1. Qualitative Research
The Nature of Qualitative Research

2. What is Qualitative Research?
 Lincoln and Guba  Strauss and Corbin (1990)
any kind of research that
(1985)—a proper produces findings that are
impression…can be not arrived at by means of
statistical procedures or other
gleaned only as an means of quantification
overall perspective (p.17)
(p.8)
Qualitative research is an
Wolcott (1992)– is


investigation arising out of a
not a field of need the researcher to
explore meaning within and
study…no clearly give meaning to the topic of
specified set of study.
activities (p.4)

3. What is qualitative research?
 Study of contexts
 Study of words rather than numbers
 Study of social situations
 Comparison of qualitative and
quantitative methodologies
 …but the two can be used together!

4. Disciplined Inquiry
 Objectivity
 Precision
 Verification
 Parsimonious explanation
 Empiricism
 Logical reasoning
 Probabilistic thinking

5. Characteristics
 Naturalistic settings
 Rich description
 Process orientation
 Construction of meaning
 Inductive processes
 Reflexivity

6. Characteristics of Qualitative Research
 Features
 Naturalistic
 Data collected on
the premise
 Researcher’s
insight is the key
instrument for
analysis
 Concerned with
context.

7. Descriptive Data
 Data taken take the
shape of words and
pictures not numbers
 Written results contain
quotations from the data to
illustrate and substantiate
the presentation
 Data may be interview
transcripts, fieldnotes,
photos, videos, documents,
memos, records.
 Nothing can be taken for
granted

8. Concern with Process
 Concern is with
process not just
outcomes or
products
 How do people
negotiate meaning?
 How do certain
terms and labels
come to be
applied?

9. Inductive
 Researchers do not
research out data or
evidence to prove or
disprove hypotheses
they hold before
entering the study;
rather, the abstractions
are built as the
particulars that have
been gathered are
grouped together.

10. Meaning
 Meaning is
essential
 Concern is with
particular
perspectives and
capturing those
accurately

11. History of Qualitative Research
 Anthropologist and sociologists have
collected information from the field
for many years.

12. History - ancient
 Cro Magnon man (25000 BC!)
 Mayans (1500 BC)
 Biblical references
 Marco Polo
 Cortez

13. History – 20th century
 Margaret Mead
 The Chicago School
 Park, Thomas, others
Thus, the roots of qualitative research
are found primarily in anthropology and
sociology, although certainly other
disciplines had influence as well.

14. The Chicago School
 1920’s and 30’s
 Sociology Dept. at University of
Chicago
 Moved personal observations to the
forefront
 Gave voice to points of view of
people marginalized in society.

15. The Sociology of Education
 1932, Sociology of Teaching
(Waller)
 Relied on in-depth interview, life
histories, participant observation, case
records, diaries, letters, and other
personal documents to describe the
social world of teachers and their
students.

16. European Connections and the Social
Survey Movement
 During 1800’s, Frenchman,
Frederick LePlay studied working
class people through participant
observation (called it observation)
[lived with the families studied;
participated in lives; observed what
they did at work, at play, at church
and in school] They described in
detail the life of the working-class
family in Europe.

17.  Mayhew (1851-  Beatrice Webb and her
husband published the
1862) London
first discussion of
Labor and the method in qualitative
London Poor (four research (1932)
volumes)
W.E.B DuBois– first social
Described through


survey in the US. Published
reports and (1899) The Philadelphia
Negro—year and half of close
anecdotes study, including interviews
conditions of the and observations;-- the
condition of 40,000 or more
workers and the people of Negro blood who
unemployed lived in Philadelphia.

18.  The social upheaval of the sixties
indicated that we did not know
enough about how students
experienced school
 Qualitative methods gained
popularity because of their
recognition of the views of the
powerless and the excluded– those
of the “outside”

19. Why is it important?
 Unexplored topic
 Multifaceted context
 Developing a theory
 Perceptions & interpretations of
lives
 Study of phenomena
 It allows the researcher to answer
questions and achieve your purpose

20. Limitations
 Time consuming
 Large amounts of data
 No “hard” data
 No standardized methods
 No cause & effect

21. Ethics
 Permission
 Human subjects protection
 Truthfulness
 Researcher bias
 Ethical dilemmas

22. Questions to Ponder
 Are qualitative findings
generalizable?
 What about the researcher’s
opinions, prejudices, and other
biases and their effect on the data?
 Doesn’t the presence of the
researcher change the behavior of
the people he or she is trying to
study?

23.  Will two researchers independently studying the
same setting or subjects come up with the same
findings?
 How does qualitative research differ from what
other people such as teachers, reporters or artists
do?
 Can qualitative and quantitative approaches be
used together?
 Is qualitative research really scientific?
 What is the goal of qualitative research?
 How does qualitative differ from quantitative
research?
 Which research approach is better, qualitative or
quantitative?