RESEARCH IN DAILY LIFE 1 REVIEWER 3.

Emotions – about what an interviewee

feels about a certain situation, or as he
Finding Answers through Data Collection or she is being interviewed.
Qualitative Interview 4. Knowledge – relate to the interviewee’s
familiarity with a certain subject.
● method of collecting data about an 5. Opinions or Values – elicit information
individual’s experiences. on what an interviewee thinks about a
● covers behavior, opinions, values, topic or an issue.
emotions, knowledge, sensory 6. Sensory Perceptions – what an
perceptions, and demographic interviewee has heard, seen, smelled,
characteristics. tasted, and touched.
● used to obtain information that will
describe the experiences and Guidelines in Conducting an Interview
characteristics of an individual Before the Interview:
Formal Interview - requires an interview 1) Decide on how you will conduct the
guide, which contains the questions to be interview.
asked and the topics to be covered during an 2) It is ideal to have two research
interview. assistants who will take notes during the
❖ Structured interview - strictly follow the session.
flow and content of the interview guide. 3) Choose a comfortable venue for the
best used when the researcher has a interview.
full understanding of the topic. 4) Decide on the length of your interview.
5) Prepare an interview guide and master it
➢ self-administered 6) Make your interview questions as
questionnaire - set of questions specific as possible.
that the participant must respond 7) Make your interview questions focused
to without the involvement of the on and directly related to your specific
researcher. Open ended research questions.
responses. 8) Pilot-test your interview guide.
9) Ask permission from your respondents
❖ Semi-structured interview - uses an
before the interview.
interview guide; however, the researcher
a) Informed consent form: states
may stray from the guide if he or she
that the participant is willing to
deems it necessary. best used when the
participate in the study and
researcher has sufficient background
understands its purpose and the
knowledge about the topic, but needs to
risks that may be encountered.
learn more about it.
10) Determine what kind of recorder you
❖ Unstructured interview - questions are will use in the interview.
generally open-ended and the
During the Interview:
interviewer has little control over the
respondents’ answers. usually used in 1) Explain the purpose of the study and the
ethnographic research and in-depth interview to your respondents
interviews. 2) Remain as neutral as possible.
a) Response bias - tendency of
Informal interview - allows the researcher to
respondents to answer in a way
talk to the participant conversationally. usually
that they think the interviewer
participant observation, and to build rapport
wants
with participants, to understand the setting of
3) Establish rapport with your interviewees.
the study, or to uncover new topics.
4) Observe good manners throughout the
Classification of Questions interview.
5) Help the interviewees participate as
1. Demographic Characteristics - easily as possible.
participants’ age, educational 6) Make sure that the interviewee
background, religion, civil status, participates as much as possible in the
socioeconomic status, etc. interview.
2. Behavior – about what the interviewees 7) Be firm but gentle throughout the
are doing or have done interview.
 8) End the interview by thanking the community
interviewees for their participation.
People Individuals Characteristics of
After the Interview: who stand out the “star”
among a group members of the
1) Check if your audio or video recorder of people group, how other
worked well throughout the interview. people interact
with them
2) Transcribe the interviewees’ responses
as they are.
3) Write your observations about the
Advantages of Observation
interview.
● provides more reliable information about
Focus Group Discussion
the behavior of a person or a particular
● similar to an interview but with several group of people
respondents and a moderator facilitating ● provide valuable information about the
the conversation. situation and environment where a
● used to collect data about a specific particular individual or group of people is
topic and to reveal the shared situated.
experiences of the respondents.
Disadvantages of Observation
Observation
● Hawthorne effect - participants of the
● involves seeing how people behave and study change their behavior due to their
interact with one another. awareness of being observed.
● help you create a detailed and lengthy ● it only provides a few instances
description of what people do in a representing a whole situation; it fails to
controlled or natural setting. capture the overall situation.
● best used when your research questions ● more exhaustive and time-consuming
or objectives are about behavior in a than an interview
particular setting
Three Types of Observation

Categories of Coverage Points to Note Controlled Observation

Variables
➔ Carried out in a laboratory.
Appearance Physical Features of an
features, age, individual that
➔ researcher determines the place, time,
gender, imply their participants, and circumstances of the
clothing, etc membership in a observation
group or ➔ researcher needs to explain the aim of
profession,
religion, ethnicity,
the research to the participants.
and ➔ it is prone to Hawthorne effect.
socioeconomic
status. Natural or Unstructured Observation

Behavior Interaction Social rank, ➔ observes spontaneous behavior of the

during among people, gender, age, participants
communication the length of profession, use
➔ Conducted in a natural setting.
and their of body language
interactions communication ➔ Ecological Validity - ability of the
or interactions, findings to be generalized to real - life
languages situations.
used,
nonverbal cues
➔ Its results may not be generalizable to
other contexts or to a wider society.
Personal space Physical People’s
proximity of preferences Participant Observation
one person to regarding
another personal space ➔ Observer in participant observation
takes part in the activities of the group
Human flow number of Frequency of
people who flow, length of or community.
enter and exit stay, the number ◆ Overt observation - participants
a particular of people know that you are a researcher or
community accompanying a observer.
person
entering/exiting a
 ◆ Covert observation - ➔ Personal documents: blogs, Facebook
participants are not aware that posts, diaries, and reflection logs.
you are a researcher or observer. ➔ Physical Evidence: flyers, brochures,
and posters.
Different Observational Roles for Covert
Observation The Informed Consent Form

