Qualitative Research DesignsQualitative ResearchSlide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6EthnographySlide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Case StudySlide 22Slide 23Slide 24Slide 25Slide 26Phenomenological DesignsSlide 28Slide 29Slide 30Grounded Theory DesignsSlide 32Slide 33Credibility of Qualitative ResearchSlide 35Slide 36Evaluating Qualitative StudiesSlide 38Chapter 11Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:• Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;• Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;• Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.Three assumptions that differentiate qualitative and quantitative studiesEpistemology▪Qualitative researchers believe there are multiple realities represented by the participants’ perspectives▪Quantitative researchers believe a single, objective reality existsCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Three assumptions (continued)Context▪Qualitative researchers believe context is critical to understanding the phenomena being studied▪Quantitative researchers do not believe context is an important factorResearcher bias▪Qualitative researchers believe the researcher’s biases and perspectives must be understood to interpret the results▪Quantitative researchers believe researcher bias is controlled through the control of internal validity threatsCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Characteristics of qualitative researchNatural settings - field research▪Behavior is studied as it occurs naturally▪Beliefs related to a natural setting▪Behavior is understood bests as it occurs without external constraints or control▪The situational context is very important to understanding behaviorCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Characteristics of qualitative researchData collection▪Data is collected directly from the source▪Observations▪Interviews▪Document analysisRich narrative descriptionsProcess orientation▪How and why behaviors occurCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Characteristics of qualitative researchInductive data analysisParticipant perspectives define what is “real”Emerging research design▪The design plans change as data is collected, analyzed, and understoodCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008An ethnography is an in-depth description and interpretation of cultural patterns and meanings within a culture or social groupCulture - shared patterns of beliefs, normative expectations, behaviors, and meaningsShared, not individualisticCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Problem statementsForeshadowed problem - a general framework for beginning a qualitative studySpecific question - a question(s) that emerges from the interactive relationship between the problem and data▪Often found embedded in the data analysis▪Changing nature of questions often necessitates changes in the design (i.e., an emergent design)Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Identifying and entering the research siteAccess to all parts of the site▪Participants▪Documents▪Physical locationRapport - need to be “integrated” within the site to gain the trust of the participantsOften site entry takes a long timeCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Selecting participantsUse of purposeful sampling strategies to select “information rich” participantsPurposeful sampling strategies▪Maximum variation - selecting individuals or cases to represent extremes▪Very positive or very negative attitudes▪Highest and lowest achieving students)▪Snowball (i.e., network) - initially selected participants recommend others for involvementCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Purposeful sampling strategies▪Sampling by case - selecting individuals or cases for their unique characteristics▪Extreme▪Typical▪Unique▪Reputation▪Key informant - selecting an individual(s) particularly knowledgeable about the setting and or topic▪Comprehensive - selecting all relevant individuals or casesCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Three primary methods for obtaining dataObservationInterviewDocument analysisCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008ObservationUnstructured in natureComprehensive - continuous and total over an extended period of timeParticipant-observer role of the researcher▪Continuum between complete participant and complete observer▪Passive participant▪Moderate participant▪Active participant▪Complete participant▪Rare for an ethnographer to be a complete participantCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Observation (continued)Use of field notes to record observations▪Two types of information▪Descriptions of what occurred▪Reflections of what the descriptions mean (i.e., speculations, emerging themes, patterns, problems)▪Accuracy▪Extensive nature of notesCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008InterviewsUnstructured in natureBegins with a general idea of what needs to be asked and moves to specific questions based on what the respondent saysTypes of interviews▪Key informant▪Life history▪Focus groupTape recording and transcribing interviews afford the opportunity to study the data carefullyCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Document analysisWritten records▪Print (e.g., minutes from meetings, reports, yearbooks, articles, diaries)▪Non-print (e.g., recordings, videotapes, pictures)Types of sources▪Primary - original work▪Secondary - secondhand interpretations of original workCommonly used to verify other observations or interview dataCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Data analysis and InterpretationObservations, interviews, and document analyses result in large quantities of narrative dataAnalysis includes critically examining, summarizing, and synthesizing the dataCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Three stages of analysisCoding▪Organizing the data into reasonable, meaningful units that are coded with words or very short phrases that signify a category▪Emic categories - information provided by the participants in their own language and organizational units▪Etic categories - the researcher’s interpretation of emic data▪Use of major codes and sub-codes is commonCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008Summarizing the coded data▪Examining all similarly coded data and summarizing it with a