Characteristics of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research can be easily characterized by carefully observing how some research elements
such as: research design, data collection procedure, and data analysis have been put into considerations.
As cited from Spalding University Library (2020). these three key elements will guide the researcher to
properly conduct a qualitative research study. To further understand this kind of research, its
characteristics are presented as follows:

1. Qualitative research is naturalistic.

• A study to be conducted by the researcher should be based on real-life situations. Likewise, the
researcher should also unfold the study in a natural manner, that is, the findings are derived from the
analysis of authentic data gathered from the participants. Such a concept makes qualitative research
known for its non-controlling characteristic

2. Qualitative research is purposeful.

In conducting a qualitative type of study, the researcher should select the participants in a purposive
manner, that is, they will be selected because they either have easy access to the information needed or
simply have the knowledge to provide a great deal of information needed to the study.

3. Qualitative research is detailed.

A thick description of gathered data from the participants makes this type of study a detailed one. It is
important that the researcher should capture the direct quotations of the responses of the participant/s
from the conducted interview or observation.

4. Qualitative research requires engagement and neutrality.

• Direct contact with the people, situation, and phenomenon under investigation should be established
by the researcher. Immersing oneself would enable the researcher to acquire personal experiences and
insights which are essential to better understand the phenomenon.

5. Qualitative research follows an inductive procedure.

• As the researcher immerses himself/herself in the phenomenon under investigation, specific details
and data will be gathered from the target participant/s. These data then can be used to discover
emerging patterns and themes. Following an inductive procedure, the researcher will start from
exploring the phenomenon and will end to confirming findings of the works.

6. Qualitative research is viewed in a holistic perspective.

• A study in a qualitative type cannot be simply done in a linear and cause and effect relationship
approach. Rather. it requires the researcher to view the whole phenomenon under investigation in a
complex system, that is, different variables can either cause or effect the phenomenon
Strengths and Weakness of Qualitative Research

Strengths:

1. Qualitative research complements quantitative data.

2. Qualitative research provides more detailed information to explain complex issues.

3. Qualitative research is cost efficient.

Weaknesses:

1. Qualitative research cannot generalize the findings to the study population.

2. Qualitative research is more difficult to analyze.

3. Qualitative research is time consuming.

Kinds of Qualitative Research

1. Phenomenological. This kind of qualitative research focuses on subjective lived experiences of the
participants in order to understand phenomenon.

2. Ethnographic. It is a kind of qualitative research which concentrates on the study of a group of people
in a particular environment.

3. Grounded Theory. This kind of qualitative research intends to explain a phenomenon through
developing a theory. In comparison with phenomenological study that primarily describes lived
experiences, grounded theory aims to provide explanation and theory behind those lived experiences.

4. Case Study. It is a qualitative research kind which allows the researcher to have an intensive analysis
of the phenomenon. The aim of this study is to accurately describe the case through an in-depth
examination of a single person or single institution.

5. Historical. This qualitative research kind is concerned with the identification, evaluation, and
synthesis of past event data.

6. Narrative. Life accounts of individuals based on their personal experiences are typically obtained and
analyzed in the conduct of this kind of qualitative research. The primary objective of the study is to
extract meaningful context based on the documented experiences. Unlike phenomenological research
which focuses on describing and explaining a phenomenon through the lived experiences of the
participants, narrative research focuses merely on the nature of the story told by the participants.
CHAPTER 1

1 INTRODUCTION

2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

4 SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

6 DEFINITION OF TERMS

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

•The background of your study will provide context to the information discussed throughout the
research paper. Background information may include both important and relevant studies. This is
particularly important if a study either supports or refutes your thesis.

•The background of the study discusses your problem statement, rationale, and research questions. It
links introduction to your research topic and ensures a logical flow of ideas. Thus, it helps readers
understand your reasons for conducting the study. Essentially, it answers the question: Why is this
research important, and why is it worth investigating?

Start with the General Context

Begin broadly by introducing the theme or topic of your study. Explain its general significance and
relevance to society, education, or the community. Provide a global or national perspective before
narrowing it down to a specific group, setting, or issue.

Discuss the Specific Problem in Detail

Narrow down the focus to your target population, group, or subject area. Describe the specific issues or
difficulties they encounter and their impact.

