All About

Qualitative
Research
Practical Research I
 Objectives:

Describe characteristics,
strengths, weaknesses, and
kinds of qualitative research
Write own topics of research,
their purpose and types
 Qualitative Research

Definition
Characteristics
Types
Advantages/Strengths
Disadvantages/Weaknesses
 Definition of
Qualitative Research
 Research that highly values
people’s thinking or point of view
Usually used in soft sciences like
social sciences, politics, economics,
humanities, education, psychology,
nursing, and all business-related
subjects
 Definition of
Qualitative Research
“an inquiry process of understanding
a social or human problem based on
building a complex, holistic picture,
formed with words, reporting
detailed views of informants, and
conducted in a natural setting”
(Creswell 1994, 2)
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
1. Human understanding and
interpretation
- Data analysis show individual’s mental,
social, and spiritual understanding of
the world
- Through worldviews, you know what
kind of human being he/she is, his/her
values, beliefs, likes and dislikes
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
2. Active, powerful, and forceful
- A lot of changes occur continuously
in every stage (i.e. amend/rephrase
interview questions, from mere
speculating to traveling to get data)
- Not fixated to a certain plan
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
3. Multiple approaches and
methods
- Can combine with quantitative research
and use all gathered data and analysis
techniques
- Applies to all research type: descriptive,
exploratory, explanatory, case study,
etc.
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
4. Specificity to generalization
- Specific ideas are directed to general
understanding of something
- Follows an inductive/scientific method
of thinking, where you start thinking of
particular or specific concept that will
eventually lead to more complex ideas
such as generalizations or conclusions
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
5. Contextualization
- Your goal is to understand human
behavior
- Crucial to examine context or situation
of individual’s life (who, what, why, how
and other circumstances) affecting
his/her way of life
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
6. Diversified data in real-life
situations
- Researcher collects data in natural setting
like observing people as they live and
work, analyzing photographs or videos as
they genuinely appear to people, looking
at classrooms unchanged or adjusted to
people’s intentional observations
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
7. Abounds with words and visuals
- Words, words, words
- Verbal and visual presentation of data
- Quoting some respondents’ answers
- Pictures, drawings, graphs
 Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
8. Internal analysis
- You examine the data yielded by internal
traits of subject individuals (i.e. emotional,
mental, spiritual characteristics)
- You study people’s perception about your
topic
- In case of objects (e.g. books and artworks),
investigation is on underlying theories or
principles that govern these materials
 Types of
Qualitative Research
1. Case Study
- Takes place in field of social care,
nursing, psychology, rehabilitation
centers, education, etc.
- Involves long-time study of person,
group, organization, or situation
- Seeks to find answers to why such thing
occurs to the subject
 Types of
Qualitative Research
1. Case Study (cont.)
- Finding reason/s behind such
occurrence drives you to delve into
relationships of people related to case
- Data collection methods include
interviews, questionnaires,
observations, documentary analysis
 Types of
Qualitative Research
2. Ethnography
- Falls in the field of anthropology
- Study of a particular cultural group to get
clear understanding of its organizational
set-up, internal operation, and lifestyle
- Nature or characteristics of their culture
are revealed through world perceptions of
the group’s members
 Types of
Qualitative Research
3. Phenomenology
- “phenomenon” means something known
through sensory experience
- Study of how people find their experience
meaningful
- Primary goal is to make people understand
their experiences about death of loved
ones, care for handicapped persons,
friendliness of people, etc.
 Types of
Qualitative Research
3. Phenomenology (cont.)
- Other people will understand the
meanings attached to their experiences
- Those engaged in assisting people to
manage their own lives properly often do
this
 Types of
Qualitative Research
4. Content and Discourse Analysis
- Requires an analysis or examination of
substance or content of mode of
communication (letters, books, journals,
photos, video recordings, SMS, online
messages, emails, audio-visual materials,
etc.) used by a person, group, organization
or any institution in learning
 Types of
Qualitative Research
4. Content and Discourse… (cont.)
- Study of language structure used in
medium of communication to discover
effects of sociological, cultural,
institutional, and ideological factors
 Types of
Qualitative Research
5. Historical Analysis
- Examination of primary documents to
make you understand the connection of
past events to present time
- Results of this will help you specify
phenomenological changes in unchanged
aspects of society through the years
 Types of
Qualitative Research
6. Grounded Theory
- When you discover a new theory to
underlie your study at the time of data
collection and analysis
- Through observation on subjects, you will
find a theory that applies to your current
study
 Types of
Qualitative Research
7. Narrative Analysis
- Focuses on the narratives (storytelling)
used as source of data
- “How do people make sense of what
happened?”
- Gathering of important historical details of
what people perceive about their lives in
terms of continuity and process
Advantages / Strengths of
Qualitative Research
1. It adopts a naturalistic approach
to its subject matter.
2. It promotes a full understanding
of human behavior or personality
traits in their natural setting.
3. It is instrumental for positive
societal changes.
Advantages / Strengths of
Qualitative Research
4. It engenders respect for people’s
individuality as it demands the
researcher’s careful and attentive
stand toward people’s world
views.
5. It is a way of understanding and
interpreting social interactions.
Advantages / Strengths of
Qualitative Research
6. It increases the researcher’s interest
in the study as it includes the
researcher’s experience or
background knowledge in
interpreting verbal and visual data.
7. It offers multiple ways of acquiring
and examining knowledge about
something.
Disadvantages / Weaknesses of
Qualitative Research

1. It involves a lot of researcher’s

subjectivity in data analysis.
2. It is hard to know the validity or
reliability of the data.
3. Its open-ended questions yield
“data overload” that requires
long-time analysis.
Disadvantages / Weaknesses of
Qualitative Research

4. It is time-consuming.
5. It involves several processes,
which results greatly depend on
the researcher’s views or
interpretations.
 Guideline in Choosing a
Research Topic

1. Interest in the subject matter

Are you really interested in it?
2. Availability of information
How updated or authoritative are
your source materials?
 Guideline in Choosing a
Research Topic
3. Timeliness and relevance of the
topic
Will the results be instrumental to
societal improvement?
4. Limitations on the subject
Can it be finished in the allotted time?
 Guideline in Choosing a
Research Topic

5. Personal resources
Can your financial standing, health
condition, mental capacity, needed
facilities, and time allotment allow
you to complete the research?
Research Topics to be Avoided

1. Controversial topics
2. Highly technical subjects
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects
4. Too narrow subjects
5. Vague subjects
 Sources of Research Topics

 Mass media communication

 Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals,
government publications
 Professional periodicals
 General periodicals
 Previous reading assignments in other
subjects
 Work experience
 Group Time!
With your research groups, make a list of topics for
your own qualitative research (at least 5). In 1
whole sheet of paper, draw a table with three
columns. The first column is for the topic, second,
for the purpose, and third, for the type of
qualitative research to be used. (10 minutes)
Topic Purpose Type of Qualitative
Research
 Individual Quiz
Name the type of qualitative research best
suited for the following topics. (1/4 sheet)

1. The Mangyans’ Burial Practices

2. Relatives of Typhoon Victims
3. The Effectiveness of the K-12 Curriculum
4. Spiderman: The Very First Film in the 21st
Century
5. Philippines’ Political Party System: Then
and Now
 Individual Quiz

6. Filipino Caregivers in Japan

7. Travails of Senior Citizens at the LRT/MRT
Stations
8. The Lone Grade VI Speed Reader of UST
High School
9. Grade 11 Science Textbook
10.Student Activism Since the Marcos Era
 Individual Quiz
1. The Mangyans’ Burial Practices – Ethnography
2. Relatives of Typhoon Victims – Phenomenology
3. The Effectiveness of the K-12 Curriculum – Content
Analysis/Case Study
4. Spiderman: The Very First Film in the 21st Century – Content
Analysis
5. Philippines’ Political Party System: Then and Now –
Historical Analysis
6. Filipino Caregivers in Japan – Phenomenology
7. Travails of Senior Citizens at the LRT/MRT Stations -
Phenomenology
8. The Lone Grade VI Speed Reader of UST High School –
Case Study
9. Grade 11 Science Textbook – Content Analysis
10. Student Activism Since the Marcos Era – Historical Analysis
 Individual Assignment

10 points (1 whole sheet)

Write at least 5 research questions for

each research topic you wrote during
your group activity.