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What is Qualitative Research? A Primer. Assessment Team March 10, 2008. What is Qualitative Research? Session Overview. Knowing what it is and isn’t? Understanding the journey from doubt to acceptance Steps to doing good research and documentation. Sample run-through with group. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Planning and Assessment for Student Development
What is Qualitative Research?A Primer
Assessment TeamMarch 10, 2008
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
What is Qualitative Research?Session Overview
Knowing what it is and isn’t? Understanding the journey from doubt
to acceptance Steps to doing good research and documentation. Sample run-through with group
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Major Types of Educational Research
Quantitative: backed by numbersQualitative: backed by documentation
Essential to both Quantitative & Qualitative Researchers:
Observational Skills
Thanks to Dr.Cindy Williams for this content
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Thanks to Dr.Cindy Williams for this content
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research involves analyzing numerical data to gain insights into how variables influence other
variables.
Different types of quantitative research are used depending on:
the type of questions asked and purpose of research the degree to which subjects are available to
study/observe
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Thanks to Dr.Cindy Williams for this content
Qualitative ResearchQualitative research involves collection of narrative
data to gain insights into phenomena of interest. Data is collected:
intensively over a period of time, in a naturalistic setting,
without trying to control the eventsUsually on a smaller number of subjects than quantitative
What might be some advantages to quantitative and qualitative approaches? Would you ever want to use
both?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Thanks to Dr.Cindy Williams for this content
Qualitative Researchers…
No Yes
Holistic Variables
Researcher as expert
Theory as expert
Qualitative Quantitative
Can research be done in the same manner as hard
sciences?
What is the primary source or focus of
observation?
What/Who is consulted that drives research?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Quantitative or Qualitative?
1) A study in which the researcher carefully designs all aspects of the study before collecting data.
2) You know in advance what you are looking for. 3) The design emerges as the study unfolds.
4) What is the relationship between time spent on the simulator and operator error rate?
5) The researcher deals with data in the form of words.
Thanks to Dr.Cindy Williams for this content
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Quantitative or Qualitative?
6) The researcher deals with data in the form of numbers and statistics.
7) The investigator is the data gathering instrument. 8) Research methods involve the comparison of pre-
test and post-test data. 9) Data collection and data analysis take place
simultaneously
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research Humor
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 1:WHAT IS YOUR CONCEPTUAL
TOPIC?What do you want to study and why?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 2:BRIEFLY, WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS TOPIC? WHAT
RESEARCH ARE YOU DRAWING FROM FOR THIS KNOWLEDGE? WHAT DOES
THE LITERATURE STATE? ?
Be prepared to describe your findings
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 3:WHAT IS NEEDING ADDITIONAL
EXPLORATION? WHAT IS MISSING FROM THE ANALYSIS IN STEP 2?
What one or two big things do you really want to learn/discover?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 4:DESCRIBE THE POPULATION YOU
INTEND TO STUDY. WHAT ASPECTS, CHARACTERISTICS OR UNIQUE
FACTORS DESCRIBE THIS GROUP?
Who will you be inviting to your focus group/interviews?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 5:DESCRIBE HOW THE POPULATION YOU INTEND TO STUDY WILL FILL
THE KNOWLEDGE GAPS IDENTIFIED IN STEP 3?
How is the population you describe in Step 4 really the best fit? How will
you protect their anonymity?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 6a:WHAT TYPES OF DATA WILL YOU BE
GATHERING? PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR APPROACH TO DATA
COLLECTION?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 6a:CRITICAL QUESTIONS:
• Describe your collection techniques and questions?
• Will you use word processing, tape recorders, interview notes, etc.?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 6b:WHAT STEPS WILL YOU TAKE TO
ENSURE THAT THIS DATA IS MANIPULABLE AND EDITABLE?
WHO WILL BE YOUR SERVING AS YOUR OBJECTIVE REVIEWER OF
YOUR FINDINGS?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 6b:CRITICAL QUESTIONS
• Have you thought through who will do the transcription and the amount of time it may take?
• How is the person you are choosing to review your assumptions/conclusions
independent from the process and objective? • How and when throughout the research do
you intend to use this person?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Step 7:DESCRIBE HOW YOU INTEND TO WORK WITH THE DATA? WHAT TECHNIQUES WILL YOU USE TO
HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR ANSWERS TO SECTION 3?
Do you intend to look for themes? Do you intend to code the data? How will you deconstruct the volumes of verbal notes into easily recognizable and substantive findings?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 8:HOW DO YOU INTEND TO SHARE YOUR
RESULTS? WHAT REPORTS WILL YOU PRODUCE? DO YOU INTEND TO PURSUE
PUBLICATION FOR THIS STUDY?
What existing UNT reporting structures or newsletters do you propose using? If you intend to publish, have you completed the IRB forms necessary for the project? Do you intend to post the results to any UNT websites?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
IRBAlert!
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
The IRB Process•IRB approval is required for studies in which human subjects
are involved.•In our case, the “study” is the survey or focus group and the
“human subjects” are the survey respondents.•For our purposes, IRB approval is required for any studies which are to be presented or published outside UNT (i.e. at
conferences, in journals or theses etc.)•For IRB approval, you must take the NIH human subjects training, have the parameters of your study determined
(instrument, informed consent, sample population)
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
The IRB Process
NIH human subjects training can be found at:http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php
IRB Form
Consent forms
IRB Website http://www.unt.edu/ospa/compliance/humans.html
IRB Form
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 9:BEGIN TO FIND SUBJECTS
Create an intake/interview survey for potential subjects. Does this individual fit your requirements above?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 10:FIND SUITABLE INTERVIEW SPACE
Is it accessible? Comfortable? What food and drinks will you have on hand? Where are bathrooms located?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 11:DEVELOP FACILITATOR GUIDE
Think through your questions. Share them with your member-checker, develop bolt-on questions. Set ground rules. Write introductory script.
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 12:DETERMINE FACILITATOR
Ask yourself if you are the really the best person to facilitate? If no, who then? If yes, are you prepared and ready?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 13:HOLD FOCUS GROUPS
Remember your data collection techniques. Establish rapport, establish ground rules, let conversation build. Call out themes or contradictions as you hear them. Ask for clarification.
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 14:TRANSCRIBE & SHARE
Within 72 hours transcribe proceedings and email transcription to focus group participants to confirm or clarify comments. Remember to associate names with comments whenever possible. Give a 72 hour window for comments.
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 15:CODE AND DEVELOP THEMES
Using the data decisions you made earlier, crunch your transcribed notes to find themes, patterns or ways of knowing.
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 16:MEMBER-CHECK THEMES
Share your preliminary findings with member-checking partner. Do they see the same patterns and themes?
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
STEP 17:WRITE UP AND PRESENT FINDINGSLook in common journal articles for examples of published qualitative research. Follow similar patterns and structure of these articles. Post to websites, newsletters, etc. Share!
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Q & A
Planning and Assessment for Student Development
Questions:Sharon Karackattu : 8047
Jason Simon : 8054
References:Sibley, S. (2003). Designing Qualitative Research Projects. Workshop presented to the July 2003 NSF Workshop on
Qualitative Methods in Sociology.
Williams, C. (2008) EPSY 6010 Lecture. College of Education. University of North Texas.