QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
Comparison of qualitative & quantitative research
| Qualitative
| Quantitative
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Definitions
| a systematic subjective approach used to describe life experiences and give them meaning
| a formal, objective, systematic process for obtaining information about the world. A method used to describe, test relationships, and examine cause and effect relationships.
|
Goals
| To gain insight; explore the depth, richness, and complexity inherent in the phenomenon.
| To test relationships, describe, examine cause and effect relations
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Characteristics
| - Soft science
- Focus: complex & broad
- Holistic
- Subjective
- Dialectic, inductive reasoning
- Basis of knowing: meaning & discovery
- Develops theory
- Shared interpretation
- Communication & observation
- Basic element of analysis: words
- Individual interpretation
- Uniqueness
| Hard science Focus: concise & narrow Reductionistic Objective Logistic, deductive reasoning Basis of knowing: cause & effect, relationships Tests theory Control Instruments Basic element of analysis: numbers Statistical analysis Generalization
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Specific qualitative approaches
Phenomenology
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| Purpose, goal - to describe experiences as they are lived
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| - examines uniqueness of individual's lived situations
- each person has own reality; reality is subjective
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| Research question development
|
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| - What does existence of feeling or experience indicate concerning the phenomenon to be explored
- What are necessary & sufficient constituents of feeling or experience?
- What is the nature of the human being?
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| Method
|
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| - No clearly defined steps to avoid limiting creativity of researcher
- Sampling & data collection
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|
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| - Seek persons who understand study & are willing to express inner feelings & experiences
- Describe experiences of phenomenon
- Write experiences of phenomenon
- Direct observation
- Audio or videotape
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| Data analysis
|
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| - Classify & rank data
- Sense of wholeness
- Examine experiences beyond human awareness/ or cannot be communicated
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| Outcomes
|
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| - Findings described from subject's point-of-view
- Researcher identifies themes
- Structural explanation of findings is developed
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Grounded theory
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| Purpose - theory development
|
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| - Used in discovering what problems exist in a social scene &how persons handle them
- Involves formulation, testing, & redevelopment of propositions until a theory is developed
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| Method - steps occur simultaneously; a constant comparative process
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| - Data collection - interview, observation, record review, or combination
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| Analysis
|
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| - Concept formation
- Concept development - reduction; selective sampling of literature; selective sampling of subjects; emergence of core concepts
- Concept modification & integration
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| Outcomes - theory supported by examples from data
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Ethnography
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| Purpose - to describe a culture's characteristics
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| Method
|
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| - Identify culture, variables for study, & review literature
- Data collection - gain entrance to culture; immerse self in culture; acquire informants; gather data through direct observation & interaction with subjects
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| Analysis - describe characteristics of culture
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| Outcomes - description of culture
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Historical
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| Purpose - describe and examine events of the past to understand the present and anticipate potential future effects
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| Method
|
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| - Formulate idea - select topic after reading related literature
- Develop research questions
- Develop an inventory of sources - archives, private libraries, papers
- Clarify validity & reliability of data - primary sources, authenticity, biases
- Develop research outline to organize investigative process
- Collect data
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| Analysis - synthesis of all data; accept & reject data; reconcile conflicting evidence
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| Outcomes - select means of presentation - biography, chronology, issue paper
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Case study
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| Purpose - describe in-depth the experience of one person, family, group, community, or institution
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| Method
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| - Direct observation and interaction with subject
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| Analysis - synthesis of experience
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| Outcomes - in-depth description of the experience
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Data collection
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- Interview with audiotape & videotape
- Direct, non-participant observation
- Participant observation
- Field notes, journals, logs
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Reliability & validity - rigor
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Use of researcher's personality
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- Involvement with subject's experience
- Live with data collection until no new information appears
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Bracketing
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- Researcher suspends what is known about the phenomenon
- Keeping an open context
- Set aside own preconceptions
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Intuiting
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- Process of actually looking at phenomenon
- Focus all awareness & energy on topic
- Absolute concentration & complete absorption in phenomenon
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Can use > 1 researcher & compare interpretation and analysis of data
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Data analysis
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- Living with data
- Cluster & categorize data
- Examine concepts & themes
- Define relationships between/among concepts
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Return to assignments
What are the 5 types of qualitative research?
A popular and helpful categorization separate qualitative methods into five groups: ethnography, narrative, phenomenological, grounded theory, and case study.
What are the 4 types of quantitative research?
There are four main types of Quantitative research: Descriptive, Correlational, Causal-Comparative/Quasi-Experimental, and Experimental Research. attempts to establish cause- effect relationships among the variables. These types of design are very similar to true experiments, but with some key differences.
What are the 6 types of qualitative research?
The six main forms are:.
Phenomenological Method [deriving from phenomena].
Ethnographic Model..
Grounded Theory Method..
Case Study Model..
Historical Model..
Narrative Model..
What are the 3 types of qualitative research?
There are three major approaches to qualitative research: ethnography [drawn from anthropology]; phenomenology [drawn from philosophy] and grounded theory [drawn from sociology].