Richard Boateng, PhD. Qualitative and Email: Quantitative · Research Methods – Dr Richard Boateng ... to qualitative and quantitative research. ... DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUALITATIVE

Research Methods – Dr Richard Boateng [[email protected]] Photo Illustrations from Getty Images – www.gettyimages.com 1

RM Session 7: Methodology – Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Lecturer/Convenor:

Richard Boateng, PhD.

Email:

[email protected]

Office: UGBS RT18 (rooftop)

Qualitative and

Quantitative

Approaches to Research


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Learning Objectives

This session seeks to discuss the different approaches

to qualitative and quantitative research.

• By the end of the session, students will be able to

understand and explain methods including case

study, ethnography, content analysis, survey, and

action research.

• Students will also learn about the different methods

for collecting data in research. These methods

include interviews and focus group discussion.


Chapter 4

• Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative Enquiry and

Research Design: Choosing Among Five

Approaches. SAGE Publications. London

FIVE QUALITATIVE

APPROACHES TO INQUIRY

Chapter 4

www.tinyurl.com/creswell2007a


DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE


Quantitative research emphasizes

1. Starting with specific hypotheses or questions

derived from theory/previous research

2. Selecting a sample representative of the

population

3. Using objective instruments (e.g. fixed choice

questionnaires, attitude scales, etc.)

4. Presenting results using statistics and making

inferences to the population.

5. “Distance” between researcher and subjects

and emphasis on following the research plan

Sorensen, C. (2000)CICI 502 Survey of Research in Curriculum, Northern Illinois University, available

http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~sorensen/502/powerpoint/topicD/qlnotes.htm [accessed February, 2012]


Qualitative research emphasizes 1. Starting with general research problems and not

formulating hypotheses (hypotheses may emerge from the

data analysis).

2. Selecting a small, purposive sample (not random) which may

or may not be representative of the larger population.

3. Using relatively unstructured instruments (e.g. interviews,

observations, etc.) and “intense” data collection (e.g. over

extended periods of time).

4. Presenting results mainly or exclusively in words, MORE

ABOUT EXPLANATION, and de-emphasizing generalizations

to the population

5. Researcher awareness of their own orientations, biases or

experiences and personal interaction in the context with an

emphasis on flexibility in the research.




Qualitative Research

• The qualitative research method involves the use of

qualitative data, such as interviews, documents and

observation, in order to understand and explain a social

phenomenon.

• Qualitative research focuses on interpretation of

phenomena in their natural settings to make sense in

terms of the meanings people bring to these settings

(Denzin and Lincoln 1994) .


Types of Qualitative Research


Case Study

• Case study research is a qualitative approach in

which the investigator explores a bounded system (a

case) or multiple bounded systems (cases) over

time,

• through detailed, in-depth data collection involving

multiple sources of information (e.g., observations,

interviews, audiovisual material, and documents and

reports), and reports a case description and case-

based themes.


Case Study

• Case study is a method used in both qualitative and quantitative

research methodologies. Yin (1994) suggested that case studies are

empirical investigation of phenomena within their environmental

context, where the relationship between the phenomena and the

environment is not clear.

• Therefore, a case is examined to understand an issue or provide

input to an existing theory or a new theoretical concept. A case

study’s unit of measurement is associated with the entity concept.

• A research work deploying the case study method may have single or

multiple cases. Conclusion could be drawn up from similarities or

differences among the cases involved in a research work.


Example: Mobiles and Micro-trading

Aunty Akosua (hereafter referred to as AA) is a tomato retail trader. She has junior

high school level education and has been working as a tomato retailer since June

2008. AA works with Jane who serves as an intermediary between her and the

farmers in the villages. Jane buys the tomatoes at wholesale prices from the

farmers and AA retails them at the market.

