Overview of Qualitative Research Methods

Purpose of Research

• Definition: Organized, systematic approach to answer questions about observations and experiences.
• Objective: Gather and interpret information to understand, theorize, or explain experiences.

Distinctive Features of Qualitative Research

• Focus: Generating meaning and understanding through rich description.
• Applicability: Useful for studying educational problems and complex social environments.
• Difference from Quantitative Research: Different problems, philosophical views, goals, and methods.

Comparison with Quantitative Research

• Focus:
  • Qualitative: Quality of experience, understanding human experience.
  • Quantitative: Measurable factors (how much, how many, how frequently).
• Philosophical Roots:
  • Qualitative: Subjective human experience, constructivism/interpretivism.
  • Quantitative: Positivism, objective reality.
• Goals:
  • Qualitative: Understand, describe, discover meaning, generate hypotheses or theories.
  • Quantitative: Predict, control, confirm, test hypotheses.
• Design Characteristics:
  • Qualitative: Flexible, evolving, emergent.
  • Quantitative: Structured, predetermined.

Data Collection

• Qualitative: Researcher as primary instrument, using interviews, focus groups, observations, and documents.
• Quantitative: External instruments like tests and surveys.

Process of Qualitative Research

1. Exploration: Identify patterns, themes, hunches.
2. Description: Heart of qualitative research, convey detailed information.
3. Interpretation: Make sense, understand phenomena.

Methodologies

• Case Studies: In-depth exploration of programs, events, individuals.
• Grounded Theory: Develop theory based on participant views.
• Ethnography: Study cultural groups in natural settings.
• Phenomenology: Identify essence of human experiences.
• Narrative Approaches: Study life stories and experiences.

Data Analysis

• Steps:
  1. Prepare and organize data.
  2. Reduce data by identifying themes.
  3. Present data in narrative, tables, or diagrams.
• Validity:
  • Use credible data and interpretations (terms: validity, trustworthiness, validation).
  • Strategies include prolonged engagement, rich descriptions, triangulation, member checking, peer debriefing, etc.

Considerations for Choosing Qualitative Research

• Investigate human experiences not quantifiable in numbers.
• Immerse in the environment to study phenomena.
• Aim for interpretation and holistic view, not comparison or quantification.

Steps to Begin a Qualitative Study

1. Review existing research and methodologies.
2. Study literature on qualitative research methods.
3. Complete self-paced tutorials on methodologies and techniques.
4. Conduct a literature review for specific methodologies.

Application in Educational and Social Change

• Qualitative research is a powerful tool for understanding personal perceptions and experiences.
• Can be used effectively in social change projects, such as student capstones at Walden University.