QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

(CASE STUDY & ACTION RESEARCH)

Darvesh Karim

Assistant Instructor

Professional Development Center, North

University Road, Konodass, Gilgit.

Ph. No: (+92) 05811-454132-4 Ext: 3017

Fax No: (+92) 05811-454135

Cell No: (+92) 03465419307

Email (Official): darveshkarim@pdcn.edu.pk

Email (Private): dk_hunzai@yahoo.com, darvesh.karim@gmail.com

Online Blogs: www.dkhunza.blogspot.com; www.scribd.com/dk_hunzai

TERMINOLOGIES

Case	Selection of participants/research sample i.e. Headteachers, teachers.
Variables	Focus questions
Approach.	Method
Tool	Instrument
Ethnography	Studying about culture
Grounded theory.	Which already exists want to find our more
Phenomenology.	Studying about phenomena, when you study live experience
Case study	Selection of participants
Action research	You plan, implement, reflect and re-plan for a change.
Inductive	Including something, diagnosis, want you see write down.
Interpretive	How you perceive, when you put your own judgment, biases, perception.
Deductive	Writing just looking to, if looking a class writing your observations
Natural Setting

WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH? SHORT NOTES.

* Researcher as data collection instrument.    * Focus on meaning, understanding, process.

* Few cases, many variables v many cases few variables.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS.

All the researches involve certain common elements such as;

1.                  Defining the question(s). (Time is required to develop question).

2.                  Reviewing the literature.

3.                  Planning the methodology.

4.                  Collecting and analyzing data.

5.                  Disseminating finds.

The immediate external factors that affect the research process are;

Micro Forces	Macro Forces
Opportunity.	Ethics,
Peers and mentors	Human resources.
Institutional requirements,	Values.
Experience of the researcher.	Environment.
Literature and emerging research questions.

DEFINING A RESEARCH PROBLEM.

There are essentially three general approaches to an educational thesis.

1.                  Prescriptive method. (Adding a new finding to a previously explored idea).

2.                  Individualized approach. (This addresses a topic of individual interest).

3.                  Muddling through. (It takes several topic areas, begins dong research and collecting data and probably does not define the problem sharply until after the study is almost complete. Then it must be rewritten and recast in terms that related to he problem which has now been defined).

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE STUDY

1.                  It is holistic;

a.       Its contextuality is well developed.\

b.      It is case oriented (as case is seen to be a bounded system).

c.       It resists reductionism and elementalism; and

d.      It is relatively non-comparative, seeking to understand its object more than to understand how it differs from others.

2.                  It is empirical:

a.       It is field oriented;

b.      Its emphasis is on observables, including the observations by informants;

c.       It strives to be naturalistic, non-interventionist, and there is a relative preference for natural language description, sometimes disdaining grand constructs.

3.                  It is interpretive:

a.       Its researchers rely more on intuition, with many important criteria not specified;

b.      Its on-site observers work to keep attention free to recognize problem relevant events; and

c.       It is attuned to the fact that research is a researcher-subject interaction.

4.                  It is empathic:

a.       It attends to actor intentionality;

b.      It seeks actor frames of reference, value commitments; although planned, its design is emergent, responsive;

c.       Its issues are emic issues, progressively focused; and

d.      Its reporting provides vicarious experience.

5.                  Its observations and immediate interpretations are validated;

a.       Triangulation of data is routine;

b.      There is deliberate effort to dis-conform own interpretations; and

c.       Its reports assist readers to make their own interpretations; and

d.      Its reports assist readers in recognition of subjectivity.

6.                  It is non-hortatory, resisting the exploitation of the specialist’s platform.

7.                  It is sensitive to the risks of human subjects’ research.

8.                  Its researchers are not just methodologically competent and versed in some substantive discipline but versed in the relevant disciplines.

APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH.

Grounded theory.	Phenomenology	Narrative.
Historical life histories.	Ethno-methodology.	Case studies.
Action Research

Qualitative research is based upon;

Quality.	Empirical (own sense experience)	Natural setting.
Systematic/organized.	Needs specific tools.	Reported
Non-judgmental.	Data based on evidence/facts.	Don’t deviate from research question.
Based on assumptions.	Searched for knowledge & adding to what is unknown i.e. what you see, just write down?

QUALITATIVE VS QUANTITATIVE.

