.

Qualitative Research Designs

 Design is a word which means a plan or something that is
conceptualized by the mind. A design in the field of research
serves as a blueprint or a skeletal framework of your research
study.
Types of Qualitative Research Design
There are varied ways of doing qualitative research. In this chapter we
will focus on six types of qualitative research. These are:
 Phenomenology
 Ethnography
 Grounded theory
 Case study
 Dsicrourse/Conversation analysis
 Narrative analysis

Comparative Summary of Different Types of Qualitative Research

Types of Qualitative Research
1. Phenomenology
> Both an approach to, and a method of, understanding the
behavioral, emotive, and social meanings of lived
experiences of individuals
2. Ethnography
> Focuses on studying shared practices and belief systems
(. e., culture) of a group people in their natural context
over a prolonged period.
 3. Grounded theory
> Refers to a set of inductive data collection and analytic
methods with the purpose of constructing theories
grounded in the data themselves.
4. Case study
> Allows the in-depth investigation of complex issues
within a specific context, based on a small geographical
area or a very limited number of individuals as the
subjects of study
5. Discourse/Conversation analysis
> Study naturally occurring discourse and extract shared
meanings from such discourse.
6. Narrative analysis
 Focuses on the narratives (storytelling) used as source of
data.

Sampling Techniques and Sample

Sampling Techniques and Sample
 In research, sampling is a word that refers to your method
or process of selecting respondents or people to answer
questions meant to yield data for a research study. The
chosen ones constitute the sample through which you will
derive facts and evidence to support the claims or
conclusions propounded by your research problem. The
bigger group from where you choose the sample is called
population, and sampling frame is the term used to mean
the list of the members of such population from where
you will get the sample. (Paris 2013)
History
 The beginning of sampling could be traced back to the
early political activities of the Americans in 1920 when
Literary Digest did a pioneering survey about the
American citizens' favorite among the 1920 presidential
candidates. This was the very first survey that served as
the impetus for the discovery by academic researchers of
other sampling strategies that they categorized into two
classes: probability sampling or unbiased sampling and
non- probability sampling. (Babbie 2013).
Probability Sampling or Unbiased Sampling
 Probability sampling involves all members listed in the
sampling frame representing a certain population focused on by
your study. An equal chance of participation in the sampling or
selection process is given to every member listed in the
sampling frame. By means of this unbiased sampling, you can
obtain a sample that can represent the population under study or
of showing strong similarities in characteristics with the
members of the population,
Types of Probability Sampling
1. Simple Random Sampling
 Simple random sampling is the best type of probability
sampling through which you can choose sample from a
population. Using a pure-chance selection, you assure
every member the same opportunity to be in the sample.
Here, the only basis of including or excluding a member
is by chance or opportunity, not by any Occurrence
accounted for by cause-effect relationships. Simple
random sampling happens through any of these two
methods: (Burns 2012)
 a. Have a list of all members of the population;
write each name on a card and choose cards
through a pure-chance selection.
b. Have a list of all members; give a number to
member and then use randomized or unordered
numbers in selecting names from the list.
2. Systematic Sampling
 For this kind of probability sampling, chance and system
are the ones to determine who should compose the
sample. For instance, if you want to have a sample of
150, you may select a set of numbers like 1 to 15, and out
of a list of 1,500 students, take every 15th name on the
list until you complete the total number of respondents to
constitute your sample.
3. Stratified Sampling
 The group comprising the sample is chosen in a way that
such group is liable to subdivision during the data
analysis stage. A study needing group-by- group analysis
finds stratified sampling the right probability sampling to
use.
4. Cluster Sampling
 This is a probability sampling that makes you isolate a set
of persons instead of individual members to serve as
sample members. For example, if you want to have a
sample of 120 out of 1,000 students, you can randomly
select three sections with 40 students each to constitute
the sample.
Non-Probability Sampling
 Non-probability sampling disregards random selection of
subjects. The subjects are chosen based on their availability or
the purpose of the study, and in some cases, on the sole
 discretion of the researcher. This is not a scientific way of
selecting respondents. Neither does it offer a valid or an
objective way of detecting sampling errors. (Edmond 2013).
Types of Non-Probability Sampling
1. Quota Sampling
 You resort to quota sampling when you think you know
the characteristics of the target population very well. In
this case, you tend to choose sample members possessing
or indicating the characteristics of the target population.
Using a quota or a specific set of persons whom you
believe to have the characteristics of the target population
involved in the study is your way of showing that the
sample you have chosen closely represents the target
population as regards such characteristics.
2. Voluntary Sampling
 Since the subjects you expect to participate in the sample
selection are the ones volunteering to constitute the
sample, there is no need for you to do any selection
process.
3. Purposive or Judgmental Sampling
 You choose people whom you are sure could correspond
to the objectives of your study, like selecting those with
rich experience or interest in your study.
4. Availability Sampling
 The willingness of a person as your subject to interact
with you counts a lot in this non-probability sampling
method. If during the data-collection time, you encounter
people walking on a school campus, along corridors, and
along the park or employees lining up at an office, and
these people show willingness to respond to your
 questions, then you automatically consider them as your
respondents.
5. Snowball Sampling
 Like snow expanding widely or rolling rapidly, this
sampling method does not give a specific set of samples.
This is true for a study involving unspecified group of
people. Dealing with varied groups of people such as
street children, mendicants, drug dependents, call center
workers, informal settlers, street vendors, and the like is
possible in this kind of non-probability sampling. Free to
obtain data from any group just like snow freely
expanding and accumulating at a certain place, you tend
to increase the number of people you want to form the
sample of your study. (Harding 2013)

