Qualitative Research

DEDE ROHADI FAJRI

ENGLISH EDUCATION
FKIP
 Definition

 Qualitative Research is collecting, analyzing, and

interpreting data by observing what people do and
speak. Qualitative research refers to the meanings,
concepts, definitions, characteristics, metaphors,
symbols, and descriptions of things.

 Qualitative research is subjective and uses very

different methods of collecting information,
including individual, in-depth interviews and focus
groups. The nature of this type of research is
exploratory and open-ended.
 Strengths

• Good for examining feelings and

motivations
• Allows for complexity and depth of issues
• Provides insights into the real-life
situations
 Weaknesses

• Can’t extrapolate to the whole population

• Volume of data
• Complexity of analysis
• Time-consuming nature of the clerical
efforts required in this method of
research
 Types of Qualitative Research

I. Basic Interpretive Qualitative Study

II. Phenomenological Study
III. Grounded Theory Study
IV. Case Studies
V. Ethnographic Study
VI. Narrative Analysis
VII.Critical Qualitative Research
VIII.Postmodern Research
 Basic Interpretive Qualitative
Study

Can be used when an instructor is interested in how

students make meaning of a situation or
phenomenon. It uses an inductive strategy,
collecting data from interviews, observations, or
document analysis (e.g., students’ written work).
Analysis is of patterns or common themes and the
outcome is a rich descriptive account that makes
reference to the literature that helped frame the
study.
Example: An interview of 45 women from varying
backgrounds and a comparison of the developmental
patterns discerned with earlier findings on male
development. They found women’s lives evolved
through periods of tumultuous, structure-building
phases that alternated with stable periods.
 Phenomenological Study

 Aims to find the essence or structure of an experience by

explaining how complex meanings are built out of simple units
of inner experience, for example, the essence of being a
participant in a particular program or the essence of
understanding a subject. The method involves temporarily
putting aside or “bracketing” personal attitudes and beliefs
regarding the phenomenon, thereby heightening
consciousness and allowing the researcher to intuit or see the
phenomenon from the perspective of those who have
experienced it. All collected data is laid out and treated as
equal, clustered into themes, examined from multiple
perspectives, and descriptions of the phenomena (how and
what) are constructed.
 Example: Eight clinical psychology practicum-level trainees
were interviewed to obtain experience of good supervision.
Meaning units were identified from these and a meaning
structure was identified and refined into the essence or
essential elements of good supervisory experiences shared by
a majority in this context.
 Grounded Theory Study

 Derives from collected data a theory that is “grounded” in

the data, but therefore localized, dealing with a specific
situation like how students handle multiple responsibilities
or what constitutes an effective lesson plan. The method
involves comparing collected units of data against one
another until categories, properties, and hypotheses that
state relations between these categories and properties
emerge. These hypotheses are tentative and suggestive,
not tested in the study.
 Example: Ten school counselors were given structured
interviews to help determine how their professional
identity is formed. This data was coded first to form
concepts and then to form connections between concepts.
A core concept emerged and its process and implications
were discussed. School counselors’ professional
interactions were identified as defining experiences in
their identity formation.
 Case Studies

A descriptive intensive analysis of an individual, unit,

or phenomena selected for its typicality or
uniqueness. Different methods could be used to
conduct this analysis (like ethnography) but the
focus is on the unit of analysis, like an individual
student’s experiences.
Example: The faculty of a small Southern
Historically Black College was examined in order to
examine concerns of a digital divide between
predominantly White colleges and Historically Black
Colleges and Universities. The study reports on
technology familiarity and use scores of these
faculties and what was done by college
administrators in the three years following the
collection of these scores. Recommendations on how
to close this divide are shared.
 Ethnographic Study

 Traditional in anthropology for studying human society

and culture. It is less a method of data collection and more
the use of a socio-cultural lens through which the data are
interpreted. Extensive fieldwork is usually required in
order to give a cultural interpretation of the data and
immersion in the culture is common, but a description of
the culture (the beliefs, traditions, practices, and
behaviors of a group of individuals) and an interpretation
of the culture through the point of view of an insider to
that culture are necessary components of ethnographies.
 Example: Native American students training to be
teachers were followed through interviews over a five year
period to chart the progress towards a goal of facilitating
the development of Native American teachers and to
better understand and address their unique problems.
Their beliefs, views about self, and concerns were
presented.
 Narrative Analysis

 This involves the use of stories or life narratives, first

person accounts of experiences. These stories are used as
data, taking the perspective of the storyteller, as opposed to
the larger society, with the goal of extracting meaning from
the text. The most common types of narrative analysis are
psychological, biographical, and discourse analysis. The
former involves analyzing the story in terms of internal
thoughts and motivations and the latter analyzes the
written text or spoken words for its component parts or
patterns. Biographical analysis takes the individual’s
society and factors like gender and class into account.
 Example: Oral narratives were collected from three social
studies teachers’ lectures, conversations with students, and
student interactions over a 14 month period. These
narratives were coded and analyzed and used to argue that
storytelling or the use of oral history was well received by
students and provided richer data than more traditional
teaching methods.
 Critical Qualitative Research

 This writing aims to reveal and critique the social, cultural,

and psychological assumptions regarding present day
contexts with the goal of empowering individuals and
enabling change. It challenges current power distributions
and the status quo, as opposed to merely revealing
meaning. Research questions may address race, gender, and
class influences, how current power structures may serve
some groups’ interests and oppress others, and how truth
and knowledge are constructed. This analysis is critical for
methods like participatory action research which uses such
critique as the basis for collective action.
 Example: A critical examination of the consumer education
texts used in adult literacy programs revealed content that
was disrespectful of adult learners and their previous
experience as consumers, promoted certain ideologies
regarding consumerism, and defended the status quo by
placing blame for economic troubles on individual
inadequacies, ignoring societal inequities.
 Qualitative Methods

1. Get over the idea that research means

counting, which is the prime focus of
quantitative research.
2. The focus is on subjective experiences, or
the meanings that people use.
3. Because meaning resides in language
(people think with language), qualitative
research largely involves studying text.
4. The best device for collecting and analyzing
qualitative information is the human brain.
 Qualitative Methods

5. Qualitative research is local, concrete.

6. Observations and findings depend on
understanding contexts and the meanings
held by the people in those contexts and the
meanings of the things in those contexts.
7. Observations are typically of interactions in
smaller groups or selectively defined
settings.
8. Exploration is very often the motive, but not
always.
 Qualitative Methods

9. Qualitative research often provides

idiographic (as opposed to nomothetic)
causal explanations.
10. Qualitative research is typically inductive.
11. The research is reflexive—design is
flexible and can change given the needs of
the research. E.g., Theoretical Sampling
12. The researcher must be reflexive as well—
the brain tool must be calibrated,
understood, active, paid attention to,
controlled
 Qualitative Methods

13. Qualitative research is very practical,

logical, and critical of itself. Researchers
constantly ask, “Am I accurately depicting
the social world given the ways I am
collecting and analyzing my data?”
14. Good qualitative research is often the most
rigorous, difficult research.
DEDUCTIVE & INDUCTIVE REASONING
 Elements of the Research Process

Deductive thinking (Quantitative)

THEORY

HYPOTHESIS

OBSERVATION

CONFIRMATION
 Elements of the Research Process (Cont.)

Inductive thinking (Qualitative)

OBSERVATION

PATTERNS

HYPOTHESIS

THEORY
 QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE

Research process is Research process is

deductive. inductive.
Measure objective facts. Document social reality,
meaning is constructed.
Focus on variables. Focus on in-depth meaning.

Firewall between research Values are present & explicit

process and researchers’ (empathy).
values.
Cross-contextual. Contextual dependence.
Many cases. Few cases.
 IDEALS
QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Statistical analysis Thematic analysis

Highly structured research Loosely structured research

process. process.

Particularistic, specific Holistic perspective

Separation from data Intimacy with data

Generalize to population Generalization to properties and

contexts
 Qualitative Methods

When should I use qualitative methods?

When variables cannot be quantified;
When variables are best understood in their natural settings;
When variables are studied over real time;
When studying intimate details of roles, processes, and
groups;
When the paramount objective is “understanding”.
 Qualitative Methods

What skills do I need?

Must have requisite knowledge and skills about
methodology, setting and nature of the issue.
Must be familiar with own biases, assumptions,
expectations, and values.
Must be empathic, intelligent, energetic, and interested in
listening
Must be open to embracing multiple realities.
Must be prepared to produce detailed, comprehensive, and
sometimes lengthy reports.
 Qualitative Methods

 Qualitative research quickly exhausts resources

and time.
 Therefore, it is ideal to limit the amount of data
collected.
 It’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with
the data.
 Be very clear about the research focus.
 Write down your foggy ideas and then get more
specific.
 Concentrate on most important issues and not
others.
 Start writing specific questions you want to
answer.
 Now get even more specific, reduce the additional
info.

Design
 What is an In-depth Interview?
 A conversation on a given topic between a
respondent and an interviewer
• Used to obtain detailed insights and personal
thoughts
• Flexible and unstructured, but usually with an
interview guide
• Purpose: to probe informants’ motivations, feelings,
beliefs
• Lasts about an hour
• Interviewer creates relaxed, open environment
• Wording of questions and order are determined by
flow of conversation
• Interview transcripts are analyzed for themes and
connections between themes
 In-depth Interviews Technique:
Laddering

• Laddering
– questioning progresses from product
characteristics to user characteristics
• An example
 “Why do you like wide bodies?”
 “They’re more comfortable”
 “Why is that important?”
 “I can accomplish more”
 “Why is that important?”
 “I will feel good about myself”
 Advantages

– Tendency to have a free exchange

– Can probe potentially complex
motivations and behavior
– Easier to attach a particular response to
a respondent
 Disadvantages

– Qualified interviewers are expensive

– Length and expense of interview often
leads to small sample
– Subjectivity and “fuzziness”
 Focus Groups
A LOOSELY STRUCTURED INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY A TRAINED
MODERATOR AMONG A SMALL NUMBER OF INFORMANTS
SIMULTANEOUSLY.
 Popularity of Focus Group

Percentage of
Companies Using

Frequently Use 56%

Sometimes Use 36%
Never Use 8%
 Focus Group Characteristics

8 - 12 members (usually paid)

homogeneous in terms of demographics and
socioeconomic factors but heterogeneous
views
experience related to product or issue being
discussed
1 1/2 –2 hour session
1-way mirror/client may sit behind
qualified moderator
conversation may be video and/or audio
taped OR notes may be taken
•Tiered viewing room with wrap-
around mirror offers multi-
perspective viewing.
•Room is generously equipped
with outlets so laptop
computers can be utilized
during session.
•Strategically placed state-of-
the-art audio and video taping
offer unobstructed viewing.
•Attached Conference Room
offers closed circuit television
viewing for additional 12-14
viewers.
 Common Applications of
Focus Groups
• Understanding Consumers
– perceptions, opinions, and behavior concerning
products and services

• Product Planning
– generating ideas about new products

• Advertising
– Develop creative concepts and copy material
 Key Issues

Focus groups are small numbers, not

random, not statistically valid
Focus groups are a lot of work
can get insights from focus groups that
can’t get in other ways
Know their limits
Beware of power relations
 Advantages
 Richness of data
 Versatility
 Ability to study special respondents
 Children
 Professionals (doctors, lawyers)
 Direct involvement of managers (vividness)
 Easily understandable
 Flexibility in covering topics
 May uncover unanticipated ideas that are important
 Can define constructs of importance
 Gives “flesh” and connectedness to real consumers/people
 Can show them designs, have them try out prototypes
 group synergy
Disadvantages
 Lack of generalizability (small sample size)
 High selection bias
 Might be misused
 focus group is not a replacement for
quantitative research
 Subject to Interpretation
 Cost-per-respondent is high (compared to survey)
 Results dependent on skill of moderator in
running the group and analysis
 may be the response in the moment – which may
change over time
 strong personalities are a hazard
 “professional respondents”
 Focus Groups Vs. In-depth Interview

Advantages of focus groups

 relatively lower cost per person
 stimulating effect from group interaction
 vividness to managers

Advantages of in-depth interview

 more information from each respondent
 flexible with the use of physical stimuli
 Use of Focus Groups
Buick division of General Motors used focus groups to
help develop the Regal. Buick held 20 focus groups
across the country to determine what features
customers wanted in a car. The focus groups told GM
they wanted a stylish car, legitimate back seat, at least
20 miles per gallon, and 0 to 60 miles per hour
acceleration in 11 seconds or less.
Based on the results, Buick engineers created
clay models of the car and mock-ups of the
interior. These were shown to other focus
groups. The respondents did not like the
oversized bumpers and the severe slope of
the hood, but liked the four-disc brakes and
independent suspension.
Focus groups also helped refine the advertising
campaign for the Regal. Participants were asked which
competing cars most resembled Buick in image and
features. The answer was Oldsmobile, a sister GM
division. In an effort to differentiate the two, Buick was
repositioned above Oldsmobile by focusing on comfort
and luxury features.
 Online Focus Groups

Chat Room Style

 good for capturing top-of-mind reactions
to concepts, graphics, audio/video clips,
web sites, etc.

Bulletin Style
 good for eliciting more in-depth
comments on complex issues, as well as
for allowing participation by individuals
who would be difficult to gather in “real
time”.
Advantages:
• Software controls for faster responders
• Ability to show websites to participants
• Clients “lurk” in “chat room”; can send questions to
moderator
• Transcripts produced automatically
• Individual responses can be tracked (can’t in offline or “3-D”
focus group)
• Many people are more open when NOT face to face
• Friendlier, more humorous online
• Distant participants
• Convenient for participants
• less costly than face-to-face groups
Disadvantages:
• No body language (often part of analysis)
• Harder to read emotions
• Sampling issues (who is more likely to participate?)
• Difficult to probe
• Sometimes asynchronous (I.e. over several days)
• The Internet approach to focus group relies on an individual's
ability to type effectively to participate fully
• Can’t show "external stimuli" to groups in order to obtain their
reactions
• Hard for skilled moderator to utilize the group dynamics to explore
an issue
• Comments likely to be short
• problem of lag in responses
• Lack of interaction, synergy
• Easy for participants to NOT participate
 Features of Qualitative
Research

1. Naturalistic
2. Descriptive Data
3. Concern With Process
4. Inductive
5. Meaning
 Qualitative Research is
Naturalistic
Context-dependent
Actions are understood within settings
Circumstances are important
 Qualitative Research has
Descriptive Data

Narrative form of reporting is common and

quotations are used to illustrate &
substantiate
Data includes interviews, fieldnotes,
photographs, video footage, personal
documents, memos, etc.
 Qualitative Research is Concerned With
Process

Process is just as, or more, important than

outcomes or products
Attention to how meaning is derived and how
labels come to be applied and how
assumptions are made
 Qualitative Research is
Inductive

Theories develop from the bottom up rather

than the top down
The direction you will travel comes after
you have been collecting data & spent time
with the participants
“You are not putting together a puzzle
whose picture you already know”
Use parts of the study to learn what the
important questions are
 Qualitative Research is
Meaningful
Participant perspectives are important
Accuracy of interpretations can be checked
with the participants
Interplay or dialogue between researchers
and participants
THANK YOU