Valencia National High School | Senior High School

Practical Research 1 Lecture Notes

Chapter 3: Qualitative Research and its Importance in Daily Life
Mr Ace Bene Cardeno

What is qualitative research?

Research studies that investigate the quality of relationships, activities, situations, or materials are frequently referred to as qualitative
research.
This type of research has a greater emphasis on holistic description—that is, on describing in detail all of what goes on in a particular
activity or situation rather than on comparing the effects of a particular treatment (as experimental research), say, or on describing the
attitudes or behaviors of people (as in survey research).
General Characteristics of Qualitative Research
1. The natural setting is the direct source of data, and the researcher is the key instrument in qualitative research. Qualitative researchers
go to the particular setting of interest because they are concerned with context—they feel that activities can best be understood in the
actual settings in which they occur.
2. Qualitative data are collected in the form of words or pictures rather than numbers. Gestures, jokes, conversational gambits, artwork
or other decorations in a room—all are noted by qualitative researchers. To a qualitative researcher, no data are trivial or unworthy of
notice.
3. Qualitative researchers are concerned with process as well as products. Qualitative researchers are especially interested in how things
occur.
4. Qualitative researchers tend to analyze their data inductively. As Bogdan and Biklen suggest, qualitative researchers are not putting
together a puzzle whose picture they already know. They are constructing a picture that takes shape as they collect and examine the
parts.
5. How people make sense out of their lives is a major concern to qualitative researchers- Assumptions, motives, reasons, goals, and
values—all are of interest and likely to be the focus of the researcher’s questions.
Approaches to Qualitative Research
Creswell has identified five approaches to qualitative research, including:
1. Narrative Research- It is the study of the life experiences of an individual as told to the researcher or found in documents and archival
material. An important aspect of some narrative research is that the participant recalls one or more special events (an “epiphany”) in his
or her life.
A. Biographical Study-It is a form of narrative study in which the researcher writes and records the experiences of another person’s life.
B. Autobiography-It is written and recorded by the individuals who are subject of the study (Ellis, 2004).
C. Life History-It portrays an individual’s entire life, while a personal experience story is a narrative study of an individual’s personal
experiences found in single or multiple episodes, private situations, or communal folklore (Denzin, 1989a).
D. Oral History-It consists of gathering personal reflections of events and their causes and effects from one individual or several
individuals (Plummer, 1983).
2. Phenomenology-A researcher undertaking a phenomenological study investigates a particular phenomenon (e.g., the experience of
an employee in a multibillion company). The researcher hopes to gain some insight into the world of his or her participants and to describe
their perceptions and reactions (e.g., what it is like to work in a multibillion company).
• Phenomenologists generally assume that there is some commonality to how human beings perceive and interpret similar
experiences; they seek to identify, understand, and describe these commonalities.
• This commonality of perception is referred to as the essence—the essential characteristic(s)—of the experience.
• Researchers who conduct phenomenological studies search for the “essential structure” of a single phenomenon by
interviewing, in depth, a number of individuals who have experienced the phenomenon.
3. Grounded Theory-A device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.
• In a grounded theory, the researchers intend to generate a theory that is “grounded” in data from participants who have
experienced the process (Strauss & Cobin, 1998). Strauss and Cobin put it this way: “One does not begin with a theory, then
prove it. Rather one begins with an area of study and what is relevant to that area is allowed to emerge.”
• The researcher does not go in with a theory out of the data that are collected—that is, one that is grounded in the data. This
approach is obviously highly dependent on the insight of the individual researcher.
4. Case Studies- What case study researchers have in common is that they call the objects of their research cases, and they focus
their research on the study of such cases.
• A case comprises just one individual, department in a company, company, or a program. For some researchers, a case is not
just an individual or situation that can easily be identified (e.g., a particular individual, classroom, organization, or project); it may
be an event (e.g.,company celebration), an activity (e.g., learning to use a computer), or an ongoing process (e.g., agents call
simulation training)

Ace B. Cardeño; 1st Semester 2022-2023

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
Case study of a person-There are some students who learn a second language rather easily. In hopes of gaining insight into why this
is the case, one such student could be observed on a regular basis to see if there are any noticeable patterns or regularities in the
student’s behavior. The student, as well as his or her teachers, counsellors, parents, and friends, might also be interviewed in depth.
Case study of a certain school- There might be a particular elementary school in a given school district, for example, that is noteworthy
for its success with at-risk students. The researcher might visit the school on a regular basis, observing what goes in a classrooms, during
recess periods, in the hallways and lunchroom, during faculty meetings, and so on.
1. Intrinsic Case Study-In here, the researcher is primarily interested in understanding a specific individual or situation. Intrinsic case
studies are often used in exploratory research when researchers seek to learn about some little-known phenomenon by studying it in
depth.
2. Instrumental Case Study-In here, a researcher is interested in understanding something more than just a particular case; the
researcher is interested in studying the particular case only as a means to some larger goal. A researcher might study how Miss Tonzie
Sumulong teaches phonics, for example, in order to learn something about phonics as a method or about the teaching of reading in
general.
Researchers who conduct such studies are more interested in drawing conclusions that apply beyond a particular case than they are in
conclusions that apply to just one specific case.
3. Multiple (or collective) Case Study- In here, the researcher studies multiple cases at the same time as part of one overall study.
• A researcher choose several cases to study because he or she is interested in the effects of mainstreaming employees with
disabilities into regular working stations in a company. Instead of studying the results of such mainstreaming in just a single
working station, the researcher studies its impact in a number of different classrooms
• The results of multiple-case studies are often considered more compelling, and they are more likely to lend themselves to valid
generalization.
• Multiple-Case Studies often require extensive resources and time.
5. Ethnography- research focuses on the study of culture.
6. Historical research concentrates exclusively on the past.

