The Use Qualitative Research Methodology - Essay Example

Qualitative research In the purest sense, qualitative research is a method of inquiry that is used in social sciences, marketing research and many other university level subjects (Norman & Yvonna, 2005). It is a method to analyse and get to know the factors that contribute to a change or modification (if any) regarding the subject. Many practitioners of qualitative research technique study human behaviour in depth and get to know its driving factors. For instance, what makes a culture or civilization? What are the factors that make people identify a community? The answers to these questions are sought through qualitative research. The reason why qualitative research method is used is because of its ease of use over quantitate research method. For instance, measuring human emotions through quantitative research would be very difficult. However there are tools available in qualitative research method where people can even incorporate human emotions and feelings in their analysis. When using qualitative research methodology, the conclusion of the study is a mere proposition, an informed assertion. There is no ‘hence proved’ at the end of the study. This is where quantitative study comes in. If the proposition deduced by qualitative research needs to be proven or at least get a more concrete support, the proposition can be analysed/qualified with quantitative research. Empirical support can be used from quantitative method to support qualitative conclusion. However this approach is discredited by Oxford University professor Bent Flyvbjerg. According to Flyvbjerg, qualitative research methodology can be used, both for hypotheses testing and going beyond the limit of generalizing limited case studies (Flyvbjerg, 2006). Strengths of Qualitative Research Here are some of the strengths of qualitative research; a) Data is based on participants’ own meanings and interpretations b) In-depth study becomes relatively easy in qualitative research however the number of cases can’t be too large c) When complex phenomena are being studied it is helpful to use qualitative method d) It provides information on individual cases e) Can conduct cross-case comparisons and analysis f) It provides an understanding of personal experiences of people. g) It can describe the phenomena in rich detail as it embosses in local context. h) The examiner can study active processes, for instance documenting sequential patterns and alterations. i) The examiner almost always classifies contextual and setting factors as they link with the portent of interest. j) Primarily qualitative method of grounded theory can be used by the investigator to generate a cautious but elaborate theory about the phenomenon under study (Johnson & Christensen, 2000). 2. Interpretivism  Interpretivism is a concept in sociology that the method of investigation applied to the natural world may not be applicable to the social realm. In other words, scientists and investigators must discard empirical evidence and scientific method social research. This aspect of interpretivism is also called Anti-positivism, which holds that scientists need to focus on the interpretations of social sciences in understanding the people being studied (Gerber, John J. Macionis, Linda M., 2011). Interpretivism is a term that has two contexts i.e. legal and social. In the philosophy of law, Interpretivism is a school of thought which claims that a) Law and morality do have their differences but they cannot be separated. b) Law is not inherent in nature and legal values cannot exist without legal practice. c) Law is not a given set of conventions and data (Wikipedia Contributors, 2012). In social sciences, Interpretivism or Anti-positivism is a view which claims that social realm may not be subject to the investigative methods of natural world. It proposes that in order to conduct social research, researchers must abandon the scientific method and focus on the personal interpretation of social actions of the people under study. In today’s practice, Anti-positivism may be associated with qualitative research methods; methods that rely on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews and discourses. Anti-positivism establishes that the three goals of positivism are incomplete as they lack understanding. It does not view sociology as a science. Science pursues the understanding of causality to establish control. If the same applies in sociology then it would suggest that knowledge could lead to social engineering (Wikipedia Contributors, 2012). 2.1 Ontology of Interpretivism  Ontology of Interpretivism suggests that when social actors interact in real social context, that is how social reality develops and gets acknowledged. The social world doesn’t exist outside the cognition of social actors. In other words, independently, social reality doesn’t exist. According to Burrel and Morgan (1979), the social world is nothing more than a collective reality of all social actors, to which both these sociologists have referred to as subjective construction of human mind. The social world exists because many social actors develop it with common understanding; nourish it with common language and through everyday life activities. 2.2 Epistemology of Interpretivism As mentioned before, interpretivism is also referred to as anti-positivism. This is done when considering the epistemology of interpretivism. The ontology of interpretivism is highly subjective to the cognition of social actors similarly epistemology of interpretivism is highly relative to people that are directly involved in social activities. That is why the phenomenon under study can only be understood when it is studied in the frame of reference of the social actors. Thus knowledge and understanding (social would be more suited here) is nothing but a creation of social actors. It is there reality that is why it can’t be studied without proper references. 3. Procedure  The qualitative study begins with describing the problem. The best way to do is to use an abstract and introduction. Then, it is the statement of the problem. As knowledge generates from one idea into another, it is always useful to include a literature review I the study, so that the reader may get a fist hand idea of what the research is about and what studies have been conducted previously in this regards. The literature review is like making the foundation for the research to proceed. Later on the conclusion of the study might differ from literature review, it can happen, but it is always useful to list the reason as to why there is a contrast (if any) in the results if the study and of the literature review. Usually the research is conducted by disseminating a survey into public or specific groups. Mostly the research done in Universities is surveyed amongst the university student. However if the research is about work behaviour in restaurant industry then probably the survey needs to be conducted by going there and asking people to fill out the questionnaire. Internet has made it easier to conduct surveys. There are many websites available that help people to reach specific groups and conduct their surveys. In a similar fashion, interviews are also conducted. Depending on the subject, more than one people can be interview for the same subject. However it can also depend on the post of the people. For instance, if there is a need for developing a cybercrime complaint centre and qualitative research is under progress as to find out what re the factors that need to be incorporate in developing this complaint centre. Then an officer from police department, a call centre agent, an information department person and a person from cybercrime law department can be interview individually to get to know relevant knowledge. 3.1 Participants and characteristics of the sample  Participant observation is qualitative technique that directly relates with ethnographic research. The objective is to learn the perspective of the study population (Tech Society Research, 2009). Participants and characteristics of sample depend on the subject under study. For instance, if there is a research study about women participation in sports, it will require mostly female participants in the survey. The characteristics of the sample will also constitute the demographics. For instance including participants over 50 years of age would not do much good because once a person crosses over 50 years, sports and games participation start declining. So getting people under the age of 35 would be more suited for such a study. Similarly, if the research is country specific, it only needs to include participants that are living in that country. This can be done by asking participants to check a box right before they engage in any kind of activity regarding qualitative research. 3.2 Location and school type As explained earlier, location is important if the research is specific to one area. If there is a research on changing hair styles in Tokyo, it is obvious that the location of the school would be Tokyo. School type also matters as the research study must also specify the gender under study as well as the age. 3.3 Undertaking one-on-one interviews with the teacher  It is sometimes beneficial in a qualitative research to conduct interviews with the teachers. All the rules of general interview also come into play. The interviewee must be completely aware of what the interview is about and what the purpose of the interview is. Secondly, no manipulation or twisting of teacher’s answer must be done. This is the subjective part as some of the questions (depends a lot on the subject under study) require a lot of interpretation. Obviously not every word will be read back to the teacher and confirmed if that was what they meant. 4. Data Analysis  Data analysis is the process of harvesting useful information. It involves data cleaning, transformation and modelling. Data analysis has various approaches that consist of various techniques in different domains such as science, business and social sciences. A vital part of data analysis is Data Integration which is, in essence a precursor to the analysis. Following are some data analysis techniques that are widely used. Data Mining: It is a data analysis technique that focuses on modelling the data for predictive purposes rather than descriptive ones. Business Intelligence: Business intelligence encompasses data analysis techniques that deal with business information. What this term implies is that a company takes all its capabilities and turns them into knowledge, so that right information goes to the right people. This useful information is then converted into a strategy which provides the company with opportunities and ultimately gives it a competitive edge (Rud, 2009). Statistical Applications: Statistical applications can be divided further into three categories which are: a) Descriptive Statistics b) Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) c) Confirmatory Data Analysis (CDA). Descriptive statistics focus on the descriptive purpose rather than the predictive ones. Exploratory Data Analysis primarily focuses on discovering new things in the data while Confirmatory Data Analysis aims to approve or falsify hypotheses (Ader, Mellenbergh & Hand, 2008). Predictive Analytics: As the name suggests, this aspect of data analysis involves the application of statistical models to predict and forecast results. These statistical methods include modelling, game theory, data mining and machine learning (Nyce, 2007). Text Analytics: Text analytics (or text mining) applies structural and linguistic models and techniques to extract information from unstructured data. Data under analysis can have the following forms: Quantitative data: means that the Data is numeric. It can be decimal number defined up to a specific significant digit or it can be a whole number. Categorical data: is Data sets consisting of certain categories. Qualitative data: Data in the form of the presence or absence of certain characteristic is called qualitative data (Wikipedia Contributors, 2012). 4.1 Transcribed in own language Transcription is a process through which research recordings (data) are converted into written language (text). In qualitative study, transcription of audio and visual recordings is a crucial aspect of research analysis. Transcribing in own language are better developed for auditory recordings than for the videos. This process inexorably loses information from the original source, the actual recorded piece (visual/audio). Methods in transcription differ in the degree that they can tackle the nuances of the knowledge from the original recording piece. The detail needed from the transcription depends on the reason for conducting the research as well as the resources used. The ‘Jefferson transcription method’ puts some stress on pauses, speech errors, and when people talk to each other or speak at the same time so that it doesn’t make sense as to what they are saying. Thus it makes sense to acknowledge that research studies generally have ‘errors’ and it is a common to find errors in transcriptions (Howitt & Cramer, 2005). 4.2 Coding The coding process is a critical part of qualitative research because it is unique. It enables researcher to make personal contribution to the research subject. Going through the data and searching for things relevant to answering the research question is the first part of coding. The preciseness and compactness of the research questions tell what to look for. Hence, the research questions determine the direction of the coding process. Next the coding process (generally speaking) includes paraphrasing, making headings, or labelling that part, which describes the most important aspect of the passage or quote. This process need not be very precise, during coding; the labels don't have to be 100% accurate. After this, the coded material is labelled. This part of the research is not from the literature review or even from the research questions. New observations and intuitions must create new labels. There is no need here to bring in theories from discipline that might appear relevant to the collected data at this point. The researcher must be tied to the data as during the coding process. The investigator needs to be careful as not to relate it to or categorize it according to the theories they already are aware of. This could lead to intentional escorting of the research. A nice way to prevent this is to avoid coding according to what the researcher wants to find by recalling that the researcher will need to elaborate how the claims and conclusions were reached by using ‘only’ the data (Foss & Waters, 2003). 4.2 Thematic analysis  Thematic analysis is one of the most commonly used yet widely misunderstood the method of qualitative analysis. Generally, in thematic analysis the researcher has to select a certain number of themes that reflect their textual data. For the analysis to be insightful, it is very important that the researchers are completely familiar with their data. It is for this reason that researchers are advised to collect and transcribe the data themselves. Once the researchers have familiarized themselves with the data, they will code it. Coding means, “to apply brief verbal descriptions to small chunks of data” (Howitt & Cramer, 2005).There are no specific rules about the density of coding so the analysis may be subject the researcher’s expectations. Codes, however, need to be altered and modified as the researcher’s gain more experience and knowledge. Codes should be adjusted in light of the full picture so that the codes remain concise and helpful. Next step is a trial and error routine in which the researchers have to identify the themes that integrate a substantial number of those codes. Since it is a trial and error method, adjustments are a regular feature of this procedure. Researchers need to provide examples of each theme to clearly present what the analysis has yielded. This will help others understand the themes as well. Finally in report writing, researchers write the analysis and its results. They can also provide numerical references to the prevalence each theme. 5. Ethical considerations  Companies collect data on their consumer, products and market similarly Journalists do research to report. As a matter of fact, primary research is conducted most professions throughout the world. The important thing however in conducting primary research whether for professional purposes or academic purposes, is to abide by certain ethical guidelines (Purdue OWL, 2012). These ethical considerations can be summarized. Following are some important ethical considerations which can provide the basic idea behind its existence. Researchers should have the permission of the people on or about whom the research studies are to be conducted. However, there are some cases in which the researcher may not require any permission. These cases relate to conducting studies on something that is available publicly such as commercials. Researchers should not cause physical or emotional harm to their subjects. Precaution should be taken in even the simplest of tasks such as in conducting an interview, the interviewer should refrain from inflicting any emotional pain on the interviewee by appropriately using sensitive words. Another important thing is drawing a fine line between objectivity and subjectivity and opting for objectivity. Researcher’s personal ideas and opinions should not affect the study which means that he should pay heed to both sides of an argument. Research that is conducted in the form of surveys and observations should be pursued under the assumption that these finding will be kept anonymous. Interviews, on the hand are not performed under the aforementioned condition. The subjects should be aware if the researcher intends to keep the finding anonymous or not. Research must not be affected by personal leisure which means that subjects should be chosen on the basis of the benefit that will be driven out of them for the research. Ease of access should be the criterion for choosing subjects. There are certain studies, especially in universities, which require an Institutional Board’s approval to be conducted. This approval comes from an ethics committee which makes sure that the research is not in violation of any relative considerations. When producing results the researchers should fairly and accurately present what they observed. Interview responses should not fall out of context and small fragments of observation should not be made up just to fit in a suitable context (Purdue OWL, 2012). Work Cited Antipositivism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2012. Antipositivism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipositivism. [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Bent Flyvbierg, 2006, Five Misunderstandings about Case Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245. 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Macionis, Linda M.. 2011 - Sociology (7th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada. pp. 32 G. Burrell, 1979. Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. Edition. Heineman Educational Books. Herman J. Ader, G. J. Mellenbergh, D. J. Hand (2008). Advising on Research Methods: a consultant? companion. 1st. ed. Amsterdam: Johannes van Kessel Publ. Interpretivism (legal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2012. Interpretivism (legal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretivism_(legal). [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Olivia Parr Rud, 2009. Business Intelligence Success Factors: Tools for Aligning Your Business in the Global Economy (Wiley and SAS Business Series). 1 Edition. Wiley. Purdue OWL: Conducting Primary Research . 2012. Purdue OWL: Conducting Primary Research . [ONLINE] Available at:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/559/02/. [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Text Mining- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2012. Text Mining - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_mining. [Accessed 27 July 2012]. University of California - Dr. Leora Lawton. 2012. Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide,. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.techsociety.com/cal/soc190/fssba2009/ParticipantObservation.pdf. [Accessed 27 July 2012]. Read More