Qualitative research is an inductive approach used to discover or expand knowledge through the involvement of the researcher. It aims to understand phenomena through meanings and experiences rather than quantification. Common qualitative designs include phenomenology to understand life experiences, grounded theory to develop social processes, ethnography to describe cultures, and historical research using primary sources. Qualitative data comes from various sources like interviews, observations, documents and recordings.

1. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
DESIGN

2. Qualitative
Qualitative research
research is
is an
an inductive
inductive approach
approach
for
for discovering
discovering or
or expanding
expanding knowledge
knowledge.
. It
It
requires
requires the
the involvement
involvement of
of the
the researcher
researcher in
in the
the
identification
identification of
of the
the meaning
meaning or
or relevance
relevance of
of a
a
particular
particular phenomenon
phenomenon to
to the
the individual
individual.
. Analysis
Analysis
and
and interpretation
interpretation of
of findings
findings in
in this
this method
method are
are
not
not generally
generally dependent
dependent upon
upon the
the quantification
quantification
of
of observations
observations.
.

3. CHARACTERISTICS
• Often involves a merging together of various data collection
strategies.
• Is flexible and elastic, capable of adjusting to what is being
learned during the course of data collection.
• Tends to be holistic, striving for an understanding of the
whole.
• Requires researchers to become intensely involved, often
remaining in the field for lengthy periods of time.
• Requires the researcher to become the research instrument
• Requires ongoing analysis of the data to formulate subsequent
strategies and to determine when field work is done.

4. PURPOSE
Qualitative research seeks to explore, describe, or
expand knowledge about how reality is experienced.
Meaning and understanding of human experiences
Facts + Observations + Ideas
Knowledge generated through qualitative research

5. PHASES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
 Orientation and overview
 Focused exploration
 Confirmation and closure

6. QUALITATIVE DESIGN FEATURES
CONTROL OVER THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE:
Qualitative research is almost always nonexperimental,
and they rarely control or manipulate any aspect of the people
or environment under study.
TYPE OF GROUP COMPARISONS:
Qualitative researchers typically do not plan in advance to
make group comparisons because the intent of most qualitative
studies is to thoroughly describe and explain a phenomenon.
Cont…….

7. QUALITATIVE DESIGN FEATURES
NUMBER OF DATA COLLECTION POINTS:
Qualitative research can be either cross sectional, with one
data collection point, or longitudinal, with multiple data
collection points.
OCCURANCE OF THE INDEPENDENT AND
DEPENDENT VARIABLES:
Qualitative researchers typically would not apply the
term retrospective or prospective to their studies.
Nevertheless, to elucidate the full nature of a
phenomenon, they may look back retrospectively; may
also study the effects of a phenomenon prospectively.
Cont…….

8. QUALITATIVE DESIGN FEATURES
RESEARCH SETTING:
Qualitative researchers collect their data in
real world, naturalistic setting.

9. TYPES OF QUALITATIVE INQUIRY
1. PHENOMENOLOGY:
Phenomenology is the approach to discover the meaning
of people’s life experiences. Phenomenologists investigate the
subjective phenomena in the belief that critical truths about
reality are grounded in people’s lived experiences.

10. Steps in descriptive phenomenological study
• Bracketing: refers to the process of identifying and holding in
abeyance preconceived beliefs and opinions about the
phenomenon under study.
• Intuiting: occurs when researchers remain open to the
meanings attributed to the phenomenon by those who have
experienced it.
• Analysis phase: extracting significant statements, categorizing,
and making sense of the essential meanings of the
phenomenon.
• Descriptive phase: it occurs when the researcher comes to
understand and define the phenomenon.

11. The topics appropriate to phenomenology are
ones that are fundamental to the life
experiences of humans; for health researchers,
these include such topics as the meaning of
stress, the experience of bereavement, and
quality of life with a chronic illness.

12. 2. GROUNDED THEORY:
Grounded theory is an approach to the study of
social processes and social structures. The focus of most
grounded theory studies is the development and evolution
of a social experience – the social and psychological stages
and phases that characterize a particular event or episode.

13. Two types of grounded theory: substantive and formal
Substantive theory is grounded in data on a specific area,
such as post partum depression. It can serve as a spring board
for formal grounded theory, which involves developing a higher,
more abstract level of theory from a compilation of substantive
grounded theory studies regarding a particular phenomenon.

14. 3. ETHNOGRAPHY:
This is a type of qualitative inquiry that involves the
description and interpretation of cultural behaviour.
Ethnographies are a blend of a process and a product, field work
and a written text. Field work is the process by which the
ethnographer inevitably comes to understand a culture, and the
ethnographic text is how that culture is communicated and
portrayed.
Ethno nursing research: the study and analysis of the local or
indigenous people’s view points, beliefs and practices about
nursing care behaviour and process of designated cultures.

15. 4. HISTORICAL RESEARCH:
Historical research is the systematic collection,
critical evaluation, and interpretation of historical
evidence. It is undertaken to answer questions about
causes, effects or trends relating to past events that may
shed light on present behaviors or practices. Historical
research can take many forms such as biographical
histories, social histories or intellectual histories

16. Classification of historical materials
Primary sources: first – hand information such as original
documents.
Secondary sources: second or third hand accounts of
historical events or experiences. Example – text books,
newspaper articles.

17. 5. OTHER TYPES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
• Case studies: are in-depth investigations of a single
entity or a small number of entities, may it be an
individual, family, group or other social unit.
• Narrative analysis: focuses on story in studies in
which the purpose is to determine how individuals
make sense of events in their lives.
• Qualitative outcome analysis [QOA]: builds on an
already completed qualitative study in which a
clinical problem has been examined. The purpose is
to identify strategies and evaluate their
implementation. The outcome expected is efficacy of
intervention strategies.

18. Secondary analysis: it involves the analysis of previously
collected data. Secondary analysis of qualitative data
provides opportunities to exploit rich data sets.
Meta synthesis: it has been defined as the theories, grand
narratives, generalizations, or imperative translations
produced from the integration or comparison of findings
from qualitative studies.

19. SOURCES OF DATA:
Definition: sources of data for qualitative research are the
individuals, documents or artifacts utilized to collect data
about a particular phenomenon. Sources vary with the
focus of inquiry, the purpose of the investigation, and
guidelines suggested by the research approach being
utilized.

20. EXAMPLES FOR SOURCES OF DATA: :
Diaries
Case studies
Art work
Therapeutic play
Participant observation
Documents [historical etc]
Interviews
Audio/videotape recordings