Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
REGION III – CENTRAL LUZON
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF TARLAC PROVINCE

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Characteristics of Qualitative Research:

Kania (2008) presents the following key distinguishing characteristics of a qualitative research.
1. Qualitative research is conducted in a systematic and rigorous way. However, it is more
flexible than qualitative research.
2. It usually follows an iterate process, which means that data collection and analysis occur
simultaneously. Data already collected and updated by the ongoing data collection.
3. It focuses on gathering information from people who can provide the richest insights into
the phenomenon or interest. As a result, small samples are commonly used in qualitative
research. Study participants are already selected in a purposive manner, using only those
for whom the topic under study is relevant.
4. Collection of data is continuous until saturation, or when it reaches the point where no
new information is revealed with respect to the key themes emerging from the data.
5. Qualitative data collection examines everyday life in its natural context or in an
uncontrolled naturalistic setting.

Characteristics of a Qualitative Research

Baraceros (2016) in her book presents the following characteristics of qualitative research:

1. Human understanding and interpretation. Data analysis results show an individual’s mental,
social, and spiritual understanding of the world. Hence, through their worldviews, you come to
know what kind of human being he or she is, including his or her values, beliefs, likes, and
dislikes.

2. Active, powerful, and forceful. A lot of changes occur continuously in every stage of a
qualitative research. As you go through the research process, you find the need to amend or
rephrase interview questions and consider varied ways of getting answers, like shifting from
mere speculating to traveling to places for data gathering. You are not fixated to a certain plan.
Rather, you are inclined to discover your qualitative research design as your study gradually
unfolds or reveals itself in accordance with your research objectives.

3. Multiple research approaches and methods. Qualitative research allows you to approach or
plan your study in varied ways. You are free to combine this with quantitative research and use
all gathered data and analysis techniques. Being a multi-method research, a qualitative study
applies to all research types: descriptive, exploratory, explanatory, case study, etc.

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4. Specificity to generalization. Specific ideas in a qualitative research are directed to a general

understanding of something. It follows an inductive or scientific method of thinking, where you
start thinking of particular or specific concept that will eventually lead you to more complex
ideas such as generalizations or conclusions.

5. Contextualization. A quantitative research involves all variables, factors, or conditions

affecting the study. Your goal here is to understand human behavior. Thus, it is crucial for you to
examine the context or situation of an individual’s life—the who, what, why, how, and other
circumstances affecting his or her way of life.

6. Diversified data in real-life situations. A qualitative researcher prefers collecting data in a

natural setting like observing people as they live and work, analyzing photographs or videos as
they genuinely appear to people, and looking at classrooms unchanged or adjusted to people’s
intentional observations.

7. Abounds with words and visuals. Words, words, and more words come in big quantity in this
kind of research. Data gathering through interviews or library reading, as well as the presentation
of data analysis results, is done verbally. In some cases, it resorts to quoting some respondents’
answers. Likewise, presenting people’s world views through visual presentation (i.e., pictures,
videos, drawings, and graphs) are significantly used in a qualitative research.

8. Internal analysis. Here, you examine the data yielded by the internal traits of the subject
individuals (i.e., emotional, mental, spiritual characteristics). You study people’s perception or
views about your topic, not the effects of their physical existence on your study. In case of
objects (e.g., books and artworks) that are subjected to a qualitative research, the investigation
centers on underlying theories or principles that govern these materials and their usefulness to
people.

