UNIT 8 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Structure
Introduction
Objectives
Definition of Qualitative Research
Characteristics of Qualitative Research
Reasons for Conducting Qualitative Research
Qpes of Qualitative Methods
8.6.1 Biographical Studies
8.62 Phenomenological Study
8.63 Grounded Theory Study
8.6.4 Ethnography
8.65 Case Study
Context of Qualitative Methods
Common Steps of Conducting Qualitative Studies
Verification of Trustworthiness of Qualitative Research
Let Us Sum Up
Unit-end Activities
Points for Discussion
Suggested Readings
8.14 Answers to Check Your Progress

8.1 INTRODUCTION
As you know, events concerning education phenomena are very complex in nature.
They involve mostly sociological and behavioral manifestations of human relations in
specific contexts. The methods adopted to explore the meaning and processes of
educationalphenomena are basically qualitativein nature. Most of the information in
education is in the form of verbal and other symbolic behaviour. The verbal data
gathered through questionnaires, observation or interview are mostly qualitative in
[Link] data provide depth and detail which emerge through direct quotation and
careful description of phenomena.
Unlike scientific explanations to educational phenomena qualitative research
concentrates on understanding the process of dynamic situations and intervenes with
the reality in its natural setting. The procedures adopted are of humanistic nature. Of
late, major attention has been paid by educational researchers to qualitative methods.
Having their origin in the typical nature of inquiries in sociology, anthropology, political
science and psychology, qualitative methods have been given refined shape through
current literature. In this unit, you will be exposed to the nature of qualitative research,
its types, context and steps involved in conducting qualitative research.
 Qualitative Research

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

define qualitative research
discuss needs and relevance of qualitative research in education
explain main features of different types of qualitative inquiry viz, biography,
phenomenology, grounded theory approach, ethnography and case study
describe basic procedural details of such methods
design qualitative research in the context of any educational problem.

8.3 DEFINITION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

As you know, the emergence of qualitative methods of research is of recent origin.
Social scientists, anthropologists and sociologists have given a shape to the concept of
qualitative research mostly during the end of twentieth century. The procedural clarity
is still in the process of refinement. Clarity of the definitions of qualitativeresearch is
as follows:
1. In the initial stage of conceptual analysis of qualitiative research there was a
trend of defining qualitativeresearch as an opposite pole of scientific (quantitative)
inquiry. Quantitative research deals with a few variables and many cases whereas
qualitative research is camed out with a few cases and many variables.
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I 2. The above definition focuses on the scope of qualitative methods of inquiry.
However, from the point of view of methodological and process dimensions the
following two definitions may clarify your understanding of qualitative research.
Cresswell (1998) defined qualitative research in a similar tone. To him"qualitative
research is an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological
traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher
builds a complex holistic picture, analyses words, reports detailed views of
informants and conducts the study in a natural setting".
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I 3. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) say "Qualitative research is multi-method focus,

I involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter ..........
Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical
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materials - case study, personal experience, introspection, life story, interview,
observational, historical, interactional and visual texts-that describe routine and
problematic and meaning in individuals' lives".
I You may trace at least four clear meanings from the above definitions.

t One, qualitative research focuses on the study of complex human and social problems
in totality, unlike scientific method of concentrating on study of fragmented variables
or situations or events.

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Two, qualitative research places the main emphasis on the researcher who narrates and
interprets phenomena in terms of meanings derived from people's experiences, events
etc. Hence, human and subjective approach is highlighted.

I Three, the studies are conducted in anatural setting i.e., to observe the events without
making any manipulations or controls on variables studied.

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Four, it involves a variety of data gathering techniques and approaches of qualitative
nature viz., case study, interviews, dialogues, observations, personal experience,
life story, visual data like photography etc. These data are gathered from varieties of
sources.
Different 5 p c s of Studies in
Educational Research 8.4 CHARACTERISTICSOF QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
The following are the characteristics of qualitative research:

i) Multiple realities
First, qualitative research assumes that there exist multiple realities in social and
educational situations. These realities exist in concrete forms. They are perceived by
people differently and thus become different mental constructs for different people.
In other words, realities are taken to be what people perceive them to be at a particular
point of time. Since social and educational situations keep on changing from time to
time, the realities too keep on changing. Furthermore, since the realities are context
specific, they cannot be tangible in a generalized form.

ii) Meanings and interpretations

Qualitative research emphasises on study of meanings given to or interpretations made
about objects, events and processes concerning educational situations. To them changes
in terms of social and behavioral phenomena cannot be identified with the concept of
physical movements which can be identified by external observation alone. Rather the
understanding of human behaviour or a social phenomenon involves understanding of
how men are, what they are doing or participating in an activity.

iii) Generation of knowledge

Qualitative inquiry insists on generation of knowledge resulting from the interaction
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between the inquirer and the respondents. The respondents answer the questions put
by the inquirer in terms of their perception or meanings they attach to their actions.
Moreover, interactions take place between the inquirer and hisher respondents to
achieve maximum levels of responsiveness and insights concerning the problem under
investigation.

iv) Generalization
As stated above, the researchers do not believe in the process of generalisation as
propounded by scientists. They argue that in the process of making a generalisation a
lot of meaningful information existing in individual units is undermined; hence genedized
knowledge does not represent real knowledge. For them, the process of knowledge
generation must take into account the differencesor real evidences existing in different
specific situations.

V) Human relations
In the case of human relations, several intrinsic factors, events and processes keep on
influencing each other constantly. Therefore, it is not possible to identify one to one
cause and effect relationships at this level of naturalistic studies. The causality in
social sciences cannot be demonstrated in the 'hard' sense as it is done in the case of
physical sciences. Rather, only patterns of plausible influences can be inferred from
social and behavioural studies.

vi) Value systems

Qualitative Researchers do no believe in value-free inquiry. The influence of value
systems is recognized in the identification of problems, selection of samples, use of
tools, data collection, the conditions in which data are gathered, and the possible
interaction that takes place between the inquirer and the respondents.
 Qualitative Research
8.5 REASONS FOR CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH - -

As a research student you may be curious to explore in what circumstances one opts
for qualitative methods of inquiry in comparison to quantitative methods of inquiry.
Some of the situations which prompt a researcher to opt for the qualitative
method are:
i) As you know, there are different kinds of research questions about the phenomena
under investigation, such as What happens? How does it take place and Why did
it take place? or What are the causes of certain effect's? The first two types of
questions involving What (The present context and status) and How (the process)
are dealt with very well through qualitative methods. Unlike quantitative inquiry,
where you may intend to explain causal relationships (Why question) through
comparison of groups or to establish associations between different variables,
the qualitative method focuses on exploring the intricacies involved in process
dimensions of an event in totality. For example, if you are interested in
understanding the curricular practices of best quality universities, the qualitative
method will suit you best.
ii) Qualitative method is also preferred in the context of initial level of theoretical
research. In social sciences, particularly in education, theories are not available
to explain many completed events. The variables concerning the events are not
easily identifiable. In such cases the qualitative method is used to identify significant
variables associated with the event. For instance, formal education practices
taking place in a tribal setup vis-8-vis human and social development need to be
tackled through qualitativemethod since different variables involved in the situation
need to be explored. Identification of different variables and trends lead towards
refinement and theoretical explanation.
iii) There are certain research problems which need holistic treatment. In other
words, many variables need to be studied in depth in the context,of one case or
unit. For instance, designing a grass root level plan for educational development
of a village would require application of a qualitative method of inquiry where
multifaceted data need to be gathered through various sources for intervention
and developmenf which treat the uniqueness of the concerned village.
iv) Unlike experimental studies- where a researcher intends to explain a cause and
effect relationship in a controlled laboratory setting, the qualitative method is
preferred to conduct the study without disturbing neutrality in setting. For instance,
curricular practices of best quality schools need to be explored in natural settings
through adopting qualitative methods like participant observations, visual
documents, verification of project works, interviewing students, teachers and
parents, etc.
V) One of the major limitations of quantitative inquiry is associated with the study of
limited variables. Moreover, those variables need to be amenable to measurement.
However, if your research problem is of such type where variable are not easily
amenable to measurement and extensive data situations, you will have to opt for
qualitative inquiry.
vi) The nature of certain problems is such tttnt your role as a researcher plays a vital
subjective role than objective and impersonal role. For instance, m the process of
exploring meaning of certain behavioural exposures with its motives your role is
to be valued with a lot of significance since you will have to describe the event
from the participant's point of view. Moreover, in such a process you can explore
the reality, being a part of it as well as interacting with situations. You will have to
depict the situations as an active learner and not by passing judgment as an
expert. Such kind of studies demand application of qualitative methods in
comparison to quantitative methods.
Different Types of Studies in
Eduratic~nalResearch Check Your Progress
Notes: a) Space is given below for writing your answers.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1. Differentiate between quantitative studies and qualitative studies.

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2. What are the basic factors of qualitative studies ?

3. Why should you choose the qualitative method in educational research?

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8.6 TYPES OF OUALITATIVE METHODS

Many varieties of traditions of qualitative studies exist in social sciences. They have
been categorized by Creswell(1998) in the context of their forms, terminologies and
focus as under:
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- Biographical study
- Phenomenological study
- Grounded Theory study
. - Ethnography
- Case study

8.6.1 Biographical Study

Main features
Biographical study is the study of an individual and his or her experiences as narrated
to the researcher or found in different sources. You can come across biographical
writings in different fields like literature, history, anthropology, sociology, education,
psychology etc. Biographies are presented with different perspectives like literary,
historical, anthropological, sociological, educational, psychological as well as of
interdisciplinary nature. The focus of biography remains on telling and inscribing the
stories of others. It explores history of life e.g. accounts of major achievements of
life.
There are different connotations linked with biographical study viz., iridividual
biographies, autobiography, life history, oral history. In all these cases the researchers
must take care of objectivity in expression with little research interpretation. It must
be written in a scholarly way with a strong historical background of the subject and
chronological organisation. The account must be presented artistically from the
perspective of presenting details in a lively and interesting manner.
 Steps of Biographical Studies Qualitative Research ;

Different steps involved in writing biography are:

(i) The first step is to identify the experiences in an individual's life to be arranged
chronologically in different stages of life.
(ii) The researcher gathers concrete contextual materials through interviews. He
gathers stories.
(iii) The stories are organized around different themes. The themes indicate major
events of individual's life.
(iv) The researcher explores the meaning of these stories.
(v) He also looks for larger structures to explain cultural issues etc.

8.6.2 Phenomenological Study

Main features
Phenomenological study's focus remains on describing the meaning of live experiences
for several individuals about a concept or the phenomenon. It is said that through
phenomenological approach the researcher explores the structures of consciousness in
human experiences. Here experiences contain both the outward appearance and inward
consciousness based on memory image and meaning.

Steps of Phenomenological Studies

The procedural details of phenomenological studies are listed as under:
i) At first the researcher must recognize his or her own pre-conceived ideas about
the phenomena to understand it through the voices of several experienced persons.
ii) Second, he writes research questions that explore the meaning of that experience
for individuals.
iii) Third, the researcher collects data from individuals who have experienced the
phenomenon under investigation. Usually the data are gathered through long
interviews of 5 to 25 experienced persons.

I iv) Data are analysed in the form of statements and units. Then the units are
transformed into clusters of meanings. Finally such analysis is linked with general
description of experiences incorporating what was experienced and how it was

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experienced.

8.6.3 Grounded Theory Study

Main features
This kind of study aims at discovering or generating a theory. Here theory means an
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abstract analytical scheme of phenomenon. In other words, a theory is understood as
a plausible relationship, as any concept or sets of concepts. In this case, theory is
discovered in the context of a particular situation. This situation is one in which
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individuals interact, take actions, or engage in aprocess in response to aphenomenon. '

p The researcher intends to explore how people act and react to a phenomenon. The
I process involved in data collection can be through continuous visits to the field,
interviews with participants, in-depth observ-tions of activities etc. 71re researcher
develops and interrelates categories of information and writes theoretical propositions
or hypotheses.
Through the grounded theory method, a theory is generated in the context of a
phenomenon being studied. Hence, the researcher goes beyond one step ahead of
understanding the complexities of processes involved in a situation. He tries to help
others to comprehend such complexities with the help of a theoretical framework
developed by him. Such a theory is evolved towards the end of the study. As stated
 Different Types of Studies in above, the theoretical framework may be depicted in the form of a narrative statement,
Educational Research
a series of hypotheses or propositions or in the form of a visual picture.
For example, the researcher studies the complexities involved in the teaching learning
processes where the sole responsibilities of such processes are shared by iearners
under the guidance of a teacher. The researcher would like to build a theory in this
context through application of the grounded theory method, and shares different steps
involved in this method.
Steps of Grounded Theory Study
i) In the context of a particular situation, the researcher makes several visits to the
field, makes in-depth observations and conducts interviews. The data collection
process continues till the researcher comprehends the totality in a situation.
However, the major focus remains on in-depth interviews.
ii) With the help of data available, the researcher makes categories of information.
A unit of information composed of events, happenings, and instances is presented
in the form of one category.
iii) Often it happens that during the data collection process the researcher analyses
the data and gradually categories are formed on specific instances or happenings.
Hence the data collection process and data analysis are integrated on many occasions.
iv) After data analysis, the researcher may like to be back to the field to gather
more information, analyse the data and so forth. Hence, this zigzag process
continues till a saturated state is identified for arriving at a theoretical frame-
work.
v) Towards the end of the study, the researcher presents an elaborate theoretical
framework to understand the complexity of an event.

8.6.4 Ethnography

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Main features
Ethnography can be understood as a description and interpretation of a cultural or
social group or system. Here the focus of the study remains on examining the patterns
of behaviour of a group, its customs and ways of life. This method involves prolonged
observation of events where the researcher becomes a part and parcel of the day-to-
day lives of the people. One to one interviews with the members of group corroborated
with participant observation can form the base of such a method. The researcher
makes use of ethnography to study the meanings of behaviour, language and interactions
of the culture sharing group. For instance, educational processes of particular tribe or
a rural village can be studied applying ethnography where cultural and behavioural
interactions involved in education processes can be studied in totality. As an outcome,
the researcher comes out with a report almost in a book form.

~ 8.6.5 Case Study

Main features
Case study as a method of research focuses on indepth study of a unit or case in
totality. The case may be an individual, programme, an event, an institution, an activity,
etc. The case study method was originally used in medicine to examine the patient's
previous development, his health and physical state from the beginning and many
other factors in the past, besides making a careful study of the patient's present condition
and symptoms. Freud used the case study method to assist his subjects in solving their
personality problems. The published detailed accounts of his interviews with patients
and his interpretations of their thoughts, dreams and actions provide excellent examples
of case studies. The investigation of a case is of exploratory nature. It involves detailed,
in-depth data collection employing multiple sources of information concerning all
pertinent aspects of a case. It is also interpreted that a case may be a unique and
bounded system. This means the case under investigation is bound by time and place. Qualitative Research
The uniqueness of a case refers to the typical characteristics of a case, such as a
quality institution or an ashram school, a particular programme or course of study, or
university or an innovation etc. The researcher tries to explore in detail about what
events occur, and how they occur. Multiple sources include observations, interviews,
audio-visual materials, documents, records, etc. A case is to be studied in a given
context, i.e., study of a case is conducted within its setting. The setting may be a
physical setting, social, historical or economic setting, etc. As a whole, the case study
helps a researcher to understand the complexities of an event or events with contextuality
and develops insight about with the nature and process dimensions of the events studied.
In the Indian context, such a method has been used in the case of doctoral and research
projects like:
1. "A study of distance education in an Indian university". This study's focus is an
identification and description of different underlying factors. Contributing towards
success of distance education programme of all university as a whole.
2. "A case study of management processes of National Adult Education Programme
in Orissa". This study aims at description of the management processes interlinked
with national level, state level, district level, project level and village level adult
education programmes in terms of the different dimensions of management like
policy making, planning, communication, staffing, direction, co-ordination,
budgeting and evaluation.
Besides these kind of case studies we have come across some other studies like 'A case
study of school products in Delhi', 'A study of school involvement in a village of
Nagaland, 'Case studies of innovative institutions at secondary level in Tamil Nadu',
Management of Medical Colleges - A case study'. From the above you can see that the
case study method in educational research may focus either on the study of an educational
programme or on a set of processes of an institution, in the context of development of
learning skills, language competencies, reading comprehension of [Link]
counsellors or social workers conduct case studies for diagnosing a particular condition
or problem and recommending therapeutic measures. They gather data from a particular
individual and confine their interest to the individual as a unique personality.

Steps of Case Study

Case study is conducted by adopting the following steps:
i) First, the researcher identifies the uniqueness of the case to be studied or a
number of cases to be studied. Whether a normal case is to be studied or an
unusual and typical case is to be studied is decided at this stage.
ii) Keeping in view different contexts and perspectives of the problem, the researcher
delimits what is to be studied within the scope of ingestigation.
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iii) Once the dimensions of aunit are identified for investigation, the researcher locates
different mechanisms of gathering different varieties of evidences from different
sources. After identification of the case and content, the present status of the
case is determined through direct observation or record. Here the researcher
goes far beyond casual observation or superficial description. For example, to
make a case study of a delinquent child, the first thing the researcher has to do is
to survey the present status of the child by making an assessment of his physique,
cognitive and non-cognitive factors. The mechanisms to be chosen may be
observation, interviews, document surveys, audiovisual recordings, projective
and non -projective tests, etc. The observation can be participant in nature as
employed in ethnography. It can be direct observations. Data may be gathered
through various sources like gathering evidences from participants, functionaries
and stake holders of a programme, institutional records and documents, observation
of events taking place etc.
Different Types of Studies in Data gathered through multiple sources are subject to qualitative analysis. It can
Educationill Research
iv)
be a holistic analysis of the entire case or analysis of a specific aspect of a case.
V) Data analysis involves descriptive procedures. The themes or issues are identified.
Interpretations are made about the case in its given contexts. It also involves
narration of events chronologically and giving an account of events in totality.
The detailed perspectives of significant events concerning a case are highlighted
through such narrations.
vi) In case of study of number of cases the analysis is done in two phases. First is
analysis of data concerning the themes of each case separately i.e., within-case
analysis which follows the first is doing a thematic analysis across the case. This
is called cross-case analysis.
vii) In the final step the researcher reports about the experiences and findings of the
case.
For example, in a study first the researcher gathers evidence through participant
observations and interviews. He notices certain trends and puts them into different
cluster themes. Then he tries to place these themes in different groups and makes
more abstract categories at the last stage of inquiry. Hence with the help of an inductive
approach the researcher's initial level ideas and questions are refined in due course of
investigation.

A summative view of different qualitative methods

Different research methods have their uniqueness with regard to the focus of studies.
As stated above, Biography is used to explore the life of an individual where as
Phenomenological Inquiry is used to understand the essence of experiences of
persons about a phenomena. Grounded theory approach is adopted to develop a
theory grounded in data from the field. Ethnography aims at describing and interpreting
a cultural and social group. Case study is used to develop an in-depth analysis of a
single case or multiple cases. However, all these methods adopt qualitative techniques
of data collection such as interviews, observation, study of documents, relevant records,
etc and incorporate descriptive and narrative approaches of data analysis.

Check Your Progress

Notes: a) Space is given below for writing your answers.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
4. Give one example of each of the following:
i) Biography
ii) Phenomenological study
iii) Ethnography
iv) Case study
V) Grounded theory approach
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5. What are the common points of different kinds of qualitative studies?
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