Cambodian Mekong University

Graduate School

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Course Coordinator: Pou Sovann (PhD)

Tel: (855-12) 839-940
E-mail: pousovann@yahoo.com

Updated December 2010

 References
Main Textbooks
• CARE. (December 2007). Ideas and Action: Addressing the Social Factors that Influence
Sexual and
Reproductive Health. Care, Atlanta, USA.
• Cooper, D. and Schindler, P., (2008). Business Research Methods. Tenth edition.
McGraw-Hill
• FHI (2002). Qualitative Methods: A Field Guide for Applied Research in Sexual and
Reproductive Health. FHI, USA.
• O’Leary, Z (2004). The Essential Guide to Doing Research. London, Sage.

Secondary Textbooks
• Bordens, K and Abbott, B. (2008). Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach.
Seventh edition, McGraw Hill.
• Green, S. (2008). Business Research Methods
• Punch, F. (2000). Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative
Approaches. Sage Publication.
 Grading System

• Participation and attendance: 10%

• Team assignment: 20%
• Quiz: 10%
• Mid-term exam: 20%
• Final exam: 40%
------
TOTAL: 100%
 Discussion Questions
1. Why study Research?
2. What is Research Methods and Research
Methodology?
3. What is qualitative research?
4. What are the differences between
qualitative and quantitative research?
5. Tell your own experiences in doing
qualitative research: what topic, when,
where, how to do it?
 Course Expectations
what are your expectations to this course?
- Can do research on poverty and other topics
- Be a good researcher, evaluator and monitor the project
and run the project through several survey
- Write a good research report
- Write a research proposal, want to get proposal doc.
- Research methodology
 Main Contents
1. Introduction to general research
2. Overview: Qualitative Research
3. Applying Scientific Thinking to Management
4. Research Process
5. Research Proposal
6. Ethics in Research
7. What is Literature Review?
8. Qualitative Research Design
9. Practical issues in conducting interviews, focus group
discussions, participant observation
10. Qualitative Data Analysis
11. Presenting research report
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL
RESEARCH
 Why study Research?
• Provide knowledge and skills to solve the problems and
meet the challenges of a fast-paced decision making
environment.
• Needed for all functional areas: student in business, not-
for-profit and public organizations
• Two factors stimulate an interest in more scientific
decision making: manager’s increased need for more and
better information, and availability of improved
techniques and tools to meet this need.
 Why Managers need Better
Information
• Global and domestic competition is more
vigorous
• Organizations are increasingly practicing data
mining and data warehousing
 What is Research?
Research is any organized carried out to provide
information for solving problems. Business research is a
systematic inquiry that provides information to guide
business decisions. This includes reporting, descriptive,
explanatory, and predictive study.

A systematic Inquiry whose objective is to provide

information to solve managerial problems.
 The Manager and Researcher
Relationship

IMPORTANT
Both share the obligation of making a
project meaningful.
The Value of Acquiring Research Skills
• To gather more information before selecting a
course of action
• To do a high-level research study
• To understand research design
• To evaluate and resolve a current
management dilemma
• To establish a career as a research specialist
 Types of Studies Used to do
Research

• Reporting
• Descriptive
• Explanatory
• Predictive
The Manager-Researcher Relationship
• Manager’s obligations
– Specify problems
– Provide adequate background information
– Access to company information gatekeepers
• Researcher’s obligations
– Develop a creative research design
– Provide answers to important business questions
 Manager-Researcher Conflicts
• Management’s limited exposure to research
• Manager sees researcher as threat to personal
status
• Researcher has to consider corporate culture
and political situations
• Researcher’s isolation from managers
When Research Should be Avoided
• When information cannot be applied to a
critical managerial decision
• When managerial decision involves little risk
• When management has insufficient resources
to conduct a study
• When the cost of the study outweighs the
level of risk of the decision
On the basis of Application, Research may
be classified as:

1. Policy Research
2. Applied Research
3. Fundamental Research (Pure or
Theoretical Research)
 POLICY RESEARCH

• Basically the research with Policy

Implications.
• Results of such researches are used for
policy
Formulation and Implementation.
• More of Practical Utility than of Theoretical
Knowledge.
 APPLIED RESEARCH

• Meant for testing the known theories.

• Established theories need to be tested in a
different situation (Population, time ,
environment etc.)
• Better Generalization is Possible.
• Validity of the theory increases.
• Greater contribution to knowledge within
limited means.
 FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
• Are original and investigative studies.
• Area of Investigation would be New.
• Fresh investigation would be carried out to
originate a new theory.
• Throws additional light on the existing
theory or body of knowledge.
Its contribution can be two-fold:
1. Developing New Theory
2. Improving upon the existing theory.
 What is Good Research?
• Following the standards of the scientific
method
– Purpose clearly defined
– Research process detailed
– Research design thoroughly planned
– Limitations frankly revealed
– High ethical standards applied
 What is Good Research? (cont.)
• Following the standards of the scientific
method (cont.)
– Adequate analysis for decision-maker’s needs
– Findings presented unambiguously
– Conclusions justified
– Researcher’s experience reflected
The Manager-Researcher Relationship
• Manager’s obligations
– Specify problems
– Provide adequate background information
– Access to company information gatekeepers
• Researcher’s obligations
– Develop a creative research design
– Provide answers to important business questions
 Manager-Researcher Conflicts
• Management’s limited exposure to research
• Manager sees researcher as threat to personal
status
• Researcher has to consider corporate culture
and political situations
• Researcher’s isolation from managers
When Research Should be Avoided
• When information cannot be applied to a
critical managerial decision
• When managerial decision involves little risk
• When management has insufficient resources
to conduct a study
• When the cost of the study outweighs the
level of risk of the decision
 CHAPTER 2:
OVERVIEW ON QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
 Qualitative Research
• Qualitative research is an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary,
and sometimes counterdisciplinary field. It crosses the
humanities and the social and physical sciences. Qualitative
research is many things at the same time. It is
multiparadigmatic in focus. Its practitioners are sensitive to
the value of the multimethod approach. They are committed
to the naturalistic perspective, and to the interpretative
understanding of human experience. At the same time, the
field is inherently political and shaped by multiple ethical and
political positions.
• Nelson et al’s (1992, p4)
 Qualitative Research
• ‘Qualitative Research…involves finding out what
people think, and how they feel - or at any rate, what
they say they think and how they say they feel. This
kind of information is subjective. It involves feelings
and impressions, rather than numbers’
• Bellenger, Bernhardt and Goldstucker, Qualitative Research in Marketing,
American Marketing Association
 Qualitative Research
 Qualitative research is multi-method in focus,
involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach
to its subject matter.
 Qualitative Researchers study “things” (people
and their thoughts) in their natural settings,
attempting to make sense of, or interpret,
phenomena in terms of the meanings people
bring to them.
 Qualitative Research
• Qualitative research involves the studied use and
collection of a variety of empirical materials - case study,
personal experience, introspective, life story, interview,
observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts-
that describe routine and problematic moments and
meanings in individuals lives.
• Deploy a wide range of interconnected methods, hoping
always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand.
 Positivist Paradigm

• Emphasises that human reason is supreme

and that there is a single objective truth that
can be discovered by science
• Encourages us to stress the function of
objects, celebrate technology and to regard
the world as a rational, ordered place with a
clearly defined past, present and future
Non-Positivist Paradigm
• Questions the assumptions of the positivist
paradigm
• Argues that our society places too much emphasis
on science and technology
• Argues that this ordered, rational view of consumers
denies the complexity of the social and cultural
world we live in
• Stresses the importance of symbolic, subjective
experience
 The Five moments of Qualitative Research

Traditional Period: 1900’s-World War II

• Wrote objective colonising accounts of field
experiences that were reflective of the positivist
scientist paradigm
• Concerned with offering valid, reliable, and
objective interpretations in their writings.
• The ‘subject’ who was studied was alien, foreign,
and strange.
 The Modernist Phase
Post war-1970’s
• The modernist ethnographer and sociological
participant observer attempted rigorous,
qualitative studies of important social
processes, including social control in the
classroom and society
• Researchers were drawn to qualitative
research because it allowed them to give a
voice to society’s ‘underclass’
 Blurred Genres
1970-1986
• Researchers had a full complement of paradigms, methods and strategies
• Applied qualitative research was gaining in stature
• Research strategies ranged from grounded theory to the case study
methodology
• Methods included qualitative interviewing and observational, visual,
personal and documentary methods.
• Computers were becoming more prevalent
• Boundaries between the social sciences and humanities had become
blurred
• Social science was borrowing models, theories and methods of analysis
from the humanities
• Researcher acknowledged as being part of the research process
 Crisis of Representation
Mid 1980’s-Current Day
• Caused by the publication of a book called Anthropology as
Cultural Critique (Marcus and Fischer, 1986)
• Made research and writing more reflexive and called into
question the issues of gender, class and race.
• Interpretative theories as opposed to grounded theories were
more common as writers challenge old models of truth and
meaning
• Crisis of Representation and Legitimisation
 The Fifth Moment
Current Day
• Defined and shaped by the dual crisis of representation and
legitimisation
• Theories now beginning to be read in narrative terms as ‘tales
of the field’
• Concept of an aloof researcher has finally been fully
abandoned
• More action oriented research is on the horizon
• More Social criticism and social critique
• The search for grand narratives is being replaced by more
local, small-scale theories fitted to specific problems and
specific situations
Qualitative v.'s Quantitative
Qualitative Quantitative
Research Research
Type of questions Probing Limited probing
Sample Size small large
Info. Per much varies
respondent
Admin Requires skilled Fewer specialist
researcher skills required
Type of Analysis Subjective, Statistical
interpretative
Type of research Exploratory Descriptive or
causal
 Popularity of Qualitative Research
1 Usually much cheaper than quantitative
research
2 No better way than qualitative research to
understand in-depth the motivations and
feelings of consumers
3 Qualitative research can improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of quantitative
research
Limitations of Qualitative Research
1 Marketing successes and failures are based on small
differences in the marketing mix.
Qualitative research doesn’t distinguish these differences as
well as quantitative research can.
2 Not representative of the population that is of interest to the
researcher
3 The multitude of individuals who, without formal training,
profess to be experts in the field
 Qualitative Research as a Process
• Theory
• Method
• Analysis
• All three interconnect to define the qualitative
research process
 Theoretical Approach
Deductive
• Deductive Theoretical Approach
• Seek to use existing theory to shape the approach which you adopt to the
qualitative research process and to aspects of data analysis
• Analytical Procedures
• Pattern Matching
• Involves predicting a pattern of outcomes based on theoretical
propositions to explain what you expect to find
• Explanation Building
• Involves attempting to build an explanation while collecting and analysing
the data, rather than testing a predicted explanation as in pattern
matching
 Inductive Approach
• Inductive Theoretical Approach
• Seek to build up a theory which is adequately grounded in a number of
relevant cases. Referred to as Interpretative and Grounded Theory
• Art of Interpretation
• Field Text: Consists of field notes and documents from the field
• Research Text: Notes and interpretations based on the filed text
• Working interpretative document: Writers initial attempt to make sense
out of what he has learned
• Public Text: The final tale of the Field
 Qualitative Data Collection Techniques
• In depth Interviewing
• Focus Groups
• Participant Observations
• Ethnographic Studies
• Projective Techniques
 Analysis Qualitative Data:
An Approach
• Categorisation
• Unitising data
• Recognising relationships and developing the
categories you are using to facilitate this
• Developing and testing hypotheses to reach
conclusion
 Interactive Nature of the Qualitative
Process
 Data collection, data analysis and the development
and verification of relationships and conclusion are
all interrelated and interactive set of processes
 Allows researcher to recognise important themes,
patterns and relationships as you collect data
 Allows you to re-categorise existing data to see
whether themes and patterns and relationships exist
in the data already collected
 Allows you to adjust your future data collection
approach to see whether they exist in other cases
Tools for helping the Analytical Process
• Summaries
• Should contain the key points that emerge from
undertaking the specific activity
• Self Memos
• Allow you to make a record of the ideas which occur
to you about any aspect of your research,as you
think of them
• Researcher Diary
 CHAPTER 3
APPLYING SCIENTIFIC THINKING TO
MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS
 Sources of Knowledge
 Empiricists attempt to describe, explain, and
make predictions through observation
 Rationalists believe all knowledge can be
deduced from known laws or basic truths of
nature
 Authorities serve as important sources of
knowledge, but should be judged on integrity
and willingness to present a balanced case
 The Essential Tenets of Science
• Direct observation of phenomena
• Clearly defined variables, methods, and
procedures
• Empirically testable hypotheses
• Ability to rule out rival hypotheses
• Statistical justification of conclusions
• Self-correcting process
 The Value of a Theory
• Narrows the range of facts we need to study
• Suggests which research approaches will yield
the greatest meaning
• Suggests a data classification system
• Summarizes what is known about an object of
study
• Predicts further facts that should be found
 CHAPTER 4
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
 The Management-Research
Question Hierarchy

6 Management Decision
5 Measurement Questions
4 Investigative Questions
3 Management Questions
2 Research Questions
1 Management Dilemma
 OR RESEARCH PROCESS

Review Concepts
and Theories

Formulate Design Research Collect Data

Define
Hypotheses ( including sample design) (Execution)
Research Problem
Review Previous
Research Finding

Analysis Data
Interpret and Report
(Test hypotheses if any)
 Working with the Hierarchy
• Management Dilemma
– The symptom of an actual problem
– Not difficult to identify a dilemma, however
choosing one to focus on may be difficult
 Working with the Hierarchy
• Management Question Categories
– Choice of purposes or objective
– Generation and evaluation of solutions
– Troubleshooting or control situation
 Working with the Hierarchy
• Fine tune the research question
– Examine concepts and constructs
– Break research questions into specific second-and-
third-level questions
– Verify hypotheses with quality tests
– Determine what evidence answers the various
questions and hypothesis
– Set the scope of your study
 Working with the Hierarchy
• Investigative Questions
– Questions the researcher must answer to
satisfactorily arrive at a conclusion about the
research question
 Working with the Hierarchy
• Measurement Questions
– The questions we actually ask or extract from
respondents
 Other Processes in the Hierarchy
• Exploration
– Recent developments
– Predictions by informed figures about the
prospects of the technology
– Identification of those involved in the area
– Accounts of successful ventures and failures by
others in the field
 Research Process Problems
• The Favored Technique Syndrome
• Company Database Strip-Mining
• Unresearchable Questions
• Defined Management Problems
• Politically Motivated Research
 Designing the Study
• Select a research design from the large variety
of methods, techniques, procedures,
protocols, and sampling plans
 Resource Allocation & Budgets
• Guides to plan a budget
– Project planning
– Data gathering
– Analysis, interpretation, and reporting
• Types of budgeting
– Rule-of-thumb
– Departmental or functional area
– Task
 Evaluation Methods
• Ex Post Facto Evaluation
• Prior Evaluation
• Option Analysis
• Decision Theory
 CHAPTER 5
THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Purpose of the Research Proposal
• To present the question to be
researched and its importance
• To discuss the research efforts of others
who have worked on related questions
• To suggest the data necessary for
solving the question
 The Research Sponsor
All research has a sponsor in one form or
another:
• In a corporate setting, management sponsors
research
• In an academic environment, the student is
responsible to the class instructor
 What are the Benefits of the
Proposal to a Researcher?
• Allows the researcher to plan and review
the project’s steps
• Serves as a guide throughout the
investigation
• Forces time and budget estimates
 Types of Research Proposals
• Internal

• External
 Proposal Complexity
3 levels of complexity:
• The exploratory study is used for the most
simple proposals
• The small-scale study is more complex and
common in business
• The large-scale professional study is the most
complex, costing millions of dollars
 How to Structure the Research
Proposal?
• Create proposal modules

• Put together various modules to tailor your

proposal to the intended audience
Modules in a Research Proposal
• Executive Summary  Qualifications of
• Problem Statement Researcher
• Research Objectives  Budget
• Literature Review  Schedule
• Importance of the  Facilities and Special
Study Resources
• Research Design  Project Management
• Data Analysis
 Bibliography
• Nature and Form of
Results  Appendices
 What to include in the Appendices?
• A glossary of concepts, constructs, and
definitions

• Samples of the measurement instrument

• Other materials that reinforce the body of the

proposal
 Evaluating the Research Proposal

• Proposal must be neatly written in

appropriate writing style
• Major topics should be easily found and
logically organized
• Proposal must meet specific guidelines set by
the sponsor
• Technical writing style must be clearly
understood and explained
Example: Research Proposal
(common sample)
Chapter 1 -- The Proposal

To repeat, your proposal, when approved by your

advisor, becomes chapter 1 of the research paper.
• Chapter 1 is the blueprint for what will be included in
the remaining chapters. Like a good blueprint for a
building that is to be constructed, chapter 1 will
contain a brief but detailed guide to everything that
will be included in the paper.
The purpose of chapter 1 is to introduce the
reader to what is being studied, and how it will be
investigated. It contains:
• Background of the study
• A statement of the general problem investigated. A
statement of why and to whom the problem is
important
• The objective (purpose) of this particular study
• The main question of the study. An enumeration of
the component questions, or, if it is a quantitative
study, the hypotheses that the researcher will answer
in order to answer the main question of the study
• Methodology, which tells the reader briefly what research
procedures, will be used to answer the component questions or
to test the hypotheses
• Scope and Limitation of the Research: Under the statement of
the problem, above, the researcher tells his reader what he will
investigate. Here, he sets forth what was not investigated (things
relevant but for stated reasons intentionally excluded)
• Definitions: Operationally define terms that appear in the Main
Question, and in the component questions or hypotheses
• Expected Results: Based upon the findings of previous studies
that have been performed, it was expected that
• Overview of Remaining Chapters: To illustrate what is contained
here, the following example is given:
 Chapter 2, Review of Related Literature,
offered a historical perspective of the
problem, current knowledge related to the
problem, and information that related
specifically to each of the component
questions posed.
 Chapter 3, Methodology, described how
the sample was selected, how the
questionnaire that was utilized was
constructed and validated, and how the
data was gathered and analyzed.
 Chapter 4, Findings, presented the results,
which corresponded to each component
question of the study.
• Chapter 5, Summary, Conclusions and
Recommendations, provided a summary of
the study, conclusions based upon the
findings, and recommendations based
upon the conclusions of the study.
The proposal is usually approximately five to
ten double-spaced pages long.

Write the proposal in the past tense, as if the study had

already been completed (eg., this study examined rather
than this study will examine). Since the proposal
becomes chapter 1, when approved, and since the
paper is written in the past tense, it will save you having
to rewrite the proposal (in past tense form) after your
proposal has been approved.

Further, write the paper in the third person (e.g., the

author of this paper investigated. Rather than I
investigated).
 MRC-CMU Thesis Guideline

Look at the graduate Thesis Handbook

developed by MRC of the Cambodian
Mekong University
 CHAPTER 6
ETHICS IN RESEARCH
 What are Research Ethics?
• Ethics are norms or standards of behavior
that guide moral choices about our
behavior and our relationships with others

• The goal is to ensure that no one is harmed

or suffers adverse consequences from
research activities
Ethical Treatment of Participants
• Begin data collection by explaining to the
participant the benefits expected from the
research
• Explain to the participants that their rights
and well-being will be adequately
protected, and say how this will be done
• Be certain that interviewers obtain the
informed consent of the participant
 Deception
• The participant is told only part of the truth
or when the truth is fully compromised
• To prevent biasing the participants before
the survey or experiment
• To protect the confidentiality of a third
party
 Issues Related to Protecting
Participants
• Informed consent

• Debriefing

• Right to Privacy/Confidentiality

• Data Collection in Cyberspace

 Ethical Issues related to the Client
• Sponsor non-disclosure

• Purpose non-disclosure

• Findings non-disclosure

• Right to quality research

 Ethics Related to Sponsor
• Sometimes researchers will be asked by sponsors to
participate in unethical behavior.
• To avoid coercion by sponsor the researcher should:
– Educate sponsor to the purpose of research
– Explain researcher’s role
– Explain how distortion of the truth leads to future
problems
– If necessary, terminate relationship with sponsor
 Ethical Issues related to
Researchers and Team Members

• Safety

• Ethical behavior of assistants

• Protection of anonymity
 CHAPTER 7:
WORKING WITH LITERATURE

What should I be reading and what do I do

with it all?
The Literature Review is…
• A discussion of your
knowledge about the
topic under study
• A discussion of your
knowledge that is
supported by the
research literature
• A foundation for the
study
The Literature Review is not…
 A study-by-study,
or article-by-
article, description
of studies
previously done
 A re-statement of
the studies
previously done
 A brief overview of
articles
 Learn more onLiterature Review
• A good literature survey is expected. Generally,
the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a
segment of a published body of knowledge
through summary, classification, and comparison
of prior research studies, reviews of literature,
and theoretical articles.

Website related to a literature review paper:

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Review
ofLiterature.html
 The Importance of Working with
Literature

Working with literature is an essential part of

the research process that:

– generates ideas
– helps form significant questions
– is instrumental in the process of research design
 Working with literature

Working with
Literature

Find it! Manage it! Use it! Review it!

