PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

Qualitative
Chapter 2
Qualitative Research and
Importance in Daily Life
Learning Competencies:
The learner:
1. describes characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and kinds of
qualitative research;
2. illustrates the importance of qualitative research across fields.
Lesson 1
Philosophical Perspectives
of Quantitative and
Qualitative
Research Methodologies
 Positivism: The Researcher as Interpretivism : The
Scientist Researcher as Detective

Believes that reality can be discovered in Believe that reality is socially

the world and that the world is bound by constructed and the people
theories and laws develop the meaning of certain
things out of their experiences

Aims to acquire objective knowledge Aims to acquire subjective

and places value on numerical measures knowledge and places value on
to observe and describe a phenomenon people’s views.
 Positivism: The Researcher as Interpretivism : The Researcher
Scientist as Detective
In order to understand reality, the In order to understand reality, the
approach “reduces” aspects of approach looks into the
reality into discrete items, usually “complexity” of perspectives
called variables. These are rather than limiting them to a few
carefully measured and their categories. It does so because it
relationships are determined recognizes that meanings are
many and diverse.
 Positivism: The Researcher as
Scientist
Commonly addresses problems of
cause and effect
Usually starts its investigation with a
theory, conducts tests to validate or
disprove it, and performs additional
tests.
Interpretivism : The Researcher as
Detective
Commonly addresses problems
involving interaction and processes.
Investigation does not start with an
existing theory. It tries to build theory
from seeing patterns and common
themes in the meanings linked with the
phenomenon.
Lesson 2

Criteria for Selecting a

Research Methodology
Criteria in choosing a research
methodology
According to Creswell (2014), there are several
criteria in determining your research
methodology:
• Research Problem and Questions
• Personal Experiences
• Audience
 Research Problem and Questions

QUALITATIVE DESIGN in exploring a concept or topic

that has never been explored before with a group of people.
QUANTITATIVE DESIGN if you want to measure an aspect
of reality or determine the relationship among variables
through statistical analysis. It is also useful in testing a
theory or explanation.
onal Experiences
QUANTITATIVE - Skillful in statistics
QUALITATIVE – Interest in finding out what the
perspectives of people are and how they define and find
meaning in a particular situation or having a keen interest on
immersing in a specific culture and trying to see how people
behave and interpret their own culture.
Audience
• Consider the venue you will be sharing your research.
• Consider the type and expectation of the audience.
• The implication is that you, as a researcher, should first
try to determine who your intended audience is and their
preference.
Essay Question:

What do you think is the

most important criteria? Why?
Lesson 3

Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
Criteria in choosing a research
methodology
According to Creswell (2014), the most common characteristics of a
qualitative study are the ff:
• Natural Setting
• Researcher as Key Instrument
• Multiple Sources of Data
• Inductive and Deductive Data Analysis
• Participant’s Meaning
• Emergent Design
• Reflexivity
• Holistic Account
 Natural Setting
• Researcher go to the field, to the actual setting where the
phenomenon or reality under study is happening.
• Researcher engages the people who are directly involved.
• In cases of ethnographic one, the researcher would live in
the community for extended periods of time to fully
understand the people’s culture.
 Researcher as Key Instrument
• Researcher is the one collecting the data by going to the field and
taking to people through interviews or group discussions.
• Researcher would also conduct observations in the actual setting
and come up with an analysis.
• Researcher is the central figure in the research.
• Researcher interprets these information through his or her
perspective and lens.
 Multiple Sources of Data
• Research entails collecting data from multiple sources
(interview, FGD, observation, immersion, document
reviews/analysis, audiovisual information). Then after, he
would then try to come up with categories or themes that
“cut across” or are common to these data sources.
Inductive and Deductive Data
Analysis
• Data analysis involves looking at the data from the “bottom up”
or from its bits and pieces, consolidating information, and
forming concepts from them. These abstracts will be clustered
into categories and themes until you fully developed a complete
picture of the phenomenon or reality under study. After, the
researcher would need to check the themes and determine if
enough evidence supports them.
 Participant’s Meaning
• Qualitative research puts emphasis on research participant’s
interpretation and the meanings they association with a particular
reality or phenomenon. These should be highlighted when
presenting the findings of the research and not what other
authors or scholars have shared about it or what the researcher’s
own interpretation of the phenomenon is .
ergent Design
• The process of qualitative research can be emergent.
• Sequence of data collection and its phases may change once the
researcher has entered the field or research setting.
• The initially identified participants, the research sites, and the
questions asked may be adjusted. Such decisions will be needed
depending on the themes and issues that surface while doing the
study.
ergent Design
• The researcher is still guided by the research problem and
questions. In this way, the qualitative research process
may be modified to find the answers to the key questions
and problems of the study.
eflexivity
• Researcher play an essential role in the study. The
researcher would reveal and disclose his personal history,
background, culture, and experiences and reflect how
these have affected and shaped his or her interpretation of
the collected data and the direction of the research.
 Holistic Account
• The qualitative researcher wishes to pain a comprehensive and
complex view of the particular phenomenon being studied which
can be done by presenting different perspectives about the
phenomenon, determining the factors involved, and developing
the general picture emerging from the data. Visual
representations through figures, charts, and tables can also be
utilized.
Essay Question:
After learning about the various
characteristics of
qualitative research, which of these do you
like
the most and why? Identify two.
Lesson 4

Strengths and Weaknesses of

Qualitative Research
 Strengths
• Values research participant’s voices
• Generalizability
• Describe rich phenomena situated in some exceptional
environment
• Shows depth and detail
• Unravels complex phenomena embedded in local context
 Weaknesses
• Time-consuming
• Affected by the researcher’s skills
• Adaptable
• Interpretation of results is usually biased
• Analysis of data takes longer time than that in qualitative
analysis.