Educ Rsch Pp10

McMillanEducational Research: Fundamentals for the Consumer, 6e© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Educational Research: Fundamentals for the Consumer

Woolfolk / PerryChild and Adolescent Development © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sixth Edition

McMillanEducational Research: Fundamentals for the Consumer, 6e© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Qualitative Research Designs, Data Collection, and Analysis

Chapter 10

McMillanEducational Research: Fundamentals for the Consumer, 6e© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 3

Qualitative Research

Three assumptions that differentiate qualitative and quantitative studies• Epistemology

Qualitative researchers believe there are multiple realities represented by the participants’ perspectives

Quantitative researchers believe a single, objective reality exists



Three assumptions (continued)• Context

Qualitative researchers believe context is critical to understanding the phenomena being studied

Quantitative researchers do not believe context is an important factor

• Researcher bias Qualitative researchers believe the researcher’s biases

and perspectives must be understood to interpret the results

Quantitative researchers believe researcher bias is controlled through the control of internal validity threats



Characteristics of qualitative research• Natural settings - field research

Behavior is studied as it occurs naturally Beliefs related to a natural setting

– Behavior is understood bests as it occurs without external constraints or control

– The situational context is very important to understanding behavior



Characteristics of qualitative research• Direct Data collection

Data is collected directly from the source– Observations– Interviews– Document analysis

• Rich narrative descriptions• Process orientation

How and why behaviors occur



Characteristics of qualitative research• Inductive data analysis• Participant perspectives define what is

“real”• Socially constructed meaning• Emerging research design

The design plans change as data is collected, analyzed, and understood


Ethnography

An ethnography is an in-depth description and interpretation of cultural patterns and meanings within a culture or social group• Culture - shared patterns of beliefs,

normative expectations, behaviors, and meanings

• Shared, not individualistic


Ethnography

Problem statements• Foreshadowed problem - a general

framework for beginning a qualitative study• Specific question - a question(s) that

emerges from the interactive relationship between the problem and data

Often found embedded in the data analysis Changing nature of questions often necessitates

changes in the design (i.e., an emergent design)


Case Study

In-depth analysis of one or more events, settings, programs, groups, or other “bounded systems”• Focus on one entity• Defined by time and place• Concern with the limited generalizability of

the findings


Case Study

Types of case studies• Historical organizational - focus on the

development of an organization over time• Observational - study of a single entity

using participant observation• Life history (i.e., oral history) - a first-person

narrative completed with one person


Case Study

Types of case studies (continued)• Situation analysis - a study of a specific event from

multiple perspective• Multi-case - a study of several different independent

entities• Multi-site - a study of many sites and participants

the main purpose of which is to develop theory• Instrumental - study of an entity, theme, or issue


Case Study

Research problem statement• Focus on in-depth description and

understanding• Use of a single major question and several

sub-questions• Emerging nature of the problems


Phenomenological Designs

A phenomenological study describes and interprets the experiences of participants to understand their perspectives

Based on the belief that there are multiple ways of interpreting the same experience and the meaning of that experience is what constitutes reality


Phenomenological Designs

Research problem• Focused on what is essential for the

meaning of the event, episode, or interaction

• Selecting participants Participants are selected because they have lived

or are living the experience being investigated Participants will share their experiences Participants can articulate their feelings


Grounded Theory Designs

A grounded theory study discovers or generates a theory• A theory is a set of propositions that pertain to a

specific experience, situation, or setting• The contextual sensitivity of the theory is the basis

for suggesting the theory is “grounded” in the field data

Research problems - broad general questions that focus on what happened to people, why they believed it happened, and what it means to them


Critical Studies

Researcher’s role is as an advocate to respond to issues of marginalized individual.

Studies are focused of power and control and inequality based on race, gender, or class.

The central issue is typically the struggle of a targeted group to enhance their influence.


Data Collection

Identifying and entering the research site• Access to all parts of the site

Participants Documents Physical location

• Rapport - need to be “integrated” within the site to gain the trust of the participants

• Often site entry takes a long time


Data Collection

Selecting participants• Use of purposeful sampling strategies to

select “information rich” participants• Purposeful sampling strategies

Maximum variation - selecting individuals or cases to represent extremes

– Very positive or very negative attitudes– Highest and lowest achieving students)

Snowball (i.e., network) - initially selected participants recommend others for involvement


Data Collection

• Purposeful sampling strategies Sampling by case - selecting individuals or cases for

their unique characteristics– Extreme– Typical– Unique– Reputation

Key informant - selecting an individual(s) particularly knowledgeable about the setting and or topic

Comprehensive - selecting all relevant individuals or cases


Data Collection

Three primary methods for obtaining data• Observation• Interview• Document analysis


Data Collection

Observation• Unstructured in nature• Comprehensive - continuous and total over an

extended period of time• Participant-observer role of the researcher

Continuum between complete participant and complete observer

– Passive participant– Moderate participant– Active participant– Complete participant

Rare for an ethnographer to be a complete participant


Data Collection

Observation (continued)• Use of field notes to record observations

Two types of information– Descriptions of what occurred– Reflections of what the descriptions mean (i.e.,

speculations, emerging themes, patterns, problems)

Accuracy Extensive nature of notes


Data Collection

Interviews• Unstructured in nature• Begins with a general idea of what needs to be

asked and moves to specific questions based on what the respondent says

• Types of interviews Key informant Life history Focus group

• Tape recording and transcribing interviews afford the opportunity to study the data carefully


Data Collection

Document analysis• Written records

Print (e.g., minutes from meetings, reports, yearbooks, articles, diaries)

Non-print (e.g., recordings, videotapes, pictures)• Types of sources

Primary - original work Secondary - secondhand interpretations of original work

• Commonly used to verify other observations or interview data


Data Analysis and Interpretation

Observations, interviews, and document analyses result in large quantities of narrative data

Analysis includes critically examining, summarizing, and synthesizing the data



Three stages of analysis• Data Organization

Organizing the data into reasonable, meaningful units that are coded with words or very short phrases that signify a category

– Emic categories - information provided by the participants in their own language and organizational units

– Etic categories - the researcher’s interpretation of emic data

Use of major codes and sub-codes is common



• Data Summary Examining all similarly coded data and summarizing it

with a sentence or two that reflects its essence Computerized sorting of data is common and effective

• Data Interpretation Synthesizing identifies the relationships among the

categories and patterns that suggest generalization The researcher interprets findings inductively,

synthesizes the information, and draws inferences



• Data Interpretation (continued) Developing patterns

– Begins with the researcher’s informed hunches and ideas

– Tentative patterns are identified and additional data collected to determine if they are consistent with those patterns

– Characterized by enlarging, combining, subsuming, and creating new categories that make sense


Credibility of Qualitative Research

Credibility is the extent to which the data, data analysis, and conclusions are believable and trustworthy

Eight procedures to enhance credibility• Prolonged Engagement• Member Checking

Participants review interpretations• Triangulation

Compares the findings from different techniques


Credibility of Qualitative Research

Enhancing credibility (continued)• Negative Case Analysis• Peer Debriefing• External Audit• Researcher Reflection• Thick Descriptions


Generalizability

Transferability is the appropriateness of applying the findings to other settings.

It is enhanced by thick, rich descriptions that make it easier for someone wanting to aplly the results to his or her setting.


Evaluating Qualitative Studies

The researcher’s background, interests, and potential bias should be clear

Conceptual and/or theoretical frameworks for the study should be clear

The method for selecting participants should be clear

Field notes should contain detailed objective descriptions of just about everything

The researcher should be trained in data collection procedures


Evaluating Qualitative Studies

Credibility of the research should be addressed

Descriptive data should be separated from the interpretations of the data

The researcher should use multiple methods of data collection

The duration of the study must be long enough