EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE

Prof Dr Nazia Mumtaz

PhD
Rehabilitation Sciences
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
&
STUDY DESIGNS
 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

 Qualitative Research is effective in obtaining

culturally specific information about the values,
opinions, behaviors & social contexts of
particular population

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/85654/1/MPRA_paper_85654.pdf
 QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES

Qualitative Quantitative
Non- Generalizable Generalizable

Answers Why? How? Answers How many? When? Where?

Formative, earlier phases Tests hypotheses, later phases

Data is “rich” & time-consuming to Data more efficient, but may miss
analyze contextual detail
(Usually) Non-probability based Typically a probability-based sample
sample
Researcher is the instrument Various tools, instruments employed
 METHODS/TYPES OF
QUALITATIVE DESIGN
 Cont..

 Interviews

 Observation

 Focus Groups

 Literature reviews
 INTERVIEWS

• More detailed & nuanced response.

• A no ‘one-size fits all’ concept.

• A fixed “research protocol” vs adopt a more flexible

approach.
 Cont..

(Kvale,1996)
•“...to ensure that the same general areas of information
are collected from each interviewee; provides more
focus than the conversational approach, allows a degree
of freedom & adaptability in getting information from
the interviewee”
 INTERVIEWS

 Informal – researcher is required to recollect

discussion
 Unstructured – researcher allows interview to
proceed at respondent’s pace & subjects to vary by
interviewee (to an extent)
 Semi-structured – researcher uses an Interview Guide
• An interview guide is like a cheat-sheet for
interviewer.
 Cont…

• Not verbatim rather an aide-mémoire. “Usually the

interviewer will have a prepared set of questions but
these are only used as a guide, and departures from
the guidelines are not seen as a problem but are often
encouraged” – Silverman (2013)
 IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS
 Intensive individual interviews

 Explore new and/or sensitive issues in-depth

 Neutral questions

 Personal feelings

 Duration-time

 Differences in the power dynamics

“Conversations with a purpose”

 Cont…
• Preparation for interview
• Choose a setting with least distraction.
• Explain purpose of interview.
• Address terms of confidentiality.
• Explain format of interview.
• Indicate approx. duration of interview.
• Provide contact information of interviewer.
• Allow interviewee to clarify any doubts about
interview.
• Prepare a method for recording data, e.g., take notes.
 Cont…
• Sequence of Questions
• Get respondents involved in interview as soon as
possible.
• Before asking controversial matters, talk some facts.
Intersperse fact-based questions throughout interview.
• Ask questions about the present before questions about
past or future.
• Last questions might be to allow respondents to
provide any other information they prefer to add &
their impressions of interview.
 OBSERVATION
• Observation- a method of data collection in which
researchers observe within a specific research field-
referred to as an unobtrusive method.
• Observation is associated with an ethnographic
methodology but can be used as part of other research
designs.
• Seek to find out.
 CLASSIFICATION OF OBSERVATION

Qualitative Research = Observation Technique

 Direct vs Indirect:
Direct >>observing behavior as it occurs
Indirect>>observing the effects of behavior

 Disguised vs non-disguised
Non-disguised>>Direct
Disguised>>Indirect
 OBSERVATION

Appropriate Conditions

 Must occur in a setting

where the researcher can
observe the behavior
 Ethical concerns-invasion
of privacy-
confidentiality-biased/obs
ervation/ information
 OBSERVATION:
ADVANTAGES & LIMITATIONS
 Advantages
– Greater data accuracy than direct questioning, in
natural settings people behave naturally
– Problems of refusal, false response, non-
cooperation etc. are absent
– No recall error
– In some situations, only way
 Limitations
– Time consuming,-- too many things to observe
– May not be representative
– Difficulty in determining root cause of the
behavior
 FOCUS GROUP
• Focus groups are a form of group interview that
capitalizes on communication between research
participants in order to generate data.
• General characteristics of Focus Group are people's
involvement.
• Focus or object of analysis is interaction inside the
group.
• Participants influence each other through the ideas &
contributions during discussion.
 FOCUS GROUP
 An interview conducted by a trained moderator in a non-structured
and natural manner with a small group of respondents.

Group size 6-12 (over-recruit by approx. 20%)

Group composition Homogenous, respondents prescreened
Physical setting Relaxed, informal setting
Time duration 1 - 3 hours
Recording Use of audio and video
systems
Moderator Observational, interpersonal,
good communication skills
needed.
 FOCUS GROUPS
 Objectives:
– Understand people’s
perceptions, values, norms
– Discuss sensitive issues
– Help in informing &
developing Quantitative
Questionnaire
– Understanding specific
terminology
 FOCUS GROUP SESSION & MODERATOR

 Success of focus groups depend

on the moderator
 He/she must strive for generating
a stimulating natural discussion
without losing sight of the focus
 Must take initiative, but should
not dominate the discussion
unduly
 Must not participate in discussion
 ADVANTAGES OF FOCUS GROUP
 Synergism
When a group of people with similar interests discuss an issue
together, they are likely to produce a richer insight, wider range
of information, and innovative ideas than will individual
responses obtained privately
 Snowballing
In a group discussion, one person’s comment often triggers a
chain reaction from the other participants and generates more
views.
 Stimulation
Once the focus group discussion is underway, general level of
excitement over the topic increases, and a large number of
respondents want to express their ideas and expose their feelings.
 Cont..
 Security. Because of homogeneity of composition, focus
group participants have similar feelings. This enables them
to feel comfortable & uninhibited to express their
ideas/feelings.

 Spontaneity. In focus groups participants are not required

to answer specific questions. Their responses can be
spontaneous & unconventional reflecting an accurate idea
of their views

 Inexpensive. Considering the richness of output, it is a

relatively inexpensive method of data collection.
 OTHER QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES

 Projective technique:
 Involve situations in which
participants are placed in
simulated activities hoping that
they will divulge information
about themselves that are
unlikely to be revealed under
direct questioning.
 PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

 Free Word Association

 Sentence Completion
 Unfinished
scenario/story
completion
 Cartoon completion test-
Thematic Apperception
Test (TAT)-pictorial
technique
 FREE WORD ASSOCIATION

In this technique, a list of carefully

selected stimulus words or phrases
Stimulus Word Response
related to the topic of research are Children __________
read out, one at a time, to a Son _________
respondent. Daughter __________
Pencil _________
The respondent is asked to respond Chair _________
Planning __________
with the first word or phrase that Horse __________
comes to his/her mind. The list of Family _________
words should contain a mixture of _________
test words and neutral words.
 SENTENCE COMPLETION
This technique is an extension of the free-word association
test. In this technique, the respondent is presented with
some sentences containing incomplete stimuli and is asked
to complete them. Like the free-word association method,
interpreting and analyzing data obtained from this
technique is also difficult.

Young boys these days are

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Family Planning is
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
The Concept of Birth Spacing in Islam
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
 ANALYSIS- QUALITATIVE

 Thematic coding factors:

1. Frequency – #

2.Specificity – details

3.Emotion – enthusiasm

4.Extensiveness – amount of information

 SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

 Participants selected for specific purpose

 Random selection NOT used

 No specific formula to calculate appropriate sample

size

 Data Saturation
 DATA COLLECTION

 Clear descriptive information about

participants, study site & the researchers.
 Length of time

 Specific methods used should be mentioned.

 STUDY DESIGNS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

According to Creswell(1998)
Five major designs used in qualitative research:

• Biography

• Ethnography

• Phenomenology

• Grounded Theory

• Case study
 BIOGRAPHY

 Biography - Greek words bios meaning "life", and

graphos meaning "write“.
 An account of a person's life, usually published in
the form of a book or essay, or in some other form,
such as a film.
 A biography presents the subject's story, highlighting
various aspects of his or her life, including intimate
details of experiences, and may include an analysis of
the subject's personality
 PHENOMENOLOGY

 Phenomenology understands lived experience &

interpret that experience by providing information
that can be shared with & used by others

 Phenomenology is "the reflective study of the essence

of consciousness as experienced from the first-person
point of view
 ETHNOGRAPHY
 To study a particular culture or group of people to
identify their daily life patterns, meanings & beliefs.
 Ethnography is study of people in naturally occurring
settings or ‘fields’ by means of methods which capture
their social meanings and ordinary activities, involving
the researcher participating directly in setting, if not
also the activities, in order to collect data in a
systematic manner but without meaning being imposed
on them externally.
 GROUNDED THEORY

 A systematic qualitative research methodology in the

social sciences emphasizing generation of theory
from data in the process of conducting research

 Researchers seek to understand and identify

theoretical processes in the real world
 CASE STUDY
 The case study is one of several ways of doing social
science research
 Case study methods involve an in-depth, longitudinal
examination of a single instance or event
 Case studies should not be confused with qualitative
research & can be based on any mix of quantitative &
qualitative evidence
JAZAK ALLAH
KHAIR
 REFERENCES
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