Qualitative Research	Quantitative Research
·         Presents results mainly or exclusively in words, emphasizing understanding the purposive sample studied; de-emphasizes generalizations to larger populations.	·         Presents results using statistics; ·         Makes inferences to the population. ·         Is characterized by “distance” between researchers and their subjects.
·         Characterized by the researcher’ awareness of their own orientations, biases and experiences that might affect their collection & interpretation of data.	·         Uses a relatively large sample of participants, sometimes as many as 1500 for a national survey. ·         Makes observations with instruments what can be scored objectively.
·         Uses a relatively small sample, observes with relatively unstructured instruments, i.e. semi-structured interviews, unstructured direct (field) observations; observing intensively.	·         Starts with one or more very specific, explicitly stated hypotheses, purposes, or questions.
·         Starts with a general research question or problem, not formulated hypotheses; hypotheses may emerge with conducting the research.	·         Ideally uses a random sample selected from a particular population.
·         Selects a purposive sample, the researcher intentionally draws what he or she believes to be an appropriate sample for the research problem.

PARTING THOUGHTS

1.                  Qualitative research methods are varied.

2.                  Focus on human perception and interactions in natural setting.

3.                  Contribute depth of understanding.

4.                  Few cases, many variables.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

Interviews	Ecological behavioral description.	Interaction schedules and checklists.
Observations	Diaries/Journals.	Tape recording.
Documents analysis.	Logs.	Video recording.
Anecdotal records.	Items sampling cards.	Photographs and slides.
Field notes.	Portfolio.	Tests of student performance.
Questionnaires.	Socio-metric methods.	Samples of student work.

LITERATURE REVIEWS

Physical Analogies:

Literature as animal tracks.	Literature as building blocks
Literature as currency.	Literature as scaffolding.

Visual Analogies

Literature as mirror.	Literature as signpost.
Literature as lens	Literature as illustration.

Personifications

Literature as conjuror’s assistant.	Literature as mentor/supervisor.
Literature as authority.	Literature as spokesperson.

CASE STUDIES AS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH.

A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when they boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. In other words case study is a phenomenon of some sort occurring in bounded context.

Particularistic means of Case Study. Focuses on a particular situation, event, program, or phenomenon.

Descriptive means of Case Study. The end product of a case study is a rich, “thick” description of the phenomenon under study.

Heuristic Means of Case Study. Case studies illuminate the reader’s understanding of the phenomenon under study. They can bring out the discovery of new meaning, extend the reader’s experience, or confirm what is known.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF CASE STUDY:

Strengths:

1.      Predictive nature of the research findings.

2.      Case study is the best plan for answering the research questions.

3.      The case study results in a rich and holistic account of a phenomenon.

Limitations:

1.      Research my not have the time or money to devote to such an undertaking.

2.      Product may be too lengthy, too detailed or tool involved for busy policy makers and educators.

3.      Case studies can oversimplify or exaggerate a situation.

4.      Limited due to sensitivity and integrity of the investigator.

5.      Unusual problems of ethics.

6.      Educational case studies financed by people who directly or indirectly power over those studies.

7.      Lack of representative-ness.

STAGES TO CONDUCT A CASE STUDY:

1.                  Stage I – Identifying a research as an issue; problem or hypothesis.

2.                  Stage II – Asking research questions and drawing up ethical guidelines.

3.                  Stage III – Collecting and storing data.

4.                  Stage IV – Generating and testing analytical statements.

5.                  Stage V – Interpreting and explaining the analytical statements.

6.                  Stage VI – Deciding on the outcomes and writing the case repot.

7.                  Stage VII – Finishing and publishing.

The Ethics of Research.

1.                  Respect for democracy.

2.                  Respect for truth.

3.                  Respect for persons.

ACTION RESEARCH

1.                  Identifying your general idea. You do not have to begin with a ‘problem’. All you need is a general idea that might improve an aspect of your practice. Avoid issues which you can do nothing about.

2.                  Reconnaissance: Deciding where to exert an effect. The reconnaissance stage of action research seeks to locate your general ideas in relation to its context, to define the file of action. What is happening already and its social and political context in the school or classroom puts limits on the field of action.

3.                  Reconnaissance: The social and political context. What can be achieved is very obviously dependent upon the social context in which your action is to occur. You must now anticipate some of the effects of your intended action.

4.                  Describing the field of action.

5.                  Defining the first action step.

6.                  Monitoring the fist action step.