❖ Complete Observer - neither seen nor ● gives the potential respondents the
noticed by the participants information they need in deciding
whether they will participate in the study
❖ Complete participant - fully engaged of not.
with the participants who are unaware ● should be signed by both the participant
that they are being observed. observer and the researcher.
acts like an “undercover” member
The informed consent form also includes the
Different Observational Roles for Overt following information:
Observation
1. data collection procedure - help the
★ Observer as participant - observer is participants know the process that they
known and recognized by the will be involved in
participants but has limited interaction 2. possible discomfort or risk factors -
with them help the participants gauge if they can,
★ Participant as observer - observer is indeed, be involved in the study
fully engaged with the participants. 3. financial considerations - state
observer is still considered as a whether there will be any additional cost
researcher on the part of the participants
throughout the study
Techniques in Collecting Data Through 4. confidentiality clause - guarantee the
Observation participants that you will not publicly
disclose the information you will obtain
Written description
from them
➢ Flexible technique as it does not require 5. termination of the research -
gadgets or technology guarantee the participants that they can
➢ little effect on the behavior of the refuse to participate in the study
participants 6. authorization clause - make sure that
➢ More prone to subjective interpretation. the participants have acknowledged the
➢ cause the researcher to miss out on conditions that they will be subject to
other important aspects of events throughout the course of the study.

Video recording Reporting and Sharing the Findings

➢ Allows researcher to take notes Results

➢ Provides an accurate record of actual
● Present your findings and its details.
events
● Limited to presenting information without
➢ back-up tool for recording data
any interpretation or bias
➢ May increase the possibility of
Hawthorne effect Guidelines in Writing the Results of a
Qualitative Study
Using photographs and artifacts
1) Present the results based on how the
➢ Provides observable information about a
research questions or findings are
phenomenon
presented.
➢ Provides limited information
2) Feature direct quotations or excerpts
Document Analysis - data collection method from your raw data.
that involves the interpretation of selected 3) Take caution in featuring sidelights in
documents through analyzing their content. your presentation of results
4) Use non-prose materials appropriately.
➔ Public records: annual reports, policy 5) Observe the guidelines in creating your
manuals, laws, curricula, and news non-prose materials.
articles 6) Avoid providing comments about the
findings and interpreting the results.
 7) Make your results section clear and 3) Each conclusion should be supported by
organized. sufficient evidence obtained during the
study
Discussion 4) Avoid merely repeating the findings you
● provides the interpretation of the results stated in the summary.
linked to the literature and studies cited 5) Limit the conclusion to the subject of the
in the literature review study.
● explain how findings differ from those of 6) Observe other conventions in writing the
other studies, or how these studies conclusions subsection.
support your findings. Limitations of the Study
● explain how your findings address your
research questions or objectives ● factors that the researcher fails to
control or use and can be addressed by
Guidelines in Writing the Discussion of a future studies.
Qualitative Study
Three Common Types of Limitations
1) Anchor your discussion portion on your
research objectives and questions. A. Study design limitations - study being
2) Start from the specific to the general. bound to a specific method or
3) Refrain from merely repeating your framework.
results or just introducing new results in B. Impact limitations - implications of the
your discussion. study
4) Link the results to the related literature C. Data limitations - study lacking
and research works similar to your own. sufficient data in order to have
5) Present the potential limitations of your large-scale implications.
interpretation.
6) Observe other conventions in writing the 1) Describe the limitation objectively and
discussion portion. explain why it exists.
2) Describe the potential impact of this
Summary limitation on your findings.
3) Discuss the alternatives you considered
● reiterates your research questions or to address the limitation
objectives 4) Describe the approach you used to
● states the major findings for each of minimize the negative impact of the
these questions or objectives limitation on your study.
1) Restate your research questions or Recommendations
research objectives in the introductory
paragraph ● While the implications identify the areas
2) Refrain from elaborating on major of concern that can be addressed based
findings. on the findings, the recommendations
3) Refrain from inferring and generalizing provide an actual course of action to
from the findings. address these areas of concern.
4) Write the summary concisely and ● how future studies can address the
clearly. limitations encountered in your
5) Avoid introducing new data in your research.
summary
1) Write recommendations that match your
Conclusion conclusions.
2) Provide no more than two
● presents inferences, generalizations, recommendations for future research.
deductions, and general statements 3) Provide recommendations for the
about the findings limitations of your study.
● presents valid and logical consequences 4) Make your recommendations as specific
and outcomes from the findings. as possible for them to become practical
1) The conclusions drawn do not and workable.
correspond to one item in the findings
alone.
2) Should directly address your general
research question or objective.