Lesson 4: Characteristics, Strength and Weaknesses, and Kinds of a Qualitative Research

“It’s Getting Deeper”

Name: ___________________________ Grade Level: _____Section: ___________

LET’S KICK IT OFF!

A. Identification
Directions: Read each statement below and write the letter (IN CAPITAL) of the correct
answer from the choices provided in the box.

A. Abounds with Words and Visuals

B. Human Understanding and Interpretation
C. Specificity to Generalization
D. Contextualization
E. Internal Analysis
F. Specificity to Generalization
G. Strength of Qualitative Research
H. Weakness of Qualitative Research

________1. Specific ideas in a quantitative research are directed to a general understanding

of something.
________2. Its goal is to understand human behavior.
________3. Examines the data yielded by the internal traits of the subject individuals,
(i.e. emotional, mental, spiritual characteristics).
________4. Through worldviews, an individual learns what kind of human being he or she is,
including his or her values, beliefs, likes, and dislikes.
________5. Words, words, and more words come in big quantity in this kind of research.
________6. Adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter, which means that those
involve in the research understand things based on what they find meaningful.
________7. It is instrumental for positive societal changes.
________8. It involves several processes, which results greatly depend on the researcher’s
views or interpretations.
________9. Its open-ended questions yield “data overload” that requires long-time analysis.
________10. It offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something.

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 ARE YOU TAKING IT?

Unveil your thoughts.

Directions: Answer the questions below. Write your answers on the space provided for
each item.

1. Describe the characteristics of qualitative research.

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2. In what way do the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research help us in writing the
research proposal?
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3. If you want to conduct a research study about the life of a single parent in your place, what
kind of qualitative research is most appropriate for your study? Explain your answer.
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HERE’S HOW IT IS!

I. Characteristics of Qualitative Research

1. Human understanding and interpretation in data analysis
2. Active, powerful, and forceful in data gathering and rephrasing interview questions
3. Multiple research approaches and methods that allows you to plan your study and being
multi-method research
4. Specificity to generalization on specific ideas will lead to generalizations or conclusions.
5. Contextualization - context or situation of individual’s life
6. Diversified data in real-life situations on collecting data in a natural setting
7. Abounds with words and visuals that presents people’s view in a picture, video, drawing or
graphs.
8. Internal analysis on examining the data yielded by the internal traits of the subject persons.
II. Strengths of Qualitative Research
1. It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter.
2. Promotes a full understanding of human behavior/personality traits in their natural setting.
3. It is instrumental for positive societal changes.
4. It engenders respect for people’s individuality.
5. it’s a way of understanding & interpreting social interactions.
6. Increases researcher’s interests in the study.
7. Offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something.

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 III. Weaknesses of Qualitative Research
1. It involves a lot of researcher’s subjectivity in data analysis.
2. It is hard to know the validity/reliability of the data.
3. It is open-ended questions yield “data overload” that requires long-time analysis.
4. It is time-consuming.
5. It involves several processes; whose results greatly depend on the researcher’s views
or interpretations.
IV. Kinds of Qualitative Research
1. Case Study 6. Narrative Report
2. Ethnography 7. Biography
3. Phenomenology 8. Action Research
4. Content and Discourse Analysis 9. Grounded Theory
5. Historical Analysis

Source: Baraceros, Esther. 2016. Practical Research 1: Qualitative research and its importance in
daily life, 1. Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.

DO IT!

I. Identify the most suitable Qualitative Research Design given the following research
topics.
1. Human Resource Practices __________________________________________
2. Practical Overview of Schools in Tacloban City Division ____________________
3. Lived- experiences of single parent students _____________________________
4. School Culture and Job Satisfaction of teachers in selected Secondary Schools in
Tacloban City Division_______________________________________________
5. World war II in the Philippines_________________________________________

II. Cite an example of a qualitative research you want to conduct. Fill-in the columns
below with the necessary information about your research.

Qualitative
Research Topic Objective
Research Design

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 ACE IT!

Multiple Choice.
Direction: Read each statement below. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. All of the following are strength of qualitative research EXCEPT.

A. It is instrumental for positive societal changes.
B. It is hard to know the validity/reliability of the data.
C. Offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something.
D. Promotes a full understanding of human behavior/personality traits in their natural
setting.
2. Qualitative research allows you to approach or plan your study in varied ways. Here you
are free to combine this with quantitative research and use all gathered data and analysis
technique. What characteristic of qualitative research is being referred to?
A. Active, powerful, and forceful B. Contextualization
C. Internal Analysis D. Multiple research approach and methods
3. This refers to a qualitative method where there is an examining of past events to draw
conclusions and make predictions about the future.
A. Case Study B. Grounded Theory
C. Historical Analysis D. Phenomenology
4. Which of the following is one of the weaknesses of a qualitative research?
A. It is time-consuming.
B. It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter.
C. It’s a way of understanding & interpreting social interactions.
D. Offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something.
5. It is the most familiar and applicable type of qualitative research which refers to the
investigation of a culture through an in-depth study of the members of the cultural society
A. Case Study B. Ethnography
C. Grounded Theory D. Phenomenology
6. It is primarily used to generate theory through relevant information taken from very reliable
sources and its focus is theory development.
A. Case Study B. Ethnography
C. Grounded Theory D. Phenomenology
7. Which of the following types of qualitative research is designed to focus on the
commonality of a “lived experience” with a particular group and its aim is to determine what
an experience means for the persons who have had the experience of living in a certain
community which is the subject of the research?
A. Case Study B. Ethnography
C. Grounded Theory D. Phenomenology
8. “A student really idolizes his English teacher who is very expert in grammar and literature.
The former wants to write a scholarly chronicle about the latter’s experiences including his
family background, how he achieved his success in life, his likes and dislikes, his
achievements and struggles in life.” What type of qualitative research should a student
employ?
A. Biography B. Discourse Analysis
C. Historical Research D. Narrative Report

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9. It is a qualitative research which analyzes the language “beyond the sentence”. It is the
study of the ways in which language is used by the people, both written and spoken
contexts.
A. Biography B. Discourse Analysis
C. Historical Research D. Narrative Report
10. It is an exploration of a “bounded system” over time through detailed, in-depth data
collection involving multiple sources of information rich in interesting stories.
A. Case Study B. Ethnography
C. Grounded Theory D. Phenomenology

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 Lesson 5: Importance of Qualitative Research Across Fields

“Soft or Hard?”
Name: ___________________________ Grade Level: _____Section: ___________

LET’S KICK IT OFF!

Words Grouping
Directions: Group the words in the circles into hard and soft sciences. Write your answers in
the table below.

Develops Words
Subjective Numbers
Theory

Tests Physics Sociology

Theory Objective

Hard Sciences Soft Sciences

1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.

ARE YOU TAKING IT?

1. Differentiate soft sciences from hard sciences?

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2. Describe the three types of approach to basic research based on your understanding.
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 HERE’S HOW IT IS!

Hard Sciences
Sciences that explore the workings of the natural world are usually called hard sciences,
or natural sciences. Studies in these hard sciences involve experiments that are relatively
easy to set up with controlled variables and in which it is easier to make objective
measurements. Results of hard science experiments can be represented mathematically,
and the same mathematical tools can be used consistently to measure and calculate
outcomes.

Soft Sciences
Soft sciences in general, deal with intangibles and relate to the study of human and animal
behaviors, interactions, thoughts, and feelings. Soft sciences apply the scientific method
to such intangibles, but because of the nature of living beings, it is almost impossible to
recreate a soft science experiment with exactitude. Particularly in sciences dealing with
people, it may be difficult to isolate all the variables that can influence an outcome. In some
cases, controlling the variable may even alter the results!

Source: Helmenstine, Anne Marie. 2019. ThoughtCo. November 29. Accessed February 23,
2021. https://www.thoughtco.com/hard-vs-soft-science-3975989.

DO IT!

I. TRUE or FALSE. Write T if the statement is true. Write F if the statement is false in the
space provided before the number.

_______ 1. Research studies happen in any field of knowledge.

_______ 2. The naturalistic approach is not people- oriented.
_______ 3. Scientific approach cannot be used in researches under hard sciences.
_______ 4. Quantitative data are expressed in measurable ways.
_______ 5. In Soft Sciences, the conditions cannot be completely controlled.

II. Give at least two examples of existing studies that are soft sciences and two hard sciences.
You can search studies from the internet.
Soft Sciences
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
Hard Sciences
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________

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 ACE IT!

I. Research Topics Grouping

Directions: Categorize the given research topic below whether said research falls
under Hard or Soft Sciences. Write only the number of the research topic inside the
box.

Research Topics
1. Energy Systems
2. Epidemics and Pandemics
3. How Ethnicity Assumes Class
4. Genetic Engineering and Cloning
5. The Role of Social Media Marketing in Modern Business
6. Multiculturalism vs. Interculturalism
7. COVID- 19 Vaccine
8. Microfluids and Microsystems
9. Mental Health in the Time of COVID- 19 Pandemic
10. Optical Physics and Quantum Information Service

II. What do you think is the importance of conducting qualitative research in one’s daily
life?
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