BASIC QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH
 MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION TO
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
■At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:
•Understand key concepts of qualitative research
Elements applied in Qualitative Methodologies according
to Creswell:
1. Dimension
2. Biography
3. Phenomenology
4. Grounded Theory
5. Ethnography
6. Case Study
 Dimension Biography
Focus Explore life of individual
Disciplinary Origin Anthropology
Data Collection Interviews and documents
Data Analysis Stories, Epiphanies, Historical context
Narrative Form Detailed picture of individual’s life
 Dimension Phenomenology
Focus Understanding essence of experiences
about a phenomenon
Disciplinary Origin Psychology
Data Collection Long interviews with up to 10 people
Data Analysis Statements, meanings, themes, general
descriptions
Narrative Form Description of essence of experience
 Dimension Grounded Theory
Focus Develop theory grounded in data from the field
Disciplinary Origin Sociology
Data Collection Interviews with 20-30 individuals to saturate
categories and detail a theory
Data Analysis Open, axial, selective coding, conditional matrix
Narrative Form Theory or model
 Dimension Ethnography
Focus Describe and interpret a cultural or social group
Disciplinary Origin Cultural anthropology
Data Collection Observations and interviews during extended fieldwork
(e.g. 6m-1yr)
Data Analysis Description, analysis, interpretation
Narrative Form Description of cultural behavior of group or individual
 Dimension Case Study
Focus In-depth analysis of a single or multiple cases
Disciplinary Origin Political science
Data Collection Multiple sources including documents,
interviews, artefacts
Data Analysis Description, themes, assertions
Narrative Form In-depth study of case or cases
❖ Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding
based on a methodological tradition of inquiry that
explores a problem, which enables construction of a
complex, holistic picture, analyses words, reports detailed
views of informants and conducts the study in a natural
setting.
❖ Qualitative research usually involves many variables and
few cases (versus many cases and few variables for
quantitative research).
❖ There is a very wide range of methodologies (approaches
to collecting and analyzing qualitative data), which include:
❖ This refers to the collection of people’s stories about
experiences that have a significant impact on their lives.

❖ Example: Cancer patients reveal their own experiences of

being treated for cancer, which offer insights into different
aspects of the care and the people who provide it.
❖ This is observing what happens in order to gain
understanding of what really happens rather than what
people tell you happens.
❖ It enables the researcher to gain some understanding of
what it feels like for the subjects to be living in experience.
Examples:
o“If you want to know why athletes are willing to take steroids – you
need to understand their lived reality of winning and losing.
oIf you want to help someone through 47 breast cancer – you need
to know how they feel about their body, their self-esteem, and
their future.
oIf you want to understand how you can help motivate struggling
students – you need to know what it is really like for them at the
bottom of the class.”(O’Leary, Z. (2010). The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: SAGE, p.119)
❖ This is a form of analysis constructing new theories from
the data, i.e. qualitative induction. It generally consists of 4
stages (Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory:
Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine):
1. Observing the data to identify patterns that lead to the
emergence of categories, then identifying the underlying
properties of the categories.
2. Integrating categories and their properties: Comparing an
incident to the underlying properties of the category.
3. Delimiting the theory: Fewer and fewer modifications are
needed as the categories are confirmed, then the number
of categories can be reduced as further refinements take
place. In this way, the theory begins to solidify.

4. Writing theory: Hypotheses and generalizations emerge

from the analysis, as opposed to starting with and testing
hypotheses.
❖ This involves studying a small number of cases in great
depth in the expectation that this gives deep insights into
the process
❖ Probabilistic notions of sampling are not relevant for some
methodologies.
❖ It is not always possible to achieve representative
sampling because of the exploratory nature of the
research and the sheer logistics.
❖ Depending on the nature of the research, it is sometimes
necessary to select a sample that meets a particular need.
1. Saturation
2. Theoretical or purposeful sampling
3. Convenience sampling
4. Snowball sampling
5. Observation
6. Interviewing
❖ The idea is to collect data until no new perspectives are
being obtained. This means that the sample size cannot
always be predetermined.

oExample: You are interested to find out how young children learn
to write Chinese characters. You observe children engaged in
writing tasks and analyze samples of children’s work.
❖ The idea is to select a sample with the intention of
collecting a wide range of responses by sampling across
all factors likely to influence outcomes.
Example:

