conducting qualitative research: decisions, actions, and implications
TRANSCRIPT
CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
DECISIONS, ACTIONS, AND
IMPLICATIONS
Philip Adu, Ph.D.
Methodology Expert
National Center for Academic & Dissertation Excellence (NCADE)
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Surviving in a Class with the
“Most Difficult of Professors”
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difficult courses and professors.
Basic Differences Between Quantitative and
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Making observations
Test theory
Qualitative Research
Making observations
Develop theory
When to Conduct a Qualitative Study
• Exploring• Phenomenon, case, or situation in the natural
setting
• Complex issues without specific variable identified
• Explaining a process or behavior
• Describing an issue using non-numerical data
• Understanding phenomenon, case, behavior or situation
• Collecting participants’ stories and retell them to address the research question
Qualitative Research Process(Maintaining Consistency)
1. Problem StatementGap found in the literature
2. Research Purpose:Understand
Explain
Describe
Illustrate
Explore
Conceptualize
3. Research
Question:
Exploratory in nature
4. Research Design:
Research Plan - logical
description of how data
would be collected, and
analyzed to address the
research question (s)
Research Approach
Sampling Strategy
Data Collection Strategy7. Quality
AssuranceCredibility
Transferability
Dependability
8. Analysis of Data
6. Philosophical
Assumptions OR
ParadigmOntology (about reality)
Epistemology (about
knowledge)
Axiology (about value)
Researcher’s role(s),
background, beliefs,
perspectives, and
biases
9. Presentation
and Interpretation
of Results
(Yilmaz, 2013)
1. Problem StatementDescribing the specific problem you want to address in your study
• Problem needed to be addressed• Recommended by previous researchers
• Presented in the existing studies
• Inferred from existing studies
• Identifying a gap in existing studies (Techniques)
• Confusion spotting
• Neglect spotting
• Application spotting
• Methodological flaw spotting
(Sandberg & Alvesson, 2010)
2. Research Purpose (Characteristics)
‘
Action’ or ‘operative’ words
• Explain
• Describe
• Illustrate
• Develop
• Explore
• Conceptualize
• Identify
Phenomenon, case, situation, or
process
• Specific issue you plan to address in your study
Participants and location/setting
• Specific participants and location/setting you want to study
The purpose of the study is to explain how mental health stigma
influences help seeking behaviors among teens with mental
health problems in a low income neighborhood in Accra, Ghana.
Defining the main concepts
3. Research Question
Functions:• It drives the study
• Informs research approach
• Informs data collection and analysis process
Characteristics of a qualitative research question:
• Exploratory
• Open-ended (what, how, why...)
• Specific context
Types of Qualitative Research Question
Type of Research Question Examples
QualitativeResearch Question
(Exploratory)
Ontological researchquestion
(Capturing participants‘ realities)
“What is the nature of…?” “What are the lived experiences of…?” “What is it like being…?”
(Saldana, 2013, p.61)
Epistemological researchQuestion
(Understanding phenomenon)
“How does…?” “What does it mean to be…?” “What factors influence…?”
(Saldana, 2013, p.61)
How does mental health stigma influence help seeking behaviors among teens
with mental health problems in a low income neighborhood in Accra, Ghana?
4. Research Design
Qualitative Research
Design
Research Approach
Data Collection Strategy
Sampling Technique
Philosophical
Assumptions
Researcher’s
Background,
Beliefs, & Biases
Data
Analysis
Research Plan
- logical
description of
how data would
be collected,
and analyzed to
address the
research
question (s)
(Yilmaz, 2013)
5. Philosophical Assumptions(Associated with Qualitative Research)
Ontology
(Reality)
Epistemology
(Knowledge)
Axiology
(Value)
Meaning Multiple realities;
Subjectivity of reality;
Socially constructed
reality
Close interaction
between the
knower and the
known
Value and beliefs
influence actions
taken
Implications Understanding the
phenomenon from
multiple perspectives
by capturing
subjective views and
experiences
A close
connection
between you
(the researcher)
and participants/
phenomenon
Discussing your
background,
beliefs, and biases
and how they
influence the
research process
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
Philosophical Assumptions(Actions to be taken)
Researcher’s
background,
beliefs, and biases
Participants’
multiple
perspectives
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT• Being aware of your values (i.e. background, beliefs, and biases)
• Making your values known
• Getting know your participants and building trust
• Distinguishing your views from the views of participants
• Paying attention to context, participants’ background, and beliefs
Collecting participants’ realities and experiences, and capturing how context
and their backgroundinfluence their realities and experiences
Analyzing their realities and
experiences to develop
themes which represent data collected and address the
research question(s)
Choosing an Appropriate Research
Approach
Appropriate Research Approach
a.
Assessing methodological rationale
of potential research approaches
b.
Engaging
in a Process of Elimination
c.
Reviewing characteristics of the research question(s)
a. Assessing Methodological Rationale of
Potential Research Approaches
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
1. Phenomenological approach
2. Grounded theory approach
3. Narrative approach
4. Case study
5. Ethnography
a. Assessing Methodological Rationale of
Potential Research Approaches
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
Phenomenological approach
• Capturing participants’
experiences
• Examining how they make
sense of their experiences
• Coming up with themes
that represents their
experiences
Lived experience
Phenomenon
Essence meaning
Making sense
Participants’ reality
a. Assessing Methodological Rationale of
Potential Research Approaches
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
Grounded theory
approach
Developing an explanation,
proposition, model and/or
theory that best fit the data
collected and provide an
understanding of a
phenomenon, situation, or
process
ExplanationTheory
Phenomenon Process
DevelopModel
a. Assessing Methodological Rationale of
Potential Research Approaches
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
Narrative approach
Collecting participants’
stories
Analyzing the data to
retell their stories in
specified pattern so as to
address the research
question
retellStories
Narrative Pattern
DescriptionSetting
a. Assessing Methodological Rationale of
Potential Research Approaches
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
Case study
• Shedding light or
providing an in-depth
understanding of a
specific and well-defined
case/phenomenon using
multiple data sources
In-depthCase
Multiple
Data sources
Well-defined context
UnderstandingCredibility
a. Assessing Methodological Rationale of
Potential Research Approaches
(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)
Ethnography
Examining or exploring a
phenomenon by studying
a group of people or
individual in their natural
environment as they
interact with their
surroundings and people
around them
Natural setting
Interactions
Observation
Description
Participant observation
Field notes
b. Engaging in a Process of Elimination
1. Reviewing characteristics of the research question(s)
2. Eliminating the research approaches that are not consistent
with the research question(s)
3. Determining the kind of data needed to address the research
question(s)
4. Compare the expected data with the methodological
rationale/purpose of each potential research approach
Reviewing
EliminatingDetermining
Comparing
REDC
b. Engaging in a Process of
Elimination
Type of Research Question Examples Potential Research
Approach
QualitativeResearch Question
(Exploratory)
Ontologicalresearchquestion
(Capturing participants‘
realities)
“What is the nature of…?”
“What are the lived experiences of…?”
“What is it like being…?”
(Saldana, 2013, p.61)
• Phenomenological
approach
• Narrative approach
• Ethnography
EpistemologicalresearchQuestion
(Understanding phenomenon)
“How does…?” “What does it mean to
be…?” “What factors
influence…?”
(Saldana, 2013, p.61)
• Case study
• Ethnography
• Grounded theory
approach
• Phenomenological
approach
Example
Purpose statement
• The purpose of the study is to explain how mental health stigma
influences help seeking behavior among teens with mental health
problems in a low income neighborhood in Accra, Ghana.
Research Question
• How does mental health stigma influence help seeking behaviors
among teens with mental health problems in a low income
neighborhood in Accra, Ghana?
Grounded theory
OR
Case study approach
Qualitative Data Collection
• Data collection strategies:
• Observation
• Participants observation
• In-depth interviews
• Document collection/analysis
• Focus groups
• Characteristics of data:
• Audio
• Text
• Visual/artifact
(Yilmaz, 2013)
Sampling Techniques
Sampling Techniques
Qualitative Sampling Techniques
Sampling Technique Meaning
Intensity sampling Appropriate if you plan to explore different components
of a case, phenomenon, situation, and/or behavior with
varied intensity
Homogeneous sampling Focusing on participants who have similar experiences,
beliefs, and/or background
Criterion sampling Selecting participants who meet specified criteria.
Snowball sampling Recruit participants based on the recommendation of
initial participant(s) sampled
Random purposive
sampling
Randomly sampling participants who have been
purposively sampled
(Jacobs, 2013)
Number of Participants for a Qualitative Study
• It depends on:
1. Research approach chosen
2. Recommendations made by
qualitative researchers
3. Homogeneity of participants’
background
4. Accessibility of participants
5. Attainability of saturation
6. Availability of time and resources
7. Adequacy of the potential data to
address the research question(s)
(Baker & Edwards, 2012).
Qualitative Data Analysis
Assigning labels to
Data
1. Interview transcripts
2. Documents
3. Artifacts
4. Field notes
A code is a word, phrase, or sentence that represents
aspect(s) of a data or captures the essence or
feature(s) of a data
(Saldana, 2013)
For more information go to:
http://www.slideshare.net/kontorphilip/qualitative-analysis-coding-
and-categorizing(Adu, 2014)
Coding Process
Coding Sorting Synthesizing Theorizing
TheoryThemesCategoriesCodes
Real
or
Particular
Abstract
or
General
(Saldana, 2013)
Quality Assurance
• Credibility (Do the data and findings truly reflect participants’ experience?)
• Accuracy of data and findings
• Direct connection between findings and data collected
• Rich context and in-depth description
• Triangulation – using more then one data source
• Transferability (Can the findings be transferred to similar context?)
• Clearly describing the context
• Detailing research assumptions the inform the study
• Dependability (Would we arrive at similar results if the procedures are followed?)
• Clearly presenting step-by-step data collection and analysis process
• Presenting the paradigm that informed the study
• Describing researcher's role, bias, and background
(Trochim, 2006; Yilmaz, 2013)
Recap: Qualitative Research Process(Maintaining Consistency)
1. Problem StatementGap found in the literature
2. Research Purpose:Understand
Explain
Describe
Illustrate
Explore
Conceptualize
3. Research
Question:
Exploratory in nature
4. Research Design:
Research Plan - logical
description of how data
would be collected, and
analyzed to address the
research question (s)
Research Approach
Sampling Strategy
Data Collection Strategy7. Quality
AssuranceCredibility
Transferability
Dependability
8. Analysis of Data
6. Philosophical
Assumptions OR
ParadigmOntology (about reality)
Epistemology (about
knowledge)
Axiology (about value)
Researcher’s role(s),
background, beliefs,
perspectives, and
biases
9. Presentation
and Interpretation
of Results
(Yilmaz, 2013)
Recap: Research Design
Qualitative Research
Design
Research Approach
Data Collection Strategy
Sampling Technique
Philosophical
Assumptions
Researcher’s
Background,
Beliefs, & Biases
Data
Analysis
Research Plan
- logical
description of
how data would
be collected,
and analyzed to
address the
research
question (s)
(Yilmaz, 2013)
Philip Adu, Ph.D.
Methodology Expert
National Center for Academic & Dissertation
Excellence (NCADE)
References
Adu, P. (2014). Qualitative Analysis: Coding and Categorizing. The Chicago School of
Professional Psychology. Retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/kontorphilip/qualitative-analysiscoding-and-categorizing-
ncade-webinar
Baker, S. E., & Edwards, R. (2012). How many qualitative interviews is enough?
Southampton, UK: National Center For Research Methods.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five
Approaches (3rd). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Jacobs, R. M. (2013, March 20). Educational research: Sampling a population. website:
www83.homepage.villanova.edu/richard.jacobs/.../lessons/sampling.ppt
Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage
Trochim, W. M. (2006, October 20). Qualitative validity. Retrieved from Research
methods knowledge base website:
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.php
Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions:
Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of
Education, 48(2), 311-325.