Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Quantitative Methodologies
 Preference for precisely describing
procedures
 Preference for design or statistical control of
extraneous variables.
 Preference for specific design control for
procedural bias
 Preference for statistical summary of results
 Preference for breaking down complex
phenomena into specific parts for analysis
 Willingness to manipulate aspects, situations,
or conditions in studying complex
phenomena.
Qualitative Methodologies
 Preference for narrative/literary descriptions of
procedures
 Preference for logical analysis in controlling or
accounting for extraneous variables.
 Primary reliance on researcher to deal with
procedural bias
 Preference for narrative summary of results
 Preference for holistic description of complex
phenomena
 Unwillingness to tamper with naturally
occurring phenomena
 General Characteristics of Qualitative Research
(Bogdan and Biklen)
1. The natural setting is direct source of data, and the researcher is the key instruments in
qualitative research. Qualitative researchers go directly to the particular setting of interest to
observe and collect their data.
2. Qualitative data are collected in the form of words or pictures rather that numbers. The
kinds of data collected in the qualitative research include interview transcript, field notes,
photographs, audio recordings, video tapes, diaries, personal comments, memos, of facial
records, textbook passages and anything else that can convey the actual words or actions of
people.
3. Qualitative researchers are concerned with process as well as product. Qualitative researchers are
especially interested in how things occur. Hence, they are likely to observe how people interact with
each other; how certain kinds of questions are answered; the meaning that people give to certain words
and actions; how people’s attitudes are translated into actions; how student seem to be affected by a
teacher’s manner, gestures, or comments;
 General Characteristics of Qualitative Research
(Bogdan and Biklen)

4. Qualitative researchers tend to analyze their data inductively. Qualitative researchers do

not, usually, formulate a hypothesis beforehand and then seek to test it out. Rather, they tend to
“play it as it goes.”

5. How people make sense out of their lives is a major concern to qualitative researcher. A
special interest of qualitative researchers lies in the perspective of the subject of a study.
 Major Characteristics of Qualitative Research
1 Naturalistic Inquiry.
Studying real world situations as they unfold naturally; non-manipulative, unobtrusive, and
non-controlling; openness to whatever emerges – lack of predetermined constraints on
outcomes.
2. Inductive analysis.
Immersion in the details and specifics of the data to discover important categories,
dimensions, and interrelationships; begin by exploring genuinely open questions rather than
testing theoretical derived (deductive) hypotheses.
 For example, In the past, ducks have always come to our pond. Therefore, the ducks will come
to our pond this summer.

3. Holistic Perspective
The whole phenomenon under study is understood as complex system that is more than the
sum of its parts; focus is on complex interdependencies not meaningfully reduced to a few
discrete variables and linear, cause-effect relationships.
 Major Characteristics of Qualitative Research

4. Qualitative data
Detailed, thick description; inquiry in depth; direct quotations capturing people’s personal
perspective and experiences.

5. Personal Contact and insight

The researcher has direct contact with and gets close to the people, situation, and
phenomenon under study; researcher’s personal experiences and insights are an important part
of the inquiry and critical to understanding the phenomenon.
6. Dynamic system
Attention to process; assumes change is constant and ongoing whether the focus is on and
individual or an entire culture.
7. Unique case orientation
Assumes each case is special and unique; the first level of inquiry is being true to respecting
and capturing the details of individual cases being studied.
 Major Characteristics of Qualitative Research

8. Context sensitivity
Places finding in a social, historical, and temporal context; dubious of the possibility or
meaningfulness of generalization across time and space.

9. Emphatic neutrality
Complete objectivity is impossible; pure subjectivity undermines credibility;

10. Design flexibility

Open to adapting inquiry as understanding deepens and/or situations change; avoids getting
locked into rigid designs that eliminate responsiveness;
 Steps in Qualitative Research
1. Identification of the phenomenon to be studied.
Before any study can begin, the researcher must identify the particular phenomenon he
or she is interested in investigating. For example, a researcher wishes to conduct a study to
investigate the interaction between minority and non-minority students in an inner-city high
school

2. Identification of the participants in the study.

The participants in the study constitute the sample of individuals who will be observed
(Interviewed) – in other words, the subject of the study. In Almost all qualitative research,
the sample is a purposive sample.
 Steps in Qualitative Research
3. Generation of hypotheses
Unlike in most quantitative studies, hypotheses are not post at the beginning of the study
by the researcher. Instead, they emerge from the data as the study progresses.

4. Data Collection
There is no “treatment” in qualitative study, nor is there any “manipulation” of subjects.
The participants in a qualitative study are not divided into groups, with one group being
exposed to a treatment then measured in some way.
 Steps in Qualitative Research
5. Data Analysis
Analyzing the data in a qualitative study essentially involves analyzing and synthesizing
the information the researcher obtain from various sources (e.g., observations, interviews,
documents) into a coherent description of what he or she has observed or otherwise
discovered.

6. Interpretations and conclusions.

In Qualitative research, interpretations are made continuously throughout the course of a
study. Whereas quantitative researchers usually leave the drawing of conclusions to the very
end of their research, qualitative researchers tend to formulate their interpretations as they
go along.
 Approaches to Qualitative Research
 BIOGRAPHY
A biography study is the of a single individual and his/her experiences as told to the
researcher or found in documents and archival material.” An important aspect of some of some
biographical studies is that the subject recalls one or more special events (an “epiphany”) in his
or her life. The author of the biography describes, in some detail, the setting or context within
which the epiphany occurred. Lastly, the author is actively present during the study and openly
acknowledges that his or her report is an interpretation of the subject’s experiences.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY

 Biographies (life stories written by a person other than the one being studied)
 Autobiographies (life story written by persons about themselves)
 Life histories (a combination of biography and autobiography)
 Oral histories (in which the researcher gathers personal recollections, usually from a variety
of individuals)
 Phenomenology
A researcher undertaking a phenomenological study investigates various reactions to, or
perceptions of, a particular phenomenon (e.g. the experience of the teachers in an inner-city
high school). The researcher hopes to gain some insight into the world of his or her participants
and to described their perceptions and reactions (e.g. what it is like to teach in an inner-city high
school). The data are usually collected through in-depth interviewing.

Ground Theory
In a ground theory study, the researchers intend to generate a theory that is “grounded in
data systematically gathered and analyzed.” Grounded theories are not generated before a study
begins, but are formed inductively from the data that are collected during the study itself.
 Case Study
The study of “case” has been around for sometime. Students in medicine, law, business and
the social sciences often study cases as a part of their training. What case study researchers
have in common is that they call the object of their research cases, and they focus their research
on the study of such cases.

Three types of case study

 Intrinsic case study

the researcher is primarily interested in understanding a specific individual or situation.
He or she describes, in detail, the particulars of the case in order to shed some light on what
is going on. Thus, a researcher might study a particular student in order to find out why that
student is having trouble learning to read.
Three types of case study
 Instrumental case study
on the other hand, a researcher is interested in understanding something more than just a
particular case; the researcher is interested in studying the particular case only as a means to
some larger goal. A researcher, might study how Mrs. Brown teaches phonics, for example,
in order to learn something about phonics as a method or about the teaching of reading in
general.

 Multiple (collective) case study

in which the researcher studies multiple case at the same time as part of one overall
study. For example, a researcher might choose several cases to study because she or he is
interested in the effects of mainstreaming children with disabilities into regular classrooms.
Instead of studying the result of such mainstreaming in just a single classroom, the
researcher studies its impact in a number of different classrooms.
Ethnographic and Historical Research
focuses on the study of culture

Historical Research
Concentrates exclusively on the past.
SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESERACH
Researcher who engage in some form of qualitative research are likely to select a
purposive sample.

Eight types of Purposive Sampling

 Typical sample, one that is considered or judge to be typical or representative of
the which is being studied (e.g. a class of elementary school pupils selected
because they are judged to be typical third graders).
 Critical sample, one that is considered to be particularly enlightening because it is
so unusual or exceptional (e.g. individuals who have attained high achievement
despite some serious physical limitation).
 Homogeneous sample, one in which all of the members possess a certain trait or
characteristic (e.g. a group of high school students all judge to possess exceptional
artistic talent.)
Eight types of Purposive Sampling
 Theoretical sample, one that helps the researcher to understand a concept or theory
(e.g. selecting a group of tribal elders to assess the relevance of Piagetian theory to
the education of Native Americans).
 Snowball sample, one selected as need arises during the conduct of a study (e.g.
during the interviewing of a group of principals they recommended other who also
should be interviewed because they are particularly knowledgeable about the subject
of the research.)
 Opportunistic sample, one chosen during a study to take advantage of new
conditions or circumstances that have arisen (e.g. eyewitnesses to a fracas at a high
school football game.)
 Confirming sample, one that is obtained to validate or disconfirm preliminary
findings (e.g. follow-up interview with students in order to verify reasons some
students drop out.)
 Maximal variation sample, one selected to represent a diversity of perspective or
characteristics (e.g. a group of students who possess a wide variety of attitudes toward
recent school policies.)
GENERALIZATION IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
A Generalization is usually thought of as a statement or claim of some sort
that applies to more than one individual, group, object, or situation. Thus
when a researcher make a statement, based on a review of the literature, that
there is a negative correlation between age and amount of interest in school
(older children are less interested in school than younger children), he or she
is making generalization.
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTATIVE RESEARCH RECONSIDERED

Three types of mixed-methods design

1. Triangulation design, the researcher simultaneously collects both quantitative and
qualitative data, compares the results, and then uses those findings to see whether they
validate each other. For example, a study of emotional and physical abuse of children may
include both questionnaires (quantitative) and interviews with children, parents, and
teachers (qualitative) as checks on each other.

2. Explanatory design, the researcher first collects and analyzes quantitative data and
then obtains qualitative data to follow up and refine the quantitative findings. For
example, the results of a study may show that students in an innovative program have
higher test scores and fewer drop-outs; the researcher may then interview students to see
which features of the program they think were most effective.
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTATIVE RESEARCH RECONSIDERED

Three types of mixed-methods design

3. Exploratory design, the researcher first collects qualitative data and then uses the
findings to give direction to quantitative data collection. This data is then used to validate
or extend the qualitative findings. For example, the results of an ethnographic study of a
school may suggest that parents of ethnic minority students feel alienated from teachers
and administrators; a questionnaire could then be used to assess the extent of this feeling.
Observation and
interviewing
OBSERVATION
Certain kinds of research questions can best be answered by observing how people act
or how things look. For example, researcher could interview teachers about how their
students behavior during class discussion of sensitive issues, but a more accurate
indication of their activities would probably be obtained by actually observing such
discussions while they take place.
Four different roles of researcher

PARTICIPANT’S OBSERVATION studies, researchers actually participate

in the situation or setting they are observing.
When a researcher takes on the role of a complete participant in a group, identity is
not known to any of the individuals being observed. The researcher interacts with
members of the group as naturally as possible and, for all intents and purpose (so far as
they are concerned), is one of them.

When a researcher chooses the role of participant-as-observer, he participated fully in

the activities of the group being studied, but also makes it clear that he is doing research.
As an example, the researcher described above might tell the faculty that he is a
researcher and intends to describe as thoroughly and accurately as he can what goes on in
the school over the course of a year’s time.
Four different roles of researcher

Participant can be overt, in that the researcher is easily identifies and the subjects
know that they are being observed; or it can be covert, in which case the researcher
disguises his or her identity and acts just like any of the other participants. For example
for overt, a researcher may ask a ninth-grade geography teacher to allow him to observe
one of that teacher’s classes over the course of the semester. Both teacher and students
would know the researcher’s identity.
On the other hand, another researcher might take the trouble to become certified as
an elementary school teacher and then spend a period of time actually teaching in an
elementary school while observing what is going on. No one would know the researcher’s
identity (with the possible exception of the district administration from whom permission
would have been obtained beforehand.)
Four different roles of researcher

NON-PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION researchers did not participate in

the activity being observed but rather “sit on the sidelines” and watch.
When a researcher chooses the role of observer participant, she identifies herself
straight off as a researcher but makes no pretense of actually being member of the group
she is observing.
For example, might be a University professor who is interested what goes on in an
inner-city.

Role of complete observer, is just that role at the opposite extreme from the role of
complete participant.
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION involve observing individuals in their
natural settings. The researcher makes no effort whatsoever to manipulate variables or to
control activities of individuals but simply observes and records what happens as things
naturally occur. For example, the activities of students at an athletic event, the interaction
between students and teachers on the playground, or the activities of very young children
in a nursery.

SIMULATIONS
To investigate certain variables, researcher sometimes will create a situation and ask
subjects to act out, or simulate, certain roles. In simulations, the researcher, in effect,
actually tells the subjects what to do (but not how to do it). This permits a researcher to
observe what happens in certain kinds of situations, including those that occur fairly
infrequently in schools or other educational setting. For example, individuals might be
asked to portray a counselor interacting with a distraught parent, a teacher disciplining
student, or two administrators discussing their views on enhancing teacher morale.
OBSERVER EFFECT
The presence of an observer can have considerable impact on the behavior of those
being observed and, hence, on the outcomes of study; this known as an observer effect.
Observational data (that which the observer records) inevitably to some extent
reflects the biases and viewpoints of the observer.

OBSERVER BIAS
Refers to the possibility that certain characteristics or ideas of observers may bias what
they “see”. Over the years, qualitative researchers have continually had to deal with the
charge that it is very easy for their prejudices to bias their data.
 INTERVIEWING
A second method used by qualitative researchers to collect data is to interview
selected individuals. Interviewing (i.e., the careful asking of relevant questions) is an
important way for a researcher to check the accuracy of-to verify- or refute- the
impression he or she has gained through observation.

Fetterman, in fact, describes interviewing as the most important data collection

technique a qualitative researcher possesses.
 Types of Interviews
Structured and Semi structured interviews are verbal questionnaires. Rather formal,
they consist of a series of questions designed to elicit specific answers from respondents.
Often they are used to obtained information that can later be compared and contrasted. For
example, a researcher interested in how the characteristics of teachers in inner city and
sub urban schools differ might conduct a structured interview (i.e., asking a set of
structured questions) with the group of inner city high school teachers to obtain
background information about them – their education, their qualifications, their previous
experience, their out-of-school activities, and so on – in order to compare this data with
the same data. (i.e., answers to the same questions) obtained from a group of teachers who
teach in the sub urban.
 Types of Interviews
Informal Interviews are much less formal than structured or semi structured
interviews. They tend to resemble casual conversations, pursuing the interests of both the
researcher and the respondent in turn. They do not involve any specific type or sequence
of questions or any particular form of questioning. The primary intent of an informal
interview is to find out what people think and how the views of one individual compare
with those of another.

Retrospective Interviews can be structured, semi structured, or informal. A researcher

who conducts a retrospective interviews tries to get a respondent to recall and then
reconstruct from memory something that has happened in the past. A retrospective
interview is the least likely of the four interview types to provide accurate, reliable data
for the researcher.
KEY-ACTOR INTERVIEWS
Some people in any group are more informed about the culture and history of their group,
as well as more articulate, than others. Such individual, traditionally called key
informants, are especially useful sources of information. Fetterman prefers the term key
actors to avoid the stigma attached to the term informant, as well as the historical roots
that underlie. Key actors are especially knowledgeable individuals and thus often excellent
sources of information.

TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Background (or Demographic) questions are routine sorts of questions about the
background characteristics of the respondents. They include questions about education,
previous occupations, age, income, and the like.
TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

2. Knowledge questions pertain to the factual information (as contrasted with opinions,
beliefs, and attitudes) respondents possess. Knowledge question about a school, for
example, might concern the kinds of courses available to students, graduation
requirements, the sort of extracurricular activities provided, school rules, enrollment
policies, and the like.

3. Experience (or behavior) questions focus on what a respondent is currently doing or

has done in the past. Example might include, “If I had been in your class during the past
semester, what kinds of things would I have been doing?” or, “If I were to follow you
through a typical day here at your school, what experiences would I be likely to see you
having?”
TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

4. Opinion (or values) questions are aimed at finding out what people think about some
topic or issue. Answers to such questions call attention to the respondents goals, beliefs,
attitudes, or values. Examples, might include such question as, “what do you think about
the principal’s new policy concerning absenteeism?” or, “What would you lie to see
changed in the way things are done in your U.S. history class?”

5. Feeling questions concern how respondents feel about things. They are directed toward
people’s emotional responses to their experiences. Example might include such questions
as, “How do you feel about the way students behave in this school?” or, “To what extent
are you anxious about going to gym class?”
TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

6. Sensory questions focus on what a respondent has seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or
touched. Examples might include questions such as, “When you enter your classroom,
what do you see?” or, “How would you describe what your class sounds like?” Although
this type of question could be considered as a form of experience or behavior question.it is
often overlooked by researchers during an interview. Further, such questions are
sufficiently distinct to warrant a category of their own.
INTERVIEWING BEHAVIOR

1. Respect the culture of the group being studied. It would be insensitive, for example,
for a researcher to wear expensive clothing while conducting an interview with an
impoverished, inner-city high school youth.
2. Respect the individual being interviewed. Those who agree to be interviewed give up
time they might spend elsewhere to answer the researcher’s questions.

3. Be natural. “Acting like an adolescent does not win the confidence of adolescents, it
only make them suspicious.” Deception in any form has no place in an interview.

4. Develop an appropriate rapport with the participant. Rapport implies getting along
with each other, a harmony with, a conformity to, an affinity for one another.
INTERVIEWING BEHAVIOR

5. Ask the same question in different ways during the interview. This enables the
researcher to check his/her understanding of what the interviewee has been saying, and
may even shed new light on the topic being discussed.
6. Ask the interviewee to repeat an answer or statement when there is some doubt about
the completeness of remark. This can stimulate discussion when an interviewee tends to
respond with terse, short answers to the researcher’s questions.

7. Vary who controls the flow of communication. In a formal, structured interview, it is

often necessary for the researcher to control the asking of questions and the pace of the
discussion. In informal interviews, particularly during the exploratory or initial phase of
an interview. It is often wise to let the interviewee ramble a bit in order to establish a sense
of trust and cooperation.
INTERVIEWING BEHAVIOR

8. Avoid leading questions. Leading questions presume an answer, as in questions like

“You wanted to do that, of course?” or “Your friends talked you into that, didn’t?” or
“How much did that upset you?” Each of these questions leads the participant to respond
in a certain way. More appropriate versions of these questions would be “What did you
want to do?” and “Why did you do that?” and “How did you feel about that?”

Instead of leading questions, interviewers often ask open-ended questions. Open-ended

questions indicate an area to be explored without suggesting to the participant how it
should be explored. They do not presume an answer. Example, “What was the meeting like
for you?” or “Tell me what your student teaching experience was like?”
INTERVIEWING BEHAVIOR

9. Do not ask dichotomous questions that is, questions that permit a yes-no answer, when
you are trying to get a complete picture. Example, “Were you satisfied with your
assignment?” “Have you changed as a result of teaching as Adams School?” “What that a
good experience for you?” “Did you know what to do when you were asked to do that?”
and so forth.

10. Ask only one question at a time, asking more than one question is a common error
made by novice interviewers, and you sometimes see this on poorly designed
questionnaire as well.
11. Don’t interrupt, This is perhaps the most important feature of good interviewing.
Don’t interrupt participants when they are talking.
FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS
In a focus group interview, the interviewer asks a small group (usually four to eight) of
people to think about a series of questions. The participants are seated together in a
group and get to hear one another’s responses to the questions.

RECORDING INTERVIEW DATA

While the interview is going on, therefore, it is essential to record as faithfully as
possible what the participants has to say.
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

 Validity refers to the appropriateness, meaningfulness and usefulness of the

inferences researchers make based on the data they collect.
 Reliability refers to the consistency of theses inferences over time, location, and
circumstances.

Procedures for checking on or enhancing validity and reliability

 Using a variety of instruments to collect data. When a conclusion is supported by data

collected from a number of different instruments, its validity is thereby enhanced. This kind
of checking is Often called Triangulation.
 Checking one informant’s descriptions of something (a way of doing things or a reason for
doing something) against another informant’s descriptions of the same thing. Discrepancies
in descriptions may mean the data are invalid.
 Learning to understand and, where appropriate to speak the vocabulary of the group being
studied.
Procedures for checking on or enhancing validity and reliability

 Writing down the questions asked (in addition to the answers received).
 Recoding personal thoughts while conducting observations and interviews.
 Asking one or more participants in the study to view the accuracy of the Research report.
ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY
Purpose/Justification
The purpose is not clearly stated but is implied in the statement that “Alternative certification is
here to stay; researchers should investigate not whether such program work, but which ones work best”
Justification is extensive and includes prevalence and controversy regarding alternatives to
traditional teacher training, contradictions among the few available studies, weaknesses of existing
studies, and the need for recruiting more teachers and with more diverse backgrounds.

Definitions
The key term alternatives program is not explicitly defined, as is common with multifaceted
programs or curricula.

Prior Research
The authors provide extensive citation of previous research with good summaries. Particularly
valuable is the inclusion of a methodological critique of previous studies.
ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY
Hypotheses
No hypotheses are stated except in relation to statistical tests. It appears that the statistical null
hypothesis of no difference was also the research hypothesis throughout.

Sample
the sample for study 1 consisted of 41 teachers in each group (alternatively trained in one university
program and traditionally trained), all having three years of teaching experience in the middle grades
(apparently all or mostly grades four and five) in one school district on Georgia, matched by subject
taught, grade level, and school.

Instrumentation
In study 1, a well-known observational system was used, and the two observers appear to have been
well trained.
ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY
Procedures/Internal Validity
Internal validity is a major strength of this study. Because the basic causal-comparative design does
not control for the subject characteristics threat, the authors matched pairs of teachers on years of
teaching experience and year of beginning teaching (actually the same for all teachers).

Data Analysis/Results
Descriptive statistic in studies and are appropriate and correctly interpreted. Because the sample
were not randomly selected and there was no rationale for considering them representative of any
population, MANOVA, if used at all

Discussion/Interpretation
We agree that this generally well-designed study showed no differences of any importance between
the training groups.