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Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research
Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research
Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research
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Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide (Mack et al 2005) present practical information on qualitative data collection methods. I found this guide very informative, easy to understand, plain and easy to use for collecting data in qualitative research in the field. This guide provides step by step instructions to conduct qualitative research by choosing the most suitable method for that particular situation. This guide enabled me to successfully conduct my interview assignment for qualitative research course.
Mack et al (2005) states “the three most common qualitative methods, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups and explained the situations where these methods are particularly suited for obtaining a specific type of data, e.g.;
• Participant observation is appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviours in their usual contexts.
• In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories, perspectives,
and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored.
• Focus groups are effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups represented.”
Field notes, audio/ video recordings, and transcripts are the different types of data obtained from the qualitative methods discussed above. Open-ended questions and probing questions enabled the researcher to get more in depth information from the participants. While sample is the representation of the whole population by a small group which is chosen randomly or by certain criteria to estimate characteristics of the whole population. The objectives of our research question along ...
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...on. The handwritten notes are converted into full narratives and then typed and saved into data file of the project into computer.
Data Management
Two to three copies of all the data (field notes, voice recordings, and video recordings & observations transcripts) should be made and kept separately from each other in a secure location. Process of transcription of voice and video recordings and typing of field notes should be started as soon as possible and kept together in an organized and systematic fashion.
Works Cited
Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K., Guest, G., & Namey, E. 2005. Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide. Family Health International, North Carolina, USA. Retrieved from:
http://www.fhi360.org/NR/rdonlyres/emgox4xpcoyrysqspsgy5ww6mq7v4e44etd6toiejyxalhbmk5sdnef7fqlr3q6hlwa2ttj5524xbn/datacollectorguideenrh.pdf
Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative content analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1 (2). Retrieved from http://www.qualitativeresearch.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1089/2385
The author could have employed other methods of qualitative research such as, narrative analysis, grounded theory, discourse analysis, data display and analysis, content analysis and quantifying qualitative data and computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAPDAS) (Saunders et al., 2016). Nevertheless, these approaches seem cumbersome sometimes and take a long time to complete (Willig, 1999; Braun and Clarke, 2006 and Smith and Bekker,
Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods.(3rd ed).Thousand Oaks, Califorinia : Sage Publications, Inc . Retrieved on May 10th, 2014, From http://books.google.com
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.
The current study will be conducted through the focus group method. It was deemed appropriate for the research investigation because, focus groups are a distinctive and convenient¬ method for gathering qualitative data. They explicitly use group interaction as a part of the method. It encourages participants to be active and exchange their knowledge and ...
This will be a discussion of qualitative research. It will define qualitative research, as well as look at the similarities and differences in the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms. Furthermore, this discussion will look into qualitative case study research and phenomenological research, with further contemplation of purposes, methods, and limitations for these two methods.
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In this case the method used is qualitative research as qualitative techniques such as participant observation and ethnography have been used. Qualitative techniques are used when researcher conducts his observation based on words rather than numbers as it focuses more on interviews and group discussions. Even though this form of research provides an in depth analysis into the topping of discussion, it has certain disadvantages too, It has been criticized to be too subjective and are base...
Reviewing the previous qualitative studies, the interview has become one of key research approaches (along with field observations and document analysis) for gathering data that is closely conducted by qualitative researchers. (Kvale, 1996; Brinkmann, 2008; Seidman, 2006). As Gubrium & Holstein (2003) suggest that the qualitative interviews are able to assist researchers to investigate the discovery-oriented enquiries and the increased understanding of subjectivities in the researching fields of social science, media, health care, etc.
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
...ipants were the students with Shanghai background, who studied abroad. Group study room in the Leicester’s library was a good choice for focus group. It was a competitive formal focus group.
focused on the key qualitative research methods. For each article review, a brief description, guided by Myers (2013), and a critique, guided Pratt (2009), is provided. A summary of the five articles identifying the research method, data collection technique, data analysis approach and critique is provided in Table 1. The narrative review of each article coupled with figures and tables to organize and visualize thoughts (Pratt, 2009) follows the summary table.
Liamputtong, P. & Ezzy, D., 2005, Qualitative research methods, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 12-31.
Qualitative and Quantitative study designs both can be beneficial in research design. They both provide valuable options for researchers in the field. These techniques can either be used separately in a research study or they can be combined to achieve maximum information. This paper will define the terms qualitative and quantitative; describe the similarities and differences between each; discuss how qualitative and/or quantitative research designs or techniques could be used in the evaluation of my proposed research; and discuss why linking analysis to study design is important.
It is important that researchers are knowledgeable of the qualitative research methodologies in order to select the most appropriate to investigate their problem of interest, and thereby selecting the most appropriate data collection methods that will aptly produce the richest data for analysis.