Qualitative methods can be traced back to the ancient Greek historians. Herodotus, who is often called the father of history, traveled widely in the ancient world and recounted in his Histories the stories he had heard from the people he met. His successors down the ages recorded their observations of people that they encountered in their travels. These kinds of observations eventually became formalized in the discipline of anthropology. In clinical research, qualitative methods were first used in case histories, for instance, Breuer and Freud’s (1895/1955) first cases, which began the psychoanalytic tradition, and Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study of ‘‘Little Albert,’’ which helped establish the behavioral tradition. There is also a tradition of participant observation methods in mental health research, though they are more often conducted by sociologists than by psychologists. Classic examples of participant observation studies are Goffman’s (1961) Asylums and Rosenhan’s (1973) ‘‘Sane in insane places’’ study (Barker and Pistrang 2002). Qualitative research seeks to understand a social or human problem through an inquiry process. It is conducted in a natural setting and reports the views of informants in rich detail. Qualitative research strives to describe the extraordinarily complex nature of people and their perceptions of their experience in the specific social context in which the experience occurs. (Geertz, 1973). This is quite different than the paradigm of quantitative research. The raw material for qualitative research is ordinary language, as opposed to the numbers that are the raw material for quantitative research. The language may be obtained in many ways. It may be the participant’s own descriptions of him or he... ... middle of paper ... ...ings-Sanders & Anderson, 2003; Lawler, Dowswell, Hearn, Forster, & Young, 1999 as sited Schumacher, Koresawa, West, Dodd, Paul, Tripathy, Koo, Miaskowski, 2005). Others have used qualitative methods to enhance their understanding of research participants who dropped out or did not adhere to the intervention (Jolly et al., 2003 as sited Schumacher et, al. 2005). In addition, researcher have conducted qualitative interviews following an intervention study to elucidate the content and interpersonal processes of the intervention, to elicit participants’ experiences of having received the intervention, to evaluate the intervention, or to explain study findings (Gamel, Grypdonck, Hengeveld, & Davis, 2001). In these studies, sequential research designs, in which qualitative inquiry precedes or follows the intervention study, are most common (Schumacher et, al. 2005).
Qualitative research is an approach that attempts to situate an activity that locates the observer in the world by providing the study to occur in their natural setting and by attempting to make sense of, or interpret information (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). A characteristic of qualitative research is to use a variety of empirical materials such as personal experience, interviews, and questionnaires. It is imperative to understand the task at hand and how to fully carry out the study when using a qualitative research approach in order to find out the information needed. One view of qualitative research is it involves examining individual’s experiences and documenting those experiences in detail (Jones, 2011). By documenting these observations the researcher is ensuring validity in his or her data and giving the correct creditability to those who participated in the study.
In the article, “A Qualitative Study of Intensive Filial Intervention Using Child-Parent Relationship Therapy” (Socarras, Smith-Adcock, & Shin, 2015) there were a total of nine participants and three researchers. While the researchers were able to alter intervention methods by reviewing the data in a timely manner the results of the research are from a limited perception. Although, quantitative data allows for a large sample with a faster review process the resulting data is limited. Researchers will gather data and have a statistical representation but there is no insight as to why the data resulted the way it did. Quantitative methods do not allow researchers to consider what variables may have influenced research results. The primary disadvantage to quantitative studies is there is no how or why in regards to research results. The primary disadvantage of qualitative studies is the data collection and analysis process is time consuming limiting the scope of
In addition, qualitative research will be important in examining the motivation of patients to adhere to treatment, the motivation of practitioners to adopt evidence-based practice, and the barriers to making changes in existing systems. Further initiatives that are aimed at scaling up prevention should monitor
Sage, Inc. Patton, M.Q. - a.k.a. (2002). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, Inc. QSR International. a.
Qualitative research has gained significant recognition in the social science sphere with its holistic and purposeful pursuit in illuminating new areas for research lacking through quantitative research. (Carey, 2012; Cleary, Horsfall, & Hayter, 2014; Reeves, Kuper, & Hodges, 2008; Stevenson, Britten, Barry, Barber, & Bradley, 2000; Thyer, 2012). Qualitative research uses a variety of methodologies to explore an individual’s inner world, expand our understanding of a social phenomenon, and advance and discover new theories (Carey, 2012; Fortune, Reid, & Miller, 2013; Saldana, 2011; Thyer, 2012). Stevenson (2000) describes qualitative research as an in-depth investigation into the inner world of reasoning, decision-making and meaning. Furthermore, qualitative research takes into account the context and history that shapes presented information and ventures to understand participant’s experiences, thoughts, opinions, and feelings towards their social reality (Ivey, 2012; Nielsen, 2011; Thyer, 2012).
Marshall, C, Rossman, Gretchen B, (2006). Designing qualitative research, 4th edition, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Ulin,R.P., Robinson,E.T.,Tolle,E.E. (2005) Qualitative Methods in Public Health: A Field Guide for Applied Research. San Francisco: Family health international. in Humanities a
On the other hand, Shank (2002) defines qualitative research as a form of systematic empirical inquiry into meaning. By systematic he means, planned, ordered, and public, following rules, agreed upon by members of the qualitative research community. By empirical, he means that thi...
In this paper, I will define quantitative and qualitative research methods and provide examples in the context of social issues which will hopefully provide insight into how this methods are properly applied.
The unquestionable success of video games leads to some great ideas concerning utilizing this technology in productive educational and training environments. This technology has shown evidence for the possible implementation as an educational and learning tool. With the successful use of internet-learning environments currently employed the next logical evolution of this technology merits further research. The significant barrier to the adoption of this technology into educational environments is the connection between two-dimensional scenarios and three-dimensional simulations. Immersive Massively Multiplayer Online Games or MMOGs have shown that
You are being invited to take part in this in-depth interview because as the investigator of this study, I want to approach and understand this topic through a professor’s lens and standpoint. In addition, your role as an arts professor, being equipped with critical thinking skills and familiarity with the social science/humanities discourse will fit perfectly for this qualitative interview. We appreciate you taking the time to participate in the interview. This interview will help to learn more about how individuals use internet, the gratifications received through its usage and our relationships and presentation of self in the digital world.
Dozois, D. A. (2013). Psychological treatments: Putting evidence into practice and practice into evidence. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 54(1), 1-11. doi:10.1037/a0031125
Sofaer, S. (2002). Qualitative Methods: What are they and why use them?. Int J Qual Health Care 14(4), 329-336 doi:10.1093/intqhc/14.4.329
Qualitative data analysis is the process of transforming data into information, information into understanding and understanding into knowledge (Davenport & Prusak, 1998). Furthermore, qualitative data analysis can be described as a blend of scientific studies and artistic style to create an innovative product. The research acts as the primary research tool, and must be able to sustain composer throughout the entire study. In addition, the researcher must be able to pay attention to the small details of the study, without losing sight of the big picture of the study (Chenail, 2012).
Methodology, is defined as the logic behind what methods the researchers choose and why they choose that particular method rather than others Clearly， methodology is different from methods. Methods are the tools or techniques the researchers use to collect data. Therefore, methods are shaped by methodology and methodology can explain why researchers choose the methods.