Qualitative Research Basics: A Guide for Engineering Educators

Consider, for example, a study on how industrial design teams operate. The study can be
undertaken from a variety of perspectives:
• From a phenomenological perspective, the interest would center on the
experience of being a part of a design team. The focus would be on describing
what happens in a team and generating a description that captures the essence of
how the team operates. The key question to ask would be: what are the essential
elements of the experience of working in a design team?
• From a social constructionist perspective, the interest would be on knowing how
the design team creates a shared understanding of their activities, roles, or
understanding of the design process. The researcher would want to ask the
question: what are those understandings, and how did they develop?
• From a critical perspective, the interest is with the power relationships in the
design team. The researcher would be asking questions regarding how those
power relationships were developed (formally or informally), how they influence
the working of the group, and what effect they have on those seen not to be in
power.
These examples illustrate that the epistemological perspective has a major influence on
defining the direction and scope of our research.
Summary
The epistemological perspective has an important influence on research. It provides an
umbrella for defining how the researcher sees the world and informs the research design.
Crotty (2003), in particular, proposes that the epistemological perspective determines
what research questions can be asked and what methods can be used. Certainly
consistency must be maintained among the epistemological perspective, research
questions, and methods for any particular study. This is not to say that any particular
researcher is limited to a single epistemological perspective. The design of a research
study is an iterative process, with the general purpose and research questions informing
the perspective, while at the same time the perspective informing the research questions.
Thus, you may find yourself conducting one study from a constructivist perspective, and
conducting another study that is critical. What is important is that any particular study is
consistent across the entire research design, so that the findings can be interpreted and
reported within the context that shaped the study.
References Cited in This Section
Crotty, M. (2003). The foundations of social research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (2005). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative
research. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative
research (3 rd ed.) (pp. 1-32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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