Knowing the Reading Choosing your research Understanding the

literature types efficiently topic lit review’s purpose

Using available Keeping track Developing your Ensuring adequate

resources of references question coverage

Honing your Writing relevant Arguing your Writing

search skills annotations rationale purposefully

Informing your work Working on

with theory style and tone

Designing
method
 Finding literature

Finding relevant literature can be made easier if you

are able to readily access and draw on a wide variety
of resources such as:
– reference materials
– books
– journals
– grey literature
– official publications
– archives
 Finding literature
Don’t go it alone!!
When looking for literature be sure to call on
the experts such as:
– librarians
– supervisors
– other researchers
– practitioners
Intersecting Areas of Literature

BODY PIERCING
▪
 

FOUCAULT   
▪ TEENAGERS
 ▪
 

RITES OF PASSAGE
▪

▪ background literature

 moderate relevance
 high relevance
 highest relevance
 Managing the literature
It also pays to be organized and diligent when it
comes to keeping references.
– Keep and file copies of relevant books, articles, etc.
– Avoid lending out your ‘only copies’

– Find out about the recommended referencing style and use

it from the start

– Consider using bibliographic file management software

such as Procite, Endnote, or Reference Manager
 Annotating Sources

Annotating your sources provides you with a record of

relevant literature. It should include:
– the citation
– articulation of the author and audience
– a short summary
– critical commentary
– notes on relevance that remind you of the significance,
accuracy, and quality of the sources cited
 Using the Literature

Literature is used for disparate purposes throughout

the research process. Whether it be:
– focusing interests
– defining questions
– arguing a rationale
– theoretically informing your study
– developing appropriate design, or writing a formal
literature review
every stage of the research process demands literary
engagement
The Formal Literature Review

Most find the writing of a literature

review a difficult task that takes
patience, practice, drafts, and redrafts
 The Formal Literature Review

The formal literature review is a very specific

piece of writing designed to:
– inform your readers of your topic
– establish your credibility as a researcher
– argue the need for, and relevance of, your work
Reviewing the Literature vs.
‘The Literature Review’
Writing your Literature Review

A good literature review is an argument that is

more purposeful than a simple review of
relevant literature
Writing your Literature Review
Writing a good review requires you to:
– read a few good reviews
– write critical annotations
– develop a structure
– write purposefully
– use the literature to back up your arguments
– review and write throughout the research process
– get feedback
– and be prepared to redraft
 Effective
Organizational First Subtopic
Structures Discussion should in-
In order for the coor-
dination of services clude:
to be effective, a  How is the subtopic
struc-ture must exist
within which service connected to the
units are organized problem? Mission & Pur-
and can operate.
Yaddah, yaddah,  Your knowledge, pose
Goals &
yaddah… based on the objectives
literature (planning)
Long range strategic you have studied Task units
planning characterizes
organizations with ef-  Specify subtopics (if
fective internal struc- any)
tures (Brown, 1997). So, given all that,
Key to such an effort is  Summary & yaddah, yaddah,
the identification of…
transition it is important to
note the role of…
 Writing your Literature Review
Style and Tone…
• Writing a good literature review can be likened to
holding a good dinner party conversation
• They both require individuals who can engage, learn,
debate, argue, contribute, and evolve their own
ideas, without being hypercritical or sycophantic
 Writing
• Use APA style & format
• Have your work proofread before submitting
• Follow all format guidelines
• Must be a thorough review, reflected by the
depth of the discussion
• Should begin prior to the implementation of
the study
 Learn more on References
• APA format: See the website below.
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPAReferences.html

• http://www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/apa.html

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

• Electronic source: Go to http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

• Include all the information such as full names of author(s), article title,
journal name, volume number, issue number, year, & page numbers.
 CHAPTER 8:
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
DESIGN
 Elements of the Research Process

DEDUCTIVE & INDUCTIVE REASONING

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. Social reality, meaning is
constructed.
Focus on variables. Focus on in-depth
meaning.
Value-free research. Values are present &
explicit (empathy).
Independent of context. Contextual importance.
Many cases, subjects. Few cases, participants.
QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE

Statistical analysis Thematic analysis

Objective instruments of Researcher as the central

data collection. tool for data collection.

Highly structured Loosely structured

research process. research process.

Researcher is detached Researcher is immersed

(outsider). (insider).
(Adapted from Neuman, 1997: 14)
QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE

result oriented process oriented

particularistic and holistic perspective

analytical

objective “outsider view” subjective “insider view”

distant from data and closeness to data

generalized by population generalization by comparison

of properties and contexts
membership
of individual organism
• Although positivist approach attempts to
understand social phenomena through largely
quantitative means, and the interpretive
approach mainly through qualitative techniques.

• it is important not overemphasise the difference

between these methods.
 Qualitative research...

• Commonly called “interpretive research”

…its methods rely heavily on “thick”

verbal descriptions of a particular
social context being studied
 Qualitative research...

• It is useful for describing or answering

questions about particular, localized
occurrences or contexts and the
perspectives of a participant group toward
events, beliefs, or practices
…a helpful process for exploring a
complex research area about which
little is known
Qualitative research...
• Interpretation, as the core of qualitative research
focuses on the meaning of human experience.

• The focus is on understanding human experience

rather than explaining and predicting behaviour.

• It is acknowledged that meaning and behaviour

occurs within particular social, cultural and historical
contexts.
 “Qualitative Research”
a definition by Van Maanen (1979)

“An umbrella term covering an array of

interpretive techniques which seek to
describe, decode, translate, and otherwise
come to terms with the meaning, not the
frequency, of certain naturally occurring
phenomena in the social world”
 “Qualitative Research”
a definition by (Banister et al., 1994)

Qualitative research is “…the interpretive

study of a specified issue or problem in
which the researcher is central to the sense
that is made”
 “Qualitative Research”
a definition by (Banister et al., 1994)

“The goal of qualitative research is the

development of concepts which help us to
understand social phenomena in natural
(rather than experimental) settings, giving due
emphasis to the meanings, experiences, and
views of all the participants.”
 Essential Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
• concerned with understanding a phenomenon
• assumes multiple realities
• data is in the form of rich verbal descriptions
• researcher is immersed and in direct contact
during the data collection
• the data collection is highly interactive
• data collection methodology evolves and is
flexible; a “tentative” approach to the
methodology
 Essential Characteristics of
Qualitative Research
• emphasizes the holistic perspective
• research is context sensitive
• illuminate the invisibility of everyday life; “make the
familiar strange”
• construct meaning from the participant’s point of
view (“informants” rather than “subjects”)
• explores open questions rather than testing
hypothesis
• employs purposive sampling and “gate keepers”
 Appropriateness of
Qualitative Research

• When variables cannot be quantified

• When variables are best understood in their
natural settings
• When variables are studied over time
• When studying roles, processes, and groups
• When the paramount objective is “understanding”
 What to Observe or Study

• Behaviors or practices
• Episodes, common events (death, birth, etc.)
• Encounters –when groups or people interact
• Roles
• Relationship roles – mother/daughter;
wife/husband, Therapist/disabled,… etc.
 Qualifications of Investigators
(Kuh & Andreas, 1991)

• 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.
 The Qualitative Research Design
“a rough working frame” --(Whitt, 1991)

• An initial focus (problem, phenomenon, question)

• Phases of the study (background, entry, exploration,
closure)
• Plan for identifying setting and data sources
• Plan and logistics for data collection and analysis
• Plan for ensuring trustworthiness
 Phases in Qualitative
Research
Conceptualize and plan study
Use literature, formulate study
purpose or question, identify
study site, settings where/how
data collection will occur,
participants and entrée to setting
Goal: Access the participants
world & meanings. Researcher
is the instrument
Start study with concurrent
data collection and analysis.
Analysis focused on
identifying themes and
categories-- similarities in
data. Question or purpose
may emerge and be refined.
Data collection strategies
may change

Sampling and data collection determined by

theoretical saturation. Analysis based on narrative
description
 Selecting participants...

• The goal is to get the deepest possible

understanding of the setting being studied
• Requires identifying participants who can
provide information about the particular
topic and setting being studied
 Selecting participants...

