Qualitative Research Basics: A Guide for Engineering Educators

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Contents 1. Epistemological Perspectives 1 2. Research Strategies 9 3. Designing the Study 16 4. Data Collection Methods 23 Interviews 23 Observation 29 Documents and Materials 32 5. Maintaining and Judging Quality in Qualitative Research 37 6. Data Analysis 43 7. Writing Up Qualitative Research 50 8. Resources 61 iii
1. Epistemological Perspectives What is Qualitative Research? To the novice researcher, the terms “qualitative” and “quantitative” imply something about the type of data that are collected. Thus, it may appear that the distinction between these two research approaches lies solely in the data; qualitative research is concerned with text or other non-numerical data, while quantitative research is concerned with numerical data. This distinction, however, is only at the surface. The differences between the two are much deeper, and go to the context in which the research is conducted. In general, quantitative research is concerned with identifying relationships between variables, and generalizing those results to the world at large. In contrast, qualitative research seeks to understand phenomena in depth and within specific contexts. Denzin and Lincoln (2005) state that, “qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (p. 3), while Merriam (2002) says, “Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding what those interpretations (of those studied) are at a particular point in time and in a particular context” (p. 4). Thus, key characteristics of qualitative research are an in-depth focus on only a few individuals or situations, a focus on the context of the study, and recognition of the researcher as an instrument of the study. Qualitative research, in its approach, assumptions, and outcomes, is very different from quantitative research. Questions of what constitutes truth, sample size and selection, how data are collected and analyzed, how findings are presented, and what is meant by trustworthiness and generalizability, are all different when one is conducting qualitative research. Denzin and Lincoln (2005) discuss five differences between the two approaches (pp. 11-12). According to them, qualitative research tends to have the following attributes: • Less use of positivist or postpositivist perspectives • Acceptance of postmodern sensibilities • Capturing the individual’s point of view • Examining the constraints of everyday life • Securing rich descriptions. Thus, qualitative research serves as a complement to quantitative research. While the general goal of quantitative research is to identify what is occurring in terms of contextfree generalizations, the goal of qualitative research is to gain an understanding of why or how phenomena occur in terms of context-specific descriptions. 1
Page 1 and 2: Qualitative Research Basics: A Guid
Page 3: The Authors Nancy Van Note Chism (g
Page 7 and 8: math preparation, test anxiety, etc
Page 9 and 10: Critical and new meanings can be di
Page 11 and 12: Koro-Ljungberg, M., & Douglas, E. P
Page 13 and 14: 2. Research Strategies The Role of
Page 15 and 16: • The study is conducted to under
Page 17 and 18: The instrumental case may be chosen
Page 19 and 20: Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing gr
Page 21 and 22: Emergent design: Rather than laying
Page 23 and 24: � Interview type (Will I use an i
Page 25 and 26: o If there are changes to the resea
Page 27 and 28: 4. Data Collection Methods Data col
Page 29 and 30: questions are broad questions that
Page 31 and 32: The interview itself is a complex p
Page 33 and 34: are particularly adamant about powe
Page 35 and 36: natural setting. In some cases audi
Page 37 and 38: meaning is derived, and the social
Page 39 and 40: Minutes from local workshops are us
Page 41 and 42: 5. Maintaining and Judging Quality
Page 43 and 44: this research is to produce change
Page 45 and 46: participants or seek to promote cha
Page 47 and 48: 6. Data Analysis Novices to qualita
Page 49 and 50: opposed to microlinguistic studies
Page 51 and 52: oundaries to better accommodate the
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Related to issues of author reflexi
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• Include more description about
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• Researchers must also decide ho
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elay these propositions in a narrat
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The goal of this chapter was to int
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8. Resources The literature on cond
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student researchers through their s
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Examples Bloor, M. (2006). Keywords
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