Characteristics of qualitative research
University -904: understanding & using teristics of qualitative -904: understanding & using course emphasizes understanding organizational data. The participant focuses on the fact that successful use of data to drive decision making is not random, but results from strategic focus on specific of research flaws to ry of research teristics of qualitative teristics of quantitative g journal g government teristics of qualitative are the three key elements that define a qualitative research study and the applied forms each take in the investigation of a research listic -- refers to studying real-world situations as they unfold naturally; nonmanipulative and noncontrolling; the researcher is open to whatever emerges [i. Acceptance of adapting inquiry as understanding deepens and/or situations change; the researcher avoids rigid designs that eliminate responding to opportunities to pursue new paths of discovery as they eful -- cases for study [e. That is, they offer useful manifestations of the phenomenon of interest; sampling is aimed at insight about the phenomenon, not empirical generalization derived from a sample and applied to a collection of -- observations yield a detailed, "thick description" [in-depth understanding]; interviews capture direct quotations about people’s personal perspectives and lived experiences; often derived from carefully conducted case studies and review of material al experience and engagement -- researcher has direct contact with and gets close to the people, situation, and phenomenon under investigation; the researcher’s personal experiences and insights are an important part of the inquiry and critical to understanding the ic neutrality -- an empathic stance in working with study responents seeks vicarious understanding without judgment [neutrality] by showing openness, sensitivity, respect, awareness, and responsiveness; in observation, it means being fully present [mindfulness]. Systems -- there is attention to process; assumes change is ongoing, whether the focus is on an individual, an organization, a community, or an entire culture, therefore, the researcher is mindful of and attentive to system and situationational case orientation -- assumes that each case is special and unique; the first level of analysis is being true to, respecting, and capturing the details of the individual cases being studied; cross-case analysis follows from and depends upon the quality of individual case ive analysis -- immersion in the details and specifics of the data to discover important patterns, themes, and inter-relationships; begins by exploring, then confirming findings, guided by analytical principles rather than ic perspective -- the whole phenomenon under study is understood as a complex system that is more than the sum of its parts; the focus is on complex interdependencies and system dynamics that cannot be reduced in any meaningful way to linear, cause and effect relationships and/or a few discrete t sensitive -- places findings in a social, historical, and temporal context; researcher is careful about [even dubious of] the possibility or meaningfulness of generalizations across time and space; emphasizes careful comparative case analyses and extrapolating patterns for possible transferability and adaptation in new , perspective, and reflexivity -- the qualitative methodologist owns and is reflective about her or his own voice and perspective; a credible voice conveys authenticity and trustworthiness; complete objectivity being impossible and pure subjectivity undermining credibility, the researcher's focus reflects a balance between understanding and depicting the world authentically in all its complexity and of being self-analytical, politically aware, and reflexive in , bruce lawrence. Navillusgauthor information ► copyright and license information ►copyright accreditation council for graduate medical educationthis article has been cited by other articles in important medical education research questions cry out for a qualitative research approach: how do teacher characteristics affect learning? As a result, clinicians 5 be less familiar with qualitative research or its applicability to medical education questions. For these why types of questions, qualitative or mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches 5 be more appropriate and helpful. Thus, we wish to encourage submissions to the journal of graduate medical education that are for qualitative purposes or use qualitative editorial is the first in a series of two, and it will provide an introduction to qualitative approaches and compare features of quantitative and qualitative research. The second editorial will review in more detail the approaches for selecting participants, analyzing data, and ensuring rigor and study quality in qualitative research. The aims of the editorials are to enhance readers' understanding of articles using this approach and to encourage more researchers to explore qualitative and methodologygood research follows from a reasonable starting point, a theoretical concept or perspective. Quantitative research uses a positivist perspective in which evidence is objectively and systematically obtained to prove a causal model or hypothesis; what works is the focus. In the positivist model, study objects (eg, learners) are independent of the researchers, and knowledge or facts are determined through direct observations.
In contrast, in a qualitative paradigm researchers might interact with the study objects (learners) to collect observations, which are highly context specific. Qualitative research methods “explore, describe, or generate theory, especially for uncertain and ‘immature’ concepts; sensitive and socially dependent concepts; and complex human intentions and motivations. 4 in education, qualitative research strives to understand how learning occurs through close study of small numbers of learners and a focus on the individual. Typically, results from qualitative research have been assumed to apply only to the small groups studied, such that generalizability of the results to other populations is not expected. For this reason, qualitative research is considered to be hypothesis generating, although some experts dispute this limitation. Table 1 presents a comparison of qualitative and quantitative 1quantitative versus qualitative researchwhen qualitative studies make sensequalitative studies are helpful to understand why and how; quantitative studies focus on cause and effect, how much, and numeric correlations. Qualitative approaches are used when the potential answer to a question requires an explanation, not a straightforward yes/no. Generally, qualitative research is concerned with cases rather than variables, and understanding differences rather than calculating the mean of responses. A qualitative study is concerned with the point of view of the individual under study. Example, the changes in duty hours for residents in 2003 have generated many quantitative research articles, which have counted and correlated the changes in numbers of procedures, patient safety parameters, resident test results, and resident sleep hours. However, to determine why residents still sleep about the same number of hours since 2003, one could start from a qualitative framework in order to understand residents' decisions regarding sleep. Similarly, to understand how residents perceive the influence of resident work hour restrictions on aspects of professionalism, a qualitative study would start with the learners rather than by measuring and correlating scores on professionalism assessments. Variety of ways to collect information are available to researchers, such as observation, field notes, reflexive journals, interviews, focus groups, and analysis of documents and materials; table 2 provides examples of these methods.
Interviews and focus groups are usually audiorecorded and transcribed for analysis, whereas observations are recorded in field notes by the 2potential data sources for qualitative research8after data collection, accepted methods are employed to interpret the data. Researchers review the observations and report their impressions in a structured format, with subsequent analysis also standardized. The unique or outlier response has value in contributing to understanding the experience of others, and thus individual responses are not lost in the aggregation of findings or in the development of research group consensus. In fact, the researcher is unlikely to be a purely detached l issuesas qualitative researchers usually attempt to study subjects and interactions in their “natural settings,” ethical issues frequently arise. Because of the sensitive nature of some discussions as well as the relationship between researchers and participants, informed consent is often required. The very reason for doing qualitative research—to discover why and how, particularly for thorny topics—can lead to potential exposure of sensitive opinions, feelings, and personal information. Thus, consideration of how to protect participants from harm is essential from the very onset of the y assessmentqualitative researchers need to show that their findings are credible. As with quantitative approaches, a strong research project starts with a basic review of existing knowledge: a solid literature search. However, in contrast to quantitative approaches, most qualitative paradigms do not look to find a single “truth,” but rather multiple views of a context-specific “reality. The concepts of validity and reliability originally evolved from the quantitative tradition, and therefore their accepted definitions are considered inadequate for qualitative research. Instead, concepts of precision, credibility, and transferability are key aspects of evaluating a qualitative study. Some experts find that reliability has little relevance to qualitative studies, others propose the term “dependability” as the analogous metric for this type of research. Dependability is gained though consistency of data, which is evaluated through transparent research steps and research findings.
One technique often used to enhance trustworthiness and rigor is triangulation, in which multiple data sources (eg, observation, interviews, and recordings), multiple analytic methods, or multiple researchers are used to study the question. The overall goal is to minimize and understand potential bias while ensuring the researcher's “truthfulness” of interpretation. Potentially helpful appraisal checklist for qualitative studies, developed by coté and turgeon,11 is found in table 4. Approaches to ensure rigor and trustworthiness in qualitative research will be addressed in greater detail in part 4sample quality appraisal checklist for qualitative studies11,atable 5commonly used terms in qualitative research8summaryboth quantitative and qualitative approaches have strengths and weaknesses; medical education research will benefit from each type of inquiry. To learn more about this topic, the references below are a useful start, as is talking to colleagues engaged in qualitative research at your institution or in your tesgail m. Mixing it but not mixed-up: mixed methods research in medical education (a critical narrative review) med teach. Pubmed]articles from journal of graduate medical education are provided here courtesy of accreditation council for graduate medical s:article | pubreader | epub (beta) | pdf (69k) | chers conduct qualitative research because they acknowledge the human condition and want to learn more, and think differently, about a research issue than what is usual from mostly numerical quantitative survey research data. Not surprisingly, the unique nature of qualitative inquiry is characterized by a distinctive set of attributes, all of which impact the design of qualitative research one way or the other. The 10 unique attributes of qualitative research* are the:Absence of “truth” with all the emphasis in qualitative research on reality and the human condition, it might be expected that qualitative inquiry is in the business of garnering “the truth” from participants. Instead of “truth,” the qualitative researcher collects information from which some level of knowledge can be gained. The researcher does not acquire this information and knowledge in a vacuum but rather in a context and, in this way, the research data are a product of various situational factors. For this reason, qualitative researchers do not talk about the “truth” of their findings but rather the “plausibility” of their ance of context a relevant factor in the elusiveness of “truth” is the central and significant role context plays in qualitative research. Whether it be the physical environment or mode by which an in-depth interview (idi), group discussion, or observation is conducted the outcomes in qualitative research hinge greatly on the contexts from which we obtain this ance of meaning although the goal of all research is to draw meaning from the data, qualitative research is unique in the dimensionality of this effort.
Qualitative researchers derive meaning from the data by way of multiple sources, evaluating any number of variables such as: the context, the language, the impact of the participant-researcher relationship, the potential for participant bias, and the potential for researcher cher-as-instrument along with the emphases on context, meaning, and the potential for researcher subjectivity, qualitative research is distinguished by the fact it places the researcher at the center of the data-gathering phase and, indeed, the researcher is the instrument by which information is collected. The closeness of the researcher to the research participants and subject matter instills an in-depth understanding which can prove beneficial to a thorough analysis and interpretation of the outcomes; however, this intimacy heightens concerns regarding the researcher’s ability to collect (and interpret) data in an objective, unbiased ipant-researcher relationship closely associated with the idea that the researcher is the tool by which data are gathered is the important function of the participant-researcher relationship in qualitative research and its impact on research outcomes. This relationship is at the core of idis, group discussions, and participant observation, where participants and researchers share the “research space” within which certain conventions for communicating (knowingly or not) may be formed and which, in turn, shapes the reality the researcher is capturing in the set required of the researcher qualitative research requires a unique set of skills from the researcher, skills that go beyond the usual qualities of organization, attention to detail, and analytical abilities that are necessary for all researchers. Qualitative researchers also need a special class of analytical skills that can meet the demands of “messy analysis” (see below) in qualitative inquiry where context, social interaction, and numerous other inter-connected variables contribute to the realities researchers take away from the ility of the research design a defining characteristic of qualitative research is the flexibility built into the research design. And, a participant observer has little control over the activities of the observed and, indeed, the goal of the observer is to be as unobtrusive and flexible as possible in order to capture the reality of the observed of issues or questions effectively addressed by qualitative research qualitative research is uniquely suited to address research issues or questions that might be difficult, if not impossible, to investigate under more structured, less flexible research designs. Qualitative inquiry effectively tackles: sensitive or personal issues such as domestic violence and sexual dysfunction; intricate topics such as personal life histories; nebulous questions such as “is the current school leadership as effective as it could be? Similarly, qualitative research is useful at gaining meaningful information from hard-to-reach or underserved populations such as children of all ages, subcultures, and deviant analysis and inductive approach without a doubt, qualitative research analysis is messy. The analysis of qualitative data does not follow a straight line, where point ‘a’ leads to point ‘b’, but rather is a multi-layered, involved process that continually builds upon itself until a meaningful and verifiable interpretation is achieved. The messiness of the interconnections, inconsistencies, and seemingly illogical input reaped in qualitative research demand that researchers embrace the tangles of their data from many sources. Qualitative researchers analyze their outcomes from the inside out, organizing and deriving meaning from the data by way of the data capabilities of online and mobile qualitative research online and mobile technology offer unique enhancements to qualitative research design. In large part, this technology has shifted the balance of power from the researcher to the online or mobile participant who is given greater control of the research process by way of more flexibility, convenience, and ways to respond in greater detail and depth to the researcher’s questions. The three dominant qualities of qualitative research | research design ck: the “real ethnography” of michael agar | research design ck: questions and more ck: qualitative research: a collection of articles from 2016 | research design ck: paying attention to bias in qualitative research: a message to marketing researchers (& clients) | research design ck: december 12 | kusp you…it really helps me a lot in understanding of qualitative research which i am embarking ck: qualitative data: achieving accuracy in the absence of “truth” | research design ck: 2. What are the characteristics of good research design – ck: mitigating researcher-as-instrument effects | research design ck: qualitative research “participants” are not “respondents” (& other misplaced concepts from quantitative research) | research design ck: lessons in best practices from qualitative research with distinct cultures | research design ck: helping survey data “line up”: qualitative lends a hand | research design ck: social constructionism & quality in qualitative research design | research design is a really nice summary.
The one point i would add is that qualitative research is much better than quantitative research at identifying the processes by which events or outcomes occur. Quantitative research is very good at showing whether a influenced b, but can tell us very little about how it did so. Qualitative methods can get inside the “black box” of experimental and statistical designs and reveal the mechanisms (mental as well as physical) that caused the result. See l, “causal explanation, qualitative research, and scientific inquiry in education,” educational researcher 33(2), 3-11, march you for this addition, and my apologies for not responding sooner. I have read your paper in educational researcher as well as your very good book “a realist approach for qualitative research. This is the important role that qualitative methods play and, as you say, why we are comfortable identifying causation from single case me add that i also appreciate your long discussion of validity in your 2012 book, including the three distinctions you make, e. And, again, sorry for the ck: qualitative research design: 13 articles from rdr in 2013 | research design ck: dissertation10110 distinctive qualities of qualitative research » is good i liked it, keep posting more on qualitative research method and ged this on ged this on elodie a reply cancel your comment here... Notify me of new posts via your email address to follow rdr & receive notifications of new guilford press: recent three dominant qualities of qualitative many facets of a meaningful qualitative five observer roles in “quality” in qualitative research debate & the total quality -the-moment question-response virtue of recordings in qualitative unique quality of qualitative content “real ethnography” of michael agar. Roller and research design review with appropriate and specific direction to the original to email was not sent - check your email addresses! Pubmed]articles from journal of graduate medical education are provided here courtesy of accreditation council for graduate medical s:article | pubreader | epub (beta) | pdf (69k) | ative versus quantitative research:Key points in a classic es of qualitative & quantitative es of qualitative & quantitative research. Video), or tative research involves analysis strengths and weaknesses of qualitative tative research are a perennial, hot debate, especially in sciences. It ant to focus also on how the techniques can be integrated, such mixed methods research. Table (similar to above), summarizing characteristics of qualitative tative research in more tative design -.
Overview, with linguistics ative research designs (notes from a post-graduate tative research designs (notes from a post-graduate ative research tative research exam.