Definition

Qualitative Research is collecting, analyzing, and

interpreting data by observing what people do and say.
Qualitative research refers to the meanings, concepts,
definitions, characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and
descriptions of things.

Qualitative research is subjective and uses very different

methods of collecting information, including individual,
indepth interviews and focus groups. The nature of this
type of research is exploratory and open-ended.
 Basic Interpretive
Qualitative Study
Can be used when an instructor is interested in how
students make meaning of a situation or phenomenon. It
uses an inductive strategy, collecting data from
interviews, observations, or document analysis (e.g.,
students’ written work). Analysis is of patterns or
common themes and the outcome is a rich descriptive
account that makes reference to the literature that helped
frame the study.
Example: An interview of 45 women from varying
backgrounds and a comparison of the developmental
patterns discerned with earlier findings on male
development. They found women’s lives evolved through
 periods of tumultuous, structure-building phases that
alternated with stable periods.
Phenomenological Study
 Aims to find the essence or structure of an experience by explaining
how complex meanings are built out of simple units of inner
experience, for example, the essence of being a participant in a
particular program or the essence of understanding a subject. The
method involves temporarily putting aside or “bracketing” personal
attitudes and beliefs regarding the phenomenon, thereby
heightening consciousness and allowing the researcher to intuit or
see the phenomenon from the perspective of those who have
experienced it. All collected data is laid out and treated as equal,
clustered into themes, examined from multiple perspectives, and
descriptions of the phenomena (how and what) are constructed.
Example: Eight clinical psychology practicum-level trainees were
interviewed to obtain experience of good supervision. Meaning units
were identified from these and a meaning structure was identified
 and refined into the essence or essential elements of good
supervisory experiences shared by a majority in this
context.
Grounded Theory Study
 Derives from collected data a theory that is “grounded” in the data,
but therefore localized, dealing with a specific situation like how
students handle multiple responsibilities or what constitutes an
effective lesson plan. The method involves comparing collected
units of data against one another until categories, properties, and
hypotheses that state relations between these categories and
properties emerge. These hypotheses are tentative and suggestive,
not tested in the study.
Example: Ten school counselors were given structured interviews to
help determine how their professional identity is formed. This data
was coded first to form concepts and then to form connections
between concepts. A core concept emerged and its process and
implications were discussed. School counselors’ professional
 interactions were identified as defining experiences in their identity
formation.
Case Studies
A descriptive intensive analysis of an individual, unit, or
phenomena selected for its typicality or uniqueness.
Different methods could be used to conduct this analysis
(like ethnography) but the focus is on the unit of analysis,
like an individual student’s experiences.
Example: The faculty of a small Southern Historically
Black College was examined in order to examine
concerns of a digital divide between predominantly
White colleges and Historically Black Colleges and
Universities. The study reports on technology familiarity
and use scores of these faculties and what was done by
college administrators in the three years following the
 collection of these scores. Recommendations on how to
close this divide are shared.
Ethnographic Study
 Traditional in anthropology for studying human society and culture.
It is less a method of data collection and more the use of a
sociocultural lens through which the data are interpreted. Extensive
fieldwork is usually required in order to give a cultural
interpretation of the data and immersion in the culture is common,
but a description of the culture (the beliefs, traditions, practices,
and behaviors of a group of individuals) and an interpretation of the
culture through the point of view of an insider to that culture are
necessary components of ethnographies.
Example: Native American students training to be teachers were
followed through interviews over a five year period to chart the
progress towards a goal of facilitating the development of Native
American teachers and to better understand and address their
 unique problems. Their beliefs, views about self, and concerns were
presented.
Narrative Analysis
 This involves the use of stories or life narratives, first person
accounts of experiences. These stories are used as data, taking the
perspective of the storyteller, as opposed to the larger society, with
the goal of extracting meaning from the text. The most common
types of narrative analysis are psychological, biographical, and
discourse analysis. The former involves analyzing the story in terms
of internal thoughts and motivations and the latter analyzes the
written text or spoken words for its component parts or patterns.
Biographical analysis takes the individual’s society and factors like
gender and class into account.
Example: Oral narratives were collected from three social studies
teachers’ lectures, conversations with students, and student
interactions over a 14 month period. These narratives were coded
and analyzed and used to argue that storytelling or the use of oral
 history was well received by students and provided richer data than
more traditional teaching methods.
Critical Qualitative Research
 This writing aims to reveal and critique the social, cultural, and
psychological assumptions regarding present day contexts with the
goal of empowering individuals and enabling change. It challenges
current power distributions and the status quo, as opposed to
merely revealing meaning. Research questions may address race,
gender, and class influences, how current power structures may
serve some groups’ interests and oppress others, and how truth and
knowledge are constructed. This analysis is critical for methods like
participatory action research which uses such critique as the basis
for collective action.
Example: A critical examination of the consumer education texts
used in adult literacy programs revealed content that was
disrespectful of adult learners and their previous experience as
consumers, promoted certain ideologies regarding consumerism,
 and defended the status quo by placing blame for economic troubles
on individual inadequacies, ignoring societal inequities.
Postmodern Research
 This is research that challenges the form and categories of traditional qualitative analysis.
The postmodern perspective involves questioning certainties and assumptions in the
world including the nature of truth, the ability of research and science to discover this
truth, and all generalizations and typologies. Three “crises” have resulted from these
questions; whether the experience of another can be captured or whether it is created by
the researcher, whether any study can be viewed as valid if traditional methodologies are
flawed, and whether it is possible to institute any real change. While no single
methodology is encouraged, this research is characterized by the inclusion of a plurality
of voices and interpretations, an awareness of exclusion and the politics involved the
choice of perspectives, and a sensitivity to the power of the author’s voice and language
usage.
 Example: This paper critiques the use of self-reflection by higher education teachers as a
student-centered method of continuing professional development. The author argues that
the widespread and unquestioned use of reflective self-assessment assumes that the self
has a transparent nature and can be adequately examined by introspection and ignores
the many post-modern and post-structuralist challenges of this view. For example, if our
views of the self are themselves constructed by the society we live in and the language we
use, is true knowledge of the self, independent of these, even possible? If our
“selves” are constructed then attempting to gain knowledge through self-reflection is a
mis-cognition and instead results in the creation of a less independent and more societal-
regulated self.

