Qualitative Research

Urmi Nanda Biswas

The [Link] of Baroda
Vadodara
The Research Question

Session 1
When is a research
question a research
question?
 In
a research, there is
always a question to
answer;
i.e. there is always a real
question mark – “?”
When is a research
question a research
question?

The question is always

formulated in context;
i.e. situated somewhere on the map of
human knowledge
When is a research
question a research
question?

Most of the time, the

question is
answerable only by
referring to the
reality.
i.e. researchable.
Formulation of a
research question

The Princess in the

Castle

The castle:
the broad area of interest:
Why do you want to do this research?
Formulation of a
research question

The Princess in the

Castle

The door:
the issue at stake
What would you look at?
Formulation of a
research question

The Princess in the

Castle

The handle:
the research question
How do you approach the research?
Formulation of a
research question

The Princess in the Castle

 The castle: the broad area of
interest:
Why do you want to do this research?
 The door: the issue at stake
What would you look at?
 The handle: the research question
How do you approach the research?
 Formulating a research question:
Example 1

Post-Compulsory Education in India

 Topic: Market’s effect on education
 Issue: Changing pattern of enrolment
 Question: How do students make
choice?
 Formulating a research question:
Example 2

Student loan in China

 Topic: Market’s effect on education
 Issue: Students’ loan
 Question: Why student loan?
 Formulating a research question:
Example 3

 Topic: School counseling in India

 Issue: Counseling in Orissa
 Question: How is student development

realised in school education?

 Formulating a research question:
Example 4
Cheng & Yamaguchi
 Topic: Japanese ODA
 Issue: Impact on HRD
 Question: How do participants feel?
 Formulating a research question:
Example 5

Tian
 Topic: Beida Culture
 Issue: Beida’s characteristics
 Question: What do students undergo?
Formulating a research question:
Example 6

Chu
 Topic: Media Education
 Issue: Starting media education in HK
 Question:

How would happen to media in HK

schools?
Research Question:
a summary
 What has intrigued me?
 What is the question that I have to
answer by the research?
 What is there that I wouldn’t know
without the research?
 Has this already been studied by
others?
Research Questions
Can these be research questions
◦ The effect of using calculators in primary
schools
◦ CEOs’ reading habit and their
management style
◦ Workload of government clerks
◦ How effective are meetings held in Hong
Kong
◦ Women poorer in maths
◦ Effect of IT on the manpower structure
◦ Science teachers’ perception of science
 A side: The title

Exercise
A study of the relations between the
decision-making patterns of
Geography teachers and the results
of Secondary 7 students in a Mahatma
Gandhi Girls School in the aided
sector in Uttar Pradesh.
 The title:

Exercise
A study of the influence of ICQ on students’
language capacities in Hong Kong’s
secondary school students
 The title:

Could be turned into …

ICQ and students’ language capacities in

Hong Kong’s secondary school
 The title:
 precise & concise
 the key “parameters”
 the key relations

 Care for a Colon?

 Why not a Question Mark?
 The title:

 Care for a Colon?

Media disciplined:
Media development in Hong
Kong Schools
 The title:

 Why not a Question Mark?

How students choose

- post-compulsory transition in
Shanghai schools?
Qualitative research...

 Commonly called “interpretive research”

…its methods rely heavily on “thick”

verbal descriptions of a particular
social context being studied
 Is useful for describing or answering
questions about particular, localized
occurrences or contexts and the
perspectives of a participant group toward
events, beliefs, or practices

…a helpful process for exploring a

complex research area about which
little is known
 Illuminates the “invisibility of everyday
life”

…by making the familiar strange, more

examined, and better understood
Qualitative methods...

