Educational Research: Qualitative Research Methods

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Educational Research Qualitative
Research Methods
EDU 8603 Educational Research Richard M. Jacobs,
OSA, Ph.D.
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Qualitative research...

• Commonly called interpretive research

its methods rely heavily on thick verbal
descriptions of a particular social context being
studied
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• Is useful for describing or answering questions
  about particular, localized occurrences or
  contexts and the perspectives of a participant
  group toward events, beliefs, or practices

a helpful process for exploring a complex
research area about which little is known
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• Illuminates the invisibility of everyday life

by making the familiar strange, more examined,
and better understood
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Qualitative methods...

• historical research

• grounded theory

• ethnography

• phenomenology

• case study

• symbolic interaction

• ethology

• action research

• ethnomethodology

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• historical research

studies available data to study, understand, and
interpret past events
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• ethnography

studies cultural patterns and perspectives of
participants in their natural settings
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• case study

examines the characteristics of a particular
entity, phenomenon, or person
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• ethology

compares the origins, characteristics, and
culture of different societies
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• ethnomethodology

studies how people make sense of their everyday
activities in order to behave in socially
accepted ways
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• grounded theory

investigates how inductively-derived theory
about phenomenon is grounded in the data of a
particular setting
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• phenomenology

considers how the experience of particular
participants exhibits a unique perspective
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• symbolic interaction

investigates how people construct meaning and
shared perspectives by interacting with others
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• action research

teacher-initiated, school-based research used to
improve the practitioners practice by doing or
changing something
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Generally speaking, qualitative researchers.
spend a great deal of time in the settings being
studied (fieldwork)
rely on themselves as the main instrument of
data collection (subjectivity intersubjectivity)
analyze data using interpretative lenses
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employ expressive language and voice in
descriptions and explanations
seek depth of perspective through ongoing
analysis (i.e., waves of data)
judged in terms of believability,
trustworthiness, coherence, and the logic
underlying researchers interpretations
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The general characteristics of qualitative
research...
? Data sources are real-world situations
? Data are descriptive
? Emphasizes a holistic approach (processes and
outcomes)
? Data analysis is inductive
? Describes the meaning(s) of research
finding(s) from the perspective of the research
participants
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Uses inductive reasoning
involves developing generalizations from a
limited number of specific observations or
experiences
highly dependent on the number and
representativeness of the specific observations
used to make the generalization
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Issues in qualitative research...
a. gaining entry
b. contacting potential research participants
c. selecting participants
d. enhancing validity and reducing bias
e. leaving the field
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a. gaining entry...
? access is very much dependent upon the
researchers personal characteristics and how
others perceive the researcher
? may require considerable negotiation and
compromise with a gatekeeper
? trust is earned, not given
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b. contacting participants...
? gaining access
? dealing with gatekeeper(s)
? issues of building trust and ensuring
confidentiality and anonymity
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c. selecting participants...
? the goal is to get the deepest possible
understanding of the setting being studied
? requires identifying participants who can
provide information about the particular topic
and setting being studied
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? is fraught with difficulties in identifying
and selecting an appropriate number of
participants who can provide useful information
about the particular topic and setting being
studied
? utilizes purposive sampling
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? types of purposive sampling
maximum variation
homogeneous
critical case
theory-based
(dis)confirming case
snowball (chain)
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extreme (deviant) case
typical case
intensity
politically important case
random purposeful
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stratified purposeful
criterion
opportunistic
combination (mixed)
convenience
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? two general guidelines the number of
participants is sufficient when
the extent to which the selected participants
represent the range of potential participants in
the setting
the point at which the data gathered begins to
be redundant (data saturation)
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The threats to validity in qualitative studies...
observer bias
invalid information resulting from the
perspective the researcher brings to the study
and imposes upon it
observer effects
the impact of the observers participation on
the setting or the participants being studied
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d. strategies to enhance validity and to reduce
bias...
? extend the time for observing the setting
? include more participants to make the study
more representative
? focus upon building participant trust in
order to access more detailed and honest data
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? identify biases and preferences, seek them
out by asking others
? work with another researcher and compare
field notes and impressions from independent
observations
? after observations are completed, offer
participants an opportunity to validate accuracy
of the verbatims
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? journalize ones own reflections, concerns,
and uncertainties during the study and refer to
them when examining the data
? carefully examine unusual or contradictory
results for explanations (outliers)
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? utilize a variety of data sources to confirm
one another to corroborate participant
information (triangulation)
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e. leaving the field
? The question is when and how to exit
the bonds formed with study participants
complicate leaving the setting
time constraints
when the amount of accessible data is sufficient
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The basic steps of qualitative research...
1. Write a tentative research proposal
2. Intensive participation in a field setting
3. Collect detailed data from field activities
4. Synthesize and interpret the meanings of the
field data
5. Write the research report
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1. The qualitative research proposal...
? defines area of study
? identifies setting or context of study
? specifies the kinds of data to be collected
? describes methods to be used
? provides the researchers rationale for
undertaking the study
? identifies the studys potential
contribution(s)
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2. Intensive participation in a field setting...
? participation as a participant (participant
observer) or nonparticipant
? approach to participation overt or covert
? requires experiencing the situation from the
perspective of both an observer and a participant
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3. Collecting and analyzing data...
? primary tools include observations and
interviews but can also include personal and
official documents, photographs, recordings,
drawings, emails, and informal conversations
? multiple data sources are normative
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? the researcher records descriptive as well as
reflective notes about what one has seen, heard,
experienced, and thought about a during an
observation session
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• regarding field notes

put aside assumptions, experience context first
see phenomena through participants perspective
write up notes immediately following an
observation
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detail is critical include date, site, time,
and topic on every set of field notes leave wide
margins for writing impressions use only one
side of a page of paper draw diagram of site (if
necessary)
list key words first, then outline ones
observations
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keep the descriptive and reflective sections
separate
use memos to record hunches, questions, and
insights after each observation
number the lines or paragraphs for easy access
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• regarding interviews

the purpose is to explore and to probe the
interviewees responses in order to gather
in-depth data
the interviewer inquires into the interviewees
attitudes, interests, feelings, concerns, and
values as these relate to the context being
studied
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meaning is jointly constructed between the
interviewer and the interviewee meaning is not
just a construction on the part of the interviewee
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be alert for openings in responses to probe more
deeply, starting with mundane questions and
gradually easing into more sensitive and more
complex questions
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interview data collection techniques include
taking notes during the interview, writing notes
after the interview, or tape recording and
transcribing the interview (the transcript is a
verbatim)
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Interview dos and donts...
? Do listen more and talk less
? Do follow up on what is not clear and probe
more deeply into what is revealed
? Dont use leading questions do use
open-ended questions (probes)
? Dont interrupt do wait
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? Do keep interviewee(s) focused
? Do ask for concrete details
? Do tolerate silence and space between
interviewees responses do allow the interviewee
time to think
? Dont be judgmental about or react to an
interviewees opinions, views, or beliefs
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? Dont engage in debate with an interviewee
? Do record everything the interviewee says and
note impressions of interviewees nonverbal
behavior
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4. Synthesis and interpretation of the meanings
of field data...
? a formidable task because data are thick and
deep as well as voluminous and unorganized
(field notes)
? involves a systematic and iterative process
of searching, categorizing, and integrating data
(managing data)
? understanding emerges as data are integrated
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Analyzing field data
data pieces
data categories
data patterns
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four-step iterative process of data management...
a. reading and memoing to become familiar with
data and to identify main themes
b. examining data to develop detailed
descriptions of the setting, participants, and
activities
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c. classifying the data, including
categorization, coding, and grouping into
thematic units
d. interpreting and synthesizing the organized
data into general conclusions or understandings
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• Involves working with field notes

deconstructing data into pieces
reconstructing the data pieces into categories
identifying patterns for understanding,
synthesis, and interpretation
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Criteria suitable for qualitative data analysis...
a. credibility or plausibility
b. transferability
c. including a methods section
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• credibility or plausibility

to demonstrate that the study was conducted in
such a manner as to ensure that the subject was
accurately identified and described
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• transferability

to demonstrate that the results of the study are
generalizable to others in the original research
context or to contexts beyond the original study
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• including a methods section

to provide an in-depth description of the
processes and methods used in the study
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Strategies for analyzing qualitative data...
a. constant comparison method
b. negative case and discrepant data methods
c. analytic induction
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• constant comparison method

compares new evidence to prior evidence to
identify similarities and differences between
observations
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• negative case and discrepant data methods

the search for contradictory, variant, or
disconfirming data within the body of data
collected that provides an alternative
perspective on an emerging category or pattern
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• analytic induction

a process concerned with developing and testing
a theory in order to generalize a studys findings
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5. Writing the research report...
? provide a setting where the data were
collected
? identify characters who provide information
? describe the social action in which the
characters are engaged
? offers an interpretation of what the social
action means to the characters
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? offers an interpretation of what the social
action means to the characters
? follow all APA Publication Manual guidelines
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Mini-Quiz

• True and false

Qualitative research methods are rooted in the
disciplines of sociology, anthropology, and
history rather than in mathematics.
True
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• True and false

The central focus of qualitative research is to
provide understanding of a social setting or
activity from the perspective of the research
participants
True
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• True and false

Empathic neutrality requires a researcher to
include ones personal experience and empathic
insight as part of the relevant data
True
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• True and false

An interviewer constructs the meaning of the
content of an interview
False
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• True and false

One of the first issues in qualitative research
is to gain entry to a site
True
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• True and false

One indicator that an adequate number of
participants has been selected is the extent to
which the selected participants represent the
range of potential participants in the setting
True
70

• True and false

Purposive sampling strategies are especially
useful in qualitative research
True
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• True and false

A qualitative researcher should be wary of
potential participants who are extremely eager to
be included in the study
True
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• True and false

A covert participant observer participates as
well as collects data during an observation
session
True
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• True and false

Each observation session has its unique focus
and interactions but is guided by a protocol or
list of issues that frame the observation
True
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• True and false

In qualitative research, data analysis begins as
the researcher initiates data management
False
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• True and false

An interviewer will almost always meet
face-to-face with an interviewee while some
observers will not.
True
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• True and false

Transcripts are the field notes of an interview
session
True
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• True and false

Data analysis and interpretation are based on
induction as the qualitative researcher discovers
patterns emerging from the data and makes sense
of them
True
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• True and false

There are no predefined variables to focus
qualitative analysis of the data
True
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• True and false

Credibility or plausibility demonstrates that
the study was conducted in such a manner that the
subject was accurately identified and described
True
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• True and false

The process of analyzing qualitative research
data follows a sequential four-step process
False
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• True and false

The ability of the researcher to induce or
construct meaning from the data greatly
influences the duration and quality of the data
analysis
True
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• True and false

Implicitly or explicitly, a researcher
interprets data whenever the researcher uses a
conceptual basis or understanding to cluster a
variety of data pieces into a category
True
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• Fill in the blank

Studying real-world situations as they unfold
naturally nonmanipulative, unobtrusive, and
noncontrolling open to whatever emerges due to a
lack of predetermined constraints on outcomes
naturalistic inquiry
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• Fill in the blank

Immersion in the details and specifics of the
data to discover important categories,
dimensions, and interrelationships begins by
exploring genuinely open questions rather than
testing theoretically derived hypotheses
inductive analysis
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• Fill in the blank

The entire phenomenon is understood as a complex
system more than the sum of its parts the focus
is upon complex interdependencies not
meaningfully reduced to a few discrete variables
and linear, cause-effect relationships
holistic perspective
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• Fill in the blank

A detailed, thick description inquiry in depth
direct quotations capturing peoples personal
perspectives and experiences
qualitative data
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• Fill in the blank

Attention to process assumes change is constant
and ongoing whether the focus is upon an
individual or an entire culture
dynamic systems
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• Fill in the blank

The first level of qualitative inquiry requires
the researcher to be true to, respectful of, and
to capture the essential details of the
individual context being studied
unique case orientation
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• Fill in the blank

To place findings in a social, historical, and
temporal context dubious about the possibility
or meaningfulness of generalizations across time
and space
context sensitivity
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• Fill in the blank

The researchers passion is understanding the
world in all its complexity, not proving
something, not advocating, not advancing personal
agendas, but understanding
empathic neutrality
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• Fill in the blank

The researcher resides in the study context but
disguises his or her identity from the other
participants
covert participation
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• Fill in the blank

The researchers openness to adapting ones
research as understanding deepens and/or
situations change the willingness to pursue new
paths of discovery as they emerge
design flexibility
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• Fill in the blank

The point at which the researcher begins to hear
similar thoughts, perspectives, and responses
from more or all of the participants
data saturation
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• Fill in the blank

Providing information to a participant about the
nature and purpose of the study
informed consent
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• Fill in the blank

The process of qualitative data collection
fieldwork
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• Fill in the blank

The observers record about what has been seen,
heard, experienced, and thought about during an
observation session
field notes
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• Fill in the blank

Evolving data analysis involves a form of
thinking on paper through which the researcher
describes ones mental explorations of ideas,
themes, hunches, and reflections about the
research topic
memo writing
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• Fill in the blank

An extensive, descriptive, and lucid report of
the researchers observations, partially
influenced by what the researcher sees but mainly
by the detail and language the researcher uses in
constructing the report
thick description
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• Fill in the blank

An purposeful interaction, usually between two
people, focused upon one person attempting to
access information from another person
interview
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• Fill in the blank

The word-for-word transcript of an interview
session
verbatim
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• Fill in the blank

Unusual or contradictory results from an
observation or interview
outlier
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• Fill in the blank

The point at which the data gathered becomes
redundant
data saturation
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• Fill in the blank

Creating and organizing qualitative data
collected during the study
data management
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• Fill in the blank

The process of recording the researchers
initial thoughts and early impressions of the data
memoing
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• Fill in the blank

The process where the qualitative researcher
provides an accurate depiction of the settings
and events that took place in it which yields an
understanding of the context in which the study
took place
description
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• Fill in the blank

The process of breaking down the data into
smaller units, determining the import of the
units, and organizing the units together again in
an interpreted form
classifying
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• Fill in the blank

A qualitative method for classifying data where
the researcher begins with a preliminary
hypothesis and continuously refines it until
there are no examples of the revised hypothesis
not being upheld
analytic induction
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• Fill in the blank

A form of cross-validation that seeks
regularities in the data by comparing different
participants, settings, and methods to identify
recurring results
triangulation
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• Analogies

content method as characteristics of a single
person or phenomenon _______________
case study
110

• Analogies

content method as a groups cultural patterns
and perspectives _______________
ethnography
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• Analogies

content method as the link between a groups
everyday activities and its social structure
_______________
ethnomethodology
112

• Analogies

content method as the link between
participants perspectives and social science
theory _______________
grounded theory
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• Analogies

content method as the meanings and perspectives
gained by interactions _______________
symbolic interactionism
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• Analogies

content method as How participants experience a
variety of things _______________
phenomenology
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• Analogies

content method as A change in student learning
_______________
action research
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• Analogies

quantitative qualitative as population
_______________
setting
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• Analogies

quantitative qualitative as generalizability
_______________
transferability
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This module has focused on...
qualitative research methods
which describe or answer questions about
particular, localized occurrences or contexts and
the perspectives of a participant group toward
events, beliefs, or practices
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The next module will focus on...
action research
...teacher-initiated, school-based research used
to improve the practitioners practice by doing
or changing something