Overview of Qualitative Research Study - Essay Example

Qualitative Research Introduction Qualitative research is a method of analysis used in different academic fields, traditionally in the social sciences and in market research. Qualitative research methods include observations and interviews, but may also include surveys, case studies, and historical analysis. Qualitative researchers aim to collect a deeper understanding of human behavior and the reasons that contribute to such behavior. It involves the researcher going to the people, site or setting physically to observe the subject as it behaves and seeks to know the reasons behind such behavior so as to generate a detailed information. Qualitative methods bring forth information only on the particular cases studied, and more general conclusions and only informed assertions. Qualitative methods can be used to seek empirical support for such research hypotheses. This paper aims at discussing the characteristics of qualitative research based on; the appropriate and inappropriate sample space. It also aims at showing other characteristics in terms of; the type of data collected, methods of data collection, data analysis and results presentation. Appropriate and inappropriate sample space for qualitative research. All possible outcomes in the study are referred to as the Sample area. There are some situations that call for qualitative research and others do not call for it. Qualitative research is necessary for areas that hold simple quantification (Silverman, 2013). These are areas that do not require large sample size. It is also appropriate to use qualitative research in the areas where the behaviors of the phenomenon under study are understood in their natural setting. However, qualitative research is not necessary when the areas under study lie under statistical projections and market measurements (Silverman, 2013). This is because these type of studies require large sample sizes for reliable estimates of populations made. Another area where qualitative research is not relevant is in the forecasting since it requires a large sample size and random sampling. Data collected Qualitative data includes any information captured, and it is not numerical. Categories of qualitative data are; direct observation, it is different from interviewing since the observer does not actively ask the respondent questions. The researcher observes everything around where one lives, like photographs taken for a period can illustrate some aspect of culture. The pictures show how such a place has changed in the time. The data is recorded through photographs, drawings, for example, in the courtrooms the drawings of the witnesses are forms of direct observation. Direct observation primarily includes everything from field research. Another type of data in qualitative research is in-depth or semi-structured interviews. It can be of two forms; one is direct interaction with an individual on a one-one basis, and the other one is direct interaction with people in a group. The interviewers administer questionnaires to the people who in turn answer them. This type of data is recorded in different ways, like note taking, video recording, audio recording and stenography. The objective of the meeting is to question the interviewees thoroughly on their ideas in the phenomenon of interest. The nature of the interaction between the researcher and the interviewees is what makes the difference between in-depth interview and direct observation. Written materials constitute another form of qualitative research data. Written documents refer to existing documents like newspapers, journals, magazines, books, memos, websites, annual reports diaries, press clippings, photographs, reports, and meeting minutes. Data collection Data can be collected using interviews that can be unstructured also known as in-depth interviews. These involve the researcher seeking to find out accurate information without having a preconceived strategy of how to deal with the topic. Another type of interview is the semi-structured interviews where the researcher has the freedom to examine the interviewee to expound or to follow a new line of probing introduced by the respondent. Structured interview is another type of interview where the researcher works with a tightly structured schedule that does not allow elaboration of the phenomenon under study (Ary & Walker, 2013). Another method of collecting data is the use of focus groups. This method is preferred to gather information from a group rather than an individual. The recommended size of the group sample is six to ten people since small groups limit the amount of information taken at a time. Members of a focus group should share some common features which are vital for the study. This method requires the researcher to have some skills like group skills, listening and observing and facilitating (Ary & Walker, 2013). View is used to collect data; it takes place in natural settings where lengthy and descriptive notes of what is happening are made by the researcher. Observation gives an insight of the bigger picture. Observations obtain reliable information about things like the behavior of people. There are different techniques for collecting data using observation method like, video recording, photographs and artifacts and written descriptions. Another method of collecting qualitative research is self-study. This is used when there is an area within a person’s work that they may want to gain more understanding about. There are a number of considerations considered for the use of this method. There should be a purpose or the aim of conducting the research, also there should be procedures outlined to record the observations obtained. After recording the results there, should be a well stipulated and stated way of using the findings from the study. Data analysis Data analysis is a way of examining, discerning, comparing and contrasting and interpreting in search of meaning (Grbich, 2012). Analysis refers to organizing and interrogating data in ways that help researchers to see patterns, determine themes, make interpretations, mount critiques, generate theories, come up with relationships or create explanations. The following factors are considered when conducting qualitative analysis. Keep an account of the notes put down during the study, work in a team to get diversified ideas, put aside money for analysis, writing and spare enough time (Grbich, 2012). The significant aspects of qualitative data analysis are; data reduction involves selection of data, simplified and transformed into written up field notes.it is like condensing data for manageability. Other phases are data display and conclusion drawings and verification. There are different ways of analyzing data. Typology, a way of analyzing data that requires classification system taken from themes, patterns, or other kinds of groups of data. Another way of analyzing data is the use of constant comparison, widely used. It involves using of documents like the field notes in order to look for indicators of categories in behavior that is then named and coded (Bazeley & Jackson, 2013). The codes are then compared to find similarities and differences. Another way of analyzing qualitative research data is analytic induction. It is an old method but very effective. It involves creating a hypothesis statement from what happened after looking at an event. Creates an explanation that accounts for all cases observed. Domain analysis is another method that is used to analyze the language of people; it shows the social situation and determines the cultural patterns in it. Content analysis is another method used for qualitative data analysis. It is not favorable for video. It involves evaluating documents to identify the themes that come up and how they relate. Presentation of results Once the data has been gathered and analyzed, the next thing done is data presentation. There different ways of data presentation, these include; natural in this way the presentation of data is in a shape that looks like that of the phenomenon under study. For example, data about a therapy session can be presented in an order that resembles the flow of the therapy session. Most simple to the most sophisticated. This method seeks to ease the comprehension of data by presenting it from most simple to the most complex. Another method used to present qualitative data is narrative logic. In this method, researchers arrange data with a plot of storytelling just like narrators arrange the particulars of the story. Data can also be displayed using constructed method. Here data is represented showing the course of the researcher’s journey of study. Data can also be arranged using no particular order, where the researcher does not explain why the data are organized the way they are (Saldaria, 2012). Conclusion Qualitative research mainly works with written texts, transcriptions of interviews from individuals or focus groups. It aims at understanding the meaning of the findings in a study sample. Data types, appropriateness of conducting qualitative research and issues considered when relating to methods of data collection, data analysis and data presentation are discussed. Qualitative research is vital as it helps add knowledge about the dimension of the people’s experiences. References Ary, D. J., & Walker, D. (2013). Introduction to research in education. Cengage Learning. Bazeley, P., & Jackson, K. (. (2013). Qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Sage Publications Limited. Grbich, C. (2012). Qualitative data analysis: An introduction. Sage. Saldaria, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (No. 14). Sage. Saunders, M. N., & Thornhill, A. (2011). Research methods for business students, 5/e. Pearson Education India. Silverman, D. (2013). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. SAGE Publications Limited. Read More