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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Anderson (2010), in her article “Presenting an Evaluating Qualitative Research,” lists the
following strength of a qualitative research:
1. The study requires a few cases of participants. Data collected are based on the
participants’ own categories of meaning.
2. It is useful for describing complex phenomena.
3. Issues can be examined in detail and in depth.
4. Interviews are not restricted to specific questions and ca be guided or redirected by the
researcher in real time.
5. Subtleties and complexities about the research subjects or topic are more often missed by
more positivistic inquiries.
6. It provides individual case information.
7. Cross-care comparisons and analysis can be conducted.
8. It provides understanding and description of people’s personal experiences of phenomena
(i.e., the emic or insider’s viewpoint).
9. It can describe in detail the phenomena as they are situated and embedded in local
contexts.
10. The researcher usually identifies contextual and setting factors as they relate to the
phenomenon of interest.
11. The researcher can study dynamic processes (i.e., documenting sequential patterns and
change).
12. The researcher can use the primarily qualitative method of grounded theory to inductively
generate a tentative but explanatory theory about the phenomenon.
13. It can determine how the participants interpret constructs (e.g., self-esteem and IQ).
14. Data are usually collected in naturalistic settings in qualitative research.
15. Qualitative approaches are especially responsive to local situations, conditions and
stakeholders’ needs.
16. Qualitative data in the words and categories of participants lend themselves to exploring
how and why particular phenomena occur.
17. Your ca use and important case to vividly demonstrate a phenomenon to the readers.
18. It can determine idiographic causation (i.e., determination of causes of particular event).

Anderson (2010) also enumerates the following weaknesses of qualitative research:

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1. The knowledge produced may not be applicable to other people or other settings (i.e.,
findings might be unique to the relatively few people included in the research study).
2. Inflexibility is more difficult to maintain, assess and demonstrate.
3. It is sometimes not as well as understood and accepted as quantitative research within the
scientific community.
4. The researcher’s presence during data gathering, which is often unavoidable in qualitative
research, can affect the subjects’ responses.
5. Issues on anonymity and confidentiality can present problems when presenting findings.
6. It is difficult to make quantitative predictions.
7. It is more difficult to test hypothesis and theories with large participant pools.
8. It might have lower credibility with some administrators and commissioners of programs.
9. It generally takes more time to collect data compared to quantitative research.
10. Data analysis is often time-consuming.
11. The results are more easily influenced by the researcher’s personal biases and
idiosyncrasies.

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Department of Education
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SCHOOLS DIVISION OF TARLAC PROVINCE

COMMON TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The following are various types of qualitative research based on different fields of inquiry
(Merriam, S. B., et.al, 2002)

1. Phenomenological study. This type of research seeks to find the essence or structure an
experience by explaining how complex meanings a re built out of simple units of inner
experience. It examines human experiences (lived experiences through the descriptions
provided by subjects or respondents. The goal of this study is to describe the meaning
that experiences hold for each subject. Some of the areas of concern for these studies are
humanness, self-determination, uniqueness, wholeness, and individualism.

Example: What are common experiences encountered by a person with a spouse

who
is undergoing rehabilitation?
With the given problem, the researcher has to discover the inner feelings, emotional
hardships, and mental disturbances that the respondent is experiencing.

2. Ethnographical study. This study involves collection and analysis of data about cultural
groups and minorities. In this type of research, the researcher immerses with the people
and becomes a part of their culture. He or she becomes involved in the everyday activities
of the subjects, and gets to emphatize with the cultural groups experiencing issues and
problems in their everyday lives. During the immersion process, talks to the key persons
and personalities called informants who provide important information for the study. The
main purpose of this study is the development of cultural theories.
Example: What is the demographic prfile and migratory adaptations of squatter families
in Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City (dela Cruz,1994)?
In studying the problem, the researcher immerses with the subjects and becomes
involved with the activities that exemplify the cultural practices of the respondents.

