The Use of the Method of the Qualitative Study - Research Proposal Example

Running Head: Introduction to Research Methods Introduction to Research Methods [Writer’s Name] [Institute’s Name] Introduction to Research Methods Objectives and Research Questions This paper addresses the use of the research method of the qualitative study. In this case the main fact that is to be measured is the frequency of leisure and exercises in the married as compared to the unmarried women. In this case the reasons are to be explored as to why either the married or the unmarried women do not exercise (Richards, 2005, p. 55). Literature review There are many reasons that have been associated with the frequency of the physical activity being exhibited by the women, married or unmarried. These are the reasons that are to be explored in this case. in the case of married women the main reason that have been noticed reflects the fact that time is greatest constants for these women as they are busier in managing the houses and children (Ezzy, 2002, p.44). Feeling uncomfortable with having no knowledge of exercise, no guidance as to where to start from, an inability to go to the gyms because of the time constraints and no knowledge of the usage of the gyming equipments are the main reason. Some of the women are also uncomfortable with running on the streets and moreover with their own body image. One of the major reasons that has been noticed in the case of the single women is that they are most often working late nights in the offices and at their work places as they have no obligations back home. This is the kind of routine that makes these women unable to have any time for themselves and these women rather prefer to spend time at home when free or with the friends. In minor cases the women have reasons as being involved in physical activities other than exercise as dancing and mild walking (Corbin, and Strauss, 2007, p. 31). Research questions One of the main fact that is being observed in this paper is related to the reasons that the married as well as the single women have in case if there routine in relation to the physical activities that they have especially in the case of the exercise. Two kinds of the women are being explored in this case as the marital status differs in these women and with this the number of responsibilities and the obligations back home vary. Thereby these are the women who carry different reasons of not being involved in exercising. These are the reasons that shall be explored in this paper (Creswell, 2007, p. 12). Research methods In this case the research methods are referred to as the coding styles and there are three main styles. By the help of the coding the data that has been obtained can be broken down into sections and themes. Raw data that has been obtained by the researcher is not itself of the facts hidden within thereby this is the data that as to be broken down into themes and sections. These are the themes and sections that are arranged according to with different reasons being represented by the raw data. Open coding is the method by which the researchers’ assigns the codes to a certain theme observed within the data obtained thus the researcher categorizes the data that has been obtained. Being the second phase of the research the researcher now focuses on the assigned codes rather than the raw data that has been obtained (Liamputtong, 2007, p. 32). The common factors between the codes are looked for along with the linkages in the themes and this is referred as the axial coding. Reflective coding is the final phase and in this the major themes in the data are reflected thus making the comparisons and the similarities be highlighted. The raw data was collected by the help of the questionnaire as the target audience was the married and the single women. Seven married and seven unmarried women have been selected for the research analysis. The questionnaire had been designed on the basis of the two main facts that are apparent differences between the life styles that the married and unmarried women have in an overall manner (Flick, 2002, p. 54). These two main facts are a. The unmarried women are the ones who have no responsibilities back home and thereby these are the women who have given more time to the work in their organizations. b. Married women are the ones having responsibilities back home as to manage the homes and their children thereby lesser time is on their hands in order to have any kind of physical activities. The reasons that shall be explored in this case are the ones that will help in understanding the analyzing the reasons that make the women able or unable to maintain the physical activities (Northcutt, and McCoy, 2004, p. 57). Description of Types of Reasons By the help of the data analysis it has been seen that there are many reason that have been seen that can make the women unable to be involved in any kind of the physical activities. It can be seen that the lifestyles of the two kinds of the women are differing. The differences in this case are the two major kinds as this can be related to the fact that the responsibilities and the obligations are related to the marital status if the person. Thereby here it can be argued in relation to the responsibilities that an unmarried woman has back home are nil as compared to the responsibilities that are to be fulfilled in case of the married women. Being busier at the workplace thereby is defined by the single women as they are the ones giving more time at work while being busier at the homes with kids and husbands is what keeps a married women busier in homes making these two kinds of women busier to have any kind of the physical activity especially the exercise (Ezzy, 2002, p. 41). In case of married women as has been seen the main reason that has been given is that they feel rather uncomfortable with their own body image and this has been related to these women feeling uncomfortable with running on the roads and walking. Time constraints have been the main reason associated with these women. These are the reasons that have been related to the women having lesser confidence in themselves and feeling embarrassed with their body images and this makes them unable to join the physical activities as gymming, running and exercising. These are the women who are looking fir motivation to start the kinds of the physical activities that they need. These are the women who are aware that they need physical activity but they are looking for a stronger motif for the physical activity (Richards, 2005, p. 21). The second main reason that has been given in this case relates to the fact that these are the women who are seeking proper guidance in exercises as the need of the recommended exercises and the schedules are being looked for by these women. If these are the women who want to join the gyms than these are the women seeking proper guidance in the gyms by the coaches. In case of the unmarried women it has been seen that they have lesser responsibilities back home with the families however this is the time that is given by these women to the work in the organizations and the firms. These are the women who give one of the most common and apparent reason that they are too busy in work and they hardly get any time to manage physical activities in there rigid daily lives. They say that the exercises are only possible in the flexible time periods. As these are the one who are younger therefore these are the ones who have physical activities other than exercises as hanging out and meeting friends and dancing thereby these are the physical activities considered to be important (Flick, 2002, p. 66). Conclusions from Analyses It can be seen that the times are changing and these are the times that are very different from the ones in the past times. These are the times that reflect more of the women participating in the work places and the organizations as the advancement in the technologies and the education opportunities have been up taken by the women of the modern days. Women thereby rather have a priority to work for the organizations in order to feel independent rather than depending on the husbands and the parents for their needs. An image that was associated with the women being only restricted to their families has drastically changed and these are the days went eh women are working side by side with the men in the firms and the organizations in order to gain success and excel in life. These are the work related priorities that has made their lives busier thereby these are the women who are unable to find any time for themselves in case of any leisure activities or exercising. Thereby as the themes in the collection of the raw data suggests, time has been the main constraint in the case of both classes of the married as well as the unmarried women. References Corbin, M. Juliet., and Strauss, L. Anselm. (2007). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. 3rd ed. Sage Publications, Inc. Creswell, W. John. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches. 2nd ed. Sage Publications. Ezzy, Douglas. (2002). Qualitative analysis: practice and innovation: Social research today. Routledge. Flick, Uwe. (2002). An introduction to qualitative research. 2nd ed. SAGE. Liamputtong, Pranee. (2007). Researching the vulnerable: a guide to sensitive research methods. SAGE. Northcutt, Norvell., and McCoy, Danny. (2004). Interactive qualitative analysis: a systems method for qualitative research. Sage. Richards, Lyn. (2005). Handling qualitative data: a practical guide. SAGE Publications. Read More