Qualitative Methods

1. Get over the idea that research means counting,

which is the prime focus of quantitative research.
2. The focus is on subjective experiences, or the
meanings that people use.
3. Because meaning resides in language (people think
with language), qualitative research largely
involves studying text.
 4. The best device for collecting and analyzing
qualitative information is the human
brain.
Qualitative Methods

5. Qualitative research is local, concrete.

6. Observations and findings depend on
understanding contexts and the meanings held
by the people in those contexts and the meanings
of the things in those contexts.
7. Observations are typically of interactions in
smaller groups or selectively defined settings.
8. Exploration is very often the motive, but not
always.
Qualitative Methods

9. Qualitative research often provides idiographic

(as opposed to nomothetic) causal explanations.
10. Qualitative research is typically inductive.
11. The research is reflexive—design is flexible and
can change given the needs of the research. E.g.,
Theoretical Sampling
 12. The researcher must be reflexive as well—the
brain tool must be calibrated, understood,
active, paid attention to, controlled

Introduction
DEDUCTIVE & INDUCTIVE REASONING
 QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE

Research process is

Research process is deductive. inductive.

Measure objective facts. Document social reality,
meaning is constructed.
Focus on variables. Focus on in-depth meaning.

Firewall between research Values are present & explicit

process and researchers’ (empathy). values.
Cross-contextual. Contextual dependence.
Many cases. Few cases.
 IDEALS
QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE
Statistical analysis Thematic analysis

Highly structured research Loosely structured process.

research process.

Particularistic, specific Holistic perspective

Separation from data Intimacy with data

Generalize to population Generalization to properties

and contexts
 Qualitative Methods

What skills do I need?

Must have requisite knowledge and skills
about methodology, setting and nature of
the issue. Must be familiar with own
biases, assumptions, expectations, and
values.
Must be empathic, intelligent, energetic, and
interested in listening
Must be open to embracing multiple realities.
Must be prepared to produce detailed,
comprehensive, and sometimes lengthy reports.
Qualitative Methods

 Qualitative research quickly exhausts resources and time.

 Therefore, it is ideal to limit the amount of data collected.
 It’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with the
data.
 Be very clear about the research focus.
 Write down your foggy ideas and then get more specific.
 Concentrate on most important issues and not others.
 Start writing specific questions you want to answer.
  Now get even more specific, reduce the additional info.

Design

What is an In-depth Interview?

 A conversation on a given topic between a
respondent and an interviewer
• Used to obtain detailed insights and personal thoughts
• Flexible and unstructured, but usually with an interview
guide
• Purpose: to probe informants’ motivations, feelings,
beliefs
• Lasts about an hour
• Interviewer creates relaxed, open environment
• Wording of questions and order are determined by flow
of conversation
• Interview transcripts are analyzed for themes and
connections between themes
In-depth Interviews Technique: Laddering

• Laddering
– questioning progresses from product
characteristics to user characteristics
• An example
 “Why do you like wide bodies?”
 “They’re more comfortable”
 “Why is that important?”
 “I can accomplish more”
 “Why is that important?”
 “I will feel good about myself”
 Focus Group Characteristics

8 - 12 members (usually paid)

homogeneous in terms of demographics and
socioeconomic factors but heterogeneous views
experience related to product or issue being
discussed
1 1/2 –2 hour session
1-way mirror/client may sit behind
qualified moderator
conversation may be video and/or audio taped OR
notes may be taken
•Tiered viewing room with
wraparound mirror offers
multiperspective viewing.
•Room is generously equipped
with outlets so laptop
computers can be utilized
during session.
•Strategically placed state-ofthe-
art audio and video taping offer
unobstructed viewing.
•Attached Conference Room
offers closed circuit television
viewing for additional 12-14
viewers.
 Common Applications of
Focus Groups
• Understanding Consumers
– perceptions, opinions, and behavior concerning
products and services

• Product Planning
– generating ideas about new products

• Advertising
– Develop creative concepts and copy material
Disadvantages
Lack of generalizability (small sample size)
High selection bias
Might be misused
 focus group is not a replacement for quantitative
research
Subject to Interpretation
Cost-per-respondent is high (compared to survey)
 Results dependent on skill of moderator in running
the group and analysis
may be the response in the moment – which may
change over time
strong personalities are a hazard
 “professional respondents”
 Use of Focus Groups
Buick division of General Motors used focus groups to
help develop the Regal. Buick held 20 focus groups
across the country to determine what features
customers wanted in a car. The focus groups told GM
they wanted a stylish car, legitimate back seat, at least
20 miles per gallon, and 0 to 60 miles per hour
acceleration in 11 seconds or less.
Based on the results, Buick engineers
created clay models of the car and mock-ups
of the interior. These were shown to other
focus groups. The respondents did not like
the oversized bumpers and the severe slope
of the hood, but liked the four-disc brakes
and independent suspension.
Advantages:
• Software controls for faster responders
• Ability to show websites to participants
• Clients “lurk” in “chat room”; can send questions to
moderator
• Transcripts produced automatically
• Individual responses can be tracked (can’t in offline or “3-D”
focus group)
• Many people are more open when NOT face to face
• Friendlier, more humorous online
• Distant participants
• Convenient for participants
• less costly than face-to- face groups
Disadvantages:
• No body language (often part of analysis)
• Harder to read emotions
• Sampling issues (who is more likely to participate?)
• Difficult to probe
• Sometimes asynchronous (I.e. over several days)
• The Internet approach to focus group relies on an individual's
ability to type effectively to participate fully
• Can’t show "external stimuli" to groups in order to obtain their
reactions
• Hard for skilled moderator to utilize the group dynamics to explore
an issue
• Comments likely to be short
• problem of lag in responses
• Lack of interaction, synergy
• Easy for participants to NOT participate
 Qualitative Research is Inductive
Theories develop from the bottom up rather than
the top down
The direction you will travel comes after you have
been collecting data & spent time with the
participants
“You are not putting together a puzzle whose
picture you already know”
Use parts of the study to learn what the important
questions are
THANK YOU