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3. Historical study.. This study is concerned with the identification, location, evaluation,
and synthesis of data from past events. This is not only limited to obtaining data from the
past, but also involves relating their implications to the present and future time.
Example: What were the roles of the women in the Katipunan?
Some sources of data for a historical study are as follows:
a. Documents – printed materials that can be found in libraries, archieves or personal
collections
b. Relics and artifacts – physical remains or objects from a certain historical period.
c. Oral reports – information that is passed on by word of mouth
The data sources are classified as follows:
a. Primary sources – materials providing first-hand information e.g., oral histories,
written records, diaries, eyewitness accounts, pictures, videos and other physical
evidence
b. Secondary Source – second-hand information such an account based on an
original source, or a material written as an abstract of the original materials
The validity of matreials used in the study are assessed through the following
processes:
a. Internal criticism. This involves the study of authenticity or originality of the
materials by looking at the consistency of information. Motives and possible
biases of the author must be considered in trying to determine the accuracy of the
materials.
b. External criticism. This based on the analysis on the material: the ink, the type of
paper used, the layout and physical appearance and as well as the age and texture
of the material itself.
The researcher can consult authentic and original resource materials
relevant to the problem to determine the accuracy of information provided in the
research paper.

4. Case study. It is an in-depth examination of an individual, groups of people or an

institution. Some of its purpose are to gain insights into little-known problem, provide
background data for broader studies, and explain socio-psychological and socio-cultural
processes. A case study also involves a comprehensive and extensive examination o a
particular individual, group, or situation over a period of time. It provides informstion on

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where to draw conclusions about the impact of a significant event on a person’s life
(Snachez,2002).
Example: How do cancer survivors look at life?
The researcher is able to give an overview of the problem by interviewing a cancer
survivor about his or her own experiences.
5. Grounded Theory study. The method involves comparing collected units of data against
one another until categories, properties and hypotheses can state the relations between
these categories and properties emerge. These hypothesis are tentative and suggestive and
are not tested in the study.
Example: Ten school counselors were given structured interviews to help determine how
their professional identity is formed.

This data was coded first to form concepts. Then connections between concepts
were identified. A core concept emerged and its process and implications were discussed.
School counselor’s professional interactions were identified as defining experiences in
their identity formation (Brott & Myers, 1999).

6. Narrative Analysis. The main sources of data for this type of research are the life
accounts of individuals based on their personal experiences. The purpose of the study is
to extract meaningful context from experiences.
a. Psychological – This involves analyzing the story in terms of internal thoughts and
motivations. It also analyzes the written text or spoken words for its component parts
or patterns.
b. Biographical – This takes the individual’s society and factors like gender and class
into account.
c. Discourse analysis – This studies the approach in whih language is used in texts and
contexts.

7. Critical qualitative research. This type of research seeks to bring about change and
perspective on present day contexts. As such, it ultimately challenges the current norm,
especially on power distributions, building upon the initial appraisal of the said present
day perspectives.
For example, a critical examination of consumer education texts used in adult
literacy programs revealed content that was disrespectful for adult learners, their
previous experience as consumers and promoted certain ideologies regarding

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consumerism. The text also defended the status quo by blaming individual
inadequacies for economic troubles, ignoring societal inequities (sandlin, 2000).

8. Postmodern research. As opposed to the traditional forms of qualitative analysis, the

approach to this type of research seeks to analyze the facts that have been established as
truths, the ability of research and science to discover truth, and all generalizations and
typologies.
Merriam et al. (2002) proposes the following three “crises” as a result of the quationing
performed:

a. Whether the experience of another can be captured or whether it is created by the

reasearcher
b. Whether any study can be viewed as valid if traditiona methodologies are flawed.
c. Whether it is possible to institute any real change
Example: If our views of the self are themselves constructed by the society we live in
and the language we use, is true knowledge of the self, independent of
these,
even possible? If our “selves” are constructed, then attempting to gain
knowledge through self-reflection is a miscognition and [it] instead result
in the creation of a less independent and more societal-regulated self
(Bleakly, 2000).

9. Basic interpretative qualitative study. This is used when a researcher is interested in

identifying how individuals give meaning to a situation or phenomenon. It uses an
inductive strategy which is a process of analyzing patterns or common themes to produce
a descriptive account that summarizes and analyzes the literature that defined the study.
Example: An interview of 45 women from varying backgrounds and a comparison of
the developmental patterns discerned with earlier findings on male
development. They found women’s lives evolved through periods of
tumultuous, structure-building phases that altered with stable periods
(Levison & Levison, 1996).

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