Name: ____________________________________Grade and Section: _______________Date: __________

LAS No. 12
PR1- QUALITATIVE RSEARCH

I. Competencies: The learner is able to

a. describe qualitative research designs, sample, and data collection and analysis
procedures
II. Concepts
Chapter 3

The aim of the ‘Methodology’ chapter is to tell the reader how you collected the data to answer the
research questions in Chapter 1 – Introduction. Chapter 1 describes why the research question is being asked and
Chapter 3 describes how the research question is answered.

Chapter 3 of a research paper should contain a discussion of each of the following topics.

1. Introduction/ Preamble This chapter describes in detail the strategy that was used by the researcher in
conducting the research. It includes the following research design, sampling and sampling procedures, and
description of research instruments, data collections procedures and data analysis procedures.

Example
“This Chapter presents the description of the research process. It provides information concerning the
method that was used in undertaking this research as well as a justification for the use of this method. The
Chapter also describes the various stages of the research, which includes the selection of participants, the
data collection process and the process of data analysis.
The Chapter also discusses the role of the researcher in qualitative research in relation to reflexivity. The
Chapter ends with a discussion of validity and reliability in qualitative research and discusses the way in
which these two requirements were met in the current study”.

2. Research Design. The design of this study will be based on survey research in which data will be collected
for the objectives of the study. The choice of survey research as opposed to other research designs was
motivated by the following factors, first, survey research provides for a suitable instrument for collecting a
large amount of data. Secondly, it provided a practical framework for collecting a large sample of composing
groups and thirdly, survey studies have strong data reliability. Having the sub-section enables you to tell the
reader from the on-set whether your study used an ethnographic, case study, phenomenological, narrative
analysis, historical inquiry, grounded theory or the generic qualitative method that does not subscribe to any
specific qualitative philosophy.
a. You should state the rationale for your choice of the research design or method and its appropriateness.
b. Show how the method you had chosen helped accomplish the goals of the study. Focus only on what
you employed and implemented in your study.
c. Discuss in detail the steps you took when using a particular design.
d. Description of your research design needs to have enough detail to eliminate assumptions of the need to
ask questions by someone who want to adopt or adapt your research design.
e. Readers are interested in knowing how you used the ethnographic method or the case study method or
the phenomenology method in your study and not a generic description of the ethnographic or case study
or narrative inquiry or phenomenology method.

Sample of the Research Design Write-Up

“The case study method was used in this study because it is well-suited in answering the research questions
appropriately and adequately. The strength of the case study method is because it allows for the examination of
the phenomenon in depth using various kinds of evidence obtained from interviews with those involved, direct
observation of events and analysis of documents and artifacts (Yin, 2003). Also, the case study was used because
the focus of the study is more to describe and explain rather than prediction, and the variable studied is note easily
unidentifiable or embedded in the phenomenon to be extracted for study (Merriam, 1988). In addition, the case
study allows for empirical inquiry of phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries
between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident (Yin, 2003)……………

3. Participants of the Study. Target population and the sample that you will use for generalizing about the target
population. Procedures for selecting the sample should be outlined, including justification for the sampling
method, also known as sampling procedures. Usually, ‘purposive sampling’ is used because the informants
are available, convenient and most importantly represent characteristics you want to study (Silverman, 2000).
 Example
In this study purposive sampling was adopted which is “a method of sampling where the researcher
deliberately chooses who to include in the study based on their ability to provide necessary data” (Parahoo,
1997, p. 232). The rationale for choosing this approach was that the researcher was seeking knowledge about
the nurses’ opinion of pain in patients who suffer from dementia, which the participants would provide by
virtue of their experience. The researcher worked in conjunction with the Head of Department, in choosing
participants, based on their level of experience in caring for patients that suffer from dementia as well as their
qualifications. There were 12 potential participants, of whom seven participated in the study. Some of the
nurses were not available as they were off duty, off sick, on holiday, while others did not want to participate
in the study……………………. In-person interviews were conducted and recorded in a quiet, neutral location
where the participants were not in danger and there was no intimidation or coercion……

4. Research Instrument. An overview of instruments to collect qualitative or quantitative data for analysis….
Data-collecting instruments
a. Questionnaires. e. Laboratory experiments.
b. Interviews. f. Quasi experiment.
c. Observations. g. Scales (measuring and weighing tapes
d. Archival documents and government
sources.

5. Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument. The term validity indicates the degree to which an
instrument measures the construct under investigation. For a data collection instrument to be considered valid,
the content selected and included must be relevant to the need or gap established. Before the actual study, the
instruments will be discussed with supervisors. The feedback from the supervisors and the experts will help
in modifying the instruments. Mugenda and Mugenda (1999) defined reliability as a measure of the degree to
which a research instrument yields consistent results or data after repeated trials. An instrument is reliable
when it can measure a variable accurately and obtain the same results over a period of time. However,
reliability in research is affected by random errors, the pre-test helped the researcher identify the most likely
source of errors and hence respond to before the actual study. Test re-test method will be used to pilot the
questionnaires, which do not form sample of the study.

6. Data Gathering Procedure. The definition of data gathering procedure is that it is the technique used to obtain
the information used in a dissertation to substantiate the claims made by a writer. To get the perfect outcome,
you should use the best procedure.

Qualitative research data collection methods are time consuming, therefore data is usually collected
from a smaller sample than would be the case for quantitative approaches—therefore this makes qualitative
research more expensive. The benefits of the qualitative approach are that the information is richer and has a
deeper insight into the phenomenon under study.

The main methods for collecting qualitative data are:

1. Individual interviews
2. Focus groups
3. Observations
4. Action Research

7. Data Analysis. Data analysis in qualitative research is subject to wide variation and this makes it important
that you tell in great detail how you analyzed the data you collected.

You should include the following in this sub-section:

a. Explain how you analyzed the data collection. It has been suggested to think of it as “How to” guide that
others would follow your data analysis and coding method.
b. Give a step-by-step narrative description how you conducted the entire analysis of your data.
c. You might start by making a bulleted list in another document, and then narrate that list here in this section
d. It is important for your reader to know what you did with the collected data and that it fits well with your
research philosophy, research design and research questions.
e. There should be enough detail to reduce the likelihood of a reader making assumptions and forcing him
or her to ask questions seeking clarification which may cast doubts on the findings.
f. However, you need to balance between too much details and not enough information. Too much details
may also put off the reader from reading this sub-section.
 According to Yin (1994:102) ―data analysis consists of examining, categorizing, tabulating, or
otherwise recombining the evidence to address the initial prepositions of a study‖. There are a variety of
approaches to this process of analysis and interpretation. Some of the most commonly used approaches
include:

a. Content Analysis - used to analyze and interpret verbal data, or behavioral data. Content can be analyzed
descriptively or interpretatively.
b. Narrative Analysis - used to analyze text that may come from variety of sources including transcripts
from interviews, diaries, field notes, surveys and other written forms. Narrative analysis often involves
reformulating stories presented by people in different context and based on their different experiences.
c. Discourse Analysis - a method of analyzing naturally occurring spoken interactions and written text and
is concerned with the social context in which the communication occurred. It focuses on how language
is used in everyday life and looks at how people express themselves.
d. Grounded Theory - also called analytic induction. This is a method that attempts to develop causal
explanations of a phenomenon from one or more cases being studied. Explanations are altered as
additional cases are studied until the researcher arrives at a statement that fits all cases.
e. Conversation Analysis - examines the use of language by people as a type of action or skilled
accomplishment. A key concept in this analysis is the principle of people taking turns in conversation.
Meanings are usually shaped in the context of the exchange itself.

8. Ethical Considerations.

a. Letters of permission to conduct the study.

b. Letters of invitation to participate with attached consent forms.
c. Show compliance with protection of human subjects (as required by your respective institution)
d. A paragraph must be inserted that states the study is deemed to be one of minimal risk to participants and
that the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research will not be greater
than any ordinarily encountered in daily life, or during the performance of routine physical or
psychological examinations or tests.
e. Care should be taken to ensure that the participants fully understood the nature of the study and the fact
that participation is voluntary.
f. A statement should be made that confidentiality of recovered data will be maintained at all times, and
identification of participants will not be available during or after the study. For example, all data collected
was anonymized by replacing the participants’ names with ascending code numbers (P116 – P119) in the
order of the initial interviews
g. Participants should be informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without questions
being asked.

