Qualitative vs Quantitative Research

1. Qualitative vs Quantitative Research

2. Qualitative Research is an umbrella covering several forms of inquiry that help us understand and explain the meaning of social phenomena with as little disruption to the natural setting as possible.

3. There is typically a high level of researcher involvement with subjects; strategies of participant observation and in-depth, unstructured interviews are often used. The data produced provide a description, usually narrative, of people living through events in situations. Cited from Boyd, pp. 67-68 in Munhall, 2001

4. Qualitative research is an effort to understand situations in their uniqueness as part of a particular context and the interactions there (Patton, 1985).

5. Qualitative research is a study, which is conducted in a natural setting where the researcher, an instrument of data collection, gathers words or pictures, analyzes them inductively, focuses on the meaning of participants, and describes a process that is both expressive and persuasive in language.

6. Creswell (1998) defines qualitative study as: “Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, report detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting.”

7. Qualitative Research Focuses on understanding from perspective of who & what is being studied. Rather than try to establish “objective” descriptions and relationships as quantitative research does, qualitative studies are based on the assumption that reality is subjective and dependent on context There are “multiple realities’ that need to be described in detail to result in a complete and deep understanding of the phenomena being investigated

8. Characteristic.. Typically qualitative findings are in the form of themes, categories, concepts or tentative hypotheses or theories. The product of a qualitative study is richly descriptive.

9. A second characteristic of all forms of qualitative research is that the researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis. A third characteristic of qualitative research is that it usually involves fieldwork. The researcher must go to the people, setting, site, institution, in order to observe behavior in its natural setting.

10. A fourth characteristic of qualitative research is that is uses an inductive research strategy. This type of research builds abstractions, concepts, hypothesis, or theories rather than tests existing theory.

11. Qualitative Researchers Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding the meaning people have constructed. It is assumed that meaning is mediated through the investigator’s own perceptions.

12. Not measurements, but WORDS! Instead of asking how many times someone purchased an item, you ask "WHY...?" Typically the samples are small, and not "random"

13. Most frequent uses Understanding basic issues why do people buy/use our product? Pretesting ideas or questions do people want a product that cleans their refrigerator? Message testing How do people like this ad? Recommended to capture the basic feel of a problem prior to conducting a more analytical study

14. Weaknesses Strengths • Good for examining feelings and motivations • Allows for complexity and depth of issues • Provides insights Can’t extrapolate to the whole population Volume of data Complexity of analysis Time-consuming nature of the clerical efforts require

15. Types of Qualitative Data 1. Interviews 2. Observations 3. Documents

16. Types of Qualitative Data 1. Interviews Open-ended questions and probes yield in-depth responses about people’s experiences, opinions, perceptions, feelings and knowledge. Data consist of verbatim quotations with sufficient context to be interpretable.

17. Types of Qualitative Data cont. 2. Observations Fieldwork descriptions of activities, behaviors, actions, conversations, interpersonal interactions, organizational or community processes, or any other aspect of observable human experience. Data consist of field notes: rich detailed descriptions, including the context within which the observations were made.

18. 3. Documents Written materials and other documents, programs records; memoranda and correspondence; official publications and reports; personal diaries, letters, artistic works, photographs, and memorabilia; and written responses to open-ended surveys. Data consists of excerpts from documents captured in a way that records and preserves context.

19. Other Qualitative Data Depth Interview:An unstructured interview that seeks opinions of respondents on a one-to-one basis. Useful for sensitive issues, politics etc. Protocol Analysis:Involves placing a person in a decision making situation and asking him/her to state everything he/she considers in making a decision. Useful in 1. Purchasing involving a long time frame (car, house) and 2. Where the decision process is too short (greeting card). Projective technique:Involve situations in which participants are placed in simulated activities hoping that they will divulge information about themselves that are unlikely to be revealed under direct questing.

20. Projective Techniques These are indirect interviewing methods which enable sampled respondents to project their views, beliefs and feelings onto a third-party or into some task situation. The researcher sets up a situation for the respondents asking them to express their own views, or to complete/ interpret some ambiguous stimulus presented to them. Various types. More common ones are: Free Word Association Sentence Completion Unfinished scenario/story completion Cartoon completion test

21. FREE WORD ASSOCIATION In this technique, a list of carefully selected stimulus words or phrases related to the topic of research are read out, one at a time, to a respondent. The respondent is asked to respond with the first word or phrase that comes to his/her mind.The list of words should contain a mixture of test words and neutral words. In the example shown here, the researchers seems to be interested in studying high-tech banking (words with *). However, analyzing and interpreting test results are rather difficult.

22. SENTENCE COMPLETION This technique is an extension of the free-word association test. In this technique, the respondent is presented with some sentences containing incomplete stimuli and is asked to complete them. Like the free-word association method, interpreting and analysing data obtained from this technique is also difficult.

23. UNFINISHED SCENARIO COMPLETION This technique is similar to the sentence completion test. However, in this technique, the respondent is presented with a specific scenario containing incomplete stimuli [see example below] and is asked to complete the scenario. Interpreting and analysing data obtained from this technique is also difficult.

24. CARTOON COMPLETION TEST In the cartoon technique, the respondent is shown a comic-strip like cartoon with two characters in a conversation. While the speech of one character is shown in his/her balloon, the other balloon is empty. The respondent is asked to assume the role of the other person and fill the empty baloon with a speech.

25. Qualitative Traditions of Inquiry/ Method Phenomenology—The lived experience Grounded theory Ethnography Case Study Content analysis

26. Phenomenology Describes the meaning of the lived experience about a concept or a phenomenon for several individuals. It has roots in the philosophical perspectives of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, etc. --Max Van Manen, Munhall (Nursing)

27. Phenomenology Moustakas, 1994, p. 13: “to determine what an experience means for the persons who have had the experience and are able to provide a comprehensive description of it. From the individual descriptions, general or universal meanings are derived, in other words, the essences of structures of the experience.”

28. Grounded Theory Based on Symbolic Interactionism which posits that humans act and interact on the basis of symbols, which have meaning and value for the actors.

29. Grounded Theory cont. The intent of grounded theory is to generate or discover a theory that relates to a particular situation. If little is known about a topic, grounded theory is especially useful

30. Grounded Theory cont. Usually have a question, don’t do a literature review in the beginning. Usually do 20-30 interviews (maybe more than one time for each person)

31. Grounded Theory cont. Data collection and analysis occur simultaneously, until “saturation” is reached. Data reviewed and coded for categories and themes.

32. Grounded Theory cont. Data analysis generates a visual picture, a narrative statement or a series of hypotheses with a central phenomenon, causal conditions, context and consequences. The researcher needs to set aside theoretical ideas or notions so that analytical or substantive theories can emerge from the data. Systematic approach

33. Ethnography A description and interpretation of a cultural or social group or system. The researcher examines the group’s observable and learned patterns of behavior, customs, and ways of life. Involves prolonged observation of the group, typically through participant observation.

34. Ethnography Field Work Key Informants Thick description Emic (insider group perspective) and Etic (researcher’s interpretation of social life). Context important, need holistic view. Need grounding in anthropology.

35. Ethnography cont. Need extensive time to collect data Many ethnographies may be written in a narrative or story telling approach which may be difficult for the audience accustomed to usual social science writing.

36. Ethnography cont. May incorporate quantitative data and archival documents.

37. Case Study A case study is an exploration of a “bounded system” or a case (or multiple cases) over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information rich in context. The context of the case involves situating the case within its setting. which may be physical, social, historical and/or economic.

38. Case Study cont. Data collection strategies include direct observation, interviews, documents, archival records, participant observation, physical artifacts and audiovisual materials. Analysis of themes, or issues and an interpretation of the case by the researcher. Some examples of cases are... an innovative program all schools in Sweden a classroom graduate students at UPM

39. Content Analysis Detailed and systematic examination particular material to identify patterns, themes or biases. Form of human communication- books, newspapers, films, television, art, music, videotapes, internet blogs etc.

40. Steps in research(may vary depending on the nature of the study) Frame the initial question or problem Determine what previous research says about the question or problem Frame research questions Design a plan for collecting data to address the question or problem Analyze the results of gathered data Generate conclusions

41. Qualitative Study Design cont. Research questions that are too broad: How do leaders make their decisions?

42. Qualitative Study Design cont. Research questions better answered by quicker means: What television programs do Malaysian watch most? Where can you buy postage stamps in Malaysia?

43. Qualitative Study Design cont. Examples of Qualitative Questions What do people in this setting have to know in order to do what they are doing? What is the story that can be told from these experiences? What are the underlying themes and contexts that account for the experience?

44. Qualitative Sampling Strategies Decisions about sampling and sampling strategies depend on the unit of analysis which has been determined. individual people program, group organization or community genders, ethnic groups, older and younger

45. Sampling Strategies cont. Purposeful or Judgment Sampling “In judgment sampling, you decide the purpose you want informants (or communities) to serve, and you go out to find some” Bernard, 2000:176 “Key Informants” are people who are particularly knowledgeable about the inquiry setting and articulate about their knowledge.

46. Qualitative Data Collection Rather than developing an instrument to use, the qualitative researcher is the instrument. Recording data: Field notes, tape recorders, video and photographic data Interviews must be transcribed.

47. Qualitative Data Analysis When does analysis begin? During data collection. Thick description is the foundation for qualitative analysis and reporting. Organize the data. Read all the data and get a sense of the whole. Coding for recurring themes and categories

48. Qualitative Data Analysis Computer-assisted qualitative data management and analysis Coding data Finding Patterns Labeling Themes Developing Category Systems Looking for emergent patterns in the data

49. Criteria for Evaluating Qualitative Research What is the problem? Clearly stated? Reformulated after data collection? Is theoretical framework clear? Does lit review relate importance of research? Any researcher bias? How well addressed? Participants & selection addressed? Observations? How well was it done? Was data collection addressed? Duration? Intensity? Multiple methods? Are credibility issues addressed? Are findings clear? Make sense? Detailed? Do conclusions & interpretations follow logically? Rich, thick description? Quotes? Sufficient detail to discern transferability?

50. Quantitative? Qualitative? Quantitative—involves use of numerical indices to summarize, describe and explore relationships among traits—reliance on control, statistics, measurements, and experiments Qualitative—emphasis is on conducting studies in natural settings using mostly verbal descriptions, resulting in stories and case studies, not statistical reports