Review Existing Literature

*Summarize what is already known about the topic by citing relevant studies. Highlight key findings
from previous research and pinpoint gaps that your study aims to ffill

•Break down the causes or factors related to the problem. This can include psychological, social,
cultural, or institutional factors.
Explain the Relevance and Importance of the Study

Clearly articulate why addressing this issue is necessary. Discuss the potential benefits of solving the
problem for students, educators, and society at large.

End with the Research Gap and Objectives

•Conclude by reiterating the gap in current research and explaining how your study will address it.

FORMULATING RESEARCH QUESTION

•The questions that you ask in your research will determine the data that you want to have, answer, and
specify in Chapter 4. Hence, it is a crucial stage to attain your research objective. Research questions
help writers focus their research by providing a path through the research and writing process.

Let's get into the details

•A research question is an answerable inquiry into a specific concern or issue. It is the initial step in a
research project. The research question is the first active step in the research project.

"Let us use this metaphor--the research project is a house. Your data collection forms the walls, and
your hypothesis that guides your data collection is the foundation. So, what is the research question?

Writing a Research Question

✔Specify your specific concern or issue

✔Decide what you want to know about the specific concern or issue

✔Turn what you want to know and the specific concern into a question

✔Ensure that the question is answerable

✔Check to make sure the question is not too broad or too narrow

✔This is the basic process in writing a research question. Writing a good.

question will result in a better research project.

UNDERSTANDING ACADEMIC STRESS AND COPING MECHANISMOF GRADE II STUDENTS

1. What are the causes of student's academic stress?

2.How does academic stress affect STEM students?

3. What are the student's coping mechanisms in dealing with academic stress?
ABM BUSINESS SIMULATION: STUDY ON THE PERCEPTION AND EXPERIENCES OF GRADE II ABM
STUDENTS

1. What is the perception of Grade II - ABM students to ABM Business Enterprise Simulation?

2. What are the experiences of Grade II - ABM students to the ABM Business Enterprise Simulation?

3. What can the Grade II ABM students suggest to improve and enhance the ABM Business Enterprise
Simulation?

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

All forms and types of research undertakings have boundaries.

No study can be perpetual or can exist infinitely in time. Such is the reason why every researcher, even
before he/she decides to embark on an investigation, must already plan and lay down the coverage or
scope of his/her study, as well as indicate the limits wherein which he/she will work on. Doing so will
keep him/her from straying or moving away from his goal: solve a problem, fill a gap or improve a
situation.

Follow the steps in Writing the Scope and Delimitation of the Study

1.What are the variables to be included and excluded?

2.Why are you doing this study?

3.Where are you going to conduct this study?

4. Where are you going to gather your data?

YOUR STUDY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

•Writing a research paper has its purpose-- may it be for you (as a researcher) or even for others. That is
why, you need to identify the key reason/s why you are taking a step forward and make your query into
a formal writing. In this stage, your 'WHYs' and 'HOWs' will be answered and explained. Before taking
this step, read the following notes:

Tips in Writing the Significance of the Study (Regoniel, 2015)

A. Refer to the statement of the problem.

Your problem statement can guide you in identifying the specific contribution of your study. You can do
this by observing a one-to-one correspondence between the statement of the problem and the
significance of the study.
B. Write from general to specific contribution

•Write the significance of the study by looking into the general contribution of your study, such as its
importance to society as a whole, then proceed downwards--towards its contribution to Sindividuals
and that may include yourself as a researcher. You start off broadly then taper off gradually to a specific
group or person.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

•Usually, in writing a research paper, the definition of terms is included. It helps in simplifying some of
the technical terms which are vital in the understanding of the research project. Although this part of
the paper is optional, it is advantageous for the reader to include this to prevent the ambiguous
meaning of terms that might otherwise be interpreted in different ways, causing confusion. It can also
enhance comprehension of important key terms

There are two ways in defining the terms, the conceptual and operational definition

Conceptual definition is the meaning of the term that is based on how it is defined in the dictionary or
encyclopedia.

Operational definition, on the other hand, is the meaning of the term based on how it was used in the
study.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE is a compilation of studies related to a specific area of research

THE REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE IS ANCHORED ON THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES.