Prior to owning a mobile phone, communication between AA and Jane was

constrained by distance. The limited access to Jane often contributed to poor

inventory management, where AA could be out of stock of tomatoes for a week. In

such scenarios, AA had to buy from other wholesalers, and that increased her

coordination costs. She was then advised by a friend to get a mobile phone for

Jane and herself, in order to enhance communication and reduce the cost and risk

of frequent long journeys. In December 2008, AA purchased a used Samsung

D500 for herself and a Nokia 3315 for Jane. The cost of Jane’s mobile phone was

deducted from her earnings from trading with AA. They are both using TiGO as

their service provider.

Boateng (2011)


Case Study

• The focus of the research is on process. The question is

focused on what can be learned from this particular

case.

• Single case design is ideal for studying extreme cases,

to confirm or challenge a theory or for cases where a

researcher does not have access previously. Examples: A

failure or success in a particular event or activity: Causing Financial Loss to a State – Lessons from the

Woyome Case

• Multiple case design is appropriate when a researcher is

keen to use more than one case to gather data and

draw up conclusion based on the facts retrieved.

• Multiple case design serves to confirm evidence which

enhance the reliability and validity of a research work.


Case Study

• Intrinsic case study tends to focus on the

case itself based on its uniqueness or usual

contribution

• For example, Exploring lessons from a

particular project or initiative or evaluating a

particular projects or initiative:

– Effective management of public sector projects –

lessons from the GCNET system in Ghana

• the researcher reports the meaning comes

from learning about an unusual situation (an

intrinsic case). As Lincoln and Guba (1985)

mention, this phase constitutes the “lessons learned”

from the case.


Sequence of Case Study


Analyzing Case Study

• The type of analysis of these data can be a holistic analysis of the

case or an embedded analysis of a specific aspect of the case (Yin,

2003) .

• For embedded – select few key issues after general description and

analyse.

• For holistic - use Pattern-matching logic - identify issues within each

case and then look for common themes that transcend the cases. This

analysis is rich in the context of the case or setting in which the case

presents itself.

When multiple cases are chosen, a typical format is to first provide a

detailed description of each case and themes within the cases, called a

within-case analysis, followed by a thematic analysis across the cases,

called a cross-case analysis, as well as assertions or an interpretation

of the meaning of the case


Challenges

1. The identification of the appropriate case - Selecting the case requires that the researcher establish a rationale for his or her purposeful sampling strategy for selecting the case and for gathering information about the case .

2. In the choice of multiple case, the issue becomes, “How many cases?” typically, however, the researcher to consider a large number of cases is the idea of “generalizability,” a term that holds little meaning for most qualitative researchers. Focus should be on explanatory power

3. Deciding the “boundaries” of a case – how it might be constrained in terms of time, events, and processes – may be challenging. Some case studies may not have clean beginning and ending points, and the researcher will need to set boundaries that adequately surround the case.




Ethnography

• Ethnography is a qualitative research

method which involves a description of

people and nature of phenomena.

Ethnography involves exploring the nature

of phenomena and working with

unstructured data, analyzing data through

interpretation of the meanings attributed by

research respondents.

– What are the cultural patterns and perspectives of

this group in its natural setting?

OUM (2010) Topic 9 Qualitative Research Methods, Course Hand out CMRM6103 Research Methodology/GMRM5103 Research Methods, AIT

Open University of Malaysia, Ghana




Ethnography

• An ethnographer is interested in examining

shared patterns of behaviours, beliefs

and language

• An ethnography focuses on an entire

cultural group. This cultural group may be small,

but typically large and may involve many people who

interact over time.






Ethnography

• The emphasis is on documenting or

portraying the every day experiences of

individuals. Key tools are in-depth

interviewing and continuous

observations. There is seldom an initial

hypothesis. The research is sustained over time.

The goal is to paint a picture that as thorough,

accurate, and vivid.

• Example - What is life like in a traditional palace?





Method – unstructured interviews, observation, field notes and use of secondary

data including documents, maps, photographs, genealogies, and records


Challenges

• The researcher needs to have a grounding

cultural anthropology and the meaning of a

social-cultural system as well as the concepts

typically explored by ethnographers.

• The time to collect data is extensive, involving

prolonged time in the field.

