QUALITATIVE RESEARCH – AN OVERVIEW

“Koala-tative research”

WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU HEAR THIS WORD?

“Camping”

CAMPING

A DIFFERENT IMAGE OF CAMPING

EACH MATCHES UP WITH A DIFFERENT UNDERLYING WORLDVIEW OF THE RESEARCHER…

Your world is: •Predictable, •Operates with patterned, •Law-like certainty, progresses linearly•Can be measured, controlled, engineered, understood

If this is your preferred notion of camping, you are probably a QUANTITATIVE RESEARCHER

MAYBE THIS IS YOUR NOTION OF CAMPING

Your world is: •Complex, •Random, •Unpredictable•Something to be experienced & lived

If so, you might be better suited as a QUALITATIVE researcher:

RESEARCH PROCESS

• Un-learn• De-focus• NOT trying

to prove anything!

We are creating

knowledge &

explanation

RESEARCH QUESTION-- COMPARE – WHY HERE BUT NOT THERE?

Examples: •Fast Food, Fast Talk: Comparison of work in McDonald’s versus Insurance agency (emotion work)

•Compare some aspect of educational system in France versus Germany

RESEARCH QUESTION-PROCESS- ILLUSTRATE HOW AND WHY THINGS OCCUR OVER TIME; STAGE MODELS; SUBCULTURES

Examples: •Becoming a tattoo collector•How does a mosh pit occur, unfold, maintain & dissolve?•How is the American identity a “performance?” How do we “do” gender?

RESEARCH QUESTION-- SOCIAL FORMS, TYPES & CATEGORIES

Examples:•Noncompliance- “types” of resistance to following doctor’s orders

•Tuberculosis & “benchmarks”- making certainty out of uncertainty in the sanitorium

RESEARCH QUESTION - DEBUNK: DEMONSTRATE THAT STEREOTYPES & PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS ARE INCORRECT.

Examples:•“Pink Ribbon Culture” not embraced by all breast cancer survivors; may have negative impact on patients

•New motorcycle culture: not gang members, but members of upper middle class

RESEARCH QUESTION - MEANING & EXPERIENCE

• Examples:• What is it like to be an

atheist in the bible belt? A vegetarian?

• How do students in the Honors College or International Students deal/cope with the stigma of being “different” on campus?

QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY: AN UMBRELLA TERM FOR A VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES

<QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE>

 < #Ethnography #Nonobtrusive Observation # Interviews #Historical/Archival #Content analysis >

<How & Why? Confirming Hypothesis>