Unit II: Qualitative

Research and Its

Importance in Daily Life
MS. PRECIOUS RIKKA M. NAVARRO
 Intended Learning Outcomes
After this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Analyze the use of unfamiliar term in a sentence to know its
meaning;
2. Obtain a thorough or in-depth knowledge of qualitative
research;
3. Clarify your understanding of qualitative research;
4. Explain the elements or characteristics of qualitative research;
5. Justify the usefulness of qualitative research;
6. Compare and contrast the types of qualitative research; and
7. Match a given research topic with the research type
 As a curious student, you want to know so many things
about your surroundings as well as people, places, and things
you find interesting, intriguing, mysterious, or unique. Try looking
at the people around you. Perhaps, you are interested in
knowing these people’s ideas, views, feelings, attitudes, or
lifestyle. The information these people give you reflect their
mental, spiritual, emotional, or social upbringing, which in turn,
show how they view the world.
 Resulting from internal aspects, people cannot measure
worldviews but can know them through numbers. Obtaining
world knowledge in this manner directs you to do a research
called Qualitative Research.
Definition of Qualitative Research

 This is a research type that puts premium or high value on

people’s thinking or point of view conditioned by their
personal traits.

 It usually takes place in soft sciences like social sciences,

politics, economics, humanities, education, psychology,
nursing, and all business-related subjects
 Subjectivity in qualitative research is true, not only for an
individual or a group under study, but also for you, the
researcher because of your personal involvement in every
stage of research. For instance, during interviews, you tend to
admire or appreciate people’s ideas based on their answers
or your observations and analysis of certain objects. By
carefully looking at or listening to the subject or object in
natural setting, you become affected by the expressions of
what they think and feel about the topic. (Coghan 2014)
 In qualitative research, the reality is conditioned by society
and people’s intentions are involved in explaining cause-
effect relationships.

 Things are studied in their natural setting, enough for you to

conclude that qualitative research is an act of inquiry or
investigation of real-life events.
Characteristics of a Qualitative
Research
1. Human understanding and interpretation

Data analysis results show an individual’s mental,

social, and spiritual understanding of the world. Hence,
through their worldviews, you come to know what kind of
human being he or she is, including her values, beliefs,
likes, and dislikes.
2. Active, powerful, and forceful

You are not fixated to a certain plan. Rather, you are

inclined to discover your qualitative research design as
your study gradually unfolds or reveals itself in
accordance with your research objectives.
3. Multiple research approaches and methods

Qualitative research allows you to approach or plan

your study in varied ways. You are free to combine this
with quantitative research and use all gathered data and
analysis techniques. Being a multi-method research, a
qualitative study applies to all research types: descriptive,
exploratory, explanatory, case study, etc.
4. Specificity or generalization

Specific ideas in qualitative research are directed to a

general understanding of something. It follows an
inductive or scientific method of thinking, where you start
thinking of a particular or specific concept that will
eventually lead you to more complex ideas such as
generalizations or conclusions.
5. Contextualization

A quantitative research involves all variables, factors, or

conditions affecting the study. Your goal here is to
understand human behavior. Thus, it is crucial for you to
examine the context or situation of an individual’s life-the
who, what, why, how, and other circumstances-affecting
his or her way of life.
6. Diversified data in real-life situations

A qualitative researcher prefers collecting data in a

natural setting like observing people as they live and work,
analyzing photographs or videos as they genuinely
appear to people, and looking at classrooms unchanged
or adjusted to people’s intentional observations.
7. Abounds with words and visuals

Words, words, and more words come in big quantity in

this kind of research. Data gathering through interviews or
library reading, as well as the presentation of data analysis
results, is done verbally. In some cases, it resorts to quoting
some respondent’s answers. Likewise, presenting people’s
world views through visual presentation (i.e., pictures,
drawings, videos, and graphs) are significantly used in
qualitative research.
8. Internal Analysis

Here you examine the data yielded by the internal

traits of the subject individuals (i.e., emotional, mental,
spiritual characteristics). You study people’s perception or
views about your topic, not the effects of their physical
existence on your study. In case of objects, (e.g., books
and artworks) that are subjected to qualitative research,
the investigation centers on underlying theories or
principles that govern these materials and their usefulness
to people.
Types of Qualitative Research

1. Case study
 Social care, nursing, education, business, psychology,
rehabilitation centers, education, etc.
 Long-time study of a person, group, organization, or situation
 Finds answers to why such thing occurs to the subject
 Drives the researchers to also delve into relationships of
people related to the case under study
 Interviews, questionnaires, observations, and documentary
analysis are used in this study
 Sample Research Topic Areas &
Ideas for Case Studies

Education: Case studies are frequently used in education

research to explore the experiences of students, teachers,
and administrators in different educational settings. Topics in
this area may include school culture, student motivation,
teacher effectiveness, and educational policies.
Study of Psychology: They are commonly used in
psychology research to gain a deeper understanding of
individual experiences and behaviors. Topics in this area
may include abnormal psychology, developmental
psychology, and clinical psychology.
Sociology Research: Also they are often used in sociology
research to examine social patterns, relationships, and
dynamics within a specific group or community. Case study
dissertation topic in this area may include social inequality,
community development, and cultural differences.
Healthcare: Case studies are frequently used in healthcare
research to explore patient experiences, treatments, and
outcomes. Topics in this area may include patient-centered
care, health disparities, and chronic illness management.
Organizational Behavior: A case study could be used in
business research to examine organizational behavior,
structure, and culture. Topics in this area may include
leadership, motivation, communication, and conflict
resolution.
Marketing: They are widely used in marketing research to
examine the success of marketing strategies and
campaigns. Topics for case studies in this area may
include branding, consumer behavior, and product
positioning.
Operations Management: Case studies are frequently used
in operations management research to explore the
processes and systems used to produce goods and
services. Topics in this area may include supply chain
management, production planning, and process
improvement.

