MODULE 5:

QUALITATIVE SAMPLING AND QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Learning targets
By the end of this module, students will be able:
• Describe the common qualitative research designs and their purposes
• Identify the sampling techniques for qualitative research, select the most appropriate strategies
for their group research and justify for their choices
• Recognise the importance of adhering to ethical principles in doing research
• Choose the appropriate qualitative data collection tools from interviews, focus-groups and
observations
• Create initial drafts for data collection tools for their group research

Keywords
Convenience sampling, purposive sampling, snowball sampling, theoretical sampling, confidentiality,
privacy, informed consent, voluntary participation, withdrawal rights, semi-structured interviews,
structured interviews, unstructured interviews, observation, focus group
References
Cassar, A. G., & Jang, E. E. (2010). Investigating the effects of a game-based approach in teaching word
recognition and spelling to students with reading disabilities and attention deficits. Australian
Journal of Learning Difficulties, 15(2), 193-211.
Mathers, N. J., Fox, N. J., & Hunn, A. (1998). Using interviews in a research project. NHS Executive,
Trent.
Muhtarom, M., Juniati, D., & Siswono, T. Y. E. (2019). Examining prospective teacher beliefs and
pedagogical content knowledge towards teaching practice in mathematics class: A case
study. Journal on Mathematics Education, 10(2), 185-202.
Lopez, V., & Whitehead, D. (2013). Sampling data and data collection in qualitative research. Nursing
& midwifery research: Methods and appraisal for evidence-based practice, 123-140.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., & Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative research practice: A
guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.
Required readings
MODULE 5.1
Preparation for lectures: Students should read the materials and do the exercises in advance. In
class, the lecturer will only review key contents, address questions and check the answers to the
exercises.
A. Qualitative research designs
Aims of qualitative research approaches

• Understand subjective experiences, beliefs, and concepts

• Gain in-depth knowledge of a specific context or culture
• Explore under-researched problems and generate new ideas

Qualitative approach is about gaining a rich, detailed understanding of a specific context or phenomenon,
and you can often be more creative and flexible in designing your research. The table below shows some
common types of qualitative design. They often have similar approaches in terms of data collection, but
focus on different aspects when analyzing the data.
Type of design Purpose and characteristics

Case study • Detailed study of a specific subject (e.g. a place, event, organization,
etc.).
• Data can be collected using a variety of sources and methods.
• Focuses on gaining a holistic understanding of the case.

Ethnography • Detailed study of the culture of a specific community or group.

• Data is collected by extended immersion and close observation.
• Focuses on describing and interpreting beliefs, conventions, social
dynamics, etc.

Grounded • Aims to develop a theory inductively by systematically analyzing

theory qualitative data.

Phenomenology • Aims to understand a phenomenon or event by describing participants’

lived experiences.

Action research • Seeks action to improve practice and study the effects of the action that
was taken (Streubert & Carpenter, 2002).

Below are some examples of qualitative research designs:

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In order to choose the appropriate design for a study, researchers need to consider the nature of the research
questions, the aims of the research, and the resources available (time, humans, data collection tools, etc.).

B. Sampling in qualitative research

The primary purpose of sampling is the selection of suitable populations (or ‘elements’) so that the focus
of the study can be appropriately researched. In qualitative research, effective sample selection process
is very important because inappropriate procedures may seriously affect the findings and outcomes of a
study. There are a number of types of sampling procedures that can be adopted and the choice of
qualitative research design will often guide that process.

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Types of sampling
Sampling in qualitative research is non-probability sampling. With non-probability sampling in
qualitative research the researchers recruit only specific populations to investigate a specific topic or
when the total population is unknown or unavailable. There are four main types of non-probability
sampling:
1) convenience sampling
2) purposive sampling
3) snowball sampling
4) theoretical sampling
Convenience sampling
This is the most common form of qualitative sampling and occurs when people are invited to participate
in the study because they are conveniently (opportunistically) available with regard to access, location,
time and willingness. Convenience sampling is a relatively fast and easy way to achieve the sample size
needed for the study. However, the main limitation of using convenience sampling is that it could suffer
from either under-representation or over-representation of particular groups within the population. It could
also potentially be that the sample is unlikely to be representative of the population being studied and,
therefore, limiting researchers’ ability to make generalisations of the findings to a wider population
(Creswell, 2007). Some would argue, however, that this is not always important in qualitative studies.

