CHAPTER III

Main Methods used in Qualitative

Research
 Individual interviews
 Group interviews
 Observations
*Although surveys and
questionnaires are more
often used in quantitative
research, they may also be
designed to be applicable to
qualitative studies.
 1. Phenomenological study
 Itexamines human experiences
through the descriptions provided
by subjects or respondents.
 Example: What are the common
experiences encountered by a
person with a spouse who is
undergoing rehabilitation?
 2. Ethnographic study
 This study involves the collection and
analysis of data about cultural
groups or minorities.The researcher
immerses with the people and
becomes a part of their culture.
 Example: What is the demographic
profile and migratory
adaptations of squatter families
in Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City
(dela Cruz)1994?
 3. Historical study
 This study is concerned with the
identification, location,
evaluation, and synthesis of data
from past events; it involves
relating their implications to the
present and future time.
 Example: What were the roles
of women in the Katipunan?
 Some sources of data for a
historical study are as
follows:
 A. Documents-printed materials
that can be found in libraries,
archives, or personal collections.
 B. Relics and artifacts- physical
remains or objects from a certain
historical period
 Oral reports-information that is
passed on by word
 The data sources are
classified as follows:
 A. Primary sources- materials
providing first-hand information,
e.g., diaries, pictures, videos,
and other physical evidence
 B. Secondary sources- second-
hand information such as an
account based on an original
source, or a material written as
 The validity of materials used in
the study are assessed through
the ff. processes:
 A.Internal criticism- This
involves establishing the
authenticity or originality of
the materials by looking at the
consistency of the
information. Motives and
possible biases of the author
B.
External criticism-
This is based on the
analysis of the material:
the ink and the type of
paper used. The layout
and physical
appearance, and as well
as the age and texture
 4. Case study
 It
is an in-depth examination
of an individual, groups of
people, or an institution. It
also involves a comprehensive
and extensive examination of
a particular individual, group,
or situation over a period of
time.
 5. Grounded theory study
 The method involves
comparing collected units of
data against one another until
categories, properties, and
hypotheses that state
relations between these
categories and properties
emerge. The hypotheses are
 Example:
Ten school
counselors were given
structured interviews to
help determine how their
professional identity is
formed.
 6. Narrative analysis
Themain sources of
data for this type of
research are the life
accounts of individuals
based on their personal
experiences.
 The common types of
narrative analysis are as
follows:
 A.Psychological- This involves
analyzing the story in terms of
internal thoughts and
motivations. It also analyzes the
written text or spoken words for
its component parts or patterns.
B. Biographical- This
takes the individual’s
society and factors like
gender and class into
account.
C. Discourse analysis-
This studies the
approach in which
 7. Critical qualitative
research
 Thistype of research seeks
to bring about change and
empower individuals by
describing and critiquing
the social, cultural, and
psychological perspectives
on present-day contexts.
 Example:A critical
examination of consumer
education texts used in
adult literacy programs
revealed content that was
disrespectful for adult
learners, their previous
experience as consumers,
and promoted certain
 8. Postmodern research
 Asopposed to the traditional
forms of qualitative analysis,
the approach of this type of
research seeks to analyze the
facts that have been
established as truths, the
ability of research and science
to discover truth, and all
 Merriam et al. (2002) proposes
the ff. three “crises” as a result
of the questioning performed:
 A. Whether the experience of
another can be captured or
whether it is created by the
researcher
 B. Whether any study can be
viewed as valid if traditional
methodologies are flawed
 Example: If our views of the
self are themselves
constructed by the society we
live in and the language we
use, is true knowledge of the
self, independent of these,
even possible? If our “selves”
are constructed, then
attempting to gain knowledge
through self reflection is a
 9. Basic interpretative
qualitative study
 This is used when a researcher
is interested in identifying how
individuals give meaning to a
situation or phenomenon. It
uses an inductive strategy
which is a process of analyzing
patterns or common themes to
produce a descriptive account
 Example:An interview of 45
women from varying
backgrounds and a
comparison of the
developmental patterns
discerned with earlier
findings on male development.
They found women’s lives
evolved through periods of
tumultuous, structure-
EXAMPLE OF RESEARCH DESIGN
A researcher wants to explore the
impact of social media on first-time
voters and their choice of candidates
in the 2016 Philippine national
elections. Due to the nature of the
study, the researcher decides to
employ a combination of
phenomenological and case study
designs, using one-on-one interviews
with first-time voters from ten
different colleges and universities.
SAMPLING FOR
RESEARCH
SAMPLING IN RESEARCH
Sampling is a process through which a
researcher selects a portion or segment from
the population at the center of the
researcher’s study. Population is a group of
persons or objects that
possess some common
characteristics that are of
interest to the researcher,
and about which the
researcher seeks to learn
more.
 TWO GROUPS OF POPULATION
1.Target population-is composed of the entire
group of people or objects to which the
researcher wishes to generalize the findings of
the study.
2.Accessible
population-is a portion
of the population to
which the researcher
has reasonable access.
The individual participants in the study are
often referred to as subjects or respondents.
• Subjects- are individuals or entities which
serve as the focus of the study.
• Respondents- are individuals or groups of
people who actively serve as sources of
information during data collection.
Subjects and respondents may also be
referred to as elements-particularly if
said elements are objects rather than
people. *A statistic is a number
describing a property of a
sample.
A parameter is a number
describing a property of a
population.
A statistic can be used to
estimate the parameter in what
is called a statistical inference.
• It is important for the researcher to use an
acceptable sample size.
• Generally, the larger the sample, the more
reliable the results of the study will be.
Hence, it is advisable to have a sample
large enough to yield reliable results, yet
small enough to be manageable within the
constraints of the study.
 VARIOUS APPROACHES TO
DETERMINING THE SAMPLE SIZE
1. Sample sizes as small as 30 are
generally adequate to ensure that the
sampling distribution of the mean will
approximate the normal curve.
2. When the total population is
equal to or less than 100, this
same number may serve as the
sample size. This is called
universal sampling.
3. Slovin’s formula is used to
compute for sample size.
SLOVIN’S FORMULA IN COMPUTING
FOR THE SAMPLE SIZE