Financial Management: Also they are often used in financial

management research to examine financial decision-
making, investment strategies, and risk management.
Topics in this area may include capital budgeting, financial
analysis, and corporate finance.
 The Influence of Social Media on Body Image Among
Teenagers
 An Examination of the Causes and Effects of Migration in
some specific region of your choice
 The Impact of Gender Inequality in the Workplace: A
Case Study

Source: www.researchtopichelp.net
2. Ethnography

 A study of a particular cultural group to get a clear

understanding of its organizational set-up, internal operation,
and lifestyle.

 A particular group reveals the nature or characteristics of

their own culture through the world perceptions of the
cultural group members.
 Immerse
 Observe and interact
 Real life environment
 The researchers are required to engage with
participants in an extended period of time to know
their behaviors, traits, cultures, and challenges
 The information is first hand and high quality because
its direct from the source
 Flexible- it allows you to explore
 Data Gathering Techniques

 Observation
 Interview
 Survey
 The Ethnoastronomical Beliefs of Mangyan Indigenous
People: Case of Iraya Tribe in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
 Sa Hirap at Sa Ginhawa: A Closer Look at Survival Strategies
of Extended Families in Dumpsite Communities
 Hospital Culture and Stress Coping Mechanisms of Nurses at
Rogaciano Mercado Hospital
 An Ethnographic Study of Health Beliefs and Self-Care
Practices of Sitio Boyuk Tribe
3. Phenomenology

 It refers to the study of how people find their experiences

meaningful.

 Its primary goal is to make people understand their

experiences about death of loved ones, care for
handicapped persons, friendliness of people, etc. In doing
so, other people will likewise understand the meanings
attached to these experiences.
 Data Collection Method

 Interview is the most common instrument used

for data collection with the suggested sample
size ranging from 5 to 25.
 Challenges and Coping Mechanisms of Grade 7 Students
in Printed Modular Distance Learning Modality: A
Phenomenological Study
 Sa Labas ng Silid-Aralan: A Phenomenological Study of
the Lived Experiences of Out-of-School Youth in Aurora
Province
 The Meaning and Value of Marriage According to
College Students: A Phenomenological Study
 Love E-volvement: A Phenomenological Research on
Long Distance Relationships Among University Students
4. Content and Discourse Analysis

 Content analysis is a method of quantitative research that

requires an analysis or examination of the substance or
content of the mode of communication (letters, books,
journals, photos, video recordings, SMS, online messages,
emails, audio-visual materials, etc.) used by a person, group,
organization, or any institution in communicating.
 A study of language structures used in the medium of
communication to discover the effects of sociological,
cultural, institutional, and ideological factors on the content
makes it a discourse analysis. In studying the content or
structures of the material, you need a question or a set of
questions to guide you in your analysis.
Source: helpfulprofessor.com
Source: helpfulprofessor.com
5. Historical Analysis

 The examination of primary documents to make you

understand the connection of the past events to the present
time. The results of your content analysis will help you specify
the phenomenological changes in the unchanged aspects
of society through the years.
 The fundamentals of the Barrio Government System
 The Consequences of Magellan’s murder
 The effects of colonization on indigenous cultures
 The effects of colonization on indigenous cultures
 The impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American
society and foreign policy
6. Grounded Theory

 It takes place when you discover a new theory to underlie

your study at the time of the data collection and analysis.
Through your observation on your subjects, you will happen
to find a theory that applies to your current study. Interview,
observation, and documentary analysis are the data
gathering techniques for this type of qualitative research.
Source: helpfulprofessor.com
Source: helpfulprofessor.com
Source: helpfulprofessor.com
 Advantages or Strengths of
Qualitative Research
1. It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter,
which means that those involve in the research understand
things based on what they find meaningful.

2. It promotes a full understanding of human behavior or

personality traits in their natural setting.

3. It is instrumental for positive societal changes.

4. It engenders the respect for people’s individuality as it
demands the researcher’s careful and attentive stand
toward people’s world views.

5. It is a way of understanding and interpreting social

interactions.

6. It increases the researcher’s interest in the study as it

includes the researcher’s experience or background
knowledge interpreting verbal and visual data.
7. It offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining
knowledge about something.
 Disadvantages or Weaknesses of
Qualitative Research
1. It involves a lot of researcher’s subjectivity in data analysis.
2. It is hard to know the validity or reliability of data.
3. It’s open-ended questions yield “data overload” that
requires long time analysis.
4. It is time-consuming.
5. It involves several processes, which results greatly depend
on the researcher’s views or interpretations.