research  grounded theory

 historical
 ethnography  phenomenology
 case study  symbolic interaction
 ethology  action research
 ethnomethodology
 historical
research
…studies available data to study,
understand, and interpret past events
 ethnography
…studies cultural patterns and
perspectives of participants in their
natural settings
 case
study
…examines the characteristics of a
particular entity, phenomenon, or
person
 ethology
…compares the origins, characteristics,
and culture of different societies
 ethnomethodology
…studies how people make sense of
their everyday activities in order to
behave in socially accepted ways
 groundedtheory
…investigates how inductively-derived
theory about phenomenon is grounded
in the data of a particular setting
 phenomenology
…considers how the experience of
particular participants exhibits a
unique perspective
 symbolicinteraction
…investigates how people construct
meaning and shared perspectives by
interacting with others
 action
research
…teacher-initiated, school-based
research used to improve the
practitioner’s practice by doing or
changing something
Qualitative Research
 Inductive view of the relationship between
theory and research/ against deductive
 An epistemological position described as

interpretivist/natural scientific model

 Ontological position described as

constuctionist/separating those who

construct from the phenomenon
Four Traditions of Qualitative
research
 Naturalism: social reality in its own term
 Ethnomethodology: how social order is

created through talk and interaction:

 Emotionalism: concerns with subjecctivity

and gaining access to inside experience

 Postmodernism: emphasizes “method talk”.

Emphasize the notion of reflexivity

Four major ways of analysis of
qualitative research
 Sociolinguistics: structure of narratives ,
looks for regularities.
 Hermeneutics: look for larger meaning of

narratives by looking for content.

understands cultural and historical context.
 Phenomenology: understands lived

experiences try to achieve empathic

understanding of that experience.
 Grounded theory: narratives are used as

data to explain how things work.

Qualitative v.'s
Quantitative
Qualitative Quantitative
Research Research
Type of questions Probing Limited probing
Sample Size small large
Info. Per much varies
respondent
Admin Requires skilled Fewer specialist
researcher skills required
Type of Analysis Subjective, Statistical
interpretative
Type of research Exploratory Descriptive or
causal
Generally speaking, qualitative
researchers….
…spend a great deal of time in the
settings being studied (fieldwork)
…rely on themselves as the main
instrument of data collection
(subjectivity; intersubjectivity)
…analyze data using interpretative lenses
…employ expressive language and voice
in descriptions and explanations
…seek depth of perspective through
ongoing analysis (i.e., “waves of data”)
…judged in terms of believability,
trustworthiness, coherence, and the
logic underlying researcher’s
interpretations
The general characteristics of
qualitative research...

 Data sources are real-world situations

 Data are descriptive
 Emphasizes a holistic approach
(processes and outcomes)
 Data analysis is inductive
 Describes the meaning(s) of research
finding(s) from the perspective of the
research participants
Uses inductive reasoning…
…involves developing generalizations
from a limited number of specific
observations or experiences
…highly dependent on the number and
representativeness of the specific
observations used to make the
generalization
• Issues in qualitative
research...

a. gaining entry
b. contacting potential research
participants
c. selecting participants
d. enhancing validity and reducing
bias
e. leaving the field
a. gaining entry...

 access is very much dependent upon the

researcher’s personal characteristics
and how others perceive the researcher
 may require considerable negotiation
and compromise with a gatekeeper
 trust is earned, not given
b. contacting
participants...
 gaining access
 dealing with gatekeeper(s)
 issues of building trust and
ensuring confidentiality and
anonymity
c. selecting
participants...
 the goal is to get the deepest
possible understanding of the
setting being studied
 requires identifying participants
who can provide information about
the particular topic and setting
being studied
 is fraught with difficulties in identifying
and selecting an appropriate number
of participants who can provide useful
information about the particular topic
and setting being studied

 utilizes purposive sampling

 types of purposive sampling…
…maximum variation
…homogeneous
…critical case
…theory-based
…(dis)confirming case
…snowball (chain)
…extreme (deviant) case
…typical case
…intensity
…politically important case
…random purposeful
…stratified purposeful
…criterion
…opportunistic
…combination (mixed)
…convenience
 two general guidelines: the number of
participants is sufficient when…
…the extent to which the selected
participants represent the range of
potential participants in the setting
…the point at which the data
gathered begins to be redundant
(“data saturation”)
The threats to validity in
qualitative studies...

observer bias…
…invalid information resulting from the
perspective the researcher brings to
the study and imposes upon it
observer effects…
…the impact of the observer’s
participation on the setting or the
participants being studied
d. strategies to enhance
validity and to reduce bias...

 extend the time for observing the

setting
 include more participants to make
the study more representative
 focus upon building participant trust in
order to access more detailed and
honest data
 identify biases and preferences,
seek them out by asking others
 work with another researcher and
compare field notes and impressions
from independent observations
 after observations are completed,
offer participants an opportunity to
validate accuracy of the verbatims
 journalize one’s own reflections,
concerns, and uncertainties during
the study and refer to them when
examining the data
 carefully examine unusual or
contradictory results for
explanations (“outliers”)
 utilize a variety of data sources to
confirm one another to corroborate
participant information
(“triangulation”)
e. leaving the field…

 The question is when and how to

exit
…the bonds formed with study
participants complicate leaving
the setting
…time constraints
…when the amount of accessible
data is sufficient
The basic steps of qualitative
research...

1. Write a tentative research proposal

2. Intensive participation in a field
setting
3. Collect detailed data from field
activities
4. Synthesize and interpret the meanings
of the field data
5. Write the research report
1. The qualitative research
proposal...
 defines area of study
 identifies setting or context of study
 specifies the kinds of data to be
collected
 describes methods to be used
 provides the researcher’s rationale
for undertaking the study
 identifies the study’s potential
contribution(s)
2. Intensive participation in
a field setting...

 participation: as a participant
(“participant observer”) or
nonparticipant
 approach to participation: overt or
covert
 requires experiencing the situation
from the perspective of both an
observer and a participant
3. Collecting and analyzing
data...

 primary tools include observations

and interviews but can also include
personal and official documents,
photographs, recordings, drawings,
emails, and informal conversations
 multiple data sources are normative
 the researcher records descriptive
as well as reflective notes about
what one has seen, heard,
experienced, and thought about a
during an observation session
 regarding
field notes…
…put aside assumptions,
experience context first
…see phenomena through
participants’ perspective
…write up notes immediately
following an observation
…detail is critical: include date,
site, time, and topic on every set
of field notes; leave wide margins
for writing impressions; use only
one side of a page of paper; draw
diagram of site (if necessary)
…list key words first, then outline
one’s observations
…keep the descriptive and reflective
sections separate
…use memos to record hunches,
questions, and insights after each
observation
…number the lines or paragraphs
for easy access
 regardinginterviews…
…the purpose is to explore and to
probe the interviewee’s responses
in order to gather in-depth data
…the interviewer inquires into the
interviewees’ attitudes, interests,
feelings, concerns, and values as
these relate to the context being
studied
…meaning is jointly constructed
between the interviewer and the
interviewee; meaning is not just a
construction on the part of the
interviewee
…be alert for openings in responses
to probe more deeply, starting
with mundane questions and
gradually easing into more
sensitive and more complex
questions
…interview data collection
techniques include taking notes
during the interview, writing notes
after the interview, or tape
recording and transcribing the
interview (the transcript is a
“verbatim”)
Interview do’s and
don’ts...

 Do listen more and talk less

 Do follow up on what is not clear and
probe more deeply into what is
revealed
 Don’t use leading questions; do use
open-ended questions (“probes”)
 Don’t interrupt; do wait
 Do keep interviewee(s) focused
 Do ask for concrete details
 Do tolerate silence and space between
interviewee’s responses; do allow the
interviewee time to think
 Don’t be judgmental about or react to
an interviewee’s opinions, views, or
beliefs
 Don’t engage in debate with an
interviewee
 Do record everything the interviewee
says and note impressions of
interviewee’s nonverbal behavior
4. Synthesis and interpretation of
the meanings of field data...

 a formidable task because data are

thick and deep as well as voluminous
and unorganized (“field notes”)
 involves a systematic and iterative
process of searching, categorizing,
and integrating data (“managing
data”)
 understanding emerges as data are
integrated
Analyzing field data…

data pieces

data
categories

data patterns
• four-step iterative process of
data management...

a. reading and memoing to become

familiar with data and to identify
main themes
b. examining data to develop detailed
descriptions of the setting,
participants, and activities
c. classifying the data, including
categorization, coding, and
grouping into thematic units
d. interpreting and synthesizing the
organized data into general
conclusions or understandings
 Involves
working with field notes…
…deconstructing data into pieces
…reconstructing the data pieces
into categories
…identifying patterns for
understanding, synthesis, and
interpretation
• Criteria suitable for
qualitative data analysis...

a. credibility or plausibility
b. transferability
c. including a methods section
 credibility
or plausibility
…to demonstrate that the study was
conducted in such a manner as to
ensure that the subject was
accurately identified and described
 transferability
…to demonstrate that the results of
the study are generalizable to
others in the original research
context or to contexts beyond the
original study
 including
a methods section
…to provide an in-depth description
of the processes and methods
used in the study
• Strategies for analyzing
qualitative data...

a. constant comparison method

b. negative case and discrepant data
methods
c. analytic induction
 constant
comparison method
…compares new evidence to prior
evidence to identify similarities
and differences between
observations
 negative case and discrepant data
methods
…the search for contradictory,
variant, or disconfirming data
within the body of data collected
that provides an alternative
perspective on an emerging
category or pattern
 analytic
induction
…a process concerned with
developing and testing a theory in
order to generalize a study’s
findings
5. Writing the research
report...
 provide a setting where the data
were collected
 identify characters who provide
information
 describe the social action in which
the characters are engaged
 offers an interpretation of what
the social action means to the
characters
 offers an interpretation of what the
social action means to the characters
 follow all APA Publication Manual
guidelines
Mini-Quiz…

 True and false…

…Qualitative research methods are

rooted in the disciplines of
sociology, anthropology, and history
rather than in mathematics.

True
 True and false…

…The central focus of qualitative

research is to provide understanding
of a social setting or activity from
the perspective of the research
participants
True
 True and false…

…Empathic neutrality requires a

researcher to include one’s personal
experience and empathic insight as
part of the relevant data

True
 True and false…

…An interviewer constructs the

meaning of the content of an
interview
False
 True and false…

…One of the first issues in qualitative

research is to gain entry to a site
True
 True and false…

…One indicator that an adequate

number of participants has been
selected is the extent to which the
selected participants represent the
range of potential participants in the
setting
True
 True and false…

…Purposive sampling strategies are

especially useful in qualitative
research
True
 True and false…

…A qualitative researcher should be

wary of potential participants who
are extremely eager to be included in
the study
True
 True and false…

…A covert participant observer

participates as well as collects data
during an observation session
True
 True and false…

…Each observation session has its

unique focus and interactions but is
guided by a protocol or list of issues
that frame the observation
True
 True and false…

…In qualitative research, data analysis

begins as the researcher initiates
data management
False
 True and false…

…An interviewer will almost always

meet face-to-face with an interviewee
while some observers will not.
True
 True and false…

…Transcripts are the field notes of an

interview session
True
 True and false…

…Data analysis and interpretation are

based on induction as the qualitative
researcher discovers patterns
emerging from the data and makes
sense of them
True
 True and false…

…There are no predefined variables to

focus qualitative analysis of the data
True
 True and false…

…Credibility or plausibility
demonstrates that the study was
conducted in such a manner that the
subject was accurately identified
and described
True
 True and false…

…The process of analyzing qualitative

research data follows a sequential
four-step process
False
 True and false…

…The ability of the researcher to

induce or construct meaning from
the data greatly influences the
duration and quality of the data
analysis
True
 True and false…

…Implicitly or explicitly, a researcher

interprets data whenever the
researcher uses a conceptual basis
or understanding to cluster a variety
of data pieces into a category
True
 Fill in the blank…

…Studying real-world situations as they

unfold naturally; nonmanipulative,
unobtrusive, and noncontrolling; open
to whatever emerges due to a lack of
predetermined constraints on
outcomes
naturalistic inquiry
 Fill in the blank…
…Immersion in the details and specifics
of the data to discover important
categories, dimensions, and
interrelationships; begins by exploring
genuinely open questions rather than
testing theoretically derived
hypotheses
inductive analysis
 Fill in the blank…
…The entire phenomenon is understood
as a complex system more than the
sum of its parts; the focus is upon
complex interdependencies not
meaningfully reduced to a few discrete
variables and linear, cause-effect
relationships
holistic perspective
 Fill in the blank…

…A detailed, thick description; inquiry

in depth; direct quotations capturing
people’s personal perspectives and
experiences
qualitative data
 Fill in the blank…

…Attention to process; assumes

change is constant and ongoing
whether the focus is upon an
individual or an entire culture
dynamic systems
 Fill in the blank…

…The first level of qualitative inquiry

requires the researcher to be true
to, respectful of, and to capture the
essential details of the individual
context being studied
unique case orientation
 Fill in the blank…

…To place findings in a social, historical,

and temporal context; dubious about
the possibility or meaningfulness of
generalizations across time and space

context sensitivity
 Fill in the blank…

…The researcher’s passion is

understanding the world in all its
complexity, not proving something,
not advocating, not advancing
personal agendas, but understanding
empathic neutrality
 Fill in the blank…

…The researcher resides in the study

context but disguises his or her
identity from the other participants
covert participation
 Fill in the blank…

…The researcher’s openness to

adapting one’s research as
understanding deepens and/or
situations change; the willingness to
pursue new paths of discovery as
they emerge
design flexibility
 Fill in the blank…

…The point at which the researcher

begins to hear similar thoughts,
perspectives, and responses from
more or all of the participants
data saturation
 Fill in the blank…

…Providing information to a
participant about the nature and
purpose of the study
informed consent
 Fill in the blank…

…The process of qualitative data

collection
fieldwork
 Fill in the blank…

…The observer’s record about what

has been seen, heard, experienced,
and thought about during an
observation session
field notes
 Fill in the blank…

…Evolving data analysis involves a

form of thinking on paper through
which the researcher describes one’s
mental explorations of ideas, themes,
hunches, and reflections about the
research topic
memo writing
 Fill in the blank…
…An extensive, descriptive, and lucid
report of the researcher’s
observations, partially influenced by
what the researcher sees but mainly
by the detail and language the
researcher uses in constructing the
report
thick description
 Fill in the blank…

…An purposeful interaction, usually

between two people, focused upon
one person attempting to access
information from another person
interview
 Fill in the blank…

…The word-for-word transcript of an

interview session
verbatim
 Fill in the blank…

…Unusual or contradictory results

from an observation or interview
outlier
 Fill in the blank…

…The point at which the data gathered

becomes redundant
data saturation
 Fill in the blank…

…Creating and organizing qualitative

data collected during the study
data management
 Fill in the blank…

…The process of recording the

researcher’s initial thoughts and
early impressions of the data
memoing
 Fill in the blank…

…The process where the qualitative

researcher provides an accurate
depiction of the settings and events
that took place in it which yields an
understanding of the context in
which the study took place
description
 Fill in the blank…

…The process of breaking down the

data into smaller units, determining
the import of the units, and
organizing the units together again
in an interpreted form
classifying
 Fill in the blank…
…A qualitative method for classifying
data where the researcher begins
with a preliminary hypothesis and
continuously refines it until there
are no examples of the revised
hypothesis not being upheld
analytic induction
 Fill in the blank…
…A form of cross-validation that
seeks regularities in the data by
comparing different participants,
settings, and methods to identify
recurring results
triangulation
 Analogies…

content : method
as
characteristics of a single person or
phenomenon : _______________
case study
 Analogies…

content : method
as
a group’s cultural patterns and
perspectives : _______________
ethnography
 Analogies…

content : method
as
the link between a group’s everyday
activities and its social structure :
_______________

ethnomethodology
 Analogies…

content : method
as
the link between participants’
perspectives and social science
theory : _______________

grounded theory
 Analogies…

content : method
as
the meanings and perspectives
gained by interactions :
_______________

symbolic interactionism
 Analogies…

content : method
as
How participants experience a
variety of things : _______________

phenomenology
 Analogies…

content : method
as
A change in student learning :
_______________

action research
 Analogies…

quantitative : qualitative
as
population : _______________

setting
 Analogies…

quantitative : qualitative
as
generalizability : _______________

transferability
This module has focused on...

qualitative research methods

…which describe or answer questions

about particular, localized
occurrences or contexts and the
perspectives of a participant group
toward events, beliefs, or practices
The next module will focus
on...

action research

...teacher-initiated, school-based
research used to improve the
practitioner’s practice by doing or
changing something