organize the components of his or her research in an orderly and coherent manner. 1. Clearly identify and describe the research problem or topic, and justify the selection of the appropriate design to be used 2. Review and synthesize previous studies and literature related to the topic 3. Clearly identify hypotheses that are significant to the problem 4. Determine the data necessary to test the hypotheses and explain how the data will be obtained. 5. Describe the methods of analysis that will be used on the data gathered in order to evaluate the hypotheses of the study Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is defined
as the “naturalistic method of inquiry of research which deals with the issue of human complexity by exploring it directly.” (Polit and Beck, 2008) Common Types of Qualitative Research 1. Phenomenological study. This type of research seeks to find the essence or structure of an experience by explaining how complex meanings are built out of simple units of inner experience. It examines human experiences (lived experiences) through the descriptions provided by subjects or respondents. The goal of this study is to describe the meaning that experiences hold for each subject. Some of the areas of concern for these studies are humanness, self-determination, uniqueness, wholeness, and individualism. Example: What are the common experiences encountered by a person with a spouse who is undergoing rehabilitation? With the given problem, the researcher has to discover the inner feelings, emotional hardships, and mental disturbances that the respondent is experiencing. ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines the experiences of eight elementary principals from the Midwest who were involved in dual-career relationships with children under the age of 18. The primary data collection method was in-depth interviews. The data were coded and analyzed according to the research questions. The research resulted in three major themes which emerged out of the experiences shared by the elementary principals: 1) there exists a gap between actual and perceived values; 2) stress develops from a high number of work tasks; 3) coping strategies are utilized to manage daily stressors. I analyzed these themes from the principals’ experiences through the theoretical lenses of theory-in-use and espoused theory, symbolic interactionism, cultural hegemony, and authentic leadership. The experiences associated with the elementary principals in this study serve as a framework for discussion about the gap that exists between principals’ actual and perceived values. 2. Ethnographic study. This study involves the collection and analysis of data about cultural groups or minorities. In this type of research, the researcher immerses with the people and becomes a part of their culture. He or she becomes involved in the everyday activities of the subjects, and gets to empathize with the cultural groups experiencing issues and problems in their everyday lives. During the immersion process, the researcher talks to the key persons and personalities called key informants who provide important information for the study. The main purpose of this study is the development of cultural theories. Example: What is the demographic profile and migratory adaptations of squatter families in Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City (dela Cruz, 1994)? Abstract There has been increasing social debate in recent times surrounding men’s identities, men’s health and wellbeing, and men’s place within contemporary western society. The purpose of this thesis was to contribute to new knowledge of these issues through an ethnographic exploration of two small sub-cultures of young adults. Utilising participant observation the researcher described in detail the ways in which masculinities were constructed in everyday life. The researcher spent over 2 years as a participant observer of a small group of men from a gymnasium in Melbourne, which followed a briefer but still illuminating period spent with a group of men from a small community in Australia. An ethnographic approach and a non-clinical and nondeviant sample were used to build in-depth knowledge from a neutral lens that did not assume an existing male deficit or crisis. ABSTRACT This study is an ethnographic analysis of the relationship between female employers and female domestics in the Philippines focusing on how it maintains and reproduces the intersecting class and gender relations of power that brought the two women together. It also explores relationality - how the privileging of one group of women is related to the exploitation of another. Data for analysis was based on interviews with 25 female employer-female domestic dyads in a city in the Philippines in 1989. The questions for the semi-structured interviews were focused on four major research questions:1.) What kinds of female employer-female domestic relationship exist between the women in this city?; 2.) What makes one female employer- female domestic relationship similar to and different from another?; 3.) What is unique about the Philippine case in terms of this employer-employee relationship?; and 4.) How is the intersectionality of class and gender relations articulated in the female employer-female domestic relationship? ABSTRACT In this dissertation I examine “gay” life in the Philippines by focusing on a longstanding friendship group of same-sex attracted middle-class young men living in Metro Manila who identify as bakla/gay/homosexual. I explain how dynamics of gender and sexuality including identity expression are conceptualised, articulated and negotiated through the interphase of Philippine culture, social class, economic status and the cultural appropriation and adaptation of elements of Western gay discourse and lifestyle. Ethnography was selected as the most appropriate qualitative research method because of its theoretical and philosophical “fit” with the methodological assumptions that underpin this study. A key feature in both the theoretical and ideological approaches taken in this project has been the inclusion of Filipino theoretical perspectives rather than coming from a purely Western paradigmatic viewpoint. 3. Historical study. This study is concerned with the identification, location, evaluation, and synthesis of data from past events. This is not only limited to obtaining data from the past, but it also involves relating their implications to the present and future time. Example: What were the roles of women in the Katipunan? Legacies of Previous Local Leaders (Municipal Mayors) 4. Case study. It is an in-depth examination of an individual, groups of people, or an institution. Some of its purposes are to gain insights into a little-known problem, provide background data for broader studies, and explain socio-psychological and socio- cultural processes. A case study also involves a comprehensive and extensive examination of a particular individual, group, or situation over a period of time. It provides information on where to draw conclusions about the impact of a significant event in a person’s life (Sanchez, 2002). Example: How do cancer survivors look at life? 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. These hypotheses are tentative and suggestive, and are not tested in the study. Example: Ten school counselors were given structured interviews to help determine how their professional identity is formed. This data was coded first to form concepts. Then, connections between these concepts were identified. A core concept emerged and its process and implications were discussed. School counselors’ professional interactions were identified as defining experiences in their identity formation (Brott & Myers, 1999). A constructivist grounded theory design was proposed to explore the experience of hope for women who are bereaved palliative caregivers and to develop a substantive theory to explain how these women resolve their concerns relating to hope in their lives. Hope is an important psychosocial resource through difficult life circumstances, yet very little is known about the bereaved palliative caregiver’s experience of hope, or how they manage the stressful adjustment from caregiving to bereavement. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of experienced individual online students at a community college in Texas in order to generate a substantive theory of community college student perceptions of online instructor presence. This qualitative study used Active Interviewing and followed a Straussian grounded-theory design to guide the collecting and coding of interview data in order to identify emerging categories and generate substantive theory. The researcher collected data through interviews with 16 online students, all of whom had taken at least four online courses at a community college. 6. Narrative analysis. The main sources of data for this type of research are the life accounts of individuals based on their personal experiences. The purpose of the study is to extract meaningful context from these experiences. 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 language is used in texts and contexts. 7. 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 that summarizes and analyzes the literature that defined the study. 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 building phases that alternated with stable periods (Levinson & Levinson, 1996).