CHAPTER 1

NATURE OF INQUIRY AND

RESEARCH
LESSON 2
Nature of Research

Jazer B. Leuterio
Teacher II
 WARM-UP
• Directions: INDIVIDUAL WORK. Explain the concepts you have learned
by answering the following questions.
1. What comes to your mind the moment you hear qualitative research?

2. If you want to conduct a research study about your favorite

restaurant in town, what method of qualitative research is
appropriate for your study? Explain your choice.
3. Differentiate subjectivity from objectivity.
4. Explain the connection between subjectivity/ objectivity and your
research work?
5. How is grounded theory different from other qualitative research
methods?
Qualitative Research

• Obtaining world knowledge

in this manner directs you to
do a research
• is an act of inquiry or
investigation of real-life
events.
Characteristics of a Qualitative Research
 Human understanding and
interpretation
Data analysis results show an
individual’s mental, social, and
spiritual understanding of the
world. Hence, through their
worldviews, you come to know
what kind of human being he or
she is, including his or her values,
Characteristics of a Qualitative Research
Active, powerful, and forceful
A lot of changes occur continuously in
every stage of a qualitative research. As
you go through the research process, you
find the need to amend or rephrase
interview questions and consider varied
ways of getting answers, like shifting from
mere speculating to traveling to places for
data gathering. You are not fixated to a
certain plan. Rather, you are inclined to
discover your qualitative research design
as your study gradually unfolds or reveals
Characteristics of a Qualitative Research
Multiple research approaches and
methods
Qualitative research allows you to
approach or plan your study in varied
ways. You are free to combine this
with quantitative research and use all
gathered data and analysis
techniques. Being a multi-method
research, a qualitative study applies to
all research types: descriptive,
exploratory, explanatory, case study,
Characteristics of a Qualitative Research
 Specificity to generalization
Specific ideas in a qualitative research are directed
to a general understanding of something. It follows
an inductive or scientific method of thinking, where
you start thinking of particular or specific concept
that will eventually lead you to more complex ideas
such as generalizations or conclusions.

Contextualization
A quantitative research involves all variables,
factors, or conditions affecting the study.
Your goal here is to understand human
behavior. Thus, it is crucial for you to
examine the context or situation of an
individual’s life- the who, what, why, how, and
Characteristics of a Qualitative Research
 Diversified data in real- life situations
A qualitative researcher prefers collecting data in a
natural setting like observing people as they live and
work, analyzing photographs or videos as they
genuinely appear to people, and looking at
classrooms unchanged or adjusted to people’s
intentional observations.

 Abounds with words and visuals

Words, words, and more words come in big quantity
in this kind of research. Data gathering through
interviews or library reading, as well as the
presentation of data analysis results, is done
verbally. In some cases, it resorts to quoting some
respondents’ answers. Likewise, presenting people’s
world views through visual presentation (i.e.,
Characteristics of a Qualitative Research
 Internal Analysis
Here, you examine the data yielded by
the internal traits of the subject
individuals (i.e., emotional, mental,
spiritual characteristics). You study
people’s perception or views about
your topic, not the effects of their
physical existence on your study. In
case of objects (e.g., books and
artworks) that are subjected to a
qualitative research, the investigation
centers on underlying theories or
Types of Qualitative Research
 Case Study
This type of qualitative research usually takes
place in the field of social care, nursing,
psychology, rehabilitation centers, education,
etc. This involves a long-time study of a
person, group, organization, or situation. It
seeks to find answers to why such thing
occurs to the subject. Finding the reason’s
behind such occurrence drives you to also
delve into relationships of people related to
the case under study. Varieties of data
collection methods such as interviews,
questionnaires, observations, and
documentary analysis
Types of Qualitative Research
 Ethnography
Falling in the field of anthropology, ethnography is the study of a
particular cultural group to get a clear understanding of its
organizational set-up, internal operation, and lifestyle. A
particular group reveals the nature or characteristics of their
own culture through the world perceptions of the cultural
group’s members.

 Phenomenology
Coming from the word “phenomenon” which means something
known through sensory experience, phenomenology refers to the
study of how people find their experiences meaningful. Its
primary goal is to make people understand their experiences
about death of loved ones, care for handicapped persons,
friendliness of people, etc. In doing so, other people will likewise
understand the meanings attached to their experiences. Those
engaged in assisting people to manage their own lives properly
Types of Qualitative Research
 Content and Discourse Analysis
Content analysis is a method of quantitative research
that requires an analysis or examination of the
substance or content of the mode of communication
(letters, books, journals, photos, video recordings,
SMS, online messages, emails, audio-visual materials,
etc.) used by a person, group, organization, or any
institution in communicating. A study of language
structures used in the medium of communication to
discover the effects of sociological, cultural,
institutional, and ideological factors on the content
makes it a discourse analysis. In studying the content
or structures of the material, you need a question or a
set of questions to guide you in your analysis.
Types of Qualitative Research
 Historical Analysis
Central to this qualitative research method is the
examination of primary documents to make you
understand the connection of past events to the
present time. The results of your content analysis will
help you specify phenomenological changes in
unchanged aspects of society through the years.

 Grounded Theory
Grounded theory takes place when you discover a new
theory to underlie your study at the time of data
collection and analysis. Through your observation on
your subjects, you will happen to find a theory that
applies to your current study. Interview, observation,
and documentary analysis are the data gathering
Advantages or Strength of Qualitative Research
 It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter,
which means that those involve in the research
understand things based on what they find meaningful.
 It promotes a full understanding of human behavior or
personality traits in their natural setting.
 It is instrumental for positive societal changes.
 It engenders respect for people’s individuality as it
demands the researcher’s careful and attentive stand
toward people’s world views.
 It is a way of understanding and interpreting social
interactions.
 It increases the researcher’s interest in the study as it
includes the researcher’s experience or background
knowledge in interpreting verbal and visual data.
 It offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining
knowledge about something.
Disadvantages or Weaknesses of Qualitative Resea

 It involves a lot of researcher’s

subjectivity in data analysis.
 It is hard to know the validity or
reliability of the data.
 Its open-ended questions yield “data
overload” that requires long-time
analysis.
 It is time-consuming.
 It involves several processes, which
results greatly depend on the
researcher’s views or interpretations.
Thank You!!!