Traditions of qualitative research

Ethnography grounded theory phenomenology

PRESENTED BY
ADITHYA PRADEEP
S1 MSC PSYCHOLOGY
Tradition
In research
In research, a Tradition means a well-established way of studying a
topic, based on past methods and approaches. For example, the
Tradition Of Qualitative Research follows long-standing methods for
studying human experiences through interviews, observations, and
storytelling.
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
• Ethnography involves the researcher (ethnographer) spending a long time with people, either openly or secretly(covert or
overt), observing their daily lives, listening to their conversations, asking questions, and gathering any useful information
to understand the research topic.
• Ethnography answers the question, “what's it like to be this person?”
• Focuses on understanding a social phenomenon rather than testing hypotheses.
• Uses unstructured data (not pre-categorized during collection).
• Examines a small number of cases, sometimes just one, in depth.
• Analyzes data by interpreting human actions, mainly using verbal descriptions, with little or no statistical analysis.
 How College Students Cope With Exam

example
Stress?
A researcher spends a few weeks at a university,
• observing students during exam season.
• They Watch how students behave in the library and study areas.
• Talk to students about their feelings and coping strategies.
• Take notes on common stress signs (e.g., lack of sleep, nervous habits).
pros
• Researchers actively engage with the environment they study, not just as an entry requirement but as a
key part of understanding it.
• Encourages a postmodern approach .instead of following strict methods, it encourages researchers to
adapt and focus on different perspectives and real-life experiences.
• Emergence of virtual ethnography: Instead of observing people in physical spaces, researchers observe
and interact with people in virtual spaces like social media, forums, gaming communities, or virtual worlds.

cons
• Ethnography prioritizes participation, interpretation, and writing style over structured data collection,
which can make research less systematic
• Risk of Subjectivity : Since researchers immerse themselves in the field, their interpretations may be
influenced by personal biases.
• to improve credibility, ethnographers often use multiple methods (triangulation), such as combining
interviews, observations, and document analysis.
phenomenological RESEARCH
• a qualitative research approach used in psychology to explore how individuals experience and make sense of their personal
and social worlds.
• It is based on three key theories:
• Phenomenology – It focuses on lived experiences rather than objective facts.
• Hermeneutics(study of interpretation) – It involves interpreting people’s experiences, acknowledging that the
researcher’s perspective influences the interpretation.
• Ideography – It studies individuals in great depth before drawing broader themes
• The participants are trying to make sense of their world; the researcher is trying to make sense of the participants trying
to make sense of their world
• The aim is not to generalize to a population but to explore personal experiences in depth. A small, homogeneous sample (e.g.,
6–8 participants for professional doctorates) allows detailed exploration selected through purposive sampling.
• Semi structured method of data collection.
 What is it like to experience addiction to

example alcohol, and how does this affect self and

identity?
• Can you describe your experience with alcohol addiction?
• How has your sense of self changed over time?
• What emotions do you associate with your addiction?
Grounded theory
• Grounded theory is a qualitative research methodology used to develop theories grounded in data systematically gathered
and analyzed. Instead of starting with a hypothesis or existing theory, researchers use an inductive approach to generate
new theories based on patterns and concepts emerging from the data.
• grounded theory is a good choice when:
• Little is Known: There isn’t much research or understanding about the topic.
• No Existing Theories: There aren’t any big theories that explain the specific behaviors or ideas you’re studying.
• Challenge Existing Theories: You want to question or improve current theories.
• Understand Participants’ Views: You want to explore how people see, experience, or understand something.
• Develop New Theories: Your goal is to create a new theory based on the data you collect.
• Uses theoretical sampling; it is a data collection process in Grounded Theory research where the researcher continuously
selects new participants based on emerging findings. Instead of pre-determined sampling, the process evolves as the study
progresses, ensuring that new data expands, challenges, or deepens the developing theory.
Grounded theory
• Data analysis in grounded theory
• Open Coding – This is the process of identifying and labeling important parts of text in interview transcripts. These meaningful units
can be a word, phrase, sentence, or larger section that represents an idea or theme.
• Saturation – This happens when researchers keep collecting and analyzing data but no new ideas or themes appear. Once
saturation is reached, they stop collecting new data because everything relevant has already been covered.
• Axial coding- is the process of identifying relationships between categories developed during open coding, helping to organize and
connect themes in the data.
• Selective coding -is the final step, where a core category is chosen, and all other categories are integrated around it to form a
coherent theory. It refines the analysis by ensuring all findings contribute to a central explanation.
 How College Students Cope with Exam Stress?

example
• Data Collection: Observing students, interviews, noting stress behaviors.
• Open Coding: Identifying themes like time management, peer support, exam
anxiety.
• Axial Coding: Linking categories (e.g., peer support → emotional well-
being).
• Selective Coding: Core category: "Coping Strategies for Exam Stress.“
• Theory: Insights help improve student support programs.
pros
• Data-Driven: Develops theory from real-world observations, ensuring relevance.
• Explores the Unknown: Useful for studying complex or new social behaviors.
• Rigorous & Flexible: Constantly refines theory through data collection and analysis

cons
• Time-Consuming: No fixed timeline due to continuous data refinement.
• Complex & Demanding: Requires systematic coding, categorization, and insight.
• Unpredictable Outcomes: Hard to plan sample size, costs, and project duration.
Discourse analysis
• discourses can be defined as sets of (written or spoken) linguistic material that have a degree of coherence in their content and
organization and that perform constructive functions in broadly defined social contexts.
• Instead of seeing language as simply describing an objective world, discourse analysis views it as actively constructing social reality.
This means that the way we talk about things influences how we understand them.
• Discourse analysis examines the structure, function, and context of language in communication. It focuses on how words, phrases, and
interactions contribute to constructing meaning and how these linguistic choices relate to broader social, cultural, or political
frameworks. This type of analysis can be applied to both spoken and written forms of communication, including interviews, conversations,
social media posts, advertisements, and policy documents.
Discourse analysis
• Foucauldian discourse analysis
• Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) is not just about analyzing language but about uncovering hidden power structures, historical
influences, and social control mechanisms behind the way we talk about things. It asks:
• Why do certain ideas dominate?
• Who benefits from them?
• How do they shape people's behavior, identity, and social roles?
• How can they be resisted or changed?
• The Foucauldian approach holds that discourses ‘facilitate and limit, enable and constrain what can be said, by whom, where and when.
 How do advertisements for skin-lightening
products construct and promote the idea of

example "fair skin" as desirable?

how language and visuals construct fair skin as desirable?
Look for recurring themes or ways of talking about fair skin
• Beauty Discourse: Fair skin as the ideal standard of beauty.
• Moral Discourse: Fair skin as a sign of purity, virtue, or superiority.
Who benefits from promoting fair skin as desirable?
How do these discourses marginalize people with darker skin?
Q&A
What does ethnography primarily involve? What is a major advantage of ethnography?
A) Long-term immersion in a community A) In-depth, context-rich data
B) Laboratory experiments B) Easy and quick data collection
C) Quantitative data collection C) Predicts future trends
D) Theoretical models D) Controls variables strictly

Grounded theory is useful when:

A) Little is known about a topic Phenomenology explores the:
B) Large-scale experiments are necessary A) Lived experiences of individuals
C) Data already exists B) Historical context of events
D) Descriptive analysis is needed C) Population-wide patterns
D) Behavior in controlled settings
Which type of research uses coding methods like open
coding, axial coding, and selective coding?
A) Grounded theory
B) Phenomenology
C) Ethnography
D) Discourse analysis
Answers for all questions is option A
Fill up
Saturation happens when researchers keep collecting and analyzing data but
no new ideas or themes appear.
Theoretical sampling in grounded theory ensures participants are selected
based on emerging findings.
Discourse analysis examines the structure and function of language in
communication.
Axial coding in grounded theory helps to establish relationships between
different categories
Virtual ethnography allows researchers to observe online communities, such as
gaming forums and social media groups.
REFERENCES
• Lyons, E., & Coyle, A. (2016). Analysing qualitative data in psychology (2nd ed.). SAGE.
• Flick, U. (2006). An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage.