Understanding

Qualitative Research
 Definition of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is any type of research that produces

findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other
means of quantification.

It can refer to research about persons' lives, lived

experiences, behaviors, emotions, and feelings as well
as about organizational functioning, social movements,
cultural phenomena, and interactions between nations.

(Strauss, Anselm L.; Corbin, Juliet M., 1998, p.11)

 Definition of Qualitative Research

a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH approach is founded on a

sociological conceptualization of the basically social
nature of language use in human interaction.

The ultimate goal of qualitative research is to discover

phenomena such as patterns of behavior not previously
described and to understand them from the perspective
of participants in the activity.

(Tavakoli, 2012, pp.503-504)

 Definition of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is a means for exploring and
understanding the meaning individuals or groups
ascribe to a social or human problem.

The process of research involves emerging questions

and procedures; collecting data in the participants
setting; analyzing the data inductively, building from
particulars to general themes; and making
interpretations of the meaning of the data. The final
written report has a flexible writing structure.

(Creswell, 2014, p.295)

 Research Design

Research design is types of inquiry (investigation)

within qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches that provide specific direction for
procedures in a research study.

(Creswell, 2014, p.
 Qualitative Design: Narrative

Narrative research is a design of inquiry from the

humanities in which the researcher studies the lives
of individuals and asks one or more individuals to
provide stories about their lives.

This information is then often retold or restoried by

the researcher into a narrative chronology.
 Qualitative Design: Phenomenological

Phenomenologcal design is a design of inquiry

coming from philosophy and psychology in which the
researcher describes the lived experiences of
individuals about a phenomenon as described by
participants.

This description culminates in the essence of the

experiences for several individuals who have all
experienced the phenomenon. This design has
strong philosophical underpinnings and typically
involves conducting interviews.
 Qualitative Design: Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is a design of inquiry from

sociology in which the researcher derives a general,
abstract theory of a process, action, or interaction
grounded in the views of participants.

This process involves using multiple stages of data

collection and the refinement and interrelationship
of categories of information
 Qualitative Design: Ethnography

Ethnography is a design of inquiry coming from

anthropology and sociology in which the researcher
studies the shared patterns of behaviors, language,
and actions of an intact cultural group in a natural
setting over a prolonged period of time.

Data collection often involves observations and

interviews.
 Qualitative Design: Case Studies

Case studies are a design of inquiry found in many

fields, especially evaluation, in which the researcher
develops an in-depth analysis of a case, often a
program, event, activity, process, or one or more
individuals.
Cases are bounded by time and activity, and
researchers collect detailed information using a
variety of data collection procedures over a sustained
period of time.
 Research Method

Research Method involves the forms of data

collection, analysis, and interpretation that
researchers propose for their studies.
 Research Method

Quantitative Qualitative
Pre-determined Emerging methods
Instrument based questions Open-ended questions
Interview data, observation
Performance data, attitude data, document data, and
data, observational data, audiovisual data
and census data Text and image analysis
Statistical analysis Themes, patterns
Statistical interpretation interpretation