What is Qualitative research? (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Qualitative Report The What' s and Why' s of The How To of Qualitative Research
The book provides an excellent guide for those wishing to conduct qualitative research, whether new or experienced scholars. It links theoretical foundations with practical tools, including examples that illustrate how to bridge the gap between theorizing and conducting real-life qualitative research in the field. It shows how to design and craft the qualitative research in the field using different research tools (e.g., interviews, observations etc.) and how to analyze the data and compose a qualitative draft. In short, it answers the "what," "why," and "how" of qualitative research.
Qualitative Research: An Overview
2021
Qualitative research methods are increasingly gaining importance among researchers who want to conduct an in-depth study of a phenomena. Qualitative research stands in contrast with quantitative methods as it is not concerned with numbers, frequencies or generalization rather with people, their experiences and see them as unique case. The inquiry done through this method is exploratory, explanatory and more humane, which takes into consideration all the aspects and looks at a situation in totality. The aim is to study each case as a whole, and generalization is not the ultimate goal but understanding a person, his life, experiences and his perspectives. This paper is an overview of qualitative research methods, its evolution, features, characteristics and various axioms of Naturalistic Inquiry. It also touches upon the themes and variations present in qualitative research. Thus, it gives a brief glimpse into theory and concept of qualitative research methods.
Crafting a research design is a daunting task no matter what research method the researcher chooses to work with. Qualitative research study stands as one of the most rigorous and demanding—yet rewarding—research paradigms when the researchers have a narrative, a story to portray in the literature-specific both for their readers and the scientific community. With the intent to describe not only their own personal journey, but also that of those who help unravel previously unexplained phenomena, qualitative researchers undertake a central theme and refer to the lived experiences of their study participants, starting from the data collection stage to analysis and interpretation of their findings. They ask the very fundamental question words (i.e., how, why, and what) with which the study builds up to a rather more profound level. With certain philosophical underpinnings, dimensions, and approaches, qualitative researchers find themselves engaged in a plethora of words, texts, and images (Creswell, 2007). Researchers’ ontological and epistemological positioning additionally informs their choices of methods and methodology, the latter which is a theoretical perspective acting as a bridge between the two (Creswell, 2007). Regarding this and other characteristics, it is also important to note that an impeccable qualitative study design cannot be achieved without researchers’ investing a long time and finances, the resources without which a seamless research study would not be produced. With the purpose of discussing such and several more distinctive characteristics, metaphors, various research paradigms, and considerations throughout, the purpose of this paper is to shed light to what a qualitative research study essentially is, how researchers deal with it throughout the research process, when it is appropriate to conduct one and when not, its advantages, disadvantages, and others. Each component that goes into the design of qualitative research study will be handled under close lens.
Qualitative Research: Essence, Types and Advantages
OAlib, 2022
The main aim of qualitative research is to explore and provide deeper, comprehensive and detailed description of phenomena from non-numeric data, rather than quantifying and testing hypotheses using numeric data as is the case with quantitative research. Notably, qualitative research describes and explains relationships, individual experiences and group norms. The objective of this article is, thus, to explore and describe the essence, nature and advantages of qualitative research through a systematic review of related literature. Accordingly, the types of qualitative research are: narrative design, grounded theory, phenomenological design, case study design and ethnographic design. Moreover, sampling methods under qualitative research are mainly, purposive, criterion, convenience and snowballing, while data are collected by use of interview guides/schedules, focus group discussions, document analysis and observation (non-participant or participant). Consequently, the advantages of qualitative studies include: flexibility and spontaneity (allows for the adaptation of interview items as the research progresses and need arises), does not require a large study sample, offers the opportunity to meet the respondents, encourages discussion with the participants, allows for the collection and interpretation of non-verbal cues (smiles, frowns, tears) and offers the opportunity to seek clarification and gain deeper understanding of phenomena under study. Notably, the direct involvement of the researcher provides them the opportunity to get insightful and relevant responses from the participants.
Theme Paper on qualitative Research.pdf
Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines. Qualitative research is used in many academic fields such as marketing research, education, health care, political science, communication, journalism, anthropology, sociology, psychology or management. The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. ICT helps the researchers from identifying and selecting a research problem to the completion of research project and its publication. It makes available online resources in the form of previous research articles and literature related to research problem. It also provides guidance about types of tools and proportionate sample size. It makes easy the collection of relevant data through multimedia devices like telephone, mobile and email etc. It facilitates the analysis and interpretation of qualitative data through statistical software. Thus ICT plays vital role in every procedure of qualitative educational research.
Successful Qualitative Research: A practical guide for beginners
What do I need to become a good qualitative researcher? Why we love qualitative research Our approach in this book We're about to introduce you to the wonderful world of qualitative research! It's vast and exciting, full of new areas to discover. We hope you'll learn to love and feel as passionate about it as we do. As we know that won't be the case for everyone, we want you to feel that you really 'get' it: that you understand both the purpose and premise of qualitative research, and, crucially, that you know how to actually go about doing a qualitative research project. In order for this to happen, you may need to put aside ideas you have about what research is, and approach this field with 'open eyes'-like an explorer who can only understand a completely different culture if they don't view and judge it by the perspectives and values of their own culture. What is qualitative research? The most basic definition of qualitative research is that it uses words as data (see Chapter 2), collected and analysed in all sorts of ways. Quantitative research, in contrast, uses numbers as data and analyses them using statistical techniques. The term qualitative research is used to refer both to techniques (of data collection or data analysis) and to a wider framework for conducting research, or paradigm. Paradigm here refers to the beliefs, assumptions, values and practices shared by a research community (see Kuhn, 1962), and it provides an overarching framework for research. Qualitative research, as we define it, is not just about data and techniques-it's about the application of qualitative techniques within a qualitative paradigm, which is quite different from a quantitative paradigm (see Box 1.1). It has been referred to as Big Q qualitative research, and contrasted with small q qualitative research (Kidder & Fine, 1987), which is the use of specific qualitative data collection and techniques, not (necessarily) within a qualitative paradigm (see Box 1.2).
Qualitative Research: different perspectives, emerging trends
2004
1 There are many overviews of qualitative research (history, methods, etc.). Among them are: Miles and Huberman [1994], Flick [1998; 2004], Denzin and Lincoln [1998a; 1998b], etc. One of the most important bibliography is about the field of ethnography and was prepared by Borut Telban: Bibliography offieldwork, research methods and ethnography in sociocultural anthropology [2001].
Introduction to Qualitative Research
This course will provide experiences that will help you understand theoretical and methodological traditions that guide contemporary interpretive and critical research in education think creatively and collaboratively about interpretive/critical research design and analysis issues critically examine your own personal and professional values as an aspect of your work as a researcher learn how to engage in fieldwork and other data collection activities in an ethical and defensible manner learn about and practice data collection techniques learn about and practice strategies for analyzing and interpreting qualitative data develop an awareness of technologies for data analysis learn about a range of knowledge representation forms