Tamer El Sharnouby, PhD

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Research Approaches Quantitative vs. Qualitative Methodological Assumptions When to use qualitative research Methodological Choices: Asking the unasked questions? Qualitative methodologies

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Common Techniques for Qualitative Data Analysis Mixed methods approach: Positioning Yourself Six core characteristics of mixed methods research When Should You Use Mixed Methods? What are the Challenges to Conducting Mixed Methods Research?

Deductive

Theory

Hypotheses

Patterns

Observations/ Data

Inductive

Quantitative Deductive process Cause and effect Static design categories isolated before study

Qualitative Inductive process Mutual simultaneous shaping of factors Emerging design categories identified during research process

Generalization leading to prediction, Patterns, theories developed for understanding explanation, and understanding, ContextContext-bound ContextContext-free Accurate and reliable through validity and reliability Accurate and reliable through verification

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Qual: Why and How Questions. Qualitative researchers are concerned primarily with process, rather than outcomes or products. Qualitative researchers are interested in meaning. The qualitative researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis. Data are mediated through this human instrument, rather than through questionnaires, or machines.

Qualitative research involves fieldwork. The researcher physically goes to the people setting, site, or institution to observe or record behavior in its natural setting. Qualitative research is descriptive in that the researcher is interested in process, meaning and understanding gained through words or pictures. The process of qualitative research is inductive in that the researcher builds abstractions, concepts, hypotheses, and theories from details.

The nature of reality: multiple, constructed and holistic. The relationship of knower to known: interactive, inseparable. Generalization: a working hypothesis that describes a single case Causal linkages: mutual simultaneous shaping of factors. Inquiry is value-bound.

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For problems that need exploration, For problems that need a complex detailed understanding, To write in styles that push the limits of formal academic narratives, To understand contexts, The topic has been researched for a long time in the same way, The topic is new to research, You would like in-depth information that may be difficult to convey quantitatively

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Interviews Focus groups Participant observation (field notes) Video Text and Image analysis (documents, media data)

Quan: what, where, and when of natural phenomena

develop and employ mathematical models, theories and hypotheses related to natural phenomena, Involve large samples of subjects; deal with cause/effect Associated with positivism: that objective truth can be known with certainty, that it can be gained through rational methods

A single, tangible reality "out there" that can be broken apart into pieces capable of being studied independently The separation of the observer from the observed What is true at one time and place will also be true at another time and place An assumption of linear causality; there are no effects without causes and no causes without effects The results of an inquiry are essentially free from beliefs, interpretations

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Can produce a false sense of certainty Takes the subject outside of natural setting/tasks Quantifies unquantifiable phenomenon

The choice of your methodology depends on:

Your ontological and epistemological positions. Study context (new vs traditional) Research Questions and Goals (testing relationships between variables or hypotheses OR generating new concepts rather than assuming the existence of specific ones in the field). Purpose: exploratory, descriptive or explanatory Researcher Beliefs and Values Researcher Skills Time and Funding

    

Phenomenology Ethnography Case study Grounded theory Action research

1. Naturalistic Inquiry 2. Emergent Design Flexibility 3. Purposeful Sampling

Twelve Commonality summarized from Patton, MQ. 2002.

4. Qualitative Data 5. Personal Experience & Engagement 6. Empathic Neutrality & Mindfulness 7. Dynamic System

Summarized from Patton, MQ. 2002.

8. Unique Case Orientation

9. Inductive Analysis & Creative Synthesis 10. Holistic Perspective 11. Context Sensitivity 12. Voice, Perspective, & Reflexivity

Summarized from Patton, MQ. 2002.

1. Reading, Memo initial coding 2. Describing (except, G Theory) 3. Classifying 2nd staged coding 4. Interpreting final pattern/finding 5. Representing, Visualizing
Abstracted from Creswell, JW. 1998.

1. Problem2. Methods3. Findings-

appropriate, clear strategy, rationale convincing evidence

4. Discussion- contribution

Abstracted from Merriam, SB. 2002

View research as set of interactive components; not always linear Focus on rigorous data collection and analysis Work as an applied research methodologist Trained in quantitative research, embraced qualitative research, advocated for mixed methods Often consult with individuals in a step-by-step process Use steps in writing a mixed methods study are not in the order typically found in the process of research Will apply some of the steps, the major ones
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The collection of both qualitative and quantitative data (open- and closed-ended) in response to research questions The analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data Persuasive and rigorous procedures for the qualitative and quantitative methods The integration of these two data sources (merging, connecting, embedding) The use of a specific mixed methods design that involves a concurrent or sequential integration (and equal or unequal emphases) An approach to research that has a philosophical foundation

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When the research problem merits this approach, such as,

when one data source is insufficient when a need exists to explain results when a need exists to explore first when a need exists to augment one database with another

Skills in both qualitative and quantitative research Openness to multiple methods Convincing others of the value of mixed methods Time/resources Familiarity with mixed methods

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Cornford, T. and Smithson, S. (1996). Project Research in Information Systems. A Students Guide. Macmillan. London. Creswell, J.W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design. Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research design. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y. (2000). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp.1-17). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Jill Collis & Roger Hussey. (2009). Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students, Third edition. Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire.

Tamer El Sharnouby telsharnouby@gmail.com