Qualitative Research Methods Quiz

Research Process Overview

• Research is a process of executing various mental activities to discover, examine facts and information to confirm the accuracy and truthfulness of claims.

Research Objectives

• Differentiate quantitative and qualitative research
• Describe characteristics and types of qualitative research
• Justify the usefulness of qualitative research

What is Inquiry?

• Inquiry is a learning process used to obtain knowledge or information about people, places, things, or events. It is also known as investigation

What is Research?

• Research requires inquiring or investigating a chosen research topic.

Characteristics of Research

• Accuracy: Research must provide factual and exact data correctly documented in footnotes, notes, and bibliographical entries.
• Objectivity: Research must deal with facts, not mere opinions or assumptions.
• Timeliness: Research topics should be relevant and interesting to current society.
• Relevance: Topics should be instrumental in improving society or solving community problems.
• Clarity: Research must express its central points using simple, direct, and correct language.
• Systematic: Research must be organized and orderly.
• Ethical: Research must uphold principles of benefit, not detriment; respecting preferences, confidentiality, independence, and freedom.

Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research is a type of research that seeks to satisfy curiosity.
• It involves observing, describing, interviewing, and appreciating.
• It's a type of inquiry that is exploratory in nature.

Qualitative Research - Characteristics

• Inductive Approach: Uses a bottom-up approach. Starting from observations and evolving towards conclusions.
• Subjective: It deals with subjective interpretations.
• Open-Ended Questions: Allows for more in-depth exploration of topics instead of pre-determined answers.
• Flexible Design: Adapts to new questions or information during the research process.
• Multiple Data Sources: Collects data from various sources like interviews, observations, and documents.
• Context Sensitivity: Researchers are aware of the cultural, traditional and beliefs of the subjects.
• Empathetic Neutrality: Researchers remain nonjudgmental when compiling findings.

Qualitative Research - Examples

• Case Study: Seeks to understand the reasons behind events occurring to a subject/topic.
• Ethnography: Studies a culture's organizational structure, operations, and lifetstyles
• Phenomenology: Focuses on the commonalities of lived experiences within a group.
• Grounded Theory: Discovers problems within a social environment and explores how individuals react to them in said environment.
• Discourse Analysis: Examines social practices at various levels (local, institutional, societal) and interactions through text.
• Historical Research: Examines past events in detail for understanding.
• Narrative Report: Presents past events in a logical order using relevant information.
• Biography: Examines an individual's life and how it reflects or correlates with cultural themes of the specific society.
• Action Research: Seeks transformative change through the interplay of action and research.

Research Process - Stages

• Chapter 1 - Problem Setting: Initial stage identifying the research issue, establishing an introduction, defining the problem. Includes statements of the problem, developing hypotheses, outlining a theoretical framework, outlining significance and scope, and defining key terms.
• Chapter 2 - Review of Related Literature: A summary of existing research on the topic, useful in supporting the research study.
• Chapter 3 - Research Methodologies: Choosing appropriate data collection methods, like surveys, interviews, etc.; includes research design, locale, instrument, data gathering technique, participants, procedure, and ethics.
• Chapter 4 - Presentation of Data: Analyzing and interpreting data.
• Chapter 5 - Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations: Summarizing research findings and making recommendations; conclusions.
• Chapter 6 - References: Providing sources used in the study.
• Appendices: Supplementary material such as research questionnaires, documents or letters.
• Curriculum Vitae: A summary of an author's background and accomplishments.