Purposive (purposeful) sampling

This is also a commonly used sampling strategy, in that participants are recruited according to pre-selected
criteria relevant to a particular research question. Sometimes referred to as ‘judgment sampling’,
purposive sampling is designed to provide information-rich cases for in-depth study. This is because
participants are those who have the required status or experience, or are known to possess special
knowledge to provide the information researchers seek. For example, Elmir et al. (2010) used a purposive
sample of four Australian women to investigate their lived experience of recovering from breast cancer.
The pre-selection criteria included those diagnosed with breast cancer that resulted in breast surgery, under
50 years of age and able to converse in English. Although the sample size of four participants might be
regarded as small, in keeping with the aim of encouraging the detailed richness of women’s emotional
experience, the sample size was deliberately kept small.
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The choice of purposive selection criteria is influenced by a review of the aims of the study and the lines
of enquiry being pursued. Each of the following should be considered:
• A review of relevant literature or former research will identify characteristics that are known to have
an impact on the subject being investigated. These should either be included as selection criteria or
used to define the population for study, as described above.
• There will be variables which need to be covered simply to achieve a balanced sample (for example
age, socio-economic group).
• There may be hypotheses that the research is exploring that will require coverage of particular
subgroups.
• There may be subgroups about which little is known and whose circumstances or views need to be
explored.

The criteria that for purposive selection can be: Age; Gender; Family unit composition; Ethnic origin;
Employment activity; Income level; Regional location; Type of area.
Purposive sampling can run the risk of errors made by the researcher and involve low level of reliability
and high level of bias.

Snowball sampling
Also known as ‘chain referral’ or ‘networking’ sampling, snowball sampling occurs when the researcher
starts gathering information from one or a few people and then relies on these people to put the researcher
in touch with others who may be friends, relatives, colleagues or other significant contacts. This type of
sampling is especially useful where the sample is representative of marginalized or stigmatised individuals
and to find and recruit ‘hidden populations’, where individuals are not easily accessible to researchers
through other sampling strategies (Green & Thorogood, 2009), such as LGBT people. As such, the
potential participants may normally be reluctant to come forward without the reassurance of knowing
someone who has already participated in the study. One disadvantage of this sampling is that there is no
guarantee about the representativeness of samples. Oversampling a particular network of peers can also
lead to bias. It may raise the ethical concerns as respondents may not want to introduce their friends.

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Theoretical sampling
This form of sampling is mostly used in grounded theory studies but is increasingly being used to gather
data from participants for theory generation. In order to identify the similarities and differences amongst
the selected cases, the research starts from a homogeneous (small) sample and moves to a heterogeneous
(larger) sample (Creswell, 2007). It is sampling that occurs sequentially and alongside data analysis. This
is when previously analysed data guides what data needs to be collected next. The first selected
participants, from whom initial data are collected, are usually purposively chosen or conveniently
available. Based on the results from this round of data analysis, the researcher will identify more people
to interview. These might be people who will confirm what the researcher has already found, but the
researcher will also purposefully look for participants who can disconfirm the previous findings. The
researcher will conduct interviews with those newly selected participants and then analyze them.
Theoretical sampling continues like this, moving back and forth between sampling, data collection, and
analysis, until the researcher reaches data saturation, or the point at which the researcher fails to collect
new information with subsequent interviews.
Sampling criteria
Sampling criteria identify the characteristics of the sample population and their eligibility to be part of
the study based on pre-selected inclusion and exclusion
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria are specific characteristics that the person or population or elements must possess,
such as a certain age range, gender, or working experience. For instance, participants in
phenomenological studies are mostly chosen because of their experience of the phenomenon being
studied and because of their ability to express that experience. With ethnographic research, the
researcher is in the ‘field’, observing and recording the events and behaviours of participants, so the
participants have to already be in the observable location.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria identify characteristics that deem a participant inappropriate for inclusion in a study,
such as any person who is cognitively impaired or where the conducted language of the study is the
participant’s second-language.
Sample size

