http://www.wilderdom.com/OEcourses/PROFLIT/Class6Qualitative1.htm
Paradigms
There are three basic research paradigms -positivism (quantitative, scientific approach),
interpretivism, and critical science (Cantrell, n. d.).
Positivism, or the scientific approach, we have
explored in the early parts of this course.
Critical science, or the critical approach, explores
the social world, critiques it, and seeks to empower
the individual to overcome problems in the social
world. Critical science enables people to
understand how society functions and methods by
which unsatisfactory aspects can be changed. We
do not cover critical science in this course.
Interpretivism, or the qualitative approach, is a
way to gain insights through discovering meanings
by improving our comprehension of the whole.
Qualitative research explores the richness, depth,
and complexity of phenomena. Qualitative
research, broadly defined, means "any kind of
research that produces findings not arrived at by
means of statistical procedures or other means of
quantification" (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
Although acceptance of interpretivism is increasing
within human movement sciences, positivism
remains the dominant paradigm, as it does in other
social science fields
Assumptions of Interpretivism
The underlying assumption of interpretivism is that
the whole needs to be examined in order to
understand a phenomena. Interpretivism is critical
of the positivism because it seeks to collect and
analyze data from parts of a phenomena and, in so
doing, positivism can miss important aspects of a
comprehensive understanding of the whole.
Interpretivism proposes that there are multiple
realities, not single realities of phenomena, and
that these realities can differ across time and place.
Unlike quantitative research, there is no
overarching framework for how qualitative research
should be conducted; rather each type of
qualitative research is guided by particular
philosophical stances that are taken in relation by
the research to each phenomenon (O'Brien, n. d.).
Main Types of Qualitative Research
Case study
Attempts to shed light on
a phenomena by studying
indepth a single case
example of the
phenomena. The case
can be an individual
person, an event, a
group, or an institution.
Grounded
theory
Theory is developed
inductively from a corpus
of data acquired by a
participant-observer.
Phenomenology
Describes the structures
of experience as they
present themselves to
consciousness, without
recourse to theory,
deduction, or assumptions
from other disciplines
Ethnography
Focuses on the sociology
of meaning through close
field observation of
sociocultural phenomena.
Typically, the
ethnographer focuses on
a community.
Historical
Systematic collection and
objective evaluation of
data related to past
occurrences in order to
test hypotheses
concerning causes,
effects, or trends of these
events that may help to
explain present events
and anticipate future
events. (Gay, 1996)
Main Types of Qualitative Data Collection & Analysis
"Those who are not familiar with qualitative methodology may be surprised by the
sheer volume of data and the detailed level of analysis that results even when
research is confined to a small number of subjects" (Myers, 2002).
There are three main methods of data collection:
Interactive interviewing
People asked to verbally described
their experiences of phenomenon.
Written descriptions by participants
People asked to write descriptions of
their experiences of phenomenon.
Observation
Descriptive observations of verbal and
non-verbal behavior.
Analysis begins when the data is first collected and is used to guide decisions
related to further data collection.
"In communicating--or generating--the data, the researcher must make the
process of the study accessible and write descriptively so tacit knowledge may best
be communicated through the use of rich, thick descriptions" (Myers, 2002).