A mathematics department in a school has an excellent

reputation for students achieving high scores on national tests.
The researcher chooses this department with a particular
purpose in mind.
❖ This is sampling driven by the feasibility and convenience
of the selection process.
❖ Some people criticize that it does not have a place in
‘credible research’ (O’Leary, 2010), but it may be the only
option for a small, low-budget study or a pilot.
Example:
oA group of recent graduates is invited to volunteer to attend an
interview about the impacts of their undergraduate programme on
their professional lives. Only a limited number of students can be
contacted or willing to make themselves available, so the
researchers need to utilize those who can be accessed and are
willing to participate.
❖ Snowball sampling assumes relevant respondents are
connected so that we can use those connections to
construct a sample from a small initial sample.
❖ In other words, it involves building a sample through
referrals, as each respondent recommends others.
Example:
oA population of homeless people might not be easy
to identify, but a sample can be built by using
referrals (O’Leary, 2010).
❖ Qualitative data collection does not usually follow such
strict predetermined rules as in quantitative methods but is
more concerned with obtaining a complete picture within
the agreed domain.
❖ Observation is the collection of existing data.
❖ It usually takes place in a real situation, not a contrived
context and captures first-hand what people do in the
situation as opposed to telling the researcher about what
they do.
Example:
oA school district introduces a child-centered learning
approach and wants to collect authentic data about how
the teachers are implementing this approach.
❖ Interviewing can be used to provide rich qualitative data
and provides flexibility to explore tangents (O’Leary, 2010).
❖ Good interview questions can elicit data about whom,
when, why, where, what, how and with what results.
Journals:
EBSCO
IntechOpen
IntechOpen website link: https://www.intechopen.com/

Taylor and Francis

T&F website link: www.taylorfrancis.com/

Springer
Springer website link: bit.ly/SpringerCS

JSTOR
JSTOR website link: https://about.jstor.org/whats-in-jstor/books/open-access-books-jstor/
Books:
• Forsyth, D. (2018). Probability and Statistics for Computer Science. IL, USA: Springer.
• Frank E. Harrell, J. (2015). Regression Modeling Strategies. Switzerland: Springer
International Publishing
• Gorvine, B. (2018). Research methods. Oxford University Press.
• Grigoryev, I. (2017). AnyLogic 7 in three days a quick coursein simulation modeling.
• McCroskey, J. (2016). Quantitative research methods for communication. OXFORD
university Press.
• Matera, M. (2015). Explore like a pirare : gamification and game inspired course design
to engage, enrich and elevate your learners. Dave BurgessConsulting, Inc.
• Pajo, B. (2018). Introduction to research methods. Sage Publising.
• Viswanathan, M. (2019). Digital modulations using Matlab : build simulation models from
scratch.
External Resources:
• www.portal.office.com (CANVAS)
• Bacon-Shone, J. (2015). Introduction to Quantitative Research Method. Hong Kong: Research Gate
• Nathan, Peter (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Quantitative Methods Vol 2: Oxford University Press.
• Teo, Timothy (2013). Handbook on Quantitative Methods for Educational Research: Sense Publisher.
• Zeigler, Bernard P. et al. (2019). Theory of Modeling and Simulation 3 ed.: Academic Press.
• Arias-Rodil, M., Diéguez-Aranda, U., & Burkhart, H. E. (2017). Effects of Measurement Error in Total Tree Height and Upper-
Stem Diameter on Stem Volume Prediction. Copyright Society of American Foresters Jun 2017, 250-260.
• Domanski, C., & Jedrzjezak, A. (2015). Statistical Computing in Information Society. Folia Oeconomica Stetiensia, 144-152.
• Ibrahim, K. (2019). Foreign language practice in simulation video games: An analysis of game-based FL use
dynamics. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 335-357.
• Kirkpatrick, E., Gaisford, W., Williams, E., Brindley, E., Tembo, D., & Wright, D. (2017). Understanding Plain English summaries.
A comparison of two approaches to improve the quality of Plain English summaries in research reports. Research Involvement
and Engagement , 1-14.
• Sato, K. (2004). Perspective of Research Design in Design. Visible Language, 218.
• Shu, K., Kozak, M., Fradj, N. B., Zylowski, T., & Rozakis, S. (2020). Simulation of sorghum introduction and its impacts on land
use change—A case study on Lubelski region of Eastern Poland. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 252-274.
• Trochim, P. M. (2020, March 10). Retrieved from Research Method Knowledge Base: https://conjointly.com/kb/research-
sample/paper/
• University of Minnesota. (2020, April 20). Driven to Discover. Retrieved from Heart Attack Prevention:
http://www.epi.umn.edu/cvdepi/essay/association-causation-in-epidemiology-stories-of-guidelines-to-causality-h-blackburn/