Example: The population total

is 8, 000 with a desired 2%
margin of error
4. According to Gay (1976),
the following are the
acceptable sizes for different
types of research:
a. Descriptive research-
10% to 20% may be required
b. Comparative
research-15 subjects or
groups.
TYPES AND SUBTYPES OF SAMPLING
1. Probability sampling-is a type of
sampling in which all the members
of an entire population have a
chance of being selected. This is
also called scientific sampling.
a. Simple random sampling-is a
method of choosing samples in which
all the members of the population are
given an equal chance of being
selected. (e.g. roulette wheel, fishbowl method
and the use of a table of random numbers)
 b. Stratified random sampling-
the population is first divided into
different strata, and then the sampling
follows. Age, gender, and educational
qualifications are some possible
criteria to divide a population into
strata.Example: A researcher will study
the common effects of smoking on
high school students. The researcher
decides to select equal numbers of
students from the freshman,
sophomore, junior, and senior levels.
 c. Cluster sampling- is used in
large-scale studies, where the
population is geographically spread
out. Sampling procedures may be
difficult and time-consuming.Example:
A researcher wants to interview 100
teachers across the country. Cluster
sampling is helpful for the researcher
who randomly selects the regions (first
cluster), then selects the schools
(second cluster), and then the number
of teachers.
 d. Systematic sampling - is a
method of selecting every nth
element of a population.Example:
every fifth, eighth, ninth, or eleventh
element until the desired sample size
is reached.
2. Non-Probability sampling-is a
process of selecting respondents in
which not all members of the entire
population are given a chance of being
selected as samples. There are cases
that certain segments of a population
are given priority over others such as
when a researcher does not intend to
generalize to a larger population. This
is also called non-scientific sampling
and is commonly used in qualitative
research.
 a. Convenience sampling- It is
also called accidental or incidental
sampling.Example: A researcher
intends to study the elementary
students of a particular school, and
has determined the desired sample
size. Due to the study’s constraints,
the elementary pupils who are present
at the time of the researcher’s visit to
the school will be chosen as
respondents.
 b. Quota sampling- is somewhat
similar to stratified sampling, in that
the population is divided into strata,
and the researcher deliberately sets
specific proportions in the sample,
whether or not the resulting
proportion is reflective of the total
population. This is commonly done to
ensure the inclusion of a particular
segment of the population.
 Example: A researcher wants to survey
the employees of a company regarding their
thoughts on the company’s new policies. The
researcher intends to have representatives
from all departments in his sample, but one
department is so small that doing random
sampling might result in that department
not being represented. The researcher then
sets a quota of respondents from that
department to ensure their inclusion in the
sample.
 c. Purposive sampling- involves
handpicking subjects, usually to suit
very specific intentions. This is also
called judgmental sampling.Example:
In a study about honor students, the
researcher uses a list of honor
students and chooses the necessary
number of respondents, to the
exclusion of all other students.
 In selecting the sample of a study,
the following elements must be
properly discussed: the total
population and its parameters; the
sample and its statistics; the sampling
method with references to support it;
an explanation and discussion of the
sampling method; an explanation of
how the sampling was done; an
enumeration of the qualifying criteria;
and the profiles of the subjects and/or
respondents.
Respondents and Sampling Procedure
Example
Management by Culture of Kapampangan School
Managers in Selected Universities and Colleges
Two universities and six colleges in Pampanga
were considered in the study. These schools
include the Holy Angel University, University of
the Assumption….The main respondents in this
study included the college deans, assistant
college deans, and area chairpersons of the eight
educational institutions. For in-depth probe, 10%
of the college faculty of each university or college
was chosen using the simple random fish bowl
technique.
 Quiz in III
I. Identify the word/phrase described in each sentence.
Choose your answers from the given choices written on
the board.
1. is a portion of the population to which the
researcher has reasonable access.
2. is a group of persons or objects that possess
some common characteristics that are of interest
to the researcher
3. is a number describing a property of a sample.
4. is a process through which a researcher selects
a portion or segment from the population at the
center of the researcher’s study
5. is a method of selecting every
nth element of a population
6.is composed of the entire group
of people or objects to which the
researcher wishes to generalize the
findings of the study.
7. are individuals or groups of
people who actively serve as
sources of information during data
collection.
8.is somewhat similar to stratified
sampling, in that the population is
divided into strata, and the researcher
deliberately sets specific proportions in
the sample, whether or not the
resulting proportion is reflective of the
total population
9. It is also called accidental or
incidental sampling
10. is a number describing a property
of a population.
11. are individuals or entities which serve as the
focus of the study.
12. involves handpicking subjects, usually to suit
very specific intentions.
13. is a process of selecting respondents in which
not all members of the entire population are
given a chance of being selected as samples.
14. is used in large-scale studies, where the
population is geographically spread out.
15.is a type of sampling in which all the members
of an entire population have a chance of being
selected.
II. 16-20. Give 5 common types of qualitative research
III. 21-30. Compute for the sample size using Slovin’s
formula. (Given: 500 population)