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
Which type of qualitative research describes experience of people as they live?
Phenomenological studies examine human experiences through the descriptions provided by the people involved. These experiences are called lived experiences. The goal of phenomenological studies is to describe the meaning that experiences hold for each subject.
What kind of qualitative research is providing meaning to people's experiences?
Phenomenology attempts to understand problems, ideas, and situations from the perspective of common understanding and experience rather than differences. Phenomenology is about understanding how human beings experience their world. It gives researchers a powerful tool with which to understand subjective experience.
What type of research is lived experience?
Lived experience research in mental health is research that illuminates the perspectives and experiences of people who live with mental health issues and is conducted either by researchers with their own lived experience or in collaborative research teams that include people with lived experience [1, 2].
Which type of qualitative research that explores what people experienced and focuses on their experience of a phenomena?
A phenomenological study explores what people experienced and focuses on their experience of a phenomena. As phenomenology has a strong foundation in philosophy, it is recommended that you explore the writings of key thinkers such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty before embarking on your research.