CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Abigail M. Cabaguing, Ph.D.
Graduate School
Samar State University

Contents
- Definition, Origins and Importance of Qualitative
Research
- Philosophical Underpinnings of Qualitative
Research

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 1.0 Intended Learning
Outcomes
By the end of this chapter students should be able to:
1. Define qualitative research.
2. Explain why qualitative research is important.
3. Synthesize the characteristics of qualitative research.
4. Gain an understanding of philosophy and its components
5. Synthesize the importance of philosophy.
6. Get an overview of the major philosophical foundations of QLR.
7. Link philosophy to practical guidelines of QLR.

1.1 Introduction
This chapter introduces the fundamental concepts of qualitative approach to
research, to help students understand and become adept in qualitative research
methods which will be discussed in the subsequent chapters.

1.2 Discussions

Definition of Qualitative Research

 It is a research that focuses on “ how people interpret their experiences,
how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their
experiences” (Merriam, 2009)

 Qualitative
It is “an umbrella
research
termis a
covering
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activity
array of
that
interpretive
locates the techniques
observer inwhich
the
seek to describe,
world… qualitative
translate,
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thingscome
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naturalwith
settings,
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attempting to the
make
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meanings people
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socialtoworld”
them.”(Van
(Denzin
Manen,
& Lincoln,
as cited2011)
in Merriam, 2009)

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 QLR is a “way of knowing in which a researcher gathers, organizes, and
interprets information obtained from humans using his or her eyes and
ears and filters” (Lichtman, 2013)
 It often involves in-depth interviews and/or observations of humans in
natural, online, or social settings.

 In QLR, the focus is on “understanding the meaning people have

constructed, that is, how people make sense of their world and the
experiences they have in the world” (Merriam, 2009, p. 13)

Where Does Qualitative Research (QLR) Come From and Where Is it?
From: Sociology and Anthropology
Focus on:
 People’s lives
 Social and cultural contexts they live in
 The way they understand their worlds
 Now in: social sciences, education, medicine, law, business, and others

Trajectory of QLR
Emergence in the field of QLR. Two important publications.
1. Barney Glaser & Anselm Strauss (1967). Discovery of Grounded
Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research.
2. Egon Guba (1968). Toward a Methodology of Naturalistic Inquiry in
Educational Evaluation.
1970s and 1980s: Number increased of QLR publications
Lincoln and Guba
“studies should be conducted in natural settings rather than in laboratories”
Naturalistic inquiry
1990s
o Journal (1990): Qualitative Report
o 1992: First Conference of Qualitative Interest Group
o The handbook of qualitative research (1994)

The 1990s: Boom of QLR

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  Opening up of education research field to women and people of color
 Dissatisfaction with education research finding based on quantitative
research studies alone
 Problems with implementation, dissemination & relevance; disconnect
between research & practice
 Teachers’ demand for more involvement in design and conduct of research
 Publishers were open more to alternative research.

Current Challenges with QLR

1. Preparation of students and faculty on QLR
2. Rigor and structure in QLR
3. Ethical Issues in QLR

Importance of Qualitative Research

1. QLR “ strategies offer opportunities to examine issues in depth that may yield a
clearer understanding of what is happening in certain circumstances and how
changes can be made to meet the needs.”
2. QLR helps “gain insights that statistics and numbers might not yield.”
3. QLR helps research complex issues. Litchman (2013,p.xv)
4. Rapid social change and the resulting diversification of life worlds are
increasingly confronting social researchers with new social contexts and
perspectives.
5. Quantitative research is unable to address effectively the current social change
issues. (Flick, 2006, p.12)
6. “The biggest advantage [of QLR] is the ability to probe into responses or
observations as needed and obtain more detailed descriptions and explanations of
experiences, behaviors, and beliefs” (Guest, Namey, and Mitchell 2013,p.21)

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

1. Focus on meaning and understanding people’s experiences and their

interpretation (both emic [insider’s] & etic [outsider’s] perspectives)
2. Researcher as primary instrument for both data collection and data analysis.
3. A primarily inductive process moving from data to concepts, hypotheses,
theories
4. Some deductive process to some extent going from themes back to data for
verification.
5. Rich description- words & pictures, phenomenon, contexts, participants,
excerpts/direct quotes from data, audit trail
6. Emergent and flexible design of the study

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 7. Purposeful sampling
8. QLR is multidimensional and fluid
9. No single way of doing things
10. Holistic approach, study something in its entirely
11. Variety of data in natural settings
12. In-depth study
13. Focus is on participants’ meaning of their own life, experience, contexts.
14. Researcher’s reflexivity or researcher’s positioning
15. Variety of methods and approaches in data collection and analysis

Difference Between Quantitative Research and Qualitative Research

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Testing hypotheses/theory Generating hypotheses/constructs

