History of qualitative research
Definition
John Creswell defines qualitative research as an understanding inquiry process based on different methodological traditions to explore a social problem. In this process, a qualitative investigation builds a complex and holistic image, informing points of view and conducting the study in a natural environment.
Dr. Leslie Curry explains that qualitative research is a strategy to collect textual information in a systematic way to generate knowledge about phenomena that are difficult to measure quantitatively
Sharan B. Merriam, states that “qualitative researchers are interested in understanding the meaning that gives meaning to the world of people and the experiences they have.
Due to its growing popularity today, some definitions of qualitative research with varied philosophical perspectives will be proposed that aims to better understand its usefulness and relevance.
Ethic
In qualitative research, participants play a vital role, contributing to the analysis of the data they generate.
Research establishes codes of ethics that protect participants and support ethical approaches to fieldwork.
Ethical principles allow researchers to achieve the objectives of an investigation, as well as respect the rights of participants
Ethical research is vital to dealing with human subjects and in depth clear strategies must be adopted to conduct sensitive studies that provide reliable results.
Basic Ethical Considerations:
• Avoid research spaces so that participants don't feel pressured.
• Respect the privacy of the participants.
• Reflect on the difference in the time commitment of the participants.
• Discretion with the identity of the participants.
• Treat participants with respect.
• Negotiate with the participants the terms of the agreement to conduct a study.
• Tell the truth when writing and reporting your findings.
Characteristics
Bogdan and Biklen state that there are different types of qualitative research with common characteristics and similar procedures.
Naturalist
comes from ecological approaches in biology and is defined as a non-experimental approach in which subjects are studied in their natural environment.
Using a naturalistic approach, Grady, Ale, and Morris conducted a study to assess the impact of parental departure during the daily return to preschool on children's adaptation to daily preschool routines.
Descriptive data
They take the form of words or pictures rather than numbers that could imply transcripts of interviews, photographs, and other official records.
Sandelowski noted that the investigations present comprehensive narratives of phenomena or events based on open questions.
Concern for the process
Qualitative research focuses on the process and uses multiple interactives. The three main data collection methods are:
• Focus group
• In-depth interviews
• Participant observation.
Inductive
This approach uses a bottom-up direction to understand situations, focus on behaviors, build theories, and reach conclusions.
Sense
Qualitative researchers are really interested in the perspectives of the participants, because they focus on the assumptions that the participants make about their lives and what they take for granted.
