PRAS01A - Practical Research 1 (Ms.

Kristena Ditan) CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

LESSON 3: Different Types of Research Kania (2008) presents the following key distinguishing
characteristics of qualitative research:
GENERAL FORMS OF RESEARCH
General forms of research - define the purpose and approach - It is conducted in systematic and rigorous way.
of the study - It usually follows an iterative process.
- It focuses on gathering information from people who
1. Scientific Research can provide the richest insights into the phenomenon
is a research method that seeks to explain naturally occurring or interest.
phenomena in the natural world by generating credible
- Collection of data is continuous until saturation, or
theories.
when it reaches the point where no information is
2. Research in Humanities revealed with respect to the key themes emerging from
Seeks to define the purpose of human existence by tapping data.
into historical facts and future possibilities. - Qualitative data collection examines everyday life in
its natural context or in an uncontrolled naturalistic
3. Artistic Research
It provides alternative approaches to established concepts by setting.
conducting practical methods as substitutes for fundamental THE VALUE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
and theoretical ones.
- Qualitative data provides context and meaning.
NOTE!: Any of the three (3) forms of study are by no means a This will give a sense of the who, what, when, and
better approach than the other. However, what differs among
the three is the objective of the study and the means to where the study.
achieve it. Nevertheless, whichever of the three are followed
by the researcher, the true goal of any research remains the THE VALUE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
same – to further the current established knowledge on
different areas of study 1. Qualitative data provides context and meaning.
This will give a sense of the who, what, when,
RESEARCH METHOD and where the study.
determines the approach that the researcher takes in 2. Qualitative research can complete the picture
identifying relevant data for the research and collecting and by delving into the why and the how. It can
analyzing the information gathered in research.
explore narrowly-defined issues in greater
THERE ARE TWO BROAD CATEGORIES OF RESEARCH depth, explaining the setting in which behavior
METHODOLOGY: can takes place. It gives complete picture of the
1. Qualitative research method issue being studied.
Polit and Beck (2004) define quantitative research as the 3. The value of qualitative study comes from its
traditional positivist scientific method with refers to a
focus on the lived experience of the
general set of orderly, disciplined procedures to acquire
information participants, which enabled development of
greater understanding concerning the outcomes
2. Quantitative research method that are important, relevant, and meaningful to
“Is defined as the “naturalistic method of inquiry of research the people involved.
which deals with the issue of human complexity by exploring
it directly” (Polit and Beck, 2008) RESEARCH DESIGN:
- It enables the researcher to organize the components
- It utilizes naturalistic methods of inquiry as the research of research.
place great emphasis on the analysis of experiences of the
- It will ensure that the research or study will effectively
individual.
- It attempts to explain the human experience. address the research topic or problem.
- It focuses on gaining insights and understanding about an - It also a template for the collection, measurement,
individual’s perception and interpretation of events.
- It collects data through methods such as interview and
and analysis of data.
participative observation - It determines the research design that will be used in
- Lastly, the researcher does not have to be concerned with
the study.
numbers and complicated statistical analyses.
RESEARCH DESIGN 7. POST MODERN RESEARCH
Having a well-developed research design will enable the As opposed to the traditional forms of qualitative
researcher to achieve the ff: analysis, the approach of this type of research seeks to
1. Clearly identify and describe the research problem or analyze the facts that have been established as truths,
topic and justify the selection of the appropriate design the ability of research and science to discover the truth,
to be used. and all generalizations and typologies.

2. Review and synthesize previous studies and literature 8. PHENOMENOLOGICAL DESIGN

related to the topic. This type of research seeks to find the essence or structure of
experience by explaining how complex meanings are built out
3. Clearly identify hypotheses that are significant to the of simple units of inner experience. It examines human
problem. experiences (lived-experiences) through the descriptions
provided by subject or respondents. The goal of this study is
to describe the meaning that experiences hold for each
4. Determine the data necessary to test hypotheses and
subject.
explain how the data will be obtained.
Examples:
5. Describe the methods of analysis that will be used on • A Qualitative Study on the Lived-experiences of Science
the data gathered in order to evaluate. Teachers in the Bahamas Science
• The Subjective Experience and Phenomenology of
COMMON TYPES OF QUALITATIVE DESIGN Depression Following First Episode Psychosis: A Qualitative
1. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY Study Using Photo-Elicitation
The researcher immerses with the people and becomes • Alternative Education Completers: A Phenomenological
a part of their culture| Study

9. BASIC INTERPRETATIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY

2. HISTORICAL This is used when a researcher is interested in
This study is concerned with identification, location, identifying how individuals give meaning to a situation
evaluation and synthesis of data from past events or phenomenon. It uses an inductive strategy which is a
process of analyzing patterns or common themes to
3. CASE STUDY produce a descriptive account that summarizes and
This design involves a comprehensive and extensive analyzes the literature defined in the study.
examination of a particular individual, group or situation
over period of time. Examples:
• Exploring the Ways New Faculty Form Beliefs About
4. GROUNDED THEORY STUDY Teaching: A Basic Interpretative Qualitative Study
This design involves comparing collected units of data • Workplace Learning of Professional Academic Advisors
against one another until categories, properties and at Urban Universities: A Basic Interpretative Qualitative
hypotheses that states relations between these Investigation
categories and properties emerge. • Creating A Future: A Study of Resilience in Suicidal
Female Adolescents
5. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS • Curriculum Orientation of Virtual Teachers: A Basic
The main source of data are the life accounts of Interpretative Qualitative Study of Secondary Teachers'
individuals based on their personal experiences. Development of Curriculum Orientation

6. CRITICAL QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

This study seeks to bring about change and empower
individual by describing and critiquing the social,
cultural, psychological perspectives on present-day
contexts.
10. INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS WEAKNESSES OF Qualitative design
The aim of this design is to explore in detail how participants
are making sense or give meanings in particular experiences, Anderson (2010), in her article “Presenting and Evaluating
events states for participants. The approach is phenomenolo- Qualitative Research,” also enumerates the weaknesses of
gical in that involves detailed examination of participant’s life qualitative research:
world; it attempts to explore personal experiences and is 1. The knowledge produced might not be applicable to other
concerned with an individual’s personal perception. people or setting.
2. Inflexibility is more difficult to maintain, assess, and
Examples: demonstrate.
• Exploring the Ways New Faculty Form Beliefs About 3. It is sometimes not as well understood and accepted as
Teaching: A Basic quantitative research within the scientific community.
Interpretative Qualitative Study 4. The researcher’s presence during data gathering, which is
• Workplace Learning of Professional Academic Advisors at often unavoidable in qualitative research, can affect the
Urban subjects’ response.
Universities: A Basic Interpretative Qualitative Investigation 5. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality can present
• Creating A Future: A Study of Resilience in Suicidal Female problems when presenting problems.
Adolescents 6. It is difficult to make quantitative predictions.
7. It is more difficult to test hypotheses and theories with
STRENGTHS OF QUALITATIVE DESIGN large participants pool.
Anderson (2010), in her article “Presenting and Evaluating 8. It might have a lower credibility with some administrators
Qualitative Research,” lists the ff strengths of qualitative and commissioners of programs.
research: 9. It generally takes more time to collect data compared to
quantitative research.
1. The study requires a few cases or participants. Data 10. Data analysis is often time-consuming.
collected are based on the participants’ own categories of 11. The results are more easily influenced by researcher’s
meaning. personal biases and idiosyncrasies.
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 can
be guided or redirected by the researcher in real time.
5. Subtleties and complexities about the research subjects or
topic are often missed by more positivistic inquiries.
6. It provides individual case information.
7. Cross-case comparisons and analysis can be conducted.
8. It provides understanding and description of people’s
personal experiences of phenomena.
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.
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 participants interpret constructs.
14. Data are usually collected in naturalistic settings in
qualitative research.
15. Qualitative approaches are especially responsive to local
situations, conditions, and stakeholders’ need.
16. Qualitative Data in the words and categories of
participants lend themselves to exploring how and why
particular phenomena occur.
17. You can use an important case to vividly demonstrate a
phenomenon to the readers.
18. It can determine idiographic causation (i.e., determination
of causes of particular event).