UNIT 3:

PROCESS OF DESIGNING A
QUALITATIVE STUDY
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 CONTENTS

1. Principles of qualitative research design

2. Steps of Qualitative Research Methods-

⮚Formulating questions

⮚Data collection techniques

⮚Sampling strategies

⮚Designing a qualitative study

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 THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING-
❑ Think about some situation/ phenomenon that may have interested you from the past one
week

❑ What about it intrigued you?

❑ What aspects of it made it catch your notice?

❑ Where is the mystery coming from?

❑ What questions would you think would help you answer the mystery?

❑ How would you do data collection using these questions?

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 PRINCIPLES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
[CRESWELL(2011)]
1. Understanding Phenomena in Context: Qualitative research seeks to understand phenomena
within their natural contexts, emphasizing the importance of exploring the complexities and
nuances of human experiences.
2. Holistic and Contextual Understanding: Qualitative research aims to capture the richness and
depth of human experiences by examining the holistic context in which they occur, rather than
reducing phenomena to isolated variables.
3. Participant-Centered Approach: Qualitative research often involves close interaction with
participants, allowing their voices and perspectives to shape the research process and outcomes.
4. Reflexivity and Researcher Subjectivity: Qualitative researchers acknowledge their own
subjectivity and influence on the research process, engaging in reflexivity to critically examine
their assumptions, biases, and values that may impact the interpretation of data.
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 Contd.
5. Inductive Reasoning and Emergent Design: Qualitative research typically adopts an inductive
approach, allowing themes, patterns, and theories to emerge from the data rather than imposing
preconceived hypotheses. This often involves flexible research designs that adapt to emerging insights.
6. Rich Description and Thick Description: Qualitative research prioritizes rich, detailed descriptions of
phenomena to provide deep insights into the social and cultural context in which they occur. This
emphasis on "thick description" helps capture the complexity and intricacies of human behavior and
experiences.
7. Trustworthiness and Rigor: Qualitative researchers strive to ensure the trustworthiness and rigor of
their findings through strategies such as triangulation (using multiple data sources or methods), member
checking (seeking validation from participants), peer debriefing, and maintaining an audit trail of
decision-making processes.

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Steps of Qualitative Research

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 STEPS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH- FORMULATING
QUESTIONS
Research questions need to meet a number of requirements -

1. clear, intelligible and unambiguous

2. focused, but not too narrow
3. capable of being researched through data collection: not too abstract, or questions which
require the application of philosophy rather than of data
4. relevant and useful, whether to policy, practice or the development of social theory
5. informed by and connected to existing research or theory, but with the potential to make
an original contribution or to fill a gap
6. feasible, given the resources available
7. of at least some interest to the researcher
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 Contd.
 Qualitative research questions identify the phenomenon (i.e. the process, object or entity) that the
researcher wants to investigate
 Qualitative research questions consider the “why and how” aspects
 It points us in a direction without predicting what we may find. Good qualitative research questions
tend to be process-oriented
 They ask about how something happens. For example, we may ask ‘How do women with chronic
illness manage a pregnancy?’ or ‘How do married couples negotiate child-care arrangements?’
 Qualitative research questions are always provisional because the researcher may find that the very
concepts and terminology used in the research question are, in fact, not appropriate or relevant to the
participants’ experiences
 Qualitative research questions often contain words like lived experience, personal experience,
understanding, meaning, and stories.
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Difference b/w Quantitative and Qualitative RQs

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 Good Research Questions Must Be…

 Is specific

 Must have a clear purpose

 Focus on a single phenomenon

 Define your sample before setting the question

 Make sure the question is feasible

 Must use qualitative words e.g. explore, understand, discover

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 Steps in Formulating a RQ
1. Begin by identifying a broader subject of interest that lends itself to investigate
2. Do preliminary research on the general topic to find out what research has already been
done and what literature already exists. Therefore, one should begin with “information
gaps”
3. What do you still need to know?
4. What are the implied questions: The need to know about a problem will lead to few
implied questions. Each general question should lead to more specific questions
5. Narrow the scope and focus of research
6. Once question has been framed, one should evaluate it. This is to realize if these would
be effective RQs or if they need more revising
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 Data Collection Techniques

 Data can be collected from a variety of sources which includes-

1. People (as individuals, groups or collectivities)

2. Organizations, institutions and entities

3. Texts (published and unpublished sources including virtual ones)

4. Settings and environments (material, visual/sensory and virtual)

5. Objects, artefacts, media products (material, visual/sensory and virtual)

6. Events and happenings (material, visual/sensory and virtual).

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 Questions to be asked before selecting method…

1. What am I interested in?

2. Where is it ‘located’ and therefore from which potential sources can I generate knowledge of it?

3. What do I expect these sources to be able to ‘tell’ me?

4. How well does the use of these data sources match my ontological perspective on what constitutes

the social world, and my epistemological perspective on how knowledge about that world can be

produced?