Sampling Technique in Qualitative Research

1. Typical Sample-One that is considered or judged to be typical or representative of that which is being studied.
2. Critical Sample-One that is considered to be particularly enlightening because it is so unusual or exceptional. Individuals who have
attained high achievement despite some serious physical limitations.
3. Homogeneous Sample-One in which all of the members possess a certain trait or characteristic. A group of high school students all
judged to possess exceptional artistic talent.
4. Extreme Case Sample-one in which all of the members are outliers who do not fit the general pattern or who otherwise display
extreme characteristics. Students achieve high grades despite low scores on ability tests and poor home environments.
5. Theoretical Sample- One that helps the researcher to understand a concept or theory. • Selecting a group of tribal elders to assess
the relevance of Piagetian theory to the education of Native Igorots.
6. Opportunistic Sample-One chosen during a study to take advantage of new conditions or circumstances that have arisen.
7. Confirming Sample-One that is obtained to validate or disconfirm preliminary findings. Follow-up interviews with employees in order
to verify reasons why employees resign.
8. Maximal Variation Sample- One selected to represent a diversity of perspectives or characteristics.
9. Snowball Sample-One selected as need arises during the conduct of a study.
Steps in Qualitative Research
1. Identification of the phenomenon to be studied. Before any study can begin, the researcher must identify the particular phenomenon
he or she is interested in investigating.
Foreshadowed Problem-Foreshadowed problems are often reformulated several times during the course of a qualitative study.
2. Identification of the participants in the study-The participants in the study constitute the sample of individuals who will be observed
(interviewed, etc.)—in other words, the subjects of the study.
3. Generation of hypotheses-Unlike in most quantitative studies, hypotheses are not posed at the beginning of the study by the
researcher. Instead, they emerge from the data as the study progresses.
4. Data Collection- There is no “treatment” in a qualitative study, nor is there any “manipulation” of subjects. The participants in a
qualitative study are not divided into groups, with one group being exposed to a treatment of some sort and the effects of this treatment
then measured in some way.
Data are not collected at the “end” of the study. Rather, the collection of data in a qualitative research study is ongoing.
5. Data Analysis-Analyzing the data in a qualitative study essentially involves analyzing and synthesizing the information the researcher
obtains from various sources (e.g., observations, interviews, documents) into a coherent description of what he or she has observed or
otherwise discovered.
Hypotheses are not usually tested by means of inferential statistical procedures, as is the case with experimental or associational
research, although some statistics, such as percentages, may be calculated if it appears they can illuminate specific details about the
phenomenon under investigation
Data analysis in qualitative research, however, relies heavily on description; even when certain statistics are calculated, they tend to be
used in a descriptive rather than an inferential sense.

Ace B. Cardeño; 1st Semester 2022-2023

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
6. Interpretations and Conclusions- In qualitative research, interpretations are made continuously throughout the course of a study.
Whereas quantitative researchers usually leave the drawing of conclusions to the very end of their research, qualitative researchers tend
to formulate their interpretations as they go along.
What is a generalization?
• A generalization is usually thought of as a statement or claim of some sort that applies to more than one individual, group,
object, or situation.
• How to construct generalization? What do we mean by generalization? When a researcher makes a statement, based on a
review of the literature, that there is a negative correlation between age and employee’s motivation (tenured employees are
slowly losing motivation than entry-level employees), he or she is making a generalization.
The Value of Generalization
• The value of generalization is that it allows us to have expectations (and sometimes to make predictions) about a future.
• A generalization might not be TRUE in every case, however, it describes, more often than not, what we would expect to find.
Limitation of Qualitative Research
• A limitation of qualitative research is that there is seldom methodological justification for generalizing the findings of a particular
study. While this limitation also applies to many quantitative studies, it is almost inevitable given the nature of qualitative
research. Because of this replication of qualitative studies is even more important than it is in quantitative research.

References:
• Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston: Pearson
Education, Inc.
• Fraenkel, J. R. (2009). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod J. E. (2013). Practical Research: Planning and Design. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
Moore, N. (1983). How to Do Research: A Practical Guide to Designing and Managing Research Projects. London: Facet Publishing.

Ace B. Cardeño; 1st Semester 2022-2023

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics