Qualitative Research

The Nature of Qualitative Research

What is Qualitative Research?

Lincoln and Guba (1985)—a proper impression…can be gleaned only as an overall perspective (p.8)

Wolcott (1992)– is not a field of study…no clearly specified set of activities (p.4)

Strauss and Corbin (1990) any kind of research that produces findings that are not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification (p.17)

Qualitative research is an investigation arising out of a need the researcher to explore meaning within and give meaning to the topic of study.

What is qualitative research?

Study of contexts Study of words rather than numbers Study of social situations

Comparison of qualitative and quantitative methodologies …but the two can be used together!

Disciplined Inquiry

Objectivity Precision Verification Parsimonious explanation Empiricism Logical reasoning Probabilistic thinking

Characteristics

Naturalistic settings Rich description Process orientation Construction of meaning Inductive processes Reflexivity

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

Features Naturalistic

Data collected on the premise

Researcher’s insight is the key instrument for analysis

Concerned with context.

Descriptive Data

Data taken take the shape of words and pictures not numbers

Written results contain quotations from the data to illustrate and substantiate the presentation

Data may be interview transcripts, fieldnotes, photos, videos, documents, memos, records.

Nothing can be taken for granted

Concern with Process

Concern is with process not just outcomes or products

How do people negotiate meaning?

How do certain terms and labels come to be applied?

Inductive

Researchers do not research out data or evidence to prove or disprove hypotheses they hold before entering the study; rather, the abstractions are built as the particulars that have been gathered are grouped together.

Meaning

Meaning is essential

Concern is with particular perspectives and capturing those accurately

History of Qualitative Research

Anthropologist and sociologists have collected information from the field for many years.

History - ancient

Cro Magnon man (25000 BC!) Mayans (1500 BC) Biblical references Marco Polo Cortez

History – 20th century

Margaret Mead The Chicago School

Park, Thomas, othersThus, the roots of qualitative research

are found primarily in anthropology and sociology, although certainly other disciplines had influence as well.

The Chicago School

1920’s and 30’s Sociology Dept. at University of

Chicago Moved personal observations to the

forefront Gave voice to points of view of

people marginalized in society.

The Sociology of Education

1932, Sociology of Teaching (Waller) Relied on in-depth interview, life

histories, participant observation, case records, diaries, letters, and other personal documents to describe the social world of teachers and their students.

European Connections and the Social Survey Movement

During 1800’s, Frenchman, Frederick LePlay studied working class people through participant observation (called it observation) [lived with the families studied; participated in lives; observed what they did at work, at play, at church and in school] They described in detail the life of the working-class family in Europe.

Mayhew (1851-1862) London Labor and the London Poor (four volumes)

Described through reports and anecdotes conditions of the workers and the unemployed

Beatrice Webb and her husband published the first discussion of method in qualitative research (1932)

W.E.B DuBois– first social survey in the US. Published (1899) The Philadelphia Negro—year and half of close study, including interviews and observations;-- the condition of 40,000 or more people of Negro blood who lived in Philadelphia.

The social upheaval of the sixties indicated that we did not know enough about how students experienced school

Qualitative methods gained popularity because of their recognition of the views of the powerless and the excluded– those of the “outside”

Why is it important?

Unexplored topic Multifaceted context Developing a theory Perceptions & interpretations of

lives Study of phenomena It allows the researcher to answer

questions and achieve your purpose

Limitations

Time consuming Large amounts of data No “hard” data No standardized methods No cause & effect

Ethics

Permission Human subjects protection Truthfulness Researcher bias Ethical dilemmas

Questions to Ponder

Are qualitative findings generalizable?

What about the researcher’s opinions, prejudices, and other biases and their effect on the data?

Doesn’t the presence of the researcher change the behavior of the people he or she is trying to study?

Will two researchers independently studying the same setting or subjects come up with the same findings?

How does qualitative research differ from what other people such as teachers, reporters or artists do?

Can qualitative and quantitative approaches be used together?

Is qualitative research really scientific? What is the goal of qualitative research? How does qualitative differ from quantitative

research? Which research approach is better, qualitative or

quantitative?