• It is fraught with difficulties in identifying and

selecting an appropriate number of
participants who can provide useful
information about the particular topic and
setting being studied
• Utilizes purposive sampling
Differences Between Random &
Purposeful Sampling
Random “Quantitative” Sampling
Select Representative individuals

To generalize from sample to population

To make claims about the population
To build/test “theories” that explain the pop‟n

Purposeful “Qualitative” Sampling

Select people/sites who can best help us understand our phenomenon

To develop detailed understanding

That might be “useful: information
That might help people “learn” about the phenomenon
That might give voice to “silenced” people
Sampling in Qualitative Studies
• Sample size is always determined by the analysis. It is part
of the design and so is influenced by the nature of the
inquiry, quality of the informants, the quality of the data.

• The researcher is looking for saturation—the point at

which there is no new cases coming from each new
participant and redundant information keeps coming up.

• This must be differentiated from participant saturation

where the researcher cannot drag anything new out of the
umpteenth interview with that particular person.
Types of Data Collection
(or “fieldwork”)

Observation

Interviewing

Focus Groups

Document Analysis
 The Three-Interview Series
(Seidman, 1998)

Interview One: Life History

Interview Two: Details of the Experience

Interview Three: Reflection on the Meaning

Qualitative Research Methods:
Triangulation
• Method to enhance
the validity &
reliability of
qualitative research
• Enhances accuracy of
interpretation
• Confirms that the data
collected is not due to
chance or circum-
stances
 Qualitative Research Methods:
Triangulation
For example:
 Collect data from  May interview teachers,
multiple sources principals & parents
 Collect data in  May interview &
multiple ways from observe students
subjects
 Collect different  May review student
kinds of data in records, interview
multiple ways from teachers, observe
multiple subjects students
 Qualitative Research Methods:
Triangulation
Multiple data
collection strategies

Kinds of data

Subjects Data collection strategies

(data sources)
Multiple Multiple data
kinds of data sources
 Resources
(Kuh & Andreas, 1991)

• Recording devices
• Transcribing equipment
• Software packages for analyzing
• Member checks participants
• Space
• Time
 Qualitative Research:
Data Analysis
The Data Analysis
Generally collected in • Some form of
the form of… analysis usually
field notes, takes place at the
same time data is
diaries
being collected
audio & video tapes,
• Researcher seeks
copies of documents, to identify patterns
narrative descriptions or trends
 Qualitative Research:
Data Analysis

Qualitative data may be analyzed by a 3-

part strategy:
reducing the data
coding the data
synthesizing the data
 Qualitative Research:
Data Analysis

• Read and re-read data, become engrossed in it.

• Identify themes: common, conflicting, minority
• Test themes across the data set, where are they common,
under what circumstances are they found, not found. This
sets the parameters on the interpretation and
generalisation of data
• Get more than one person to analyse the data
independently then together
• Demonstrate trustworthiness in data analysis
 Common Qualitative
Research Approaches

• Case study
• Ethnography
• Grounded theory
• Phenomenology
• Historical
• Action Research
 CHAPTER 9:
INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES
 Objectives
1. Identify different types of interviewing
techniques & know when to use
2. Describe „basic rules‟ of successful
interviewing
3. Demonstrate skill in interviewing that
you will be able to apply in your policy
evaluations
 Interviews
• At the most basic level, are conversations.
• That,
– attempt to understand points of view,
– unfold the meaning of experiences,
– uncover changes in individuals, groups and
communities.
Why Interview
 Be personal and
unobtrusive
 Obtain direct feedback
 Seek understanding
“dig deeper”
 Observe behaviors and
reactions
 Obtain rich, detailed data
 To be flexible
 Types of Interviews
1. Informal Conversation
2. Guided Interview
3. Structured Interview
 Types of Interviews
Informal Conversation
• May happen spontaneously in the course of
field work, and respondent may not even
know that an “interview” is taking place.
• Questions emerge from the immediate
context of the conversation and are often not
predetermined.
 Informal Conversation
When to Use
When the interviewer has:
 Solid knowledge and experience with the subject
matter
 Strong interpersonal skills to maintain the
conversation
 The situation presents the opportunity
 Ability to record data quickly
 Informal Conversation
Situations
 Social gathering
 School event
 Before/after a public meeting
 Whenever you have their attention and can
engage the conversation
 Types of Interviews
Guided Interview
• Widely used. Interviewer has an established
outline of topics/questions to be covered.
• Wording and order of questions can vary to
an extent.
 Guided Interview
When to Use
When you have:
 Solid knowledge and experience with the
subject matter – you know what to ask
 A set of questions you want everyone to
answer
 Questions that you want to compare or
summarize across individuals
 Guided Interview
Situations
 Series of scheduled individual meetings
with local politicians
 Types of Interviews
Structured Interviews
• Adheres to a strict script with no variation
in the wording or order of the questions.
• Useful when interviewer does not have
experience or knowledge of the subject.
• The structure helps reduce interviewer
bias.
 Structured Interviews
When to Use
 To compare responses of different
respondents
 You or other volunteers have limited
knowledge of the topic
 Structured Interviews
Situations

 Multiple volunteer interviewers are

used
Conducting Interviews
 Conducting Interviews
1. Establish Purpose
Why are you conducting the interview
What do you want to know
Who are you interviewing
 Conducting Interviews
2. Develop Questions:
– Related specifically to purpose
– Pilot them, are they clearly understood
by others‟
Conducting Interviews
3. Collect the data
Who will conduct the interview(s)?
Do the interviewers need training?
When will interviews be conducted?
Where will interviews be conducted?
How will you record the interviews?
Questionnaire
Notes
Tape recorder
Conducting Interviews
4. Analysis and reporting
– What will you do with the data?
– How will you analyze it?
– Who will you share the results with?
– How will it be shared?
– When will you share the results?
Interviewing Basic Rules
• Keep the purpose of
the interview in
mind…always
• Be yourself
• Be cordial,
appreciative and show
respect
• Dress appropriately
for the setting
Interviewing Basic Rules
• Conduct the interview
in a comfortable place
• Do not be afraid to
probe
• Demonstrate that you
are listening
• Be sensitive to cultural
nuances
• Practice, practice,
practice…
 Interview Role-Play
Instructions
1. Read the scenarios.
2. Create ONE more question. The question must
relate to the purpose of the interview.
3. Identify interviewee and interviewer(s).
4. Conduct interview with interviewer(s)
documenting responses
5. Review and briefly analyze documented
responses
 Interview Role-Play
After conducting the interview, discuss within your
group the following:

• The type of interview introduced in the scenario

• A potential location for the interview
• Ethical standards considered
• Probing technique(s) used
• Brief summary of the data collected
• Did the interview meet the intended purpose
 Disadvantages
May be time consuming and costly
Training - practice is necessary
Interviewer error and/or bias can creep
in
Analysis can be difficult
Interviewing takes skill
 Advantages
Direct feedback from respondent
Yields rich, detailed data and new
insights
Probing is possible
Personal interaction with respondent
Flexible
Opportunity to explain or clarify
Informal Conversation
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Highly individualized 1. It is not a systematic
method
2. Relevant to the
individual 2. Different information
may be collected
3. May produce from different people
information or
insights not 3. Analysis can
originally anticipated become difficult and
time-consuming
 Guided Interview
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Data are more 1. Sticking too much to
systematic and the outline may
comprehensive prevent other topics
from being explored
2. Tone of the interview
is conversational,
informal 2. Analysis can
become difficult and
time-consuming
 Structured Interviews
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Useful when interviewer 1. Interviewer has little
does not have flexibility within the
experience or knowledge actual interview
of the subject
2. If questions are not
2. May be best choice when clearly linked to the
you must rely on purpose, there is no
volunteers guarantee the questions
tap into the issues that
3. Structure makes analysis
are most relevant to the
easier than other
respondent
interview techniques
 Who are you?
We would like to get to know you
by knowing…
• Your name
• Where you work or who you are
representing
 CHAPTER 10:
TOOLS FOR QUALITATIVE RESERCH
Focus Groups
 A Focus Group Is . . .
What
• A carefully planned
discussion
• To obtain
perceptions of a
defined interest
area
 A Focus Group Is . . .

Where
• In a permissive,
non-threatening
environment
A Focus Group Is . . .

Who
• Approximately seven
to ten people
• With common
characteristics
relating to discussion
topic
A Focus Group Is . . .

How
• Conducted by a
trained interviewer
(moderator,
facilitator).
• Three focus groups
are the minimum for
a study
 Why Do Focus Groups?
• To collect qualitative data
• To determine feelings, perceptions and
manner of thinking of participants
regarding products, services, programs or
opportunities
• Attitudes and perceptions are developed
in part by interaction with other people
• To promote self-disclosure among
participants
• It's dangerous to take "customers" for
granted
 When to Conduct
Focus Groups
• Before a program begins, during a
program or after a program ends

• Focus groups are effective when

o People have something to share (motivations)
o The goal is to understand human behavior

• Focus groups are not effective when

o People are divided or angry
o The goal is to gather factual information
o Organization is trying to improve its image
 Selecting Participants
• Participants are similar
• General selection rules:
– Set exact specification
– Maintain control of the selection
process
– Use the resources of the sponsoring
organization in recruiting
– Beware of bias
– Develop a pool of eligible participants
and then randomly select
 Selection Strategies

List
Piggyback
On location
Nominations
Random phone screening
Ads in newspapers and bulletin boards
Incentives for Participants

• Money ($20-$50)
• Food
• Gifts
• Positive, upbeat
invitation
 Systematic Notification
Procedures

1. Set meeting times for interviews

2. Contact potential participants by phone
or in person (2 weeks before meeting
time)
3. Send a personalized invitation
4. Phone (or contact) each person the day
before the focus group
 Moderator Skills
 Is mentally prepared
 Selects appropriate location
 Records the discussion
 Uses purposeful small talk
 Has a smooth & snappy introduction
 Uses pauses and probes
 Uses subtle group control
 Controls reactions to participants
 Selects the right moderator
 Uses an assistant moderator
 Uses appropriate conclusion
 Beginning the Focus Group
Discussion
• The first few moments in focus group
discussion are critical.
– Create a thoughtful, permissive atmosphere
– Provide the ground rules
– Set the tone
• Recommended introduction pattern:
– Welcome
– Overview and topic
– Ground rules
– First question
 Asking Questions That Yield
Powerful Information
• Use open-ended questions
• Avoid dichotomous questions
• "Why?" is rarely asked
• Use "think back" questions
• Carefully prepare focus questions
• Ask uncued questions first, cued questions
second
• Consider standardized questions
 Ending Questions
• Summary question
"Is this an adequate summary?"
• All things considered question
Ask participants to reflect on the entire discussion and
then offer their positions or opinions
• Final question
"Have we missed anything?
Systematic Analysis Process

• Start while still in the group

• Immediately after the focus group
• Soon after the focus group--within hours
analyze individual focus group
• Later--within days analyze the series of
focus groups
• Finally, prepare the report
 Focus Group Analysis Tips
When analyzing focus group data, consider…
• Words
• Context
• Internal consistency
• Frequency or extensiveness of comments
• Intensity of the comments
• Specificity of responses
• Find the big ideas
 Reporting Focus Group
Results
• Use a communications strategy
• Use an appropriate reporting style that the
client finds helpful and meets expectations
• Strive for enlightenment
• Make points memorable
• Use narrative or bulleted format
• Give thought to the oral report
 Ethnography and
participant observation
 Definitions
• Ethnography – an umbrella term for a family of
qualitative research methods
• Often used interchangeably with „participant
observation‟
• The ethnographer immerses herself in a chosen
setting for a prolonged period of time
• Watching, participating, asking questions
• Ethnography is both the method and the outcome
• F.ex. An ethnography of a primary
school/convent/nightclub etc.
 Ethnography and fieldwork: getting „out
there‟
1. Developing a research problem (what will
you study and why?)
2. Choosing a setting (where?)
3. Participants (who?)
4. Access (how?)
5. Fieldwork: observation, field notes
interviews, and focus groups (what?)
 Access
Why it may be hard to get in:
• Personal attributes (age, gender, skin colour,
nationality, class, sexual orientation)
• Research topic
• First impression
• Covert, overt, or semi-overt research?
 Access (cont.)
• Adjusting to the field
• Power relations
• „Fairy Godmother‟ (O‟Reilly) – is it always a blessing?
• The power of neutral information
• Learning from own mistakes and trying again
• Official/unofficial route
• Time
• Learning the language

N.B. The process of gaining access never stops

 Gaining access: an example
• Whyte (1955) Street
Corner Society
• A study of young men in
„Cornerville‟
• A public
setting/difficulties getting
in
• Whyte befriended Doc,
who turned into his key
informant and gatekeeper
 Covert/overt research
• Most ethnography nowadays is semi-overt
• Covert – the ethnographer does not reveal
their „true‟ identity
• Overt – the participants are aware of the
researcher‟s motives and they grant their
consent for the data to be used
 Covert research: an example
• Humphreys, L. (1970) Tearoom
Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public
Places. Chicago: Aldine

• Participant observation in
public toilets
• Humphreys was a „watch
queen‟
• Obtained the men‟s personal
details and subsequently
interviewed them
Doing fieldwork: the researcher‟s roles
• Feeling strange and insecure
I was afraid of everything at the beginning. It was just fear of imposing on people, of
trying to maintain a completely different role than anyone else around you. […] Am I
going to be rejected? Am I really getting the data I need?’ (Wintrob (1969) cited in
Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995: 114)

Different roles (Gold, 1958)

• Complete participant (covert)

• Participant as observer (overt)
• Observer as participant (overt)
• Complete observer (overt)

This distinction is not always useful – you are never simply an observer
 „Going native‟
• When the ethnographer becomes a member
of the studied group/ loses the sense of being
a researcher
• May be dangerous but it happens
• Religious conversion, romantic involvement
with a research participant, taking on the
views of the group studied
 Hunter Thompson (1967) Hell‟s
Angels
By the middle of summer (1965) I became
so involved in the outlaw scene that I was
no longer sure whether I was doing
research on the Hell’s Angels or being
slowly absorbed by them. I found myself
spending two or three days each week in
Angel bars, in their homes, and on runs
and parties. In the beginning I kept them
out of my own world, but after several
months my friends grew accustomed to
finding Hell’s Angels in my apartment at
any hour of the day or night. Their
arrivals and departures caused periodic
alarm in the neighbourhood and
sometimes drew crowds. (Thompson,
1967: 283)
 Research bargains
• Fieldwork = constant interaction

• Impossible to sail through without any problems

• „Fronts‟ – what you say, how you dress etc.