5. What are the practicalities of using these data sources?

6. What are the ethics of using these data sources?

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 Data Collection at Cultural level
 Cultural consensus modeling, which provides information about the components or elements in cultural domains (such as
leisure time activities, types of risk, illnesses, types of clothing, foods) and the different ways the way people organize
and classify them; how people explain these mental or cognitive groupings; and the degree to which there is consensus or
agreement about the ways the items in a domain are grouped
 Network research, which involves documenting through observation and measuring with surveys the ways organization
members and organizations or specific locations, such as bars, libraries, or senior centers, connect to each other, in what
ways, and for what reasons
 Archival research, which involves using secondary data (primary data collected by others but available to the public for
use) or library source data to help understand the history of a study site
 Community mapping in various forms, including drawing maps of the community or asking residents to draw such maps,
and using existing to-scale maps or Google maps to locate activities and organizations spatially in relation to where
people live and conduct their daily activities
 Audiovisual documentation, which involves filming or audio-recording activities that take place in the community for
later coding and analysis
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 Data Collection at Individual level

 In-depth interviews are conducted with unique individuals or a small number of people. There are several

types of in-depth interviews. Life history narratives involve few interviews, which are usually very

lengthy (up to fifteen or more hours of interview time); narrative interviews focus on specific and often

sensitive topics, such as bereavement or HIV, and usually consist of three interviews of about one to two

hours each, moving from less sensitive and more descriptive to more sensitive and more focused on

personal meaning and feelings. One-time in-depth interviews usually address a specific topic and last

about one to two hours (Seidman, 2006).

 Semi-structured interviews are used to collect similar information from a larger sample of individuals,

numbering at least twelve to fifteen and usually not more than ninety.
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 Individual Level Contd...
 Qualitatively based surveys are based primarily on prior qualitative research in the study population. These surveys are
generated from the domains, subdomains, and individual items that emerge from in-depth and semi-structured
interviews. Usually they do not include standardized scales and other validated instruments, although there is no hard
and fast rule about such inclusions. However, if preselected scales are used, it is always best to pilot them for meaning
as well as to analyze the structure of these scales to make sure they are internally consistent. There is a strong possibility
that any standardized measure will require adaptation when used with a new study population. The same principle
applies to a standardized behavioral coding scheme, which will require adaptation to the study situation and setting.
 Individual-level network data (ego-centered data) describing the personal networks or relationships of individual
respondents in a study can be collected, even in the context of in-depth interviews. Person-oriented network research
can show what proportion of an individual’s network members are involved in risk behavior (which is a more specific
behavioral indicator of social influence than perceived influence). These data can also show what proportion of a
personal network provides support for or extracts support from an individual (these are measures of positive and
negative social support).

SEE PAGES 93-96 in Qualitative Research Book by Eds- STEPHEN D. LAPAN, MARYLYNN T. QUARTAROLI, FRANCES
JULIA RIEMER 17
Methods- Overview

+ Document Analysis

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 Focus Group Discussion
 A focus group discussion (FGD) is a qualitative research method that involves gathering a small group
of people to discuss a specific topic in a moderated setting. Here's a breakdown of its key aspects:
Purpose:
 Gain in-depth insights into participants' opinions, experiences, and perspectives on a particular topic.
 Understand the reasons behind their attitudes and behaviors.
 Generate new ideas and research questions.
Participants:
 Typically, 6-12 individuals are recruited who share similar characteristics relevant to the research topic.
 This ensures focused and relevant discussions within the group.

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 Document Analysis

 Written documents: This includes research papers, articles, books, letters,

journals, diaries, emails, social media posts, meeting minutes, government
reports, and more.
 Visual materials: This encompasses photos, videos, paintings, drawings,
maps, diagrams, and other visual representations.
 Audio recordings: Interviews, speeches, lectures, songs, and other forms of
audio can be analyzed for qualitative insights

