Chapter 1: Starter Kit: Qualitative Research

CHAPTER 1: STARTER KIT
Qualitative Research
BASIC NOTIONS BEFORE WE
START…
• There are two main Approaches to research:
quantitative and qualitative (and mixed methods so
that makes 3 but do not think about that for now)
• what are the main differences between the two?

WHAT IS QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH?
• The term qualitative research is used to refer both to technique (of data collection or data
analysis) and to a wider framework for conducting research, or paradigm.
• Paradigm refers to the beliefs, assumptions, values and practices shared by a research
community, and it provides an overarching framework for research
RESEARCH PARADIGMS
• A set of beliefs.
• They are characterized by the way their proponents respond to three
basic questions:
1.Ontological: What is the nature of the ‘knowable’? Or, what is the

nature of ‘reality’?
2.Epistemological: What is the nature of the relationship between the
knower (the inquirer) and the known (or knowable)?
3.Methodological: How should the inquirer go about finding out
knowledge? (Guba, 1990)
QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE
Quantitative Qualitative
Numbers used as data Words – written and spoken language – (and images) used as data
Seek to identify relationships between variables, to explain or predict – with the aim Seek to understanding and interpret more local meanings; recognizes data as gathered
of generalizing the findings to a wider population in a context; sometimes produces knowledge that contributes to more general
understanding
Generate ‘shallow’ but broad data Generates ‘ narrow’ but rich data, ‘thick description’
Seeks consensus, norms, or general patterns; often aims to reduce diversity of Tends to seek patterns, but accommodates and explores difference and divergence
responses to an average response within data
Tends to be theory-testing and deductive Tends to be theory generating, and inductive (working up from the data)
Values detachment and impartiality (objective) Values personal involvement and partiality (subjectivity, reflexivity)
Fixed method Method is less fixed
Complete quickly Tends to take longer to complete because it is interpretative and there is no formula
INDUCTIVE
• Morning from data to theory
• Gaining understanding of the meanings
• Flexible structure to permit changes of research emphasis as the research progresses
• A realization that the researcher is part of the research process
• Less concern with the need to generalise
ONTOLOGY
• “What assumptions do we make about the way in the which the world works?”
• “Ontology is concerned with the nature of reality. This raises questions of the assumptions
researchers have about the way the world operates and the commitment held to particular
views.
• Objectivism: this portrays the position that social entities exists in reality external to social actors
concerns with their existence.
• Subjectivism: social phenomena are created from perceptions and consequent actions those
social actors concerned with their existence.”
(Saunders et al., 2016, p.127-128)

AXIOLOGY
• “What roles do our values play in our research choices”
• “Axiology refers to the role of values and ethics within the research process. This
incorporate questions about how we, as a researcher, deal with both our own values and
those of our research participants”
(Saunders et al., 2016, p.128)

POSITIVISM
• “ If your research reflects the philosophy of positivism then you will probably adopt the
philosophical stance of the natural scientist. You will prefer working with an observable
social reality and that the end product of such research can be law-like generalizations
similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists”
(Remenyi et al, 1998, p.32)

REALISM
• “The essence of realism is that what the senses show us as reality is the truth: that objects have an
existence independent of the human mind. The philosophy of realism is that there is a reality quite
independent of the mind. Realism is a branch of epistemology which is similar to positivism in that
it assumes a scientific approach to the development of knowledge.”
• Direct: what you see is what you get or what you experience through your senses portray the world
accurately.
• Critical: What we experience is the manifestation the things in real world not the actual things. So,
sometimes our senses deceive us. We need wider picture to validate our sensation.
(Saunders et al., 2016, p.138-139)

EPISTEMOLOGICAL BASES FOR
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
ASK YOURSELF…
• What kind of knowledge do I aim to create?
• What are the assumptions that I make about the (material / social / psychological) world(s)
which I study?
• How do I conceptualize the role of the research in the research process? What is the
relationship between myself and the knowledge I aim to generate?
These will help us to clarify our epistemological position in relation to the research we plan to
conduct…
REALIST APPROACH
• Seeks to generate knowledge that captures and reflects as truthfully as possible something
that is happening in the real world.
• What happens in the world, how and why, can be understood provided that the researcher is
skilled enough to uncover the patterns, regularities and structures of experience and behavior
which characterize human existence.
• ‘naïve“’ to more ‘critical’ variaties
• Naïve – assumes that there is a relatively uncomplicated and direct relationship between
what the researcher can see and what is really going on.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH
• To produce knowledge about the subjective experience of research participants.
• Participants’ feelings, thoughts and perception which constitutes their experience.
• Quality and texture of experience
• Resembles person-centered therapy
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST
APPROACH
• Knowledge about the process by which such ‘knowledge’ is constructed in the first place.
• Language plays such an important part in the social construction of what we regard as
‘knowledge’ – to study discourses
• Eg. Analyse the language used in policy documents in order to understand how something
like ‘antisocial behavior’ is constructed within these documents.
• ‘relativist’ – because it rejects the idea that objects, events and experiences precede and
inform our description of them.
• ‘language’ (discourse) constructs reality
10 FUNDAMENTALS OF
1. Meaning, not numbers
2. Doesn’t provide a single answer
3. Treats context as important
4. Can be experimental or critical
5. Underpinned by ontological assumptions
• The relationship between the world and our human interpretation and practices
• ‘reality’ is independent of human ways of knowing it
• Realism: mind independent truth
• Relativism: reality is entirely depends on human interpretation and knowledge
10 FUNDAMENTALS OF
6. Epistemological assumptions
7. Qualitative methodology
8. Uses all sort of data
9. Thinking qualitatively
10. Values subjectivity and reflexivity

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CHAPTER 1: STARTER KIT

• what are the main differences between the two?

1.Ontological: What is the nature of the ‘knowable’? Or, what is the

(Saunders et al., 2016, p.127-128)

(Saunders et al., 2016, p.128)

(Remenyi et al, 1998, p.32)

(Saunders et al., 2016, p.138-139)

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