Qualitative Research Methods: Methodological Challenges

1. METHODOLOGICAL
DILEMMAS AND ISSUES IN
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

2. Nature of Qualitative
Research
• Assumes social reality as complex, intertwined, contextual
and inseparable from the individuals- including the
researcher- who know that reality
• Multiple traditions in quali- complicated by the diversity of
discourse and research practice
• Because of this diversity- description of a single, prototype
qualitative method is not desirable
• In qualitative research, human interaction pervade- ethical
considerations and methodological issues can arise

3. Methodological issues in
qualitative research
According to Miller and Benjamin F Crabtree; Four
methodological issues in quali.
1. The researcher as the interpreter
2. The emergent nature of qualitative research
3. Understanding the experience of others
4. Trustworthiness

4. The Researcher as the
Interpreter
• Subjectivity- researcher is very close to the data
• Interpretive activity- sharing of interview transcripts with
the participants
• Ethical dilemmas- basic principles of respect for persons,
beneficent and justice, integrity and altruism
• Procedural ethics- formal approvals required for a study to
commence- stated commitment to adherence to ethical
principles

5. Situational ethics
• Power dynamics and role conflict- power asymmetry is a
general feature of research with balance generally
considered to be in favour of the researcher who directs the
process while the participant responds
• Ben-Ari and Enosh argue that this power is actually co-
constructed through the process, as participants exert power
in shaping knowledge through choosing what to research
• Responding to ethical dilemmas arising “in the moment”
requires Reflexive approach

6. Challenges in dissemination of findings;
• Anonymity of observational field notes and interview
transcripts
• Sampling related issues- limited sample size- no ideal sample
size for qualitative research- sampling bias
• Hawthorne effect- participants change their behaviour in
response to being observed
• Observer-expectancy effect; researcher’s beliefs or
expectations causes him or her to unconsciously influence the
participants of a research

7. The Emergent Nature of
Qualitative Research
• As qltv research progresses- Research techniques,
strategies including theory, constructs and operational
definition guiding data collection to analytical methods
driving data analysis- vary greatly
• No pre-defined or pre-specified strategy- only suggestive
or tentative-new understanding may lead to returning field
for additional data
• “iterative process”- understanding is expected to emerge
as part of the research process and guide the modification
of pre-specified constructs and strategies

8. Understanding the
Experience of Others
• According to Patton, it involves- indigenous meaning and analyst-
constructed meanings
• Indigenous meaning- the meaning that phenomena have for the
people being studied
• Analyst- constructed meaning- the concepts and other
abstractions that researchers bring to the data in the form of
analysis
• The extent to which people share the same meaning - complex
issue- look for the extent to which participants mean the same
thing when they respond in similar ways- by checking off
categories- similar words

9. Trustworthiness in
Qualitative Research
• Lincoln and Guba; four trustworthiness criteria
1. Credibility- adequate representation
2. Transferability- applicability of hypothesis in another
context
3. Dependability- the way the researcher accounts for
changing conditions in the phenomena
4. Confirmability- extent to which it can be confirmed by
others - reviewing the result

10. Methodological Issues at
Various Stages of Research
1.Design of the research process
• Assuming knower can’t be separated from what that
person knows, who the researcher is- sum of the
researcher’s preunderstanding conditions his selection
criteria
• personal background influences research design- gender,
personality, experience, education etc

11. 2. Issues with data collection:
A. Prespecification of data to be collected
• Related to emergent nature of qualitative research
• Identification in advance of structures and strategies that will
guid the research- need to alter preexisting plans and let data
collection strategies emerge in response to developing
understanding
B. Qualitative sampling
• According to Patton, sampling in qualitative is purposeful-
based on the relevance to the research-can be modified
during data collection and analysis as new understanding
suggests new dimensions of the topic

12. C. Qualitative data sources:
• People are the sources- directly (interacting) or indirectly
(products of people e.g.. artefacts, documents, citations,
physical layout of room etc)
• Different data sources- different understanding on phenomena-
requires a sensitivity to the perspectives of data sources
• Solution- combination of multiple data sources- fuller
understanding of different perspectives.

13. D. Data Collection Techniques:
• Issues pertaining to observation, interviewing, gaining access to
documents, artefacts etc;
• Qualitative interviewing is a complex subject- requires special
skills
• According to Miller and Crabtree; two issues arises with
observation technique- the extent to which the observer
participates and the extent to which observer is structured
E. Data as Stand-ins: the Shaping Effect of Techniques
• The ways in which tools and techniques influences the nature of
data gathered- relationship of elicited and recorded data to the
meanings held by the data source- can be resolved by collecting
extensive, information rich data over time

14. 3. Analysis of Data
• Qualitative traditions- masses of data are usually broken down
into smaller units and then reassembled to call attention to
patterns, themes and concepts
• No firm rule for analysis- computer tools can be used for
procedural aspects
A. Iterative Nature of Data Collection and Analysis
• Data collection and analysis- simultaneously goes-
progressive understanding
• Requires returning to the field when more data are needed to
illuminate new issues and understanding

15. B. The Analytic Process
• Quantity of data produced are voluminous
• Analytic process- breaking down the data into smaller pieces by
identifying meaningful units, grouping these together in categories,
developing relationships among the categories- presented through
description or developing conceptual or theoretical statements
• Researcher need to immerse themselves as completely as possible in
the experience of the participants- issues with stability and complexity of
meaning
4. Writing up Qualitative Research
• Only thumb rule- qualitative data are so diverse and cumbersome and
difficult to present large arrays of raw data to the audience
• Gap between data from empirical observation and abstract patterns and
themes that the researcher presents