Qualitative research in Education by Nina Bitskinashvili

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Qualitative Research
Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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Outline

1. What is qualitative research?
2. What can we learn from qualitative research?
3. What are some qualitative research methods?
4. What forms do qualitative data take?
5. What type of qualitative research do we know?

Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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1. What is qualitative research?

• Qualitative research is a type of scientific
  research.
• In general terms, scientific research consists of
  an investigation that - Seeks answers to a
  question - Systematically uses a predefined set
  of procedures to answer the question - Collects
  evidence - Produces findings that were not
  determined in advance - Produces findings that
  are applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of
  the study

Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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1. What is qualitative research?

• These are also the characteristics of Qualitative
  Research
• Seeks answers to a question
• Systematically uses a predefined set of
  procedures to answer the question
• Collects evidence
• Produces findings that were not determined in
  advance
• Produces findings that are applicable beyond the
  immediate boundaries of the study

Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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1. What is qualitative research?

• It is used to describe behaviors, actions,
  feelings, perceptions, and interaction among
  people.
• Assume that respondents or people observed have
  unique views of their personal experiences or the
  surrounding environment.
• It helps us understand lifestyles and cultural
  values, actions, and symbols.

Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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1. What is qualitative research?

• It seeks to understand a given research problem
  or topic from the perspectives of the local
  population it involves.
• Qualitative research is especially effective in
  obtaining culturally specific information about
  the values, opinions, behaviors, and social
  contexts of particular populations.

Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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2. What can we learn from qualitative research?

• The strength of qualitative research is its
  ability to provide complex textual descriptions
  of how people experience a given research issue.
• It provides information about the human side of
  an issue that is, the often contradictory
  behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and
  relationships of individuals. Qualitative methods
  are also effective in identifying intangible
  factors, such as social norms, socioeconomic
  status, gender roles, ethnicity, and religion,
  whose role in the research issue may not be
  readily apparent

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2. What can we learn from qualitative research?

• When used along with quantitative methods,
  qualitative research can help us to interpret and
  better understand the complex reality of a given
  situation and the implications of quantitative
  data

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2. What can we learn from qualitative research?

• Although findings from qualitative data can often
  be extended to people with characteristics
  similar to those in the study population, gaining
  a rich and complex understanding of a specific
  social context or phenomenon typically takes
  precedence over eliciting data that can be
  generalized to other geographical areas or
  populations. In this sense, qualitative research
  differs slightly from scientific research in
  general.

Nina Bitskinashvili 2014, PhD
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3. What are some qualitative research methods?

• There are three most common qualitative methods
  and each method is particularly suited for
  obtaining a specific type of data.
• Participant observation
• In-depth interviews
• Focus groups

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3. What are some qualitative research methods?

• Participant observation is appropriate for
  collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors
  in their usual contexts.

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3. What are some qualitative research methods?

• In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting
  data on individuals personal histories,
  perspectives, and experiences, particularly when
  sensitive topics are being explored

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3. What are some qualitative research methods?

• Focus groups are effective in eliciting data on
  the cultural norms of a group and in generating
  broad overviews of issues of concern to the
  cultural groups or subgroups represented

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4. What forms do qualitative data take?

• The types of data these three methods generate
  are
• Field notes
• Audio (and sometimes video) recordings
• Transcripts

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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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Qualitative methods...

• historical research

• grounded theory

• ethnology

• phenomenology

• action research

• case study

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• historical research

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

teacher-initiated, school-based research used to
improve the practitioners practice by doing or
changing something
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• E N D
• Thanks!