Conducting Qualitative

Research

Philip Adu, Ph.D.

Methodology Expert

National Center for Academic & Dissertation Excellence (NCADE)

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Writing the Methodology

Chapter

Surviving in a Class with the

“Most Difficult of Professors”

IT IS AVAILABLE ON

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Xulon Press

This is a tangible and practical guide that can be used by any student to improve the way in which they learn, and handle challenges that are faced when dealing with difficult courses and professors.

Basic Differences Between Quantitative

and Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research

Making observations

Test theory

Qualitative Research

Making observations

Develop theory

Writing Your Chapter 3

(Things to Think About)

Data Problem

PurposeQuestion

Writing Your Chapter 3

(Chapter 3 is all about...)

What (Decisions/Actions/Goals)

What decisions and actions you have taken

Why (Rationale)

Why you took those decisions and actions

How (Process/implementation)

How you implemented the decisions

Main Components of Chapter 3

1. Research question

2. Research design

3. Researcher’s background, beliefs, and biases

4. Population, participants, and sampling technique

5. Procedure

6. Data processing

7. Quality assurance

1. Research Question• State your research question(s)

• Provide an argument supporting the need to address the

research questions

How does mental health stigma

influence help seeking behaviors among teens with mental health problems?

Features of a qualitative research

question

Open-ended

Exploratory

2. Research Design

• State specific qualitative approach for your study

• What the approach is all about

• Why you think the approach is the most appropriate

• Considering:

• Purpose of the study (characteristics of the research question(s))

• Kind of data

• Data source(s)

• State specific philosophical paradigm associated to the research design and informing your study

2. Research Design

(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)

1. Phenomenological approach

2. Grounded theory approach

3. Narrative approach

4. Case study

5. Ethnography

Five Main Qualitative Research Approaches

State specific philosophical paradigm

informing your study

(Creswell, 2013, p 36-37)

• Describe your philosophical paradigm

• Meaning

• Ontological stance (nature of reality)

• Epistemological Stance (nature of knowledge)

• Axiological stance (nature of value)

• Present how the paradigm informs the research design

(discussing the consistency between the paradigm informs and

research design)

2. Research Design

Philosophical Assumptions Related to a

Qualitative Research

Philosophical Assumptions

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

(Creswell, 2013; Yilmaz, 2013)

2. Research Design

State specific paradigm and philosophical

assumptions informing your study

Philosophical AssumptionsOntological stance

(“Nature of reality”)

Epistemological

Stance (“How

reality is known”)

Axiological stance (

“Role of values”)

Ph

iloso

ph

ical

Par

adig

m

Transformative Active involvement of

participants in the

study in constructing

realities

Active

participants’

involvement in

arriving at the

results (realities)

Consideration of

participants’ beliefs

and values during the

construction of

realities

Social

constructivism

Participants and

researcher develop

multiple realities

through interaction

Co-creation of

reality between

participants and

researcher

Beliefs and values are

socially constructed

Pragmatism “Reality is what is

useful, is practical,

and “work””

Reality is known

through multiple

approaches

Conversation between

participants and

researcher about

Beliefs and values

(Creswell, 2013, p 36-37)

State specific paradigm and philosophical

assumptions informing your study

Philosophical AssumptionsOntological stance

(“Nature of reality”)

Epistemological

Stance (“How

reality is known”)

Axiological stance (

“Role of values”)

Ph

iloso

ph

ical

Par

adig

m

Transformative Active involvement of

participants in the

study in constructing

realities

Active

participants’

involvement in

arriving at the

results (realities)

Consideration of

participants’ beliefs

and values during the

construction of

realities

Social

constructivism

Participants and

researcher develop

multiple realities

through interaction

Co-creation of

reality between

participants and

researcher

Beliefs and values are

socially constructed

Pragmatism “Reality is what is

useful, is practical,

and “work””

Reality is known

through multiple

approaches

Conversation between

participants and

researcher about

Beliefs and values

(Creswell, 2013, p 36-37)

State specific paradigm and philosophical

assumptions informing your study

Philosophical AssumptionsOntological stance

(“Nature of reality”)

Epistemological

Stance (“How

reality is known”)

Axiological stance (

“Role of values”)

Ph

iloso

ph

ical

Par

adig

m

Transformative Active involvement of

participants in the

study in constructing

realities

Active

participants’

involvement in

arriving at the

results (realities)

Consideration of

participants’ beliefs

and values during the

construction of

realities

Social

constructivism

Participants and

researcher develop

multiple realities

through interaction

Co-creation of

reality between

participants and

researcher

Beliefs and values are

socially constructed

Pragmatism “Reality is what is

useful, is practical,

and “work””

Reality is known

through multiple

approaches

Conversation between

participants and

researcher about

Beliefs and values

(Creswell, 2013, p 36-37)

State specific paradigm and philosophical

assumptions informing your study

Philosophical AssumptionsOntological stance

(“Nature of reality”)

Epistemological

Stance (“How

reality is known”)

Axiological stance (

“Role of values”)

Ph

iloso

ph

ical

Par

adig

m

Transformative Active involvement of

participants in the

study in constructing

realities

Active

participants’

involvement in

arriving at the

results (realities)

Consideration of

participants’ beliefs

and values during the

construction of

realities

Social

constructivism

Participants and

researcher develop

multiple realities

through interaction

Co-creation of

reality between

participants and

researcher

Beliefs and values are

socially constructed

Pragmatism “Reality is what is

useful, is practical,

and “work””

Reality is known

through multiple

approaches

Conversation between

participants and

researcher about

Beliefs and values

(Creswell, 2013, p 36-37)

3. Researcher’s Background,

Beliefs, and Biases

• Address the following questions

• What do you want your readers to know

about you?

• What are your background and experience?

• What are your beliefs and biases related to what you are

studying?

• Essence: To help them better understand actions and

findings of your study

3. Researcher’s Background,

Beliefs, and Biases

• Background

• Beliefs

• Biases

Participants

• Background

• Beliefs

• Biases

Researcher• Background

• Beliefs

• Biases

Audience

3. Researcher’s Background, Beliefs, and Biases

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)

4. Population, Participants, and

Sampling Technique

• Describe:

• Population or community you are studying (i.e. presenting

the context/setting)

• Participants you are focusing

• Why they are most appropriate source of data

• Sampling technique and why it is appropriate for your

study

• Number of participants and it is adequate

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).

5. Procedure

• Step-by-step process of collecting data

• Describing where and how you collected the data

• The kind of data collected

• Who you interacted with and for how long

• Specific actions you took

• What participants did in the study

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)

5. Procedure

6. Data processing

• Describing how demographic information was

analyzed

• Describing the data analysis process – how the

research questions were addressed

7. 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)

Ncade.me@thechicagoschool.edu

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.