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 SAMPLING STRATEGIES
 There are three features which are integral to qualitative sampling-
1. The use of Prescribed Data Selection- The aim of qualitative research is to gain an understanding of the
nature and form of phenomena, to unpack meanings, to develop explanations or to generate ideas, concepts
and theories. Samples therefore need to be selected to ensure the inclusion of relevant constituencies,
events, processes and so on, that can illuminate and inform that understanding. A second requirement is to
ensure that the sample is as diverse as possible within the boundaries of the defined population
2. Sample Size- Qualitative samples are usually small in size. The type of information that qualitative studies
yield is rich in detail. Multiple factors
3. Additional and Supplementary Sample- In qualitative research it is perfectly possible to supplement a
sample by adding members to it, or to draw a second sample within the scope of the same study. This may
occur when it is found that important constituencies are not sufficiently well represented to derive sound
qualitative evidence or when it is clear that the innate diversity of a subgroup warrants further cases or even
a separate sample
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 Criterion/ Purposive Sampling
 The selection of participants, settings or other sampling units is criterion based or purposive (Mason, 2002;
Patton, 2002)
 The sample units are chosen because they have particular features or characteristics which will enable
detailed exploration and understanding of the central themes and puzzles which the researcher wishes to
study
 These may be socio-demographic characteristics, or may relate to specific experiences, behaviours, roles,
etc.
 This has two principal aims-
1. The first is to ensure that all the key constituencies of relevance to the subject matter are covered
2. The second is to ensure that, within each of the key criteria, some diversity is included so that the
impact of the characteristic concerned can be explored.

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 APPROACHES TO PURPOSIVE SAMPLING
 Homogeneous samples (Holloway and Wheeler, 1996; Patton, 2002; Robson,2002) chosen to give a
detailed picture of a particular phenomenon – for example, individuals who belong to the same subculture
or have the same characteristics. This allows for detailed investigation of social processes in a specified
context.
 Heterogeneous samples (Holloway and Wheeler, 1996; Robson, 2002) or maximum variation sampling
(Patton, 2002) where there is a deliberate strategy to include phenomena which vary widely from each
other. The aim is to identify central themes which cut across the variety of cases or people.
 Extreme case or deviant sampling (Patton, 2002; Robson, 2002). Cases are chosen because they are
unusual or special and therefore potentially enlightening. The logic is that learning about phenomena is
heightened by looking at exceptions or extremes (for example, ethnomethodologists sometimes use
deviant sampling to expose implicit assumptions and norms).

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 Contd.
 Intensity sampling (Patton, 2002) which employs similar logic to extreme or deviant case sampling but
focuses on cases which strongly represent the phenomena of interest rather than unusual cases.
 Typical case sampling (Patton, 2002). Cases which characterize positions that are 'normal' or 'average' are
selected to provide detailed profiling. This requires prior knowledge about overall patterns of response so that
what is 'typical' is known (for example, participants might be selected from their responses to a survey).
 Stratified purposive sampling (Patton, 2002), a hybrid approach in which the aim is to select groups that
display variation on a particular phenomena but each of which is fairly homogeneous, so that subgroups can be
compared
 Critical case sampling (Patton, 2002) in which cases are chosen on the basis that they demonstrate a
phenomenon or position 'dramatically' or are pivotal in the delivery of a process or operation. The logic is that
these cases will be 'critical' to any understanding offered by the research. Patton sees this approach as
particularly valuable in evaluative research because it helps to draw attention to particular features of a process
and can thus heighten the impact of the research.
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 THEORETICAL SAMPLING
 Theoretical sampling is a particular kind of purposive sampling in which the researcher samples incidents,
people or units on the basis of their potential contribution to the development and testing of theoretical
constructs
 The process is iterative: the researcher picks an initial sample, analyses the data, and then selects a further
sample in order to refine his or her emerging categories and theories
 This process is continued until the researcher reaches 'data saturation', or a point when no new insights would
be obtained from expanding the sample further
 Definition- “Theoretical sampling is the process of data collection for generating theory whereby the analyst
jointly collects, codes, and analyses his data and decides what data to collect next and where to find them, in
order to develop his theory as it emerges. This process of data collection is controlled by the emerging theory,
whether substantive or formal
 The key criteria for selection in theoretical sampling are theoretical purpose and theoretical relevance.
Sampling continues until 'theoretical saturation' is reached and no new analytical insights are forthcoming
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 OPPORTUNISTIC AND CONVENIENCE SAMPLING

 Opportunistic (emergent) sampling involves the researcher taking advantage

of unforeseen opportunities as they arise during the course of fieldwork,

adopting a flexible approach to meld the sample around the fieldwork

context as it unfolds

 Convenience sampling lacks any clear sampling strategy: the researcher

chooses the sample according to ease of access

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 DESIGNING A QUALITATIVE STUDY

When designing a qualitative research study, the following steps must be kept in
mind-
1. The goals of the study
2. The theoretical framework and its concrete questions
3. The selection of empirical material
4. The methodological procedures
5. The degree of standardization and control
6. The generalization goals
7. The temporal, personal, and material resources available.
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