Beneficial for Beginners who wants to work on thesis

2. Outline
 What is Qualitative Research?
 Qualitative Research vs. Quantitative
Research
 When to use Qualitative Research?
 Interview
 Focus Group
 Document Studies
 Designing a Questionnaire

3. QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH ?

4. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
 Qualitative research is concerned with '...developing explanations of social
phenomena...'
 The world in which we live
 Why things are the way they are
 Concerned with social aspects of our world
 Seeks to answer questions about
 Why people behave the way they do
 How opinions and attitudes are formed
 How people are affected by the events that go on around them
 What can be done to improve the situation
 Qualitative questions:
 How
 Why
 What

5. Qualitative Research Quantitative Research
 Subjective
 Develops a theory
 Interpretative
 Researcher is part of the process
 Strives for uniqueness – leads to
understanding
 Basic element of analysis is
words/ideas, voice, audio, etc
 Objective
 Tests a theory
 Measureable
 Researcher stays away from the
process
 Strives for generalization – leads to
prediction
 Basic element of analysis is numbers

6. When to use Qualitative Research?
 Researcher wants to
 Achieve deeper understanding of a social phenomenon
 Wants to develop a new theory
 Develop and narrate detail participant stories
 Gain further analysis of a new phenomena

7. QUALITATIVE DATA TYPES
 Text
 Books
 Articles or Blogposts
 Official documents
 Video
 Pictures
 Sounds

8. QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION
METHODS

9. INTERVIEWS
 Interviews are used to gather
 Opinion
 Perceptions
 Attitudes
 Interviews for collecting background information
 Expert knowledge
 Facts & Description of a process

10. Structured
Interview
Questions are
fixed and asked
in a specific
order
Cannot add any
new question
Similar to survey
Semi-
Structured
Interview
Focused
interviews
Provide
opportunities
for detail
discussion
Researcher can
follow a new line
of inquiry
Unstructure
d Interview
In-depth
interviews
Time consuming
Detailed study
of the selected
area without an
initial plan

11. FOCUS GROUPS
 Form of a group interview
 Combines elements from
 Participant Observation
 Interview
 To be used when:
 Phenomenon under research requires discussion
 Greater insight can be developed
 Generate new ideas

12. CHARACTERISTICS OF FOCUS GROUPS
 Sample group of 6-10 people
 Smaller or larger sample sizes may affect results
 Minimum of 3 focus groups should be devised for an in-depth study
 Adds to the breath and depth of information
 Members should have something in common

13. DOCUMENT STUDIES
 Analysis of written or recorded material
 Documents that can be analyzed
 Books
 Official Policy Documents
 Lesson Plans etc.

14. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
 Mutual respect and trust
 Respect for social and cultural contexts
 Voluntary participation
 Informed consent
 Beneficence – doing good for others and preventing harm
 Confidentiality

15. Designing a Questionnaire

16.  Questionnaire
 Tool to collect data
 Gain insight on an issue
 Types of questions
 Closed
 Set of answers are provided
 Respondents have to choose from the given options
 Open-Ended
 Not followed by any choice
 Respondent answers
 Expression of opinions and ideas
 New information comes to light

17. GUIDELINES FOR DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE
 Keep the vocabulary simple
 Provide meaning if technical term is used
 Elaborate abbreviations, if any used
 Keep the questions short
 Longer questions may confuse the respondent
 Avoid double-barreled questions
 Inquire about only one element in a question
 Two questions may lead to unclear answers
 Avoid hypothetical questions
 Base questions on experience, not prediction

18. How to identify
which qualitative
data collection
method to use ?

19. GRAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR QUALTIATIVE DATA
Questions
Meaning, context,
process or
causality?
Who has the
information?
When did it
occur?
How might we
gather the data?
Relative expense
of time, resource
and value
Do parents know
how to help their
children with
homework?
Understanding a
process
Parents and
children; at home
Interview or Focus
Groups with
parents and
students
Observation during
homework
Interview and Focus
group are Time
Consuming

20. PLANNING MATRIX GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
What do I need to
know?
Why do I need to
know it?
Data
Who / Where
data?
Time line needed
Whether and
to what extent
parents are involved
in their child's
education?
What can be done
so that their
involvement aids
academic standing
Interviews with
involved and
noninvolved
parents
Reflections and
field notes of
student work
and homework
observations
Parents and
students/library
pizza party and
PTO meeting
Parent/teacher
conferences
One month:
can be done by
next meeting
design field
notes and
test during
parent/teacher
conferences in
3 weeks.
Get participants on
board and then
gather homework
and observe

21. THANK YOU!