-confirmatory, top-down -exploratory/bottom-up

Objective meaning, structural process Subjective process, mental, personal

and constructed meaning

Human thought: regular and Situational, social, contextual,

predictable personal, and unpredictable

Testing specific hypotheses Examining breadth and depth of

phenomena

Observing in controlled conditions Observing in natural settings

Primarily deductive process Primarily inductive process

Based solely on numbers and variables Based primarily on texts, images,

categories

Data analysis-relationships between Data analysis-patterns, themes,

variables holistic features

When to Use QLR (Creswell, 2013)

 When issues are complex
 When empowering individuals
 When in need of a literacy, flexible style
 When explaining mechanisms
 To develop theories

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  When statistics cannot solve the problem

Things to remember:
 QLR is a broad field and is different from quantitative research.
 QLR may be defined differently, but all definitions have some overlap.
 If not well done according to clear principles, a study may be claimed to be
QLR when it is not.
 To produce good QLR, special care must be taken.

PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF QLR

What is Philosophy?
 Different terms (Merriam, 2009)
 Theoretical underpinnings
 Philosophical foundations
 Theoretical traditions/ orientations / paradigms
 Worldviews
 Focus on ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology
(components of Philosophy)
Definition:
 Philosophy is the “a particular set of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature
and meaning of life, etc.” (Merriam-Webster, 2014)
 It is “the use of abstract ideas and beliefs that inform our research”
(Creswell, 2013, p.16)

Illustration: Research Topic: College Dropout

Positivist – survey + intervention program + stats (reality is singular,
objective, quantitative)
Interpretivist – trying to understand the experiences of non-completers from
their perspective and what it means to them (multiple realities)
Critical- Analyzing what is wrong with the school/ society that some students
are failing
Postmodern/poststructuralist- completers and non-completers are a wrong
dichotomy (accept multiple realities)

IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY (Creswell, 2013)

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  Whether we are aware of it or not, we always bring certain beliefs and
philosophical assumptions to our research.
 These beliefs are instilled within us.
 They come from our educational training, our academic reading, advisors,
scholarly communities/conferences/meetings.
 They influence the choice of our research topic, problem and research
questions.

Philosophy affects us in…

 The selection of our research topic
 Our choice of data collection and analysis procedures and techniques

Challenges with our Philosophy

1. It is underlying and unstated.
2. It influences our choice of theories that guide our research.
3. We are unaware of these beliefs and assumptions.
4. We struggle in deciding whether or not
 We should include them in our QLR
 Our QLR is influenced by them

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATION OF QLR

 Ontology – Nature of reality, In QLR- multiple realities
 Epistemology – Nature of knowledge, In QLR field presents knowledge-
subjective interpretation/different realities
 Axiology – values, QLR is a value-laden research (not value-free), bring with
you your values/bias
 Methodology – ways of accessing knowledge-inductive, emerging, dependent
on the researcher skill

Assumptions Questions Implications

Ontological What is the nature of Use of different

reality? perspectives

Epistemological What counts as Evidence from

knowledge? participants’ accounts
and researcher’s direct
observation

Axiological What is the role of Research is value-laden,

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 values? bias is present and
acknowledged

Methodological What is the process of Use of inductive

research? analysis, context, thick
description

PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORKS (Creswell, 2013)

Postpositivism- No strict cause-effect thinking; other explanation

acceptable
Social Constructivism- Meaning shared and negotiated socially and
historically
Transformed Framework- knowledge is not neutral; it reflects the power
and social relationships within society- focus is to empower people
improve their society- giving a voice to people.
Postmodern perspectives- focus is on changing ways of thinking rather
on calling for action based on these changes.
Pragmatism – focus on outcomes of research-actions, situations, and
consequences of research- truth is what works at the time.
Feminist theories- focus on women’s issues- race, class, gender,
sexuality, age, body, etc.
Critical theory- focus on empowering human beings to transcend the
constraints placed on them by race, class, and gender.
Critical race theory- focus on race and how it creates discrimination
Queer theory- focus on individual identity, gender and sexuality
Disability theories – focus on inclusion in schools
ex. Disability=difference not defect

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1.3 Assessment

Write at least three (3) possible qualitative research

topics of your interest and discuss the philosophical
frameworks for each topic.
(Individual/Pair/Group)

1.4 References

Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lichtman, M., Qualitative Research in Education. A User’s Guide, (3d ed.). London, Sage,
2013.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among Five
Approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Uwe Flick. (2009). An introduction to Qualitative Research. SAGE.

Joyner, R., Rouse, W., &

Glatthorn, A. (2013). Writing the
winning thesis or
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dissertation: A step-by-step
guide (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin
Press.

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