• Mistakes and „close calls‟ are part of the process and your data – use them
to learn and enhance your research experience

• Humility is the key

Examples of „uncomfortable research‟
• Fielding, N. (1981) The National Front
An ethnography: Fielding befriended several activists, conducted
participant observation and analysed the ideology of the
movement

• Patrick, J. (1973) A Glasgow Gang Observed. London: Eyre

Methuen
Patrick joined a gang but left when the level of violence
escalated
 Ethnographic fieldnotes
• When? What? How?
• When? ASAP, best during an observation but
not always possible
• How? Rushed and fragmented, key words,
pictures and drawings, even elaborate notes
need refining
CONSISTENCY! „If in doubt, write it down‟
 Ethnographic fieldnotes (cont.)
What?
• Impossible to record everything

• Sophistication comes with time

• Detailed can be good

• Especially if we are dealing with conversations

and emotional situations
 Types of fieldnotes
• Jottings – brief phrases to be developed
• Description – everything you recall about the
occasion (time, place, people, surroundings,
animals, smells, sounds etc.)
• Analysis – what have you learned so far?
• Reflection – what was it like for you?
 Sampling
• Whatever is available
or
• Convenience and snowball sampling
Or
• Theoretical sampling – gathering data in
accordance with the emerging theory
• From a general research question to a
hypothesis
 When does the ethnographer stop?
• Data saturation OR the field disintegrates
• Can be difficult because:
a) Your participants do not wish you to leave
b) You find it hard to leave the setting

• You may feel relieved,

• Or sad,
• Or guilty…

Oritz, S. (2004) Leaving the Private World of Wives of Professional

Athletes, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 33(4)
Hunter Thompson (1965) Hell‟s Angels
 Aftermath
• Keeping in touch: a moral obligation?

• Feeding the data back to the participants

• Follow-up research
 CHAPTER 11:
DATA ANALYSIS IN QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
 What is data analysis?

• A complex process that involves moving

back and forth
– between concrete bits of data and abstract
concepts
– between inductive and deductive reasoning
– between description and interpretation
• Simply put: Data analysis is the process of
making meaning from the data
Preliminary Exploratory Analysis

• Explore the data by reading through all of

your information to obtain a general sense
of the information
• Memo ideas while thinking about the
organization of the data and considering
whether more data are needed
– Jot memos in margins of fieldnotes, transcripts,
documents, photos
 Developing Descriptions & Themes
from the Data (case study
approach)
• Coding data
• Developing a description from the data
• Defining themes from the data
• Connecting and interrelating themes
 Coding Data

• Open Coding
– Assign a code word or phrase that accurately
describes the meaning of the text segment
– Line-by-line coding is done first in theoretical
research
– More general coding involving larger segments
of text is adequate for practical research
(action research)
 Axial Coding
• The process of looking for categories that cut
across all data sets
• After this type of coding, you have identified
your themes
• You can‟t classify something as a theme unless
it cuts across the preponderance of the data
 Clustering

• After open coding an entire text, make a list

of all code words
• Cluster together similar codes and look for
redundant codes
• Objective: reduce the long list of codes to a
smaller, more manageable number (25 or
30)
 Preliminary organizing scheme

• Take this new list of codes and go back to the

data
• Reduce this list to codes to get 5 to 7 themes or
descriptions
• Themes are similar codes aggregated together to
form a major idea in the database
• Identify the 5-7 themes by constantly comparing
the data (Constant Comparative Analysis)
Constant Comparative Analysis
• A process whereby the data gradually
evolve into a core of emerging theory
• This core is a theoretical framework that
further guides the collection of data
• Major modifications are lessened as
comparisons of the next incidents of a
category to its properties are carried out
(Merriam, 1998).
 Why themes?
 It is best to write a qualitative report
providing detailed information about a few
themes rather than general information about
many themes
 Themes can also be referred to as Categories
Naming the Themes or Categories

• The names can come from at least three

sources:
– The researcher
– The participants
– The literature
• Most common: when the researcher
comes up with terms, concepts, and
categories that reflect what he or she sees
in the data
 Themes should…
• Reflect the purpose of the research
• Be exhaustive--you must place all data in a
category
• Be sensitizing--should be sensitive to what is
in the data
– i.e., “leadership” vs. “charismatic leadership”
• Be conceptually congruent--the same level of
abstraction should characterize all categories
at the same level
– For instance, you wouldn’t have produce, canned
goods, and fruit
 Types of themes

• Ordinary: themes a researcher expects

• Unexpected: themes that are surprises and not expected
to surface
• Hard-to-classify: themes that contain ideas that do not
easily fit into one theme or that overlap with several
themes
• Major & minor themes: themes that represent the major
ideas, or minor, secondary ideas in a database
– Minor themes fit under major themes in the write up
 A Description
• A detailed rendering of people, places, or
events in a setting in qualitative research
• Codes such as “seating arrangements,”
“teaching approach,” or “physical layout of the
room,” might all be used to describe a
classroom where instruction takes place
 Narrative description
• From the coding and the themes, construct a
narrative description and possibly a visual
display of the findings for your research report
• Use the assigned format (see syllabus)
 Constructing the narrative

• Identify dialogue that provides support for themes

• Look for dialogue in the participants’ own dialect
• Use metaphors and analogies
• Collect quotes from interview data or observations
• Locate multiple perspectives & contrary evidence
• Look for vivid detail
• Identify tensions and contradictions in individual
experiences
 Conveying personal reflections
Because qualitative researchers believe that personal
views can never be kept separate from interpretations,
personal reflections about the meaning of the data are
included in the research study
– “David had been diagnosed with AD/HD and also with mild
Tourette Syndrome. He took medication for AD/HD. He was
selected to participate in the project as a confirming participant
because he was so involved with the project and so intense
during the first observation. Unaware that he had AD/HD and
Tourette Syndrome until I interviewed his mother during the
second year of the project, I was surprised because he was the
most focused student in the classroom.”(Terry, 2003)
 Providing Visual Data Displays

• Qualitative researchers often display their

findings visually
– Comparison table or matrix
– Hierarchical tree diagram that represents
themes and their connections
– Boxes that show connections between themes
– Physical layout of the setting
– Personal or demographic information for each
person or site
 Enhances Commitment,
Attitudes,
and Student Development
 Making comparisons with the
Literature
 Interpret the data in view of past research
 Show how the findings both support and contradict
prior studies
◦ “These findings are consistent with other studies in regard to
duration. It has been found that the length or duration of
service learning projects has an impact on student outcomes,
with the longer duration projects having greater impacts.
However, significant differences are not found in projects
lasting over 18 weeks (Conrad & Hedin, 1981). The project on
which this study focused was examined over a year and a half
period of time; thus it is considered to be long in duration
which helps to explain its impact on student outcomes.”
 Limitations of the study
The researcher suggests possible limitations or
weaknesses of the study
– “This study focused on one rural middle school in an area
in Northeast Georgia, Hartwell. It documented the
methodology used in the service learning project and the
effect of a certain type of service learning model,
Community Action. Therefore, the study provides an in-
depth look at a service learning project carried out by gifted
students in just one middle school in a rural area situated in
a Southern state. Transferability may be limited as a result”
(Terry, 2001).
 Future Research Suggested
Researchers make recommendations for future
research
– “In addition, further research is needed to determine
outcomes for a diversified culture of students, including,
but not limited to African-American students and students
diagnosed with AD/HD. Research is also needed to
examine and validate existing frameworks before
professing any general claims concerning the outcomes for
students engaged in service learning activities” (Terry,
2003).
Validating the Accuracy of Findings
At the end, the qualitative researcher validates the
finding by determining the accuracy or credibility
of the findings. Methods include:
– Prolonged engagement & persistent observation in the
field
– Triangulation
– Peer Review
– Clarifying researcher bias
– Member Checking
– Rich, thick description
– External Audit
 Addressing Research Bias
“I am not an impartial bystander when it comes to service
learning so I knew I had to enhance internal validity at the
outset of the study. I have been involved with Community
Action service learning projects for over 16 years as a teacher.
I have co-authored a book on how to facilitate Community
Action service learning projects which I have used to
implement service learning projects in my own classroom.
My students have been featured in Reader‟s Digest and have
been guests on the Phil Donahue Show because of their
outstanding work in service learning. Being aware of this
bias, I took extreme precautions to maintain objectivity during
both the collection and analysis of the data thereby accurately
representing the project fairly and accurately” (Terry, 2001).
 Reliability or Dependability
• From a quantitative perspective, reliability refers to the
extent to which research findings can be replicated
• From a qualitative perspective, dependability, (reliability) in
qualitative research is not based on outsiders getting the
same results, but that outsiders concur that, given the data
collected, the results make sense. In other words, the
results are dependable and consistent (Lincoln & Guba,
1985).
 External Validity
• Concerned with the extent to which the findings of
one study can be applied to other situations
• Quantitative studies enhance external validity
using a priori conditions which are limiting in
conducting qualitative research
• External validity is problematic in qualitative
research because “In qualitative research, a single
case or small nonrandom sample is selected
precisely because the researcher wishes to
understand the particular in depth, not to find out
what is generally true of the many” (Merriam,
1998, p. 208).
Applying external validity to qualitative
research
 Think in terms of the reader of the study
 What is the extent to which a study’s
findings can apply to other situations?
 This is referred to as Representativeness or
Transferability
 Merriam (1998) suggests: rich, thick
description and typicality, modal category, or
multisite designs
“To enhance external validity in this study,
these procedures were followed:
 CHAPTER 11:
RESEARCH REPORT
PREPARATION AND
PRESENTATION
 RESEARCH REPORT
 A research report is:
◦ a written document or oral presentation based on a written
document that communicates the purpose, scope,
objective(s), hypotheses, methodology, findings, limitations
and finally, recommendations of a research project to others.
◦ The last stage of a marketing research process.;
◦ It is more than a summary of findings; rather it is a record of the
research process.
 The researcher has to convince the client [and others who
may read the report] that the research findings can be
acted on for their own benefit.
 Types of Research Report I

 Any research report contains:

◦ descriptions on methodology,
◦ results obtained,
◦ and recommendations made.
 The basic orientation of a research report depends on
its audience. Before writing the report
◦ the researcher must know his or her audience;
◦ he/she may have to make assumptions about the
composition, background and interests of the target
readers.
 Types of Research Report II

 Two types of reports:-

◦ Technical Report: suitable for a target audience of
 researchers, research managers or other people familiar with and
interested in the technicalities such as research design, sampling
methods, statistical details etc.,
◦ Popular Report: suitable for:
 a more general audience, interested mainly in the research
findings as it is non-technical in nature.
◦ The writing style is designed to facilitate easy and rapid
reading and understanding of the research findings and
recommendations.
REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION PROCESS

Problem Definition, Data Pre-report

Research Design Analysis
and Methodology Writing
Activities

Interpretation of
Research
findings

Report
Report
Preparation Writing
Activities

Oral
Presentattion

Post
RESEARCH Reading of the
FOLLOW-UP Report by the Report
client Writing
 The first step in the process involves..

 the interpretation of the results of data analysis in

light of:
◦ the marketing research problem investigated,
◦ and the research design and methodology followed.
 The research report is a means of communication
that can be understood, believed, trusted by
everyone who are likely to be affected by the
research, and acted upon by the decision maker.
 Before writing the report…

 the researcher should discuss: the major

findings, conclusions, and recommendations with
the key decision makers.
◦ necessary to ensure that the report meets the client's
needs and is ultimately accepted.
 The entire marketing research project:
◦ should be summarized in a single written report or in
several reports addressed to different readers.
◦ should present the findings in such a way that they can
be used directly as input into decision making.
 Oral Presentation

• Generally, an oral presentation supplements

the written report.
• The client should be given adequate time to
read the report.
– If necessary, the researcher should assist the
client in understanding the report,
implementing the findings, undertaking further
research, and evaluating the research process
in retrospect.
 Report Format

 No universally accepted standard format or style for

research writing. Different researchers may prepare
their reports differently.
◦ The personality, background, expertise, and responsibility
of the researcher and those of the decision maker for
whom the report is written interact to give each report a
unique character.
◦ Report formats are likely to vary with the nature of the
project itself. However, the research report closely
resembles the steps of the marketing research process.
 Most research reports include the following elements:

I. Title page XI. Research design

II. Letter of transmittal
III. Table of contents
IV. List of tables
V. List of graphs
VI. List of appendices
VII. List of exhibits
VIII. Executive summary
a. Major findings
b. Conclusions
c. Recommendations
IX. Introduction
a. Background to the
problem
b. Statement of the problem
X. Approach to the problem
a. Type of research design
b. Information needs
c. Data collection from secondary sources
d. Data collection from primary sources
e. Scaling techniques
f. Questionnaire development and pretesting
g. Sampling techniques
h. Field work
XII. Data analysis
a. Methodology
b. Plan of data analysis
XIII. Results
XIV. Limitations and caveats
XV. Conclusions and recommendations
XVI. Appendix
a. Questionnaires and forms
b. Statistical output
c. Lists
 The results...

 may be presented in several chapters of the report.

◦ For example, a Malaysian researcher conducting a
national survey, may perform the data analysis in
two stages.
 First, he or she may analyze the overall national
sample followed by nine separate analysis for each of
the states.
 The results may then be presented in ten chapters [
one overall plus nine state based] instead of one.
 Report Writing I
 Effective report writing is an art.
 Some basic points to note in writing a report.
◦ Readers: The report should take into account the level of readers'
technical sophistication, their interest in the project, ability to
understand as well as the circumstances under which they will
read the report and how they will use it..
◦ Adherence to study objectives: A research report must show that
the research objectives have been accomplished..
◦ Easy to follow: The most basic characteristic of a good report is
that it is easy to follow.
 It should be well organized, logically structured, and clearly and lucidly
written. Headings and sub-headings should be used for different topics
and subtopics respectively..
 Report Writing II
 Objective: Report writing should always be guided by objectivity.
◦ Should accurately present the methodology, results, and
conclusions of the project, without slanting the findings to
conform to the expectations of management.
 Selectivity: A researcher must use his or her discretion in deciding
what should be included in the report.
 Concise: A report should be concise. Yet brevity should not be
achieved at the expense of completeness.
 Presentation: The report should be professionally done with
quality paper, good typing, and attractive binding.
 Report Writing III

 Visual aids: Key information presented in the text of a research report

should be reinforced with tables, graphs, pictures, maps, and other
visual devices.
 Guidelines for Tables: Statistical tables are a vital part of the report
and deserve special attention.
◦ Every table should have a number and brief but clear title.
◦ Basis or unit of measurement should be clearly stated to facilitate
understanding.
◦ The arrangement of the data item should emphasize the most important
aspect of the data being presented.
◦ If necessary, explanations, comments etc. should be provided as footnotes.
◦ If the table presents secondary data, the source(s) must be cited clearly.
 Oral Presentation
 Should be carefully prepared keeping the audience in
mind.
 A good presentation does not mean a lengthy
presentation.
 Carefully selected visual aids such as graphs, tables,
charts, maps etc. help presentation.
◦ However, Too many visual aids, particularly statistical tables,
could often be boring and may not serve any purpose.
 During oral presentation, people may seek clarification.
◦ The speaker must be patient and should not show signs of
anger or frustration. He or she should be natural, establish
eye contact with the audience, and interact with them.
◦ Body language and descriptive gestures are also quite useful.