THE NATURE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• The term qualitative research refers to studies that investigate the quality of relationships,
activities, situations, or materials.
• The natural setting is a direct source of data, and the researcher is a key part of the
instrumentation process in qualitative research.
• Qualitative data are collected mainly in the form of words or pictures and seldom
involve numbers. Coding is the primary technique used in data analysis.
• Qualitative researchers are especially interested in how things occur and particularly
in the perspectives of the subjects of a study.
• Qualitative researchers do not, usually, formulate a hypothesis beforehand and then
seek to test it. Rather, they allow hypotheses to emerge as a study develops.
• Qualitative and quantitative research differ in the philosophic assumptions that underlie
the two approaches.
STEPS INVOLVED IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• The steps involved in conducting a qualitative study are not as distinct as they are in
quantitative studies. They often overlap and sometimes are even conducted concurrently.
• All qualitative studies begin with a foreshadowed problem, the particular phenomenon
the researcher is interested in investigating. Some qualitative researchers state
propositions to help their data collection and also analysis.
• Researchers who engage in a qualitative study of some type usually select a purposive
sample. Several types of purposive samples exist.
• There is no treatment in a qualitative study, nor is there any manipulation of variables.
• The collection of data in a qualitative study is ongoing.
• Conclusions are drawn continuously throughout the course of a qualitative study.
APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• A biographical study tells the story of the special events in the life of a single
individual.
• A researcher studies an individual’s reactions to a particular phenomenon in a phenomenological
study. He or she attempts to identify the commonalities among different
individual perceptions.
• In a grounded theory study, a researcher forms a theory inductively from the data
collected as a part of the study.
• A case study is a detailed study of one or (at most) a few individuals or other social
units, such as a classroom, a school, or a neighborhood. It can also be a study of an
event, an activity, or an ongoing process.
GENERALIZATION IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Generalizing is possible in qualitative research, but it is of a type different from that
found in quantitative studies. Most likely it will be done by interested practitioners.
ETHICS AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• The identities of all participants in a qualitative study should be protected, and they
should be treated with respect.
RECONSIDERING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• Aspects of both qualitative and quantitative research often are used together in a
study. Increased attention is being given to such mixed-methods studies.
• Whether qualitative or quantitative research is the most appropriate boils down to
what the researcher wants to find out.
• The term qualitative research refers to studies that investigate the quality of relationships,
activities, situations, or materials.
• The natural setting is a direct source of data, and the researcher is a key part of the
instrumentation process in qualitative research.
• Qualitative data are collected mainly in the form of words or pictures and seldom
involve numbers. Coding is the primary technique used in data analysis.
• Qualitative researchers are especially interested in how things occur and particularly
in the perspectives of the subjects of a study.
• Qualitative researchers do not, usually, formulate a hypothesis beforehand and then
seek to test it. Rather, they allow hypotheses to emerge as a study develops.
• Qualitative and quantitative research differ in the philosophic assumptions that underlie
the two approaches.
STEPS INVOLVED IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• The steps involved in conducting a qualitative study are not as distinct as they are in
quantitative studies. They often overlap and sometimes are even conducted concurrently.
• All qualitative studies begin with a foreshadowed problem, the particular phenomenon
the researcher is interested in investigating. Some qualitative researchers state
propositions to help their data collection and also analysis.
• Researchers who engage in a qualitative study of some type usually select a purposive
sample. Several types of purposive samples exist.
• There is no treatment in a qualitative study, nor is there any manipulation of variables.
• The collection of data in a qualitative study is ongoing.
• Conclusions are drawn continuously throughout the course of a qualitative study.
APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• A biographical study tells the story of the special events in the life of a single
individual.
• A researcher studies an individual’s reactions to a particular phenomenon in a phenomenological
study. He or she attempts to identify the commonalities among different
individual perceptions.
• In a grounded theory study, a researcher forms a theory inductively from the data
collected as a part of the study.
• A case study is a detailed study of one or (at most) a few individuals or other social
units, such as a classroom, a school, or a neighborhood. It can also be a study of an
event, an activity, or an ongoing process.
GENERALIZATION IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Generalizing is possible in qualitative research, but it is of a type different from that
found in quantitative studies. Most likely it will be done by interested practitioners.
ETHICS AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• The identities of all participants in a qualitative study should be protected, and they
should be treated with respect.
RECONSIDERING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• Aspects of both qualitative and quantitative research often are used together in a
study. Increased attention is being given to such mixed-methods studies.
• Whether qualitative or quantitative research is the most appropriate boils down to
what the researcher wants to find out.
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