Qualitative Research

1. Qualitative Research

2. Nature and Characteristics of Qualitative Research (Qual R) • Qual R has emerged as an anti-positivist movement in the 19th century, but • has its roots in earlier times (consider handouts on paradigms) • Qual R seeks to understand human experience and uncover its meaning, • rather than explain its causes and effects. It deals with particular individual or • group lived experience and uses it as major data for analysis and interpretation • Qualitative researchers view reality as constructed by individuals in interaction • With their social worlds. The realities are varied and multiple and cannot be • Therefore observed or measured from a single point of view (as quantitative • research presupposes) • Other terms for Qual R: naturalistic, interpretive, phenomenological, inductive • Researcher is the primary ‘instrument’ of Qual R, who is responsible for • shortcomings and biases; Qual R is highly self-reflective. Qual researcher has • to train the mind, the eye, and the soul together

3. Nature and Characteristics of Qualitative Research (continued) • Qual R usually involves field work (or natural setting); it is primarily inductive; its • findings are usually presented in the form of categories, themes, typologies, concepts, • working hypotheses, or emergent theories • Data are collected directly from participants; participants are selected purposefully. • Data usually include observations, field notes, interview, focus groups, documents, • artifacts • Qual R intentions are to create a rich and sick description of the phenomena under • investigation/ experience, to provide a deep understanding, to uncover meaning • Qual R is process-oriented and open-ended. It is not concerned much with an • outcome, or product, but rather with an understanding and explanation of deeper reasons • for human conduct • Criteria for evaluation of Qual R differs from those of Quan R (e.g., validity, reliability). • Qual R is concerned with authenticity and consistency of its findings by using primarily • the following criteria features: triangulation; member checks; peer/ colleague examination • statement of researcher’s biases; submersion/ engagement (collecting data over a long enough period of time to ensure an in-depth understanding of the phenomena). • Other criteria include: external validity; reader or user generalizability; trustworthiness • Major ‘traditions’ of Qual R are phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and symbolic • interactionism

4. Types of Qualitative Research Ethnography/ autoethnography (has its roots in anthropology): an in-depth study of cultural patterns and meanings within a culture, social group, or particular individuals and their cultural contexts. Aligned with ethnography is the method of narrative • General research techniques: participant observations, in-depth interviewing, life • [hi]story, documentary analysis, investigator diaries • Includes extensive field work. Researcher ‘goes native’: establishes close rapport with • participants and attempts to become immersed in their cultural settings • Centrality of the researcher Case Study: an intensive description and analysis of a phenomenon or social unit such as an individual, group, institution, or community • The purpose is to investigate many or all variables in a single unit • It seeks to create a holistic description and interpretation • Characteristics: pluralistic, descriptive, heuristic, inductive • Data can be organized chronologically, categorically, or placed within a typology • Narrative constitutes the final step in the process

5. Types of Qualitative Research (continued) Grounded Theory: generating a theory that is emerging from the collected data. Grounded theory was popularized in late 1960s via Glaser and Strauss’s book, The Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967) • Grounded theory consists of categories, properties, and hypotheses. • Its hypotheses are tentative and suggestive rather than tested • Data primarily come from interviews and participant observations • Data collection is guided by theoretical sampling in which the researcher • collects, codes, and analyzes data and decides which data to collect next. • An initial sampling is chosen by its logical relevance to the research problem • The discovery of grounded theory is facilitated through the use of comparison • groups. Its basic procedure is constant comparativeanalysis

6. Types of Qualitative Research (continued) Historical Inquiry Historical inquiry is motivated by curiosity about the histories of events, institutions, ideas, or persons. Educational historical research focuses on issues of participation and actual impact with regard to different topics. Possible topics include: the development of notions of the distribution of knowledge and culture; liberal education; human resource development; community development. Historical research in education does not simply seek to document various events and occurrences, but it also looks at their context and examines assumptions and impact of these events on participants • There is no standardized format for historical research • Primary (e.g., eyewitness accounts, memoirs, chronicles, works of art) and • secondary (those that did not witness events) sources are used for data • analysis • Criteria for sources: proximity, competence of the author, purpose • Quantitative applications of historical research: collective biography; • content analysis; historical demography • Criteria for historical research: accuracy, authenticity, skillful organization

7. Types of Qualitative Research (continued) Philosophical Inquiry Philosophical inquiry is concerned with an in-depth investigation of particular philosophical, historical, socio-cultural, and/ or political questions having relevance and impact on education. It examines underlying opinions, beliefs, values, and assumptions to bring clarity to a field of practice. It seeks to uncover ‘truth’ and add to our knowledge of specific fields of studies • Philosophical inquiry is systematic and rigorous. Its method depends on • the philosophical school with which the investigator is aligned • Major philosophical methods: dialectic, logistic, problematic • Philosophical inquiry takes into account reason, faith, intuition, and empirical • data • Data: philosophical dialectical conversations that include various philosophers; • commentaries; literally works; journals; confessions; narratives; life histories • Designs: linguistic/ discourse analysis; phenomenology; hermeneutics

8. Types of Qualitative Research (continued) Philosophical Inquiry (continued) Phenomenology Study of appearances, the lifeworld as it appears to our consciousness. Phenomenology represents an orderly and systematic investigation and description of a person’s (and persons’) felt experiences of direct phenomena through the various forms in which selected and relevant phenomena may appear or be manifest. Husserl (1859-1938) is considered to be the founder of phenomenology (consider the notes on paradigms) • Bracketing (suspending our preconceived ideas) is the first step to approach • phenomena given to consciousness • Intentionality: our mind is intended on the object of our investigation • Self-consciousness: presents us with a peculiar idea of unity; phenomenological • investigation is always ‘consciousing-with’ • Research process typically includes: ‘intuiting,’ describing ‘particularizings’ and • ‘relating,’ and the processes of interpreting, organizing the material as essential • structures of experience, and providing meaning • Criteria for selection of examples includes: clarity of insight of the phenomenon’s • essence (insight is self-validating); clear communication of the insight so that others will • also recognize the description as a statement of the essence of the phenomenon for • themselves • Validity-claims: what is said can be shown to be meaningful, true, justified and sincere • Steps and procedures: use of examples/ horizonalization; freeimaginative variation • (identification of necessary and invariant features of the phenomenon of investigation); • textural description/ narrative

9. Philosophical Inquiry (continued) Hermeneutics Generally known as the art of interpretation, understanding/ Understanding, and meaning-making of existential experiences. Historically rooted in Reformation, the art has entered many fields: literally hermeneutics, legal hermeneutics, music hermeneutics, philosophical, critical hermeneutics. Hermeneutic is closely aligned with phenomenology. Many speak of one method— phenomenological-hermeneutic. Hermeneutics differs from Husserlian phenomenology in that it situates subjects in concrete historical context. Major represtatives: Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Gadamer, Ricoeur, Habermas, Schutz, Weber (consider the notes on paradigms; myth of Hermes) • Hermeneutics: observes, understands, describes, interprets, and gives meaning to • human experience (human realm is primarily the realm of meaning) • Verstehen as ‘understanding’ and ‘Understanding’—major method of inquiry, data, and • data-gathering tool • Knowledge becomes Understanding. Hermeneutic knowledge reveals the meaning of • human experience. Hermeneutic question: ‘What does it mean to be?’ • We learn how to ‘read’ and interpret the world/ ‘text’ • Hermeneutic circle: the process of understanding is a movement from the first • prejudgmental notion of the meaning of the whole, in which parts are understood, to a • change in the sense of the meaning of the whole because of the confrontation with the • detailed parts of the text. The movement increases our understanding of phenomena • Critical hermeneutics seeks not only to understand and describe the experience, but to • initiate change or transformation of that experience Descriptive (phenomenological) and hermeneutic systems are aimed at describing and clarifying the nature of lived experience of people and how they plan and carry out their actions

10. Types of Qualitative Research (continued) Critical and Postmodern/ Poststructuralist Research Critical Research (CR) Has roots in Marxism, Neo-Marxism, and other emancipator theories (consider the notes on paradigms). It is explicitly prescriptive and normative. Its purpose is not simply to understand human experience, but to change the state of affairs. Power relations are central to CR. It seeks to emancipate the disempowered, to advocate, to redress inequality and to promote individual freedoms within a democratic society. Feminism, race and queer theories, disability and equity studies; action, participatory, practitioner research are closely aligned with CR • CR entails description, information, confrontation, reconstruction • CR recognizes the significance of contexts for practice—locational, ideological, • historical, etc. • CR is a small-scale research that involves individuals, groups, societies • Researcher’s role is that of facilitator, advocate, participant, change-agent • Understanding, interrogating, critiquing, transforming actions and interests are the goals • and processes • Macro- and micro-concepts are addressed: political and ideological interests, operations • of power Postmodern/ postructuralist research is a close ideological ally of CR, but differs from it in its unconventional ways of representation of data and findings. It challenges traditional and normative assumptions about knowledge, reality, identity, and any authoritative way of representation. It experiments with styles and an expressive means (samples will be provided for review and evaluation) Emerging research paradigms: complexity and chaos (will be analyzed in advanced research seminars)

11. ‘Non-traditional’ Qualitative Research Contemporary qualitative research is characterized by diverse, multiple, traditional, and non-traditional, or experimental ways of representation of research data and findings. In addition to ‘traditional’ textural ways of representation, there are also legitimate and acceptable ‘visual’ ways to present research findings. Visual methods (e.g., photography, video, ‘moving images’) add important dimensions to the exploration of meaning in lived experience of individuals, groups, and societies Some examples to consider (will be provided as hard copies): • Documentary photography and social research, by J. Wagner (in Stanczak, 2007) • Sings of resistance, by S. A. David (in Stanczak, 2007) • Symbolism of video, by Y. Hernandez-Albujar (in Stanczak, 2007) Characteristics of visual methods • Develop new knowledge and understanding of cultural and social life through empirical • investigations and public works • Integrate personal interest and logic of inquiry • Provide explicit attention to recording challenges and media • Closely integrated with issue of representation • Provide close attention to aesthetic ideals/ principles; designs are intended for power • and effect; primacy of narrative • Public and popular constituencies are primary audiences • New knowledge as images, concepts, and perspectives • Emphasis on ideas and principles embedded in public media and discourse

12. Qualitative Research Review Additionally consulted sources: Cohen, L. et al. (2008). Research methods in education (6th ed.). NY: Routledge. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, andmixed-method approaches. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Denzin, N., Giardina, M. D. (Eds.). (2008). Qualitative inquiry and thepolitics of evidence. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. Denzin, N., Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2003). Collecting and interpreting qualitativematerials. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Janesick, V. (1998). ‘Stretching’ exercises for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Merriam, S. B. et al. (2002). Qualitative research in practice: Examples fordiscussion and analysis. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass A Wiley Company. Merriam, S. B., Simpson, E. L. (1995). A guide to research for educatorsand trainers of adults. (2nd ed.). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company. Stanczak, G. C. (Ed.). (2007). Visual research methods: Image, society, and representation. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.