EQL 671

:

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHOD IN EDUCATION (Chapters 1 & 2) Facilitator: Prof Dr Chang Lee Hoon

Chapter 1: Introduction to Qualitative Research What is Qualitative research?

- Interpretation of phenomena in natural setting - Understand in-depth meanings - Focuses on why? - Inductive research - Rich description of data

Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative R

1. Philosophy 2. Goal 3. Focus 4. Method 5. Data collection techniques 6. Research design 7. Sample 8. Generalisation 9. Analysis 10. Role of researcher

Qualitative research methods

• Case study • Ethnography • Phenomenology • Historical • Action Research • Content analysis • Grounded theory • Generic

• • • • • • Checklist on Qualitative research Theoretical approach - Phenomenology in educational research Study design - Sampling Data collection methods Validity Researcher as the research instrument Context biasness Triangulation Analysis - coding and analysis - reliability & creditability Ethics - human subjects

Qualitative Data Collection Techniques • Document examination • Observation • Interviews

Kinds of Documents as Data:

• Bogdan & Biklen (1998) categorized documents as (a) Personal documents – written by subjects on their actions, experiences and beliefs, private purposes and limited use – diaries – description and reflective commentary of events e.g. record on experience, thoughts, feelings, problems etc – logs – less intimate e.g. daily entry on lesson plans or daily activities – personal letters between friends and family members – reveal relationships, experiences – Autobiographies – available source of data on person’s own story –useful for understanding categories under study e.g. gender, ethnic minorities etc

Kinds of Documents as Data:

(b) Official documents – produced by organizations for specific purpose - record keeping and dissemination - internal documents – memos, minutes of meetings and others that are circulated inside an organisation usually in hierarchical course – provide info on internal rules & regulations, leadership style, organisational values etc - external communication parents, brochures etc – produced by organisation for public consumption eg. Newsletters, yearbook, notes to – indicators of organisational strategies - Student records and personnel files etc – achievement records, discipline records, attendance, profiles of family – indicators of student’s school career, comments from teachers on the student’s records

Kinds of Documents as Data:

(c) Popular culture documents – produced for commercial purposes to entertain, persuade & enlighten the public - videos, magazines, TV, films, advertisements – studied as texts (transcripts of shows, lyrics etc) and interpretations of viewers – to make visible “messages” or social constructions in the texts.

Personal Documents

• Broadly refer to any first person narrative that describes an individual’s actions, experiences and beliefs (Plummer, 1983; Taylor & Bogdan, 1984) • Intimate diaries; for educational researchers, teachers’ diaries that record in detail first teaching experiences, problems with students.

• Personal letters (emails?); could reveal the nature of relationships between people, insights of author’s experiences • Autobiographies, including novels

Official Documents

• Internal documents – Memos or other communications that are circulated inside an organization – Could provide the hierarchical structure, leadership style, potential insight about what organizational members value • External communication – Materials produced for public consumption e.g. letters to parents, curriculum materials etc – Useful in understanding official perspectives on programs, administrative structure • Student Records and Personal Files – Records of all testing, attendance etc

Popular Culture Documents

• Advertisements • Magazines • Eg. How advertisement of cigarette smoking was constructed as healthy in advertisements (Kellner, 1991); how romance novels for adolescence girls constructed femininity (Christian Smith, 1988)

Why documents?

• As sole data source (e. g. text and discourse analysis) • As supplement or in support to other data source – interviews and observations

Guidelines on documents

• Keep a record of documents required and received • Guideline on Document Summary Ref no: – Site: – Date received: – Type and name of document: – How was the document obtained – Document’s summary of content – Importance of document to study

Observation

(1) Non-participant/Passive observation - Keep your distance - Unobstrusive - Outsider observation/etic - Phases of non-participant observation (Adler & Adler, 1998; Denzin, 1989, Spradley (1980): - Selection of a setting (where and when) - Definition of what is to be documented in observation and in every case - Training of observers for standardisation in observation - Descriptive observations – initial, general presentation of the field - Focused observation – on aspects relevant to research Q - Selective observation – to purposively grasp central aspects - The end of observation – when theoretical saturation is reached

(2) Participant Observation • Participates in activities • Insider/emic perspective • Active to stimulate discussion • Phases of participant observation (Spradley, 1980) - descriptive observation – provides orientation to field under study, non-specific descriptions to grasp complexity of the field and develop more concrete research questions - focused observation – narrows perspectives on processes and problems most essential for research questions - selective observation – towards end of data collection and focused on finding further evidence and e.g. for the types of practices and processes found in step 2.

(3) Active Observation • Participation is allowed but limited • Can intrude in activities but researcher remains passive.

Process of Observing (Creswell, 2005) • Select a site to be observed that can help you best understand the central phenomenon – obtain required permission to gain access • Ease into the site slowly by looking around, getting a general sense of site, taking limited notes initially • At the site, identify who, what, when, how long to observe • Determine your role • Conduct multiple observation over time • Design some means of recording notes during observation – protocol/fieldnotes

Example of Observation Protocol

• Event/Activity of observation: • Site/Address: • Observer • Role of observer • Date and time of observation • Length of observation • Place of observation

Guideline

Descripton of • physical environment • social enviromment • participants Desciption of activites conducted - types of learning activities teacher’s teaching style - use of materials students’ responses Description of social interactions T – P P – T P - P

Obsevational notes Researcher’s reflective notes

Repetitive event/ activity/issue Emerging idea/issue/theme Unique event/ activity/issue

Interviews

Three types • Structured interviews • Semi-structured interviews • Unstructured interviews Three types of probe questions • Detailed oriented “What happened after you found out that your friend cheated?

• Elaboration e.g “Can you tell me more” • Clarification e.g “Did you talk to your teacher?

Conducting Interviews (Creswell, 2005)

• Identify the interviewees • Determine type of interview you will use • During interview, audiotape the questions and responses • Take brief notes during interviews • Locate a quite and suitable place for conducting interview • Obtain informed consent from interviewee to participate in study • Have a plan, but be flexible • Use probes to obtain additional information • Be courteous and professional when interview is over

Example of interview protocol

Name of project: Time of interview: Date: Place: Time: Interviewer: Interviewee: Duration of interview:

Guideline Establishing Rapport:

Desribe the project, tell interviewee of purpose of study, sources of data being collected, how long the interview will take, read and sign the consent form. •

Probe Questions

detailed-oriented

•

elaboration

•

Clarification

Closure

Thank interviewee, assure confidentiality and potential for future interview (if required)

Researcher’s notes Researcher’s reflective notes

Triangulation of methods

• 3 types - Methods triangulation - Investigator triangulation - Theory triangulation

Sampling

• Gaining access • Selecting samples - convenience/availability, -representativeness/critical/typical case • Sampling techniques - purposive - quota - snowballing

Skills required of Qualitative Researcher • Impartiality • Tolerance for ambiguity • Sensitive • Detect personal biases • Good communicator, including writing skills

Length of time spent in collecting data • Span of time • Degree of contact • refer to other studies

Validity of Qualitative Research method

3 types - Descriptive validity - Interpretative validity - Theoretical validity External validity Internal validity