Transcript Introduction to Educational Research (4th ed.) C.M

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What is “Qualitative Research”?
• Involves the collection, analysis, and interpretation of
narrative data
• Focus tends to be on the quality, rather than quantity,
of an activity
• Greater emphasis on holistic description than in
quantitative research
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Five Essential Characteristics…
• Qualitative research…
» Is naturalistic.
» Is descriptive.
» Is concerned with process as well as product.
» Has data that are analyzed inductively.
» Has a primary concern with how people make sense
and meaning out of their lives.
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The Qualitative Research Process
• Steps are fairly consistent with those used in
quantitative research, however…
» The steps are not quite as distinct
» They may overlap or occur out of sequential order
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The Qualitative Research Process
(cont’d.)
1.
Identification of phenomenon to be studied
2.
Review of related literature
3.
Identification and selection of participants
4.
Collection of data
5.
Analysis of data
6.
Generation of research questions
7.
Additional collection of data, analysis, and revision of research
questions…and more!
8.
Final interpretation of analyses and development of conclusions
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Qualitative Data Collection
Techniques
• Goal is to collect narrative data
» Observations
» Fieldnotes & observer’s comments
» Interviews
» Focus groups
» Journals
» Existing documents and records
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Characteristics of Qualitative Data
• Validity of research data
» Trustworthiness (accuracy and believability)
» Credibility
» Dependability
» Accomplished through:
 Triangulation
 Member checking
 Prolonged engagement and persistent observation
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Qualitative Data Analysis
Techniques
• Inductive analysis
» Develop coding scheme
» Code observational notes and interview transcripts
» Describe main features of categories (as means of
simplifying and reducing data)
» Interpret the simplified data
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Approaches to Qualitative Research
Approaches to Qualitative Research
• Ethnography — study of the common practices or
beliefs of a culture, group, or other community
• Narrative – convey experiences as expressed in lived
and told stories of individuals
• Historical Research — describes events, settings of the
past in an attempt to better understand them
• Grounded Theory — attempts to discover an existing
theory or generate a new theory directly from data
• Phenomenology — describes and interprets the
experiences or reactions of participants to a particular
phenomenon from their individual perspectives
• Case Study Research — in-depth analysis of a single,
restricted entity
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The Nature of Ethnographic Research
• Research process used in the study of human
interactions in social settings
• A highly descriptive, holistic approach to research
• Topics must involve people in groups
• May last from a week to several years
• Excellent at constructing a VERY detailed picture of
human life and interactions
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A Summary Description of
Ethnographic Research
• Purpose—to describe/explain segment of group
social life as it pertains to education
• Hypotheses/questions—begin as broad statements;
emerge more specifically as data are collected
• Data—qualitative; verbal descriptions of people,
interactions, settings, etc. within the specific
context
• Data sources—people, settings, etc.
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A Summary Description of
Ethnographic Research (cont’d.)
• Data collection—done by researcher, through
observations and interviews (naturalistic observation)
• Data analysis—presentation of verbal descriptions
through logical analysis in an attempt to discover
themes/ patterns that exist in a particular context
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Strengths and Weaknesses of
Ethnographic Research
• Strengths:
» Its holistic nature (as opposed to a “snapshot study”)
• Weaknesses:
» A single observer calls into question the reliability of the
data (and therefore, the validity of the results)
» Must determine if biases exist…if observations are
accurate OR is the researcher upfront about her biases, so
that the reader can make sense of her interpretations.
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Published Example of Ethnographic
Research
“Influences of Teacher–Child Social Interactions on
English Language Development in a Head Start
Classroom”
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The Nature of Narrative Research
• Purpose of narrative research is to tell stories, specifically
the lived and told stories of individuals
• Several forms of narrative research:
» Biographical study
» Autobiographical study
» Life history
» Personal experience story
» Oral history
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Procedures in Narrative Research
• Identify one or two individuals with interesting life
stories to share
• Collect stories in multiple ways
• Be sure to collect information on their specific context
• Participants’ stories must be analyzed and “restoried”
• Actively collaborate with participants
• Epiphanies often result from this collaborative process
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Published Example of Narrative
Research
“Urban Catholic High Schools and Disadvantaged Females”
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Applying Technology…
Web sites related to qualitative research
• An Introduction to Qualitative Research
(www.enquirylearning.net/ELU/Issues/Research/Res1Cont.html)
• Dr. Trochim’s discussion of "Qualitative Measures"
(socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qual.htm)
• Dr. Trochim’s discussion of "Qualitative Approaches"
(socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualapp.htm)
• Dr. Trochim’s discussion of "Qualitative Methods"
(socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualmeth.htm)
• Dr. Trochim’s discussion of "Qualitative Validity"
(socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.htm)
• Qualitative Research Resources on the Internet
(www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/qualres.html)
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Applying Technology…
More web sites related to qualitative research
• QSR (Qualitative Solutions and Research) Home Page
(www.qsr.com.au)
• Free, downloadable demo version of NVivo qualitative data analysis
software (www.qsr.com.au/DemoReg/DemoReg1.asp)
• Research Proposal Evaluation Form for Qualitative Methodology
(www.gslis.utexas.edu/~marylynn/qreval.html)
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