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Regarding the number of participants in qualitative studies, a common range is usually somewhere from
8 to 15 participants, but will vary widely both inside and outside this range. A number of qualitative
methodologists, however, provide sample size guidelines for qualitative research designs. Creswell (2007)
recommends 3–5 participants for a case study, 10 for a phenomenological study and 15–20 for grounded
theory study, whereas Morse (1995) suggests a sample size ranging from six participants for a
phenomenological study and 30–50 for an ethnographic study. With focus groups (group interviews —
see later), Krueger and Casey (2009) suggest 5–10 participants but this can also range from as few as 4 to
as many as 12. The overall number could be higher, especially where more than one group is needed for
comparison between groups or in the case of program evaluation research. Cheek et al.’s (2005) South
Australian study, for instance, used 14 different stakeholder focus groups to investigate factors that
influenced the decisions of older people living in independent units. Small samples, however, are far more
manageable because of the amount of potentially rich and detailed data that can be generated from each
single participant.
If your research requires the use of purposive sampling techniques, it may be difficult to specify at the
beginning of your research how many people you intend to contact. Instead you continue using your
chosen procedure such as snowballing or theoretical sampling until a ‘saturation point’ is reached. This
was a term used by Glaser and Strauss (1967) to describe that time of your research when you really do
think that everything is complete and that you’re not obtaining any new information.
PRACTICE
Activity 1: Match the types of sampling in qualitative research with their definitions.
Types of qualitative sampling Definitions
1 purposive sampling a. This type of sampling is useful where existing study subjects
recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances.
2 snowball sampling b. This type of sampling occurs where the researcher seeks
additional data based on concepts developed from initial data.
3 theoretical sampling c. In this type of sampling, researchers rely on their own
judgment when choosing members of the population to
participate in their surveys
4 convenience sampling d. This type of sampling involves using respondents who are
convenient to the researcher.

Activity 2: Choose the best option.

1. Sampling is ________.

a) The participants in a research study.

b) The process whereby a researcher selects their sample.

c) The group from which a sample is drawn.

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d) The group of people that the researcher wants to make assumptions about.

2. In sampling, the inclusion criteria indicate _________.

a) characteristics or properties of the chosen sample that the researcher would not want them to possess
b) characteristics or properties of the chosen sample that the researcher would most want them to
possess
c) characteristics or properties of the sample that the researcher would find most attractive
d) characteristics or properties of the chosen sample that the researcher would find least attractive.
3. Which of the following can be a limitation of convenience sampling?
a) There are no clear processes or guidance related to the application of theoretical sampling in practice.
b) The research is prone to researcher bias.
c) Respondents may be hesitant to provide names of peers and asking them to do so may raise ethical
concerns.
d) The sample might not represent the population studied.
4. When sampling methods are applied to data already collected, this is called ______.
a) data sampling
b) information sampling
c) theoretical sampling
d) non-theoretical sampling
5. Snowball sampling can be useful when it is hard to identify ______.

a) participants (respondents)

b) target populations

c) sample frames

d) research sites

6. Marianne wanted to know students' opinion on the new schedule at school. She survey's the first 30
students who come into her class.

a) purposive sampling

b) snowball sampling

c) convenience sampling

d) theoretical sampling

C. Ethical considerations in conducting research

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Three core principles, originally articulated in The Belmont Report 1 form the universally accepted basis
for research ethics.
Respect for persons requires a commitment to ensuring the autonomy of research participants (to ensure
ANONIMITY), and, where autonomy may be diminished, to protect people from exploitation of their
vulnerability (to ensure PRIVACY). The dignity of all research participants must be respected. Adherence
to this principle ensures that people will not be used simply as a means to achieve research objectives.
Beneficence requires a commitment to minimizing the risks associated with research, including
psychological and social risks, and maximizing the benefits that accrue to research participants.
Researchers must articulate specific ways this will be achieved.
Justice requires a commitment to ensuring a fair distribution of the risks and benefits resulting from
research. Those who take on the burdens of research participation should share in the benefits of the
knowledge gained. Or, to put it another way, the people who are expected to benefit from the knowledge
should be the ones who are asked to participate. In addition to these established principles, some
bioethicists have suggested that a fourth principle, respect for communities, should be added.
Respect for communities “confers on the researcher an obligation to respect the values and interests of
the community in research and, wherever possible, to protect the community from harm.” It is believed
that this principle is, in fact, fundamental for research when community-wide knowledge, values, and
relationships are critical to research success and may in turn be affected by the research process or its
outcomes.
Informed consent
Informed consent is a mechanism for ensuring that people understand what it means to participate in a
particular research study so they can decide in a conscious, deliberate way whether they want to participate.
Informed consent is one of the most important tools for ensuring respect for persons during research.
The first task in achieving informed consent is to inform people about the research in a way they can
understand. This can be a multistep process. The person should be told:
• the purpose of the research
• what is expected of a research participant, including the amount of time likely to be required for
participation
• expected risks and benefits, including psychological and social
• the fact that participation is voluntary and that one can withdraw at any time with no negative
repercussions (to ensure VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION)
• how their identity will be protected (to ensure CONFIDENTIALITY)
• the name and contact information of the local lead investigator to be contacted for questions or problems
related to the research
• the name and contact information of an appropriate person to contact with questions about one’s rights
as a research participant (including WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS)

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Written consent means that a person receives a written form that describes the research and then signs
that form to document his or her consent to participate. Oral consent means that a person receives all of
the information needed for consent either verbally or in writing and then verbally consents to participate.
Oral consent is generally acceptable for research with minimal risk, or where a loss of confidentiality is
the primary risk and a signed consent form would be the only piece of identifying information for study
participation.
On the next page, you will see an example of a consent form template. You can adapt this consent
form for your study.

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Source: https://studylib.net/doc/15138929/consent-form-template

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PRACTICE
Activity 3: Choose the best option.
1 ____ refers to the protection of people’s identity through not disclosing their names in any publications or
personal contacts.
a) Confidentiality
b) Privacy
c) Voluntary participation
d) Beneficence
2 The researcher should ensure that the participants will not be adversely affected by the research and its
results.
a) Confidentiality
b) Privacy
c) Voluntary participation
d) Beneficence
3 Any participants to any research activity must not be forced to take part in the study.
a) Confidentiality
b) Privacy
c) Voluntary participation
d) Anonymity
4 In which of the following actions is informed consent for a participant best exemplified?
a) talking to him or her privately
b) surprising him or her with a questionnaire
c) asking someone to influence her decision
d) writing him or her a letter
5 In which of the following actions is confidentiality of a participant best exemplified?
a) Asking the participant to write his or her name in the questionnaire
b) Introducing himself or herself in an interview
c) Not mentioning his or her name in the Participants of the Study section
d) Taking his or her picture and placing it in the appendix
6 Which of the following is NOT the purpose of informed consent in a research?
a) telling participants the true purpose of the study before it is carried out

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b) vaguely inform of the study after it is completed
c) make sure that participants do not experience any distress
d) explain to participants what they will be expected to do
7 Which of the following answer is inaccurately explaining the concept of voluntary participation?
a) Participants willingly decides to take part in an experiment
b) Participants should not be threatened with any negative consequences if they decide not to participate
c) Participants must not experience any pressure or coercion to participate
d) Participants can be bribed with money or incentives to encourage their participation.
8 Anna took part in a study conducted by her professor. The study required her to stay in a dark room for 30
minutes every day. After 2 sessions, she felt uncomfortable and decided to leave the research. She informed
her professor but he told her to a total of 10 marks will be deducted from her upcoming test.
Based on this scenario, which ethical concept has the professor violated?
a) Confidentiality
b) Informed consent
c) Voluntary participation
d) Withdrawal rights
9 A university lecturer was conducting an experiment to examine the effect of Vitamin B in increasing
attention among students. He explained the experiment and informed that all students in his class must take
part in the study. Failing to do so will contribute to deduction of marks for class participation.
Based on this scenario, which ethical code did the lecturers failed to comply?
a) Confidentiality
b) Informed consent
c) Voluntary participation
d) Withdrawal rights

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 MODULE 5.2
Required readings
Preparation for lectures: Students should read the materials and do the exercises in advance. In
class, the lecturer will only review key contents, address questions and check the answers to the
exercises.

Qualitative data collection

Depending on the types of data required for a qualitative study, various methods of collecting data can be
used singularly or in combination to obtain direct data. For direct data, these methods may include
interview, observation, open-ended questionnaire, journalling (diary accounts) or ‘think aloud’ sessions.
Direct data can be collected by the participant involved in a study at the request of the researcher (e.g.
through writing a personal journal or diary) and then provided to the researcher. Most commonly, however,
qualitative approaches acquire data primarily through interpersonal contact with participants (usually an
interview) or, secondly, through the presence of the researcher in proximity to pertinent events (usually
observation).
1 Interviews
Interviews are regarded as the prime method for qualitative data collection; also representing the most
common method for gathering qualitative data. Interviews in qualitative research may be unstructured,
semi-structured or occasionally structured.
With unstructured interviews, neither the specific questions to be asked nor the range or type of possible
answers are pre-determined. The interviews are designed to be informal and conversational with the aim
of encouraging participants to express themselves in a naturally unfolding manner. Unstructured
interviews tend to start with single broad questions, such as ‘what is your experience of …’. The researcher,
however, has an idea in mind of the general issues to be covered and may use a topic list as a reminder.

Semi-structured interviews have an interview guide providing a set of questions for discussion. The
questions are set to ensure the research questions or objectives are covered. However, there is freedom to
ask any questions in any order, following tangents or seeking clarification of previous answers or
elaboration of responses. In other words, semi-structured interviews steer the interview yet allow for
flexibility.
Structured interviews in qualitative research are not very common and follow a list of set questions
usually asked in a certain order, but these questions are still open-ended; that is, usually commencing with
words like ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘when’ etc. This distinguishes them from structured quantitative
interviews which usually only ask closed-ended questions.
Benefits of interviews
Interviews provide the researcher with a valuable opportunity to enter the world of the participant and
reflect on a particular event. Rapport and trust can be developed and are desirable to collect the extensive
and detailed data that are needed. Interviews should develop as conversational encounters that offer
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opportunities to clarify issues, as well as probe for ever-deeper insight. Interviews also offer unique data,
where interview outcomes will never be the same between participants. When emotional and emotive
issues arise during the course of the interview session, the interviewer is able to offer appropriate support
and referral to counselling if the need exists or arises. Overall, qualitative interviews potentially offer a
productive, meaningful and supportive engagement that benefits both researchers and participants.
Limitations of interviews
Price (2002) identifies a range of challenges when it comes to interviewing, such as securing access,
making sensitive records, managing power relationships, managing ‘space’, managing communication
and managing the sequence of interviews. Interviews are not so much limited by the techniques and
methods used, but mostly by how these are applied by the researcher. Ethically, interview schedules should
be challenged if there are questions which are seemingly biased, leading, unbalanced, emotive, imposing,
coercive, manipulative or threatening. Therefore, the potential for an increased imbalance in the power
relationship between interviewer and interviewee should be avoided.
Techniques for interviewing
Possible techniques include those in the following list.
• Funnelling — beginning the interview with general and broad (non-threatening) opening questions and
then narrowing down to topic specifics as the interview progresses.
• Probing — eliciting further details or seeking clarification. Price (2002) details an innovative probing
technique called ‘laddered questions’. This is where appropriate questions are asked in a series leading
from the least intrusive questions to the most intrusive. This technique identifies classifications of
questions; questions about ‘actions’ are deemed to be the least invasive, through to questions about
‘philosophy’ (feelings/values/beliefs) as the most invasive. Story-telling, as another technique, involves
asking questions in a manner which encourages story-telling and more elaborate answers; for example,
‘Tell me about when you last experienced …’
& I’m not quite sure I understand. You were saying?
& Can you elaborate a little more?
& Could you clarify that?
& Could you expand upon that a little?
& When you say ‘ . . . . . . ’, what do you mean?
• Paraphrasing — repeating what the participant has said, without changing the meaning of what has
been said, assists understanding and clarity and acts as a further prompt.
A researcher should avoid asking leading questions, ambiguous questions, or two questions at a time.
PRACTICE
Activity 4: Discuss the following questions.
1. What is the disadvantage of interviewing people you know or work with?
2. Why might you need to approach an informal gatekeeper when conducting
interview research?
3. Why should we be cautious if a person is eager to be interviewed?

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Activity 5
Study the interview protocol from a study that examines prospective teachers’ beliefs and
pedagogical content knowledge towards teaching practice in mathematics class. What might be
the advantages of an interview protocol?

(Source:
Activity 6

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 2

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2 Focus group interviews
Focus groups are useful as they help to explore, develop and refine initial research questions and interview
schedules. They can also be useful as part of a developing evaluative framework to assess client needs
and the outcomes of such investigation (Banning 2005). Focus groups use interview schedules but these
differ in scope, nature and intention from other research interviews. This is because of the unique nature
of group dynamics and insights gained from interaction between participants. Focus groups offer a
collective set of values, experiences and observations of participants that are later interpreted in context.
Sometimes group ‘synergy’ or consensus (agreement) on issues occurs, but this is not always the case. If
a series of focus groups are scheduled, initial interviews usually identify broad issues and perspectives
related to the focus of the study, while subsequent interviews seek to prioritise and narrow down generated
issues.
Benefits of focus group interviews
One of the main benefits of this method of data collection is that they are often less intimidating than
individual interviews. The focus group method allows access to participants who may find individual
interviews intimidating or inappropriate (Krueger & Casey 2009; Liamputtong 2010). They potentially
offer supportive group interactions as each member is encouraged to identify, describe, analyse and
resolve issues (Morgan 1997; Krueger & Casey 2009). They are particularly useful in discovering new
information or obtaining different perspectives on the same topic. Focus group interviews are also useful
in gaining participants’ views, beliefs, values and perceptions on why they think and feel the way they do
(Litosseliti, 2007). Focus group interviews are usually more economical to conduct than individual
interviews

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Limitations of focus group interviews
Focus groups may not explore issues as deeply as one-on-one interviews. At the same time, as they are
not as intimate and private as individual interviews, they tend not to uncover sensitive or potentially
embarrassing information. Researchers generally need quite high levels of interviewing expertise to
conduct focus group interviews. For instance, they require ‘gatekeeping’ skills to help avoid ‘group think’
outcomes, prevent any individuals from dominating conversations as well as teasing contributions from
quieter members. That said, where the focus group does not present any of these dilemmas the researchers
should be mostly anonymous, often only needing to contribute to commence, prompt occasionally and
finalise the session.
3 Observation
Observational methods are commonly used in qualitative research designs and vary between methods.
Observation is the process of watching the daily life and behaviours of participants in their natural setting
to record aspects such as social position and function, or actions and interactions. Qualitative observation
is traditionally adopted by ethnographers (Borbasi et al. 2005), but can be used in other qualitative
approaches. This is especially so with studies using an interpretive/constructivist approach (see Chapter
2) where exploring observed events are often used to interpret and understand behaviour (Mulhall 2003).
In qualitative research, observation methods are mostly unstructured. Sometimes, however, qualitative
observation may have some structure. With unstructured observation, the researcher enters the ‘field’ with
no predetermined schedule as to what they may or may not see or hear. Using this approach requires an
‘observation protocol’ to record the same information collected during observations by the data collectors.
Methods of observation range across a continuum from participation to observation where four distinct
roles of participation and observation can be identified. These being: complete participant; participant-
as-observer; observer-as-participant; and complete observer.

Benefits of observation
Mulhall (2003) suggests that observation has several advantages for qualitative research. These being:
‘capturing data in more natural circumstances’, ‘capturing the whole social setting’ and ‘context of the
environment in which people function’, and ‘informing about influences of the immediate physical
environment’. Depending on the observation method used, there is opportunity to interact with participants
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while gaining rich data and perspectives related to participants’ values and experiences. Where the
researcher is also a participant, observation allows them to reflect on and evaluate their own feelings about
their experiences in the field. In this case, researchers can choose to either ‘step back from’ or ‘be
immersed in’ situations.
Limitations of observation
If researching from an ‘objective’ stance, it is necessary to be aware of Mulhall’s (2003) caution that
observation is more prone to ‘subjective’ interpretation by the researcher than is usually the case with
interview data. Field notes are likely often written up following the observation event potentially adding
to the subjectivity of data. However, neither of these issues would be a primary concern if working within
a constructivist paradigm of research.
Observation checklist
Activity 7. Below is an example of an observation checklist. What might be the advantages of an
observation checklist?

(Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Student-engagement-observation-
checklist_fig1_233328373)

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Using multiple data collection methods: Triangulation
More and more researchers are conducting research using mixed-method/ triangulation research. One
form of methodological triangulation is where the researcher uses different methods for collecting data
in the same study. For instance, Henderson (2003) details a grounded theory study where she uses
interviews and participant observation to investigate power imbalances between nurses and patients in
Western Australia. Researchers continue collecting data until data saturation, redundancy of data or
‘theoretical saturation’ is achieved. Saturation, therefore, is not dependent on the amount of data
collected but based on the richness of the emerging data set (Tuckett 2004; Guest et al. 2006).

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Activity 8. Choose the best option.
1 What is the most common method used for collecting qualitative data________.
a) questionnaire
b) interview
c) observation
d) survey
2. When interviewing, starting off with simple and broad questions to help ease the participant into the
process is referred to as ________.
a) nurturing
b) channelling
c) funnelling
d) easing
3. Which of the following are observational methods?
a) in-place participant; participant-as observer; observer-as-participant; and absolute observer
b) complete participant; participant-as observer; observer-as-participant; and complete observer
c) absolute participant; participant-as observer; observer-as-participant; and in-place observer
d) complete participant; in-place observer; in-place participant; and complete observer
4. A qualitative researcher knows that it is not useful to collect any further data________.
a) when they sense that this is the case
b) when the participants say that they have nothing more to say
c) when data saturation/redundancy of data is reached
d) when data overload is reached
5. A form of methodological triangulation applies when________.
a) participants are mixed up
b) different methods for collecting data are employed in the same study
c) different methods for collecting data are employed in different studies
d) the data collection methods are mixed up.
6 This is a type of data collection when the researcher mainly observes but then decides to become part of
the observed group for a short.
a) complete participant
b) complete observer
c) observer-as-participant
d) participant-as-observer
7 Interviews are helpful when ______.
a) you want to get insight into attitudes of participants
b) you want a better understanding of participants’ points of views
c) the subject matter is too sensitive for people to discuss in a group setting
d) all of the above
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8 A semi-structured interview ________.
a) may use a checklist and follow-up questions
b) has a script of the exact questions
c) is the most flexible of the interview types
d) uses an observation checklist
9 A special type of semi-structured interview that is conducted with a group of 6-10 people is ________.
a) focus group
b) semi interviews
c) focused observation
d) focused case study
Activity 9: Decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
1. An observer could lose objectivity using the method of participant observation.
2. It is less difficult to preserve anonymity and confidentiality in a focus group than in an interview.
Activity 10
Prepare the interview protocols for your research study, and draft an observation checklist if you
use observation to collect qualitative data. Please share your tools to receive comments from the
lecturer and students before collecting data.

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