• In many ethnographies, the narratives are written

in a literacy, almost storytelling approach, an

approach that may limit the audience for the work and may be

challenging for authors accustomed to traditional approaches to

writing social and human science research.




Grounded Theory

• uses a prescribed set of procedures for

analyzing data and constructing theoretical model from them.

Glaser and Strauss, (1967) defines it as the discovery of

theory from data systematically obtained social research

• The focus in grounded theory is to unravel elements of experience

and use interrelationships to build theory that enables the

researcher to understand a phenomenon.

• very useful when current theories about a phenomenon are neither

inadequate nor non-existent.

• Methods: Open/Flexible - Recorded interviews, observation, journaling, and

diary, memos.








Action Research

• It views participants as co-creating their reality through

participation, experience, and action.

• There are four phases of action research:

– the co-researchers agree on an area of inquiry/problem,

– ideas and procedures are applied in everyday work/life

– co-researchers become fully immersed in the activity/experience,

– co-researchers reconsider the original research problem.

• Aim 1 - produce knowledge and action directly useful to a group of people.

• Aim 2 - empower people through the process of constructing their own

knowledge.

• Methods: unstructured observations, journaling, surveying, and reviewing

documents/records.

Sorensen, C. (2000)CICI 502 Survey of Research in Curriculum, Northern Illinois University,

http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~sorensen/502/powerpoint/topicD/qlnotes.htm [accessed Feburary, 2012]


Action Research






Content analyses • Examining information or content to record

observation and quantify them to understand a

phenomena

Neuman, W.L. (2011) Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 2/E, Pearson

Education – ISBN ISBN-10: 0205484379 | ISBN-13: 9780205484379


Woyome, NDC, Our Money And Our President: The Failure of Fair

Representation By: Dennis Adjei-Brenyah, Esq New York – Ghanaweb.com

As a general rule, I have always scrupulously avoided “political” discussions

especially the kind showing malicious and unhealthy assault and insults on people. I

have always subscribed to a discussion on ideas on how to manage out affairs and help

improve the “situation” we find ourselves. I will try to keep to this principled

approach in dealing with the present demonstration of national shame that people have

described as the “NDC-Woyome” matter.

Sometimes, I throw in some personal reflections – only as a sign of blessed humility to

see issues from a peculiar angle – the better to contribute to this discussion. I have said

in these pages before that I consider our President my friend and law teacher from

Legon: a decent man. Honorable, level headed, - but alas, perhaps another gutless

politician. And I say this with grief and severe pain.

Out President says now that he had no hand in this affair: That the acknowledged

financier of NDC, who has now pocketed (banked is a better term) GhC58,000,000 of

your money, got paid that sum of money under his watch as President, and he has no

hand in .He has nothing to do with it! This is a cruel insult of and to us as Ghanaians,

by this President. We must hold him to account!


TECHNIQUES FOR ACQUIRING

QUALITATIVE DATA


Chapter 4

Fisher, C. (2010) Researching and Writing a Dissertation, An Essential Guide For Business Students, Pearson Education Limited, Essex.


Chapter 11

• Qualitative Research

Neuman, W.L. (2007) Basics of Social

Research: Qualitative and

Quantitative Approaches, 2/E,

Pearson Education

www.tinyurl.com/neuman2007



Fieldwork – Establish Context

• Fieldwork – the particular context in which data collection occurs.

• Collection occurs simultaneously with analysis and interpretation and

occurs throughout the study.

• The final product is a rich description or narrative with quotations typically

used to illustrate the voice and understandings of the participants. The focus is

to use language to paint a rich picture of the setting and its participants.

Selecting the Fieldwork

1. Justify: Determine why a particular site should be selected.

2. Access: How will permission be obtained for accessing the site?

3. Activity: What will be done at the site?

4. Interference: How will the researcher avoid disrupting the normal routine? Or

How participative will the researcher be?

5. Time: What will be the duration and frequency of observations?



Context


Interviews • Interviewing is used to gather information in the

subjects own words from which insights on their

interpretations can be obtained.

• Subjects are encouraged to talk about experiences,

feelings, beliefs



Types of Interviews • Unstructured - exploratory, on a topic – open, flexible, no structured format,

and impromptu questions

• Partially Structured – Topic is chosen and questions are formulated, but order

is up to the interviewer. Open-ended Questions & responses are recorded

nearly verbatim, possibly taped.

• Semi-Structured - - questions and order of presentation are determined.

Questions are open-ended, interviewer records the essence of each response.

Data Collection Method


Interviews

• Qualitative Study Interview – primarily focus on

open-ended questions, flexible and purposively

selected samples

• Quantitative Study Interview – fixed choice

questions, usually on random samples



Types of Interviews • Structured - - questions and order are pre-determined, responses are

coded by interviewer as they are given.

• Totally structured - - questions, order, and coding are predetermined and

the respondent is presented with alternatives for each question so that

phrasing of responses is structured. Questions are self-coding in that

each choice is pre-assigned a code.



Interviews



Guidelines 1. Listen more, talk less. Be Patient, Don’t interrupt. Tolerate silence.

2. Follow up on what participants say and ask questions when you

don’t understand.

3. Don’t be judgmental about participants’ beliefs or views. You are

there to learn about their perspectives whether you agree or not.

4. Keep participants focused and ask for concrete details.

5. Avoid leading questions, ask open ended questions.

6. Don’t debate with participants over their responses.

You are a recorder, not a debater.



Focus Groups

• A semi-structured group session,

moderated by a group leader, held in an

informal setting, with the purpose of collecting

information on a selected topic. A carefully

planned discussion designed to obtain

perceptions on a defined area of interest in a

permissive non-threatening environment.



Focus groups is a type of interview where multiple participants are

involved and responses can build on one another. A focus group is

particularly useful in obtaining a variety of views or opinions about a topic

or issue.

Focus groups are used to obtain information of qualitative nature from a

predetermined and limited number of people.



Focus Groups



Useful When -

1. Insights are needed in exploratory studies

2. There is an understanding gap between groups

3. The purpose if to uncover factors relating to complex behaviors

4. The is a desire for ideas to emerge from the group

5. Need for additional information to prepare for a larger study

Not Useful When -

1. The environment is emotionally charged

2. Statistical projections are needed

3. Other methodologies can produce better

quality information

4. Confidentiality cannot be ensured



Focus Groups

Procedures

• Duration 1-2 hours. General rule is to plan for less time than you

tell participants.

• Number Groups 3-6 different groups should be used.

• Size 4-12 with certain characteristics in common (IDEAL size 6-8)

• Composition participants alike in some way (not in

opinions). General rule is to keep groups homogenous in terms of

prestige or status.

• Sample systematically selected (purposive

sampling). In organizations, include groups with

different roles.

• Method - non-directive, nurture different points of

view, identify trends and patterns in perceptions.





Changing roles of housewives



Focus Groups

• Introductory

– Round robin question that everyone answers

– Background - to locate people in relation to other people

• Transition

– Move the conversation into the key questions

– Experience/behavior - to elicit descriptions of behaviors, actions, activities

– Knowledge - to find out what respondents consider factual information

• Key Questions – Opinion/value - to find out what people think

– Feeling - to understand emotional response of people to an experience

• Ending - Bring closure to discussion





Observation

• Participant Observer - engages fully in

the activities being studied but is known

to the participants as a researcher.

Example: a researcher gets permission

from a teacher to sit in a class and make

observations over a semester.

• Goal is to immerse researcher in the

setting so he/she can see, hear, feel,

experience, subject’s’ daily life.





Observation

• Unobtrusive or Non-participant Observer - researcher watches but

does not participate in group activities. Example: researcher conducts a

number of interviews with teachers in a school.

• Naturalistic observation - observing individuals in their natural

settings, making no effort to manipulate variables or control activities,

but simply to observe and record. Example: observation of students at an

athletic event.

• Covert Observer - researcher disguises identity from other

participants (ethical issues). Example: conducting the research in disguise

• Simulations - asking subjects to act out certain situations or roles.

May be individual or group role playing.





Other Qualitative Techniques

Textual Analysis (artifacts, documents, records)

• Documents and artifacts can include materials produced by the subject (writing

portfolios), personal documents (diaries, letters), records, historical archives. Includes

analysis of written records such as textbooks, newspapers, and non-written records

such as audios, videos, computer files.

Personal Experience (journaling and other methods)

• This method involves directing participants to recall personal experience through a

variety of techniques. Methods used in data collection include think-aloud

techniques, stimulated recall, and key event reporting. The researcher works with the

participants to create the data.

Field Notes

• Written descriptions of people, events, objects, places, activities, conversations, etc.

These notes may supplement information from official documents and interviews or

may comprise the main research data. Field notes should also include the

researchers’ reactions, reflections, and tentative assumptions.





Quantitative Approaches

to Research


Chapter 7

• Survey Research

Neuman, W.L. (2007) Basics of Social

Research: Qualitative and

Quantitative Approaches, 2/E,

Pearson Education

www.tinyurl.com/neuman2007


Survey • Questionnaire to record answers

from a sample

• Kerlinger (1973) defined survey research

as a study on large and small

populations by selecting samples

chosen from the desired population and

to discover relative incidence, distribution

and interrelations.

• The ultimate goal of survey research is to

learn about a large population by

surveying a sample of the population;

Neuman, W.L. (2011) Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 2/E, Pearson

Education – ISBN ISBN-10: 0205484379 | ISBN-13: 9780205484379




Types of Survey

Neuman, W.L. (2011) Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 2/E, Pearson Education




Cross-sectional Survey

A researcher collects information from a sample drawn from a

population. The data you obtain is derived from a cross-section of

the population at one point of time.





Longitudinal Survey - Panel

Example: Age vs Volunteering Same units over time




a researcher can identify a sample from the beginning and follow the specific

respondents over a specified period of time to observe changes in specific

respondents and highlight the reasons why these respondents have changed.


Longitudinal Survey - Cohort

Example: 1967 birth cohorts vs racisim Same category of units in a specified time period over time




Although the population remains the same, different respondents are sampled

each time. The researcher’s aim here is to see if there are changes in perceptions

or trends that occur in the study


Survey Techniques




1. Mail and Self-Administered Questionnaire

• Cheap, slow, lowest response rate

2. Web Surveys

• Cheapest, fastest, moderate response rate

3. Telephone Interviews

• Moderate cost, fast, moderate response rate

4. Face-to-face Interviews

• Expensive, slow, highest response rate


References 1. Babbie, E.R. (2005) The Basics of Social Research [With CDROM and Infotrac], Wadsworth

–Thomson Publishing, Belmont, CA.

2. Babbie, E.R. (2011) The Basics of Social Research [With CDROM and Infotrac], Wadsworth

–Thomson Publishing, Belmont, CA. – ISBN – 0495812242

3. Bailey, K. D. (1978). Methods of social research (3rd ed.). New York: The Free Press.

4. Neuman, W.L. (2011) Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches,

2/E, Pearson Education

5. OUM (2010) Principles Supporting Qualitative Research, Topic 9 Qualitative Research

Methods, Course Hand out CMRM6103 Research Methodology/GMRM5103 Research

Methods, AIT Open University of Malaysia, Ghana

6. Sorensen, C. (2000)CICI 502 Survey of Research in Curriculum, Northern Illinois University,

http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~sorensen/502/powerpoint/topicD/qlnotes.htm [accessed Feburary,

2012]

7. Zikmund W G. (2003) Business Research Methods, 7th edition, Thomson/South-Western.


Structure of Long Essay

• Abstract

• Chapt. 1 – Introduction

• Chapt. 2 – Literature Review

• Chapt. 3 – Context of the Study

• Chapt. 4 – Research Methodology

• Chapt. 5 – Results and Discussion

• Chapt. 6 – Conclusion