Qualitative research

Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences. The choice between qualitative and quantitative research relates to how the research conceptualizes the world (Silverman, 2013). Qualitative data is derived from many sources but mainly text and images (Creswell, 2009) (Flick, 2007) (Berg & Lune, 2014).

Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and the reasons that govern such behaviour in various natural social settings in groups or as individuals (Flick, 2007) and give understanding of perceptions and how people give meaning to their lives (Berg & Lune, 2014).

Identification and understanding of a central phenomenon forms the basis for a research project (Creswell, 2009) and helps explain it from the inside (Flick, 2007).

The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused samples are more often used than large samples. The area for research has to be narrowed down to one idea (Creswell, 2009) but nor restricted to one event but the evolution of a process (Denscombe, 2010) identifying patterns (Berg & Lune, 2014) and this assists in the identification of appropriate methods (Flick, 2007). It refers to the who-what-where-when-why of what is being researched (Berg & Lune, 2014).

Scope of the project needs to be identified prior to starting (Creswell, 2009). If using a hypothesis the researcher should start out with general comments redefining as the project continues (Flick, 2007). In the scope the researcher has to identify the site, know who the audience is, including needs, for their research (Creswell, 2009). When the scope is set the research questions needs to defined, the use of action verbs is essential looking at the higher level of Blooms Taxonomy. After the question is defined it should be clear, from the wording, what the researcher is trying to achieve (Creswell, 2009).

Bibliography

Berg, B. L., & Lune, H. (2014). Qualitative Research Methods for Social Science (Eighth ed.). Essex: Paerson Education Limited.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approach (Third ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Denscombe, M. (2010). The Good Research Guide: for small scale social research projects (Fourth ed.). New York: Open University Press.

Flick, U. (2007). Designing Qualitative Research . London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Silverman, D. (2013). Doing Qualitative Research (Fourth ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.