1. To discover the connection of your research to the existing body of lowledge and to the real-life
situations.

2. To identify morp thworiax or concepta as the foundation of your research study and to learn from
them
3. To determine the relationship of your research with previous researchi studies to prevent Aplication
and to scknasir die offer

4. To acquire linowledge on the accuracy and significance of your research questions.

5. To acquaint yourself with the technical tamminologies relevant to your study.

6. To determine the posible conflicts, and apon questions left from other ramach which might hup you in
formulating and jintifying your research ideas.

7. To darify misconceptions an pravious research and help refocus, polish, and contribute to the
developmant of the body of knowledge.

Finding and Evaluating Sources:

Use academic journals, books, government publications, and credible websites.

Avoid unreliable sources such as personal blogs. Wikipedia, and opinion-based articles.

Utilize library databases, Google Scholar, and research repositories.

Assess the relevance, credibility, and recency of sources.

Traditional Review of Literature

CHAPTER 2

The Traditional Review of Literature which summarize present forms of knowledge on a specific subject
and aims to give a new understanding of an existing work. It expects you to state your intentions in
conducting the review and to name the sources of information and it provides a concise summary of
information and data findings that describe current knowledge and facts that offers a rationale for
conducting future researchers. (Ridley, 2008).

The Different Types of Traditional Review

1. Conceptual Review - Analysis of concepts or ideas to give meaning to some national or world issues.

2. Critical Review - focuses on theories or hypotheses and examines meanings and results of their
application to situations

3. State-of-the-Art Review - makes the researcher deal with the latest research studies on the subject.
4. Expert Review - encourages a well-known expert to do the RRL because of the influence of a certain
ideology, paradigm, or belief on him.

5. Scoping Review - prepares a situation for a future research work in the form of project making about
community development, government policies, and health services, among others.

ORGANIZING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

THEMATIC APPROACH: group studies based on themes or topics.

EXAMPLE: if researching online learning effectiveness, themes could include student engagement
academic performance, and teacher perspectives.

CHRONOLOGICAL APPROACH present research in the order it was published to show historical
development

EXAMPLE: studies from 2000-2005 may discuss early e-learning models, while 2010-2020 focus on
adaptive learning technologies

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH: compare different research methods used in previous studies.

EXAMPLE: a study comparing qualitative case studies vs. quantitative surveys on student motivation.

THEORETICAL APPROACH: discuss key theories relevant to the study.

EXAMPLE: applying vygotsky's sociocultural theory to online collaborative learning.

CITING SOURCES CORRECTLY

The type of reference style will depend on the research studies of the student, namely:

1) APA: Psychology, Education and other Social Sciences;

The APA referencing style is also called the author date" style. The text citation contains the author/s
and the year of publication. Use only the surname of the author(s) followed by a comma and the year of
publication.

2) MLA: Arts and Humanities:

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This hearts that the author's last name
and the page number(s) fran which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appcar in the text, and a
complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear cither in
the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page numberis
should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.

3) Chicago: History and many other subjects in scholarly and non-scholarly work.

FORMAT

Introduction

Concept

Foreign Studies

Local Studies

Synthesis

CONCEPTUAL

CONCEPT CHAPTER 2 of a research paper provides a vislial or written representation of the key concepts
and the relationships between them that guide your stidy. it helps explain how the variables or ideas
yoltre investigating are connected and forms the foundation for your research design and methodology.

IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, THESE MIGHT BE ABSTRACT CONCEPTS LIKE "STUDENT MOTIVATION,

FOREIGN STUDIES

refer to research or studies conducted outside the researcher's own country, typically in different
cliltliral. social or educational contexts. in a literature review (chapter 2). foreign studies provide a
broader, comparative perspective on the research topic. offering insights from other regions, countries,
or cultures

LOCAL STUDIES

refer to research or studies conducted within the researcher's own colintry or region. these studies
provide insights that are more specific to the local context including cultural, social, economic, and
educational factors unique to that area. when including local studies in your literature review (chapter
21, they help establish the relevance of your research within the specific commlinity or context you are
studying.

SYNTHESIS

(literature review) is about weaving together the findings, themes, and ideas from various sources to
provide a cohesive overview of the existing knowledge on your research topic. it's not just slimmarizing
stlidies, but connecting them, comparing their findings, and identifying gaps in the literature. the goal is
to create a narrative that presents the broader landscape of research. sets the context for your study,
and justifies the need