According to Easterbrook, (2008), “qualitative methods are used typically in research projects that take a human-focused perspective in the design and implementation of the investigation” (p. 828). This paper theme explains the reasoning for a topic’s approach as qualitative research. Additionally, the paper’s theme identifies the research design appropriateness while providing a rationale for not using other research designs. The qualitative research designs include phenomenological, ethnographic, grounded theory and case study. The approach to a research issue depends on the research question and the study’s goal. The phenomenological method provides for investigating the social science of consciousness as a legitimate subject matter for human psychology. Therefore, phenomenology provides a way of exploring lived experience, the actuality of the experience from the inside rather than from the natural science perspective of observation and measurement (Bevan, 2014). Ethnography is “to understand how behaviors reflect the culture of a group” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010, p. 146). The ethnographer study provides for discovering another person's cultural knowledge. Three general categories of ethnographic design questions include descriptive, structural, and contrast. The goal of these questions typically involves the characteristic or interpretation of human behavior, practices, ideas, and values (Shalinsky, 2006). The grounded theory approach focuses on unscrambling the components of experience (Moustakas, 1994). The study of the components and their interrelationships provides for the development of a theory enabling the researcher to comprehend the character and significance of the experience for a particular subject group of people ... ... middle of paper ... ...an Journal of Medical Sciences, 67(3), 89-98. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0019-5359.121127 Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical research: Planning and design (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Mantzoukas, S., (2008). Facilitating research students in formulating qualitative research questions, Nurse Education Today, 28(3), 371-377, doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2007.06.012. Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Shalinsky, A. (2006). Fieldwork, ethnographic. In H. Birx (Ed.), Encyclopedia of anthropology. 969-970. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.4135/9781412952453.n343 University of Phoenix. (2013). Sample Qualitative and Quantitative Problem Statements. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, Res/722A - Research Design website.
Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K., Guest, G., & Namey, E. (2005). Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide. Retrieved from http://www.fhi.org
Over the course of this class, we have read various ethnographies and methodological approaches regarding field research. Some have been very helpful, providing new theoretical insight relevant to my own field work whereas others, while undoubtedly interesting, seem less relevant to my own circumstances. In this essay, I present what I thought was useful or not useful from these five assigned ethnographies.
Among all the available approaches to qualitative research the grounded theory is one of the most unique methodologies,
While this study does not directly identify a conceptual or theoretical framework, it could be implied based on the inclusion of background nursing research literature in which concept analysis and various themes were discussed in conducting similar qualitative studies. The concepts or themes surrounding this study include vulnerability and suffering, introduction and interaction with the patient, moral responsibility, as well as feelings and sensitivity (Roberts & Thorup, 2012). Conceptual models are less structured than theories and broadly demonstrate concepts of interrelated phenomena (Be...
Spradley, J. P. & McCurdy, D. W. (1972). The Cultural Experience: Ethnography in a Complex Society. Chicago: Science Research Associates.
The type of data collection for a qualitative research study depends on the research design. The qualitative design itself originates out of the disciplines and flow throughout the process of research (Creswell, 2014). Creswell (2014) recommends narrative, phenomenology, ethnography, case study, and grounded theory as common qualitative research methods. These were recommended because of they are popular across the social and health and science research studies. Hays and Woods (2011) asserted that selecting a research tradition congruent with one's research orientation and study purpose, and at the same time, infusing it in all phases of qualitative inquiry, is one of the key criterions for trustworthiness of the research results. Hays and Woods (2011) recommends six qualitative research traditions, including ground theory, phenomenology, consensual qualitative research, ethnography, narratology, and participative action research. Indeed, while there are additional qualitative research methods available, scholars have identified these six qualitative traditions consistently or identified them as emerging and common methods of qualitative research (Hays & Woods, 2011).
To complete the above fieldwork exercise, the method of qualitative research utilised was Ethnography. Ethnography is a method in which the ethnographer or researcher becomes either an overt or a covert participant in the lives of people (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2105). It involves collecting any data that is available to explore the focus of the research (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). One could suggest Ethnography is a method to study society and culture (Berg and Lune, 2017).
Qualitative and quantitative methods allow researchers to investigate, explore and inquire the nature of the phenomenon being studied. It is important that the researcher develops a clear understanding of the problem and design a plan to investigate it (Cresswell, 1998, para. 1). There are a variety of research methods; nevertheless, it is important to consider which research method is appropriate for the study. Qualitative research focuses on human experiences while quantitative research relies on numbers, measurements, and testing. Nevertheless, qualitative and quantitative methods use similar approaches to conduct research and collect data. For example, observations and interviews are approaches used in both research designs; however, the approaches are used and viewed otherwise. This will be discussed later in the paper.
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.
Schultz, Emily A. & Lavenda, Robert H. 2005, Cultural Anthropology, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, Chapter 3: Fieldwork.
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.
There are different types of qualitative research design; namely - a case study, action research, ethnography, phenomenology, narrative inquiry and grounded theory (Saunders et al., 2012). The philosophical position of this study of interpretivism supports the case study approach used to investigate the phenomenon under study. A case study design is particularly useful in empirical enquiry investigating in-depth contemporary phenomena, and drawing data from multiple sources for triangulation (Yin, 2014, p. 16 and 17). Yin (2014) emphasises the importance of context in a case study in research design, adding that the advantage of case study research is the fact that the boundary between the phenomenon and the context within which a case is being studied is not always discernible. Importantly, a case study is pertinent to answering the “who”, what”, where”, “how “and “why” research questions in both exploratory and explanatory studies (Saunders et al., 2012; Yin, 2014). The presented study has chosen a case study design to
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
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.
...chniques and procedures among those associated with quantitative or qualitative research. A literature review, which included document analysis, was used to answer sub-questions one, two and three. A model building approach was suggested to answer sub-question four. In addition, the study uses a case study as a proof-of-concept. The use of a case study is a qualitative empirical study to strengthen the research validity. Since the research methods directly responding to the research questions (Literature review and Model building) make use of textual data, we classified this study as a qualitative study. Table 3.1 below summarises the classification of this study in terms of the dimensions discussed above.