The document provides a comprehensive overview of qualitative research methodology, particularly in the nursing field, emphasizing its role in understanding human behavior and experiences. It explains various research approaches, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, detailing their objectives, data collection techniques, and analysis processes. Different qualitative research designs, such as phenomenological studies, ethnographic research, and grounded theory, are discussed, illustrating their specific purposes and applications in exploring complex human phenomena.

1. Dr. Archana Selvan
Prof. & Principal
RKDF College of Nursing Bhopal
Qualitative research
methodology

2. Research may be defined as a
systematic, controlled, empirical and critical
investigation of hypothetical propositions
about the presumed relations among
observed phenomena.
INTRODUCTION

3.  Research means finding answers to the
questions.
 It is a systematic search for truth.
 Through research, new and original
information, ideas about the world we live in,
are obtained.
 Research is search for knowledge.
 Research is defined as a scientific and
systematic search for information on a specific
topic.
Contd….

5. Nursing Research is a systematic
inquiry designed to develop trustworthy
evidence about issues of importance to the
nursing profession, including nursing
practice, education, administration and
informatics.
Polit & Beck-2005
NURSING RESEARCH

6. DEFINITIONS
Qualitative research answers a wide variety
of questions related to nursing's concern with
human responses to actual or potential health
problems.
Ploeg J, 1999
Qualitative research plays an important part
in providing evidence for practice in nursing, and
is gaining greater acceptance within medicine.
Bailey C, 2002

7. ADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research is to gain insight into people's
attitudes, behaviours, value systems, concerns,
motivations, aspirations, culture or lifestyles.
Qualitative research is often
associated with naturalistic
inquiry.
Qualitative research aims to gather
an in-depth understanding
of human behavior and
the reasons that govern such
behavior.

8. The qualitative researcher is interested in illumination
and understanding rather than causal determination or
prediction.
Contd…..
It deals with the issue of human complexity by
exploring directly & results in rich, in-depth
information that has the potential to elucidate the
multiple dimensions of complicated phenomenon.
The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision
making, not just what, where, when.

9. There are three approaches in research:
Qualitative research approach
Quantitative research approach
Mixed methods
What is meant by approach?
It is the whole design
including assumptions, the process
of enquiry, the type of data collected,
and the measuring of findings.
APPROACHES IN RESEARCH

10. "A quantitative approach is one in which
the investigator primarily uses post-positivist
claims for developing knowledge (i.e. cause
and effect thinking, reduction to specific
variables and hypotheses and questions, use
of measurement and observation, and the test
of theories)."
Creswell, 2003
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH APPROACH

11. It is interactive, inductive, flexible, holistic and
reflexive method of data collection and analysis.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH APPROACH
Qualitative research is an approach which seeks to
understand by means of exploration, human
experience , perceptions, motivations, intentions
and behavior.

12. MIXED METHOD OF RESEARCH APPROACH
The emergence of mixed methods as a third
methodological movement in the social and behavioral
sciences began during the 1980’s.”
Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003

13. Other Names of Mixed Method
 Multi-Method
 Triangulation
 Integrated
 Combined
 Quantitative and qualitative methods
 Multi-methodology
 Mixed methodology
 Mixed-method
 Mixed research

14. Combining both qualitative and quantitative methods
increase the researcher’s ability to rule out rival
explanations for phenomena –
Hinds ,1989
Strongest research findings are found in studies
that use both research methods-
Field & Morse
Why….?

15. Hypotheses are tested using quantitative
method.
When both the methods are used
simultaneously the technique is called
triangulation.
Contd….

16. Difference Between Qualitative & Quantitative Research
Quantitative Research Qualitative Research
General
framework
 Seek to confirm
hypotheses
 Positivist paradigm
 Seek to explore phenomena
 Naturalistic paradigm
Objectives  To predict & control  To understand (what, how, & why)
Tools
 Highly structured
methods:
questionnaires,
surveys, and structured
observation
 Use semi-structured methods: in-
depth interviews, focus
groups, and participant observation
Design
 Rigid design
 Controlled &
experimental
 Emergent design

17. Focus
 Prediction
 Outcomes
 Generalizability
 Rich “thick” description
 Similarities & contrasts
 Process & context
Nature of data
analysis
 Statistical  Non-statistical
Sampling
 Relatively large samples
using often random
sampling
 Small samples using
purposive, convenient
or snow ball sampling
technique.
Contd….

18. Qualitative research questions often take the form
of what is this? or what is happening here? and are more
concerned with the process rather than the outcome.
Ploeg J, 1999
The purpose of qualitative research is to describe,
explore, and explain phenomena being studied for
better understanding of a phenomenon and gain new
perspectives.
Collect and explore in-depth information that can’t be
conveyed quantitatively.
PURPOSE OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

19. Provide rich descriptions of complex phenomena.
Explore sensitive topics.
Explore the difficult issues to access groups /
subcultures.
Explore culturally defined experiences.
Track unique / unexpected events.
Illuminate experience and interpretation by
subjects.
Give voice to those rarely heard.
Contd….

20. Takes place in the natural setting
Uses multiple methods that are interpretive
Is emergent rather than tightly prefigured
Fundamentally interpretive (role of researcher as
interpreter).
CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

21. Researcher…..
Views social phenomena holistically.
Uