QUALITATIVE ORIENTATION TOWARD RESEARCH

COURSE 1 LECT.DR. ADRIANA ŞTEFĂNEL

ADRIANA.STEFANEL@FJSC.RO

After this course students must be able to:

Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative methods of research

Distinguish between inductive and deductive methods

Explain the different perspectives taken by positivism and interpretivism

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ORIENTATIONS TOWARD RESEARCH

Research: Collect empirical data systematicallyExamine data pattern

Differences between: Quantitative Methods

Qualitative Methods

Epistemological position Objectivism Constructivism

Relation between researcher and subject Distant/outsider Close/ insider

Relationship between theory/concepts and research Facts Meaning

Scope of findings Nomothetic Ideographic

The nature of data Data based upon numbers

Data based upon text

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

OBJECTIVISM VERSUS CONSTRUCTIVISMQuantitative research: reality exists independently of the researches

Qualitative research: truth and meaning are constructed and interpreted by individuals

EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT

RESEARCH FOCUS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

SCOPE OF FINDINGS

THE NATURE OF DATA

Realitatea este o construcţie umană, care nu există în lipsa societăţii care o modelează și a înţelesurilor pe care aceasta i le atribuie (Berger, P., Luckmann, Th., 2008)

Dacă există o știinţă a societăţilor, ar fi de așteptat ca acesta să nu fie o simplă parafrază a prejudecăţilor tradiţionale, ci să ne facă să vedem lucrurile altfel decât cum le apar ele oamenilor obișnuiţi; căci obiectul oricărei știinţe este să facă descoperiri și orice descoperire zdruncină mai mult sau mai puţin opiniile primite de-a gata.

Émile Durkheim Regulile metodei sociologice 1895/2002

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

DISTANT/OUTSIDER VERSUS CLOSE/INSIDER

Quantitative research: researchers keep themselves at a distance from those they are researching

Qualitative research: usually involves direct contact between researcher and those they are researching

EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT

RESEARCH FOCUS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

SCOPE OF FINDINGS

THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

FACTS VERSUS MEANING

Quantitative research: concentrates on gathering of facts in order that truth claims can be established

Qualitative research: seek the construction of the truth

EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT

RESEARCH FOCUS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

SCOPE OF FINDINGS

THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

DEDUCTION/CONFIRMATION VERSUS INDUCTION/EMERGENT

Quantitative research: commence deductively with a theory which will subsequently be tested through the process of the research

Qualitative research: inductively build the theoryEPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT

RESEARCH FOCUS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

SCOPE OF FINDINGS

THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

NOMOTHETIC VERSUS IDEOGRAPHIC

Quantitative research: low-like findings that hold irrespective of time or place

Qualitative research: locates its findings in specific time periods and localities

EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT

RESEARCH FOCUS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

SCOPE OF FINDINGS

THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

NUMBERS VERSUS TEXT

Quantitative research: generate data in form of numbers

Qualitative research: generate rich or deep data, usually in form of text but sometimes in photographs, maps or visual mediaEPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT

RESEARCH FOCUS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

SCOPE OF FINDINGS

THE NATURE OF DATA

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

POSITIVISMReality consists of what is available to the sensesInquiry should be based upon scientific observation The natural and human sciences share common logic and methodological principles

INTERPRETIVISM Out interest in the social world tends to focus on exactly those aspects that are unique, individual and qualitative, whereas our interest in the natural world focuses on more abstract phenomena, that is, exhibiting quantifiable, empirical regularities

Crotty, 1998 apud Gray, D., p.21

INTERPRETIVIST APPROACH

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

PHENOMENOLOGY

REALISM

HERMENEUTICS

NATURALISTIC INQUIRY

Columb, descoperitorul Americii, a ignorant superb propria sa descoperire, pentru că acesta nu corespundea imaginii acceptate a lumii. O anumită geografie imaginară transmisă din Antichitate s-a dovedit mai puternică decât faptele geografice reale.

Boia, L. 1998, p.25

INTERPRETATIVIST APPROACH

People interpret the meaning of objects and action in the world and then act upon those interpretations

Meanings arise from the process of social interaction

Meanings are handled in, and are modified by, an interactive process used by people in dealing with the phenomena that are encountered

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

PHENOMENOLOGY

REALISM

HERMENEUTICS

NATURALISTIC INQUIRY

INTERPRETATIVIST APPROACH

The world is socially constructed and subjective

The observer is a party to what is being observed

The researcher must try to understand what is happening

Focus on meaning

Construct theories and models from data

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

PHENOMENOLOGY

REALISM

HERMENEUTICS

NATURALISTIC INQUIRY

HISTORY AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTThe case of Republic Moldova’s Wikipedia history page

Wikipedia: collective construction of reality (history)

collective intelligence as the amount of individual contributions of the users, self-organization of masses of ordinary people on the Internet. These crowds emerge, define the collective problem or task by themselves, solve it, and vanish as entities (Hintikka, K.A., 2008, abstract).

Încontinuu prezentul creează trecutul. Într-adevăr, masa, nesfârșită cât nisipul oceanului, pe care o reprezintă faptele trecute, miriada de trăiri ale oamenilor de când a apărut homo sapiens nu e, cum își închipuie conștiința naivă, o masă inertă de viață latentă, fiecare atom de trăire trecută lăsând dâre, urmări , fibre din care, desigur, cele mai multe pier cu vremea, dizolvate într-un fel de uriașă magmă, dar unele s-au prelungit până în prezent, iar consecințele lor pot apărea pe neprevăzute în viața noastră, oriunde pe planetă.

Djuvara, N. 2011, p.7

APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE DESIGN

Research design sits between a set of research questions and the data

It is strongly influenced by the epistemological stance adopted by the researcher

An important feature of qualitative design is that it is emergent

Bibliography

Babbie, Earl (2007/2010) Practica cercetarii sociale [The Practice of Social Research]. Iaşi: Polirom.

Neuman, Lawrence (2011) Social Research Methods. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Pearson.