Observation
 Observation is a technique of gathering data whereby you
personally watch, interact, or communicate with the
subjects of your research. It lets you record what people
exactly do and say in their everyday life on Earth.
Through this data gathering technique, proofs to support
your claims or conclusions about your topic are obtained
in a natural setting. Witnessing the subjects manages
themselves in a certain situation and interpreting or
expressing your thoughts and feelings about your
 observation, you tend to deal with the observation results
in a subjective manner.
Types of Observation
1. Participant Observation - The observer, who is the researcher, takes
part in the activities of the individual or group being observed. Your
actual involvement enables you to obtain firsthand knowledge about the
subjects' behavior and the way they interact with one another.
2. Non-participation or Structured Observation - This type of
observation completely detaches you from the target of your
observation. You just watch and listen to them do their own thing,
without you participating in any of their activities. Recording of
nonparticipation observations happens using a checklist. Others call this
checklist as an observation schedule.
These two observation types, participation, and non-participation, can
occur in either of the covert or overt observation models.
What is the difference between covert and overt?
An item is called "overt" when the respondents immediately understand
what the item is intended to measure. An item is called "covert" when
the respondents (at least those without a thorough knowledge of the
construct under investigation) are unaware of what the item measures.

Methods of Observation

1. Direct Observation - This observation method makes you see or

listen to everything that happens in observation.
 2. Indirect Observation - This method is also called behavior
archaeology because, here, you observe traces of past events to
get information or a measure of behavior, trait, or quality of
your subject.

Interview
In research, interview is a data gathering technique that makes
you verbally ask the subjects or respondents questions to give answers
to what your research study is trying to look for.
Types of Interview
1. Structured Interview - This is an interview that requires
the use of an interview schedule or a list of questions
answerable with one and only item from a set of
alternative responses.
2. Unstructured Interview - In this type of interview, the
respondents answer the questions based on what they
personally think and feel about it.
3. Semi-Structured Interview - The characteristics of the
first two types are found in the third type of interview
called semi-structured interview.
Approaches
1. Individual Interview Only one respondent is interviewed here.
The reason behind this one on-one interview is the lack of trust
the interviewees have among themselves. One example of this is
the refusal of one interviewee to let other interviewees get a
notion of or hear his or her responses to the questions. Hence, he
or she to have an individual interview separate from the rest.
This is a time-consuming type of interview because you must
interview a group of interviewees one by one.
 2. Group Interview In this interview approach, you ask the
question not to one person, but to a group of people at the same
time. The group members take turns in answering the question.
This approach is often used in the eld of business, specifically in
marketing research. Researchers in this eld, whose primary aim
in adhering to this interview approach is to know people's food
preferences and consumer opinions; they also call this as focus
group Interview
3. Mediated Interview No face-to-face interview is true for this
interview approach because this takes place through electronic
communication devices such as telephones, mobile phones,
email, among others. Though mediated interview disregards
non-verbal communication (e.g.. bodily movements, gestures,
facial expressions, feelings, eye contact, etc.), many,
nonetheless, consider this better because of the big number of
respondents it can reach despite the cost, distance, and human
disabilities affecting the interview.

Formulating Conclusions and Recommendations

Research writing and reporting is not an easy task for neophytes. This
section aims to provide answers concerning writing a research report.
The different parts of a research report will be briefly discussed
following the outline
below:
1. Introductory Phase
2. Review of Literature
3. Research Methodology
4. Body of the Report
5. Conclusion and Recommendation
Process and Parts of Report Writing
Introductory Phase
As suggested by Silverman (2006), research report starts from four
elements including: title, abstract, list of contents, and introduction. The
following is a brief description of each element.
Research Title
• A research title must get the attention of the readers. In other words, it
must be "catchy. Being catchy does not mean sacrificing the main
message or idea of your report. Hence, according to Silverman (2006, p.
339) choose 'a title that catches the reader's attention while properly
informing them about the focus of your research." Silverman (2006, p.
206) is suggesting a "two-part title" containing a stimulating title
applying a present participle signifying action and a subtitle which is
more descriptive.
Example:
Stimulating title: Have you experienced being bullied?
Descriptive title: A study on the perception of the victims of bullying in
the primary schools

Research Abstract
A research abstract is a vital component of a report as it provides the
readers with snap view of what you will expect from it. The abstract
gives a synopsis of the objectives and results of the report to be
described in detailed form in the body of the report. Silverman (2006)
identified what an abstract should contain:
1. research problem
2. significance and value of the problem
3. data and methods utilized
4. main findings
5. implication in the light of other research
A research abstract has a word limit. The most common word limit is
100. This is a challenging part of writing a report because it is difficult
to write the many things that you want to impart in just a few words.
List of Contents
A list of contents is a useful component of a report as it guides the
readers to find their way through the different parts of the report.
Hence, the consistency of the page numbers with the parts of the report
is vital Inconsistent page numbering would result to the reader's
confusion.

Introduction
The introduction acquaints the readers with the what, why, and how of
the report. According to Murcott (1997, p. 1) as cited in Silverman
(2006). answering the questions below would lead you to the
development of the introduction:
1. What is the research all about?
2. Why have you chosen this topic rather than the other topics?
3. Why are you interested in this topic?
4. How will you undertake the research?
5. What kind of research approach will you utilize? 6. What are your
research questions of problems?
1. c
2. a
3. d
4. c
5. b
6. b
7. c
8. d
9. a
10. b
11. b
12. c
13. a
14. b
15. a
16. a
17. b
18. c
19. c
20. d