9. Interview Protocol Form. When you’re creating an interview guide, it’s a good idea to:

a. Plan structured interviews with open ended questions.

b. Avoid leading questions.
c. Create interview questions that are clear and easy to understand.
d. Make research questions focused but flexible.
e. Design questions that align with data collection and data analysis goals

Writing Successful Interview Protocols

a. Pick a topic that is interesting to you.

b. Research should guide your questions. Using research to guide your questions means that you have done
a thorough review of the literature and that you know what other scholars say about the people you are
studying.
c. Use a script for the beginning and end of your interview. Before beginning to interview develop a script
to guide the process. There will be lots of important information that you will want to share with each of
your participants, and without a script you are likely to forget something.
d. Questions should be open ended. A closed-ended question can only result in one of two answers—yes
or no. These types of questions will not allow the interviewee to offer you any additional information.
The goal of qualitative research is to uncover as much about the participants and their situations as
possible and yes or no questions stop the interviewee before getting to the “good stuff”. While you could
ask, “Are there things I would want to know about developing a good interview protocol? What?” A
better way to ask that question is, “tell me about the things I might want to know to create a successful
interview protocol.
 e. Start with the basics. Ask your interviewee basic background data about her/himself (things like name,
where they grew up, etc.) as a way of warming up your participant. You want to build trust between you
and your interviewee as you collect important background data. You should look to the literature to help
you decide what background data is important to collect.
f. Begin with easy to answer questions and move towards ones that are more difficult or controversial.
Arrange questions in order from those that are least difficult or contentious to those that are most difficult.
The idea, again, is to slowly build confidence and trust with the interviewee. In other words, you would
not want to start with a big, probing, “high stakes” question like, “Have you ever been date raped?”
Chances are if you do, your interviewee will withdraw. If you are interested in learning something about
this topic, you might instead begin with a question like, “Tell me about the ways that people have taken
advantage of you in college.”
g. The phrase “tell me about…”is great way to start a question. The phrase “tell me about” is not only an
invitation for the interviewee to tell you a story, but also it assumes that the interviewee will talk and it
subtlety commands the interviewee to begin talking. Also, the phrase “tell me about” makes it almost
impossible to create a question that is too complicated, too detailed, or too difficult to answer. It keeps
the question general enough that the interviewee can take the question in several directions and leaves
room for ideas, impressions, and concepts which you have not thought of to emerge from the data.
h. Write big, expansive questions. Qualitative research is all about the materialization of unexpected data
from your participants and writing big, expansive questions allows the participant to take your question
in several directions. When you write big questions your participant will might say things that you would
have never thought to ask and often those things become one of the most important parts of your study.
i. Use prompts. As a qualitative researcher conducting interviews, you should both trust your instincts and
be ready for surprises. Creating probes or prompts for each question helps keep you on track. Prompts
also help to remind you of your questions while at the same time allowing for unexpected data to emerge.
To use prompts effectively, you must first design a broad question (as mentioned in tip # 8) that might
take an interviewee in several different directions.
j. Don’t make the interview too long. Asking someone to devote more than an hour and half of their time
can become problematic for several reasons. Pragmatically you are less like to get people to agree to be
interviewed, if you plan a long session. Also you should consider who you are interviewing. What if you
subject is elderly or sick? They may tire easily. What if you are interviewing children? They may lose
interest quickly. You might find that it is more appropriate to arrange two to three shorter interviews than
conduct one longer one. Think about your participants and who they are as you design the length of your
interview. It should be noted that six to ten well-written questions can easily take an hour to an hour and
a half to get through.

III. References: Writing Chapter 3 – Methodology for Qualitative Research – Valmiki Academy
guidelines-to-chapter-three-research-proposal-writing.pdf (kenpro.org)
What are the research instruments used in qualitative research? – Mvorganizing.org
How to Conduct Interviews in Qualitative Research - Rev
"Writing Interview Protocols and Conducting Interviews: Tips for Stude" by Stacy A. Jacob and S. Paige
Furgerson (nova.edu)

Prepared by:
a.jcatador
PR1 Teacher