QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. What is

   • Qualitative research is a process of naturalistic inquiry that seeks an in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting. It focuses on the "why" rather than the "what" of social phenomena and relies on the direct experiences of human beings as meaning-making agents in their everyday lives.
     • Characteristic overview
       • Naturalistic setting:
         • Studying ‘real world’ situations as they unfold naturally talking directly to people and seeing them act within their context non-manipulative/non-controlling
       • Researcher as instrument:
         • The researcher uses herself/himself as an instrument of research, the data are produced in the interaction between the researcher and the study participant, the researchers’ personal experiences and insights are important to the inquiry
       • Inductive approach:
         • Research as a discovery process begins the research process by exploring open questions, not a testing of a theoretically derived hypothesis (deductive)
       • Participants’ meanings:
         • The qualitative researcher keeps a focus on learning the meanings that participants attach to a phenomenon / problem
       • ‘Thick description’:
         • In-depth inquiry, detailed accounts, direct cases/quotations capturing people’s personal perspectives and experiences and putting these in context
       • Holistic accounts:
         • Qualitative researchers try to develop a complex picture of the issue of study -report multiple perspectives -sketch the larger picture that emerges
       • Context sensitivity:
         • Place findings in a historical and temporary context (social, economic, political, gender, health system) generalizations across time and space difficult, but findings may have relevance for other contexts
       • Reflexivity and positioning:
         • Reflexivity: key criteria in the research process, the researcher is conscious of and reflects over own role
     • Main characteristics
       • 1. Qualitative research is inductive, concepts are developed from the data already collected, in this the researchers begin the study by formulating questions.
       • 2. It looks at the setting and people from a holistic perspective. Groups, people, or settings are considered as a whole.
       • 3. Researchers consider themselves naturalists as they interact with participants in a natural and non-intrusive setting seeking to understand the setting.
       • 4. Participants are understood in their own context, as it is essential to experience reality as it is experienced by others and to understand people in order to have a clear idea of what is happening.
       • 5. You interpret information objectively by supporting your thoughts, views, and opinions with real information obtained from observation or field notes, respecting all perspectives, beliefs and positions of others.
     • Advantages
       • 1.- Adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter.
         • 2-Promotes a full understanding of human behavior or personality traits in their natural setting.
           • 3.- Instrumental for positive societal changes.
             • 4.- A way of understanding and interpreting social interaction.
               • 5.- Offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something.
     • Disadvantages
       • 1.- Involves a lot of researcher´s subjectivity in data analysis.
         • 2.- It is hard to know the validity or reliability of the data.
           • 3.- Open-ended questions yield data overload that requires long time analysis.
             • 4.- Time-consuming.
               • 5.- Involves several processes, which results greatly depend on the researcher´s views or interpretations.