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4 Gathering and Analyzing Qualitative Data
Gathering and analyzing qualitative data.
As the role of clinician researchers expands beyond the bedside, it is important to consider the possibilities of inquiry beyond the quantitative approach. In contrast to the quantitative approach, qualitative methodology is highly inductive and relies on the background and interpretation of the researcher to derive meaning from the gathering and analytic processes central to qualitative inquiry.
Chapter 4: Learning Objectives
As you explore the research opportunities central to your interests to consider whether qualitative component would enrich your work, you’ll be able to:
- Define what qualitative research is
- Compare qualitative and quantitative approaches
- Describe the process of creating themes from recurring ideas gleaned from narrative interviews
What Is Qualitative Research?
Quantitative researchers typically start with a focused research question or hypothesis, collect a small amount of numerical data from a large number of individuals, describe the resulting data using statistical techniques, and draw general conclusions about some large population. Although this method is by far the most common approach to conducting empirical research in fields such as respiratory care and other clinical fields, there is an important alternative called qualitative research. Qualitative research originated in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology but is now used to study psychological topics as well. Qualitative researchers generally begin with a less focused research question, collect large amounts of relatively “unfiltered” data from a relatively small number of individuals, and describe their data using nonstatistical techniques, such as grounded theory, thematic analysis, critical discourse analysis, or interpretative phenomenological analysis. They are usually less concerned with drawing general conclusions about human behavior than with understanding in detail the experience of their research participants.
Consider, for example, a study by researcher Per Lindqvist and his colleagues, who wanted to learn how the families of teenage suicide victims cope with their loss (Lindqvist, Johansson, & Karlsson, 2008). They did not have a specific research question or hypothesis, such as, What percentage of family members join suicide support groups? Instead, they wanted to understand the variety of reactions that families had, with a focus on what it is like from their perspectives. To address this question, they interviewed the families of 10 teenage suicide victims in their homes in rural Sweden. The interviews were relatively unstructured, beginning with a general request for the families to talk about the victim and ending with an invitation to talk about anything else that they wanted to tell the interviewer. One of the most important themes that emerged from these interviews was that even as life returned to “normal,” the families continued to struggle with the question of why their loved one committed suicide. This struggle appeared to be especially difficult for families in which the suicide was most unexpected.
The Purpose of Qualitative Research
The strength of quantitative research is its ability to provide precise answers to specific research questions and to draw general conclusions about human behavior. This method is how we know that people have a strong tendency to obey authority figures, for example, and that female undergraduate students are not substantially more talkative than male undergraduate students. But while quantitative research is good at providing precise answers to specific research questions, it is not nearly as good at generating novel and interesting research questions. Likewise, while quantitative research is good at drawing general conclusions about human behavior, it is not nearly as good at providing detailed descriptions of the behavior of particular groups in particular situations. And quantitative research is not very good at communicating what it is actually like to be a member of a particular group in a particular situation.
But the relative weaknesses of quantitative research are the relative strengths of qualitative research. Qualitative research can help researchers to generate new and interesting research questions and hypotheses. The research of Lindqvist and colleagues, for example, suggests that there may be a general relationship between how unexpected a suicide is and how consumed the family is with trying to understand why the teen committed suicide. This relationship can now be explored using quantitative research. But it is unclear whether this question would have arisen at all without the researchers sitting down with the families and listening to what they themselves wanted to say about their experience. Qualitative research can also provide rich and detailed descriptions of human behavior in the real-world contexts in which it occurs. Among qualitative researchers, this depth is often referred to as “thick description” (Geertz, 1973) .
Similarly, qualitative research can convey a sense of what it is actually like to be a member of a particular group or in a particular situation—what qualitative researchers often refer to as the “lived experience” of the research participants. Lindqvist and colleagues, for example, describe how all the families spontaneously offered to show the interviewer the victim’s bedroom or the place where the suicide occurred—revealing the importance of these physical locations to the families. It seems unlikely that a quantitative study would have discovered this detail. The table below lists some contrasts between qualitative and quantitative research
![practical research 2 qualitative Table listing major differences between qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. Highlights of qualitative research include deep exploration of a very small sample, conclusions based on interpretation drawn by the investigator and that the focus is both global and exploratory.](https://boisestate.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/81/2020/08/Ch4Table1-300x77.png)
Data Collection and Analysis in Qualitative Research
Data collection approaches in qualitative research are quite varied and can involve naturalistic observation, participant observation, archival data, artwork, and many other things. But one of the most common approaches, especially for psychological research, is to conduct interviews. Interviews in qualitative research can be unstructured—consisting of a small number of general questions or prompts that allow participants to talk about what is of interest to them—or structured, where there is a strict script that the interviewer does not deviate from. Most interviews are in between the two and are called semi-structured interviews, where the researcher has a few consistent questions and can follow up by asking more detailed questions about the topics that come up. Such interviews can be lengthy and detailed, but they are usually conducted with a relatively small sample. The unstructured interview was the approach used by Lindqvist and colleagues in their research on the families of suicide victims because the researchers were aware that how much was disclosed about such a sensitive topic should be led by the families, not by the researchers.
Another approach used in qualitative research involves small groups of people who participate together in interviews focused on a particular topic or issue, known as focus groups. The interaction among participants in a focus group can sometimes bring out more information than can be learned in a one- on-one interview. The use of focus groups has become a standard technique in business and industry among those who want to understand consumer tastes and preferences. The content of all focus group interviews is usually recorded and transcribed to facilitate later analyses. However, we know from social psychology that group dynamics are often at play in any group, including focus groups, and it is useful to be aware of those possibilities. For example, the desire to be liked by others can lead participants to provide inaccurate answers that they believe will be perceived favorably by the other participants. The same may be said for personality characteristics. For example, highly extraverted participants can sometimes dominate discussions within focus groups.
Data Analysis in Qualitative Research
Although quantitative and qualitative research generally differ along several important dimensions (e.g., the specificity of the research question, the type of data collected), it is the method of data analysis that distinguishes them more clearly than anything else. To illustrate this idea, imagine a team of researchers that conducts a series of unstructured interviews with people recovering from alcohol use disorder to learn about the role of their religious faith in their recovery. Although this project sounds like qualitative research, imagine further that once they collect the data, they code the data in terms of how often each participant mentions God (or a “higher power”), and they then use descriptive and inferential statistics to find out whether those who mention God more often are more successful in abstaining from alcohol. Now it sounds like quantitative research. In other words, the quantitative-qualitative distinction depends more on what researchers do with the data they have collected than with why or how they collected the data.
But what does qualitative data analysis look like? Just as there are many ways to collect data in qualitative research, there are many ways to analyze data. Here we focus on one general approach called grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) . This approach was developed within the field of sociology in the 1960s and has gradually gained popularity in psychology. Remember that in quantitative research, it is typical for the researcher to start with a theory, derive a hypothesis from that theory, and then collect data to test that specific hypothesis. In qualitative research using grounded theory, researchers start with the data and develop a theory or an interpretation that is “grounded in” those data. They do this analysis in stages. First, they identify ideas that are repeated throughout the data. Then they organize these ideas into a smaller number of broader themes. Finally, they write a theoretical narrative—an interpretation of the data in terms of the themes that they have identified. This theoretical narrative focuses on the subjective experience of the participants and is usually supported by many direct quotations from the participants themselves.
As an example, consider a study by researchers Laura Abrams and Laura Curran, who used the grounded theory approach to study the experience of postpartum depression symptoms among low-income mothers (Abrams & Curran, 2009) . Their data were the result of unstructured interviews with 19 participants. The table below hows the five broad themes the researchers identified and the more specific repeating ideas that made up each of those themes. In their research report, they provide numerous quotations from their participants, such as this one from “Destiny:”
“Well, just recently my apartment was broken into and the fact that his Medicaid for some reason was cancelled so a lot of things was happening within the last two weeks all at one time. So that in itself I don’t want to say almost drove me mad but it put me in a funk….Like I really was depressed. (p. 357)”
Their theoretical narrative focused on the participants’ experience of their symptoms, not as an abstract “affective disorder” but as closely tied to the daily struggle of raising children alone under often difficult circumstances. The table below illustrates the process of creating themes from repeating ideas in the qualitative research gathering and analysis process.
![practical research 2 qualitative Table illustrates the process of grouping repeating ideas to identify recurring themes in the qualitative research gathering process. This requires a degree of interpretation of the data unique to the qualitative approach.](https://boisestate.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/81/2020/08/Ch4-Table-2-300x97.png)
Given their differences, it may come as no surprise that quantitative and qualitative research do not coexist in complete harmony. Some quantitative researchers criticize qualitative methods on the grounds that they lack objectivity, are difficult to evaluate in terms of reliability and validity, and do not allow generalization to people or situations other than those actually studied. At the same time, some qualitative researchers criticize quantitative methods on the grounds that they overlook the richness of human behavior and experience and instead answer simple questions about easily quantifiable variables.
In general, however, qualitative researchers are well aware of the issues of objectivity, reliability, validity, and generalizability. In fact, they have developed a number of frameworks for addressing these issues (which are beyond the scope of our discussion). And in general, quantitative researchers are well aware of the issue of oversimplification. They do not believe that all human behavior and experience can be adequately described in terms of a small number of variables and the statistical relationships among them. Instead, they use simplification as a strategy for uncovering general principles of human behavior.
Many researchers from both the quantitative and qualitative camps now agree that the two approaches can and should be combined into what has come to be called mixed-methods research (Todd, Nerlich, McKeown, & Clarke, 2004). In fact, the studies by Lindqvist and colleagues and by Abrams and Curran both combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. One approach to combining quantitative and qualitative research is to use qualitative research for hypothesis generation and quantitative research for hypothesis testing. Again, while a qualitative study might suggest that families who experience an unexpected suicide have more difficulty resolving the question of why, a well-designed quantitative study could test a hypothesis by measuring these specific variables in a large sample. A second approach to combining quantitative and qualitative research is referred to as triangulation. The idea is to use both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to study the same general questions and to compare the results. If the results of the quantitative and qualitative methods converge on the same general conclusion, they reinforce and enrich each other. If the results diverge, then they suggest an interesting new question: Why do the results diverge and how can they be reconciled?
Using qualitative research can often help clarify quantitative results via triangulation. Trenor, Yu, Waight, Zerda, and Sha (2008) investigated the experience of female engineering students at a university. In the first phase, female engineering students were asked to complete a survey, where they rated a number of their perceptions, including their sense of belonging. Their results were compared across the student ethnicities, and statistically, the various ethnic groups showed no differences in their ratings of their sense of belonging.
One might look at that result and conclude that ethnicity does not have anything to do with one’s sense of belonging. However, in the second phase, the authors also conducted interviews with the students, and in those interviews, many minority students reported how the diversity of cultures at the university enhanced their sense of belonging. Without the qualitative component, we might have drawn the wrong conclusion about the quantitative results.
This example shows how qualitative and quantitative research work together to help us understand human behavior. Some researchers have characterized qualitative research as best for identifying behaviors or the phenomenon whereas quantitative research is best for understanding meaning or identifying the mechanism. However, Bryman (2012) argues for breaking down the divide between these arbitrarily different ways of investigating the same questions.
Key Takeaways
- The qualitative approach is centered on an inductive method of reasoning
- The qualitative approach focuses on understanding phenomenon through the perspective of those experiencing it
- Researchers search for recurring topics and group themes to build upon theory to explain findings
- A mixed methods approach uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to explain different aspects of a phenomenon, processes, or practice
- This chapter can be attributed to Research Methods in Psychology by Rajiv S. Jhangiani, I-Chant A. Chiang, Carrie Cuttler, & Dana C. Leighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. This adaptation constitutes the fourth edition of this textbook, and builds upon the second Canadian edition by Rajiv S. Jhangiani (Kwantlen Polytechnic University) and I-Chant A. Chiang (Quest University Canada), the second American edition by Dana C. Leighton (Texas A&M University-Texarkana), and the third American edition by Carrie Cuttler (Washington State University) and feedback from several peer reviewers coordinated by the Rebus Community. This edition is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ↵
Gathering and Analyzing Qualitative Data Copyright © by megankoster is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
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Self-Learning Module- Quarter 2 Practical Research 1: SHS, Modules 4-7 View Download
Self Learning Module | ZIP
Curriculum Information
Education Type | K to 12 |
Grade Level | Grade 11, Grade 12 |
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Content/Topic | Qualitative Research and Its Importance in Daily Life Understanding Data and Ways to Systematically Collect Data Analyzing the Meaning of the Data and Drawing Conclusions Reporting and Sharing the Findings |
Intended Users | Educators, Learners |
Competencies | Describes characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and kinds of qualitative research Describes characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and kinds of qualitative research Illustrates the importance of qualitative research across fields Chooses appropriate qualitative research design Plans data collection and analysis procedures Infers and explain patterns and themes from data Relates the findings with pertinent literature |
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You have learned that qualitative research is more of describing a phenomenon in a narrative; hence, the data collected can be in the form of words, ... 5 CO_Q1_Practical Research 2_Module 1 Characteristics of Quantitative Research Quantitative research is commonly used in natural sciences research problems
Note: This file is a preview of the book "Practical Research 2", a textbook for senior high . school (Grade 12). ... 1.1.1 Review of qualitative research . 1.1.2 Hierarchy of data .
2. the value of research in the area of interest 3. 3. the specificity and feasibility of the problem posed The learner is able to: formulate clearly the statement of research problem The learner: 1. designs a research useful in daily life CS_RS12-Id-e-1 2. writes a research title CS_RS12-Id-e-2 describes background of research CS_RS12 -Id e 3 4.
2 CO_Q1_Practical Research 2_Module 2 7. It refers to an issue that has not been fully addressed by previous studies. A. Research problem C. Research question B. Research topic D. Research gap 8. It is a part of the research that expresses the context of the problem that will support the validity and rationale of the study.
1 CO_Q1_Practical Research 2_Module 3 What I Need to Know At the end of this module, you should be able to: 1. illustrate and explain the research framework (CS_RS12-If-j-6); 2. define terms used in the study (CS_RS12-If-j-7); 3. list research hypothesis (if appropriate) (CS_RS12-If-j-8) and 4. present a written review of related literature and conceptual framework
Qualitative: Desires to preserves natural setting of research features. Standard: Behavior toward research aspects and condition. Quantitative: Control or manipulation of reserch conditions by the researcher. Standard: Expressions of data, data analysis and findings. Qualitative: Verbal language ( words, visuals, objects)
Practical Research 2 Quarter 2- Modules 1: Understanding Data and Ways to Systematically Collect Data. 2. Practical Research 2 Quarter 2- Modules 2: Data Collection, Presentation, and Analysis. ... Chooses appropriate qualitative research design Describes sampling procedure and sample Plans data collection and analysis procedures Presents ...
PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 - Formulating and Writing Research Title PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1 MIDTERM EXAM (Teacher-Made Periodical Test) ... This module will help student understand qualitative research, how it helps humans in their everyday undertaking. It seeks to improve the lives of the people and for them to become competitive in the mainstream.
Practical Research: A Basic Guide to Planning, Doing, and Writing. I. Phase I: Planning. 1. Shifting your Mindset: Thinking Like a Researcher. 2. ... Qualitative research originated in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology but is now used to study psychological topics as well. Qualitative researchers generally begin with a less focused ...
1. describe the characteristics of quantitative research; 2. differentiate quantitative research to qualitative research; and, 3. explore a sample quantitative research describing the evident. characteristics of quantitative research. PRETEST. Directions: Read the following statements carefully. Choose the letter of.
DepEd Learning Portal. PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 - Formulating and Writing Research Title Research Variables: A Reading Materials in Practical Research 2: Quantitative Research PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2 FIRST QUARTER ASSESSMENT (Teacher-Made Periodical Test) PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1 MIDTERM EXAM (Teacher-Made Periodical Test) Self-Learning Module- Quarter ...
4 CO_Q2_SHS Practical Research 2_Module 1 Lesson Quantitative Research Designs 1 What's In Quantitative research is more systematic and controlled than qualitative. However, both research methods have a statement of the problem to investigate. At this point, it is assumed that you are already done stating your research problem, the background ...
diagnostic test practical research 2 - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. This document appears to be a diagnostic exam covering key concepts in research methods. It contains 50 multiple choice questions testing understanding of qualitative and quantitative research, the research process, research design, and ethical considerations.
CONTENT: II. Qualitative Research and Its Importance in Daily Life CONTENT STANDARD: The learner demonstrates understanding of; 1. the value of qualitative research; its kinds, characteristics, uses, strengths, and weaknesses 2. the importance of qualitative research across fields of inquiry PERFORMANCE STANDARD: 1. The learner is able to decide on suitable qualitative research in different ...
PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1 Quarter 1- Module 2: Qualitative Research and Its Importance In Daily Life Department of Education Republic of the Philippines Practical Research 1 - Grade 11 Alternative Delivery Mode Quarter 1- Module 2: Qualitative Research and Its Importance in Daily Life First Edition, 2020 Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: "No copyright shall subsist in any work of ...
The document outlines various worksheets for a Practical Research 2 class, including objectives and activities. Worksheet 1 asks students to differentiate inquiry from research and qualitative from quantitative research. Worksheet 2A requires students to identify true or false statements about research and explain their answers. Worksheet 2B has students identify the independent and dependent ...
Self Learning Module | ZIP. Published on 2022 July 20th. Description. Contents: 1. Practical Research 1 Quarter 2- Modules 4: Qualitative Research. 2. Practical Research 1 Quarter 2- Modules 5: Understanding Data and Ways to Systematically Collect Data. 3. Practical Research 1 Quarter 2- Modules 6: Analyzing The Meaning of The Data and Drawing ...
Practical Research 2 Chapter 2 - Free download as Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt / .pptx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or view presentation slides online. This document discusses identifying and stating a research problem. It provides learning competencies for designing research useful in daily life. The research process follows systematic steps similar to the scientific method.
2 CO_Q1_SHS Practical Research 1_Module 2 4. It is believed to be one of the weaknesses of qualitative research. A. It can develop theories. B. It has several avenues to understand phenomena. C. It is a way a researcher perceives things as he is immersed in the study. D. It answers certain phenomena- social, economic, political, and ...
Note: This file is a preview of the book "Practical Research 2", a textbook for senior high school (Grade 12). ... 1.1.1 Review of qualitative research 1.1.2 Hierarchy of data
Research Competencies of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Students in a State College in Zamboanga City, Philippines. Article. Full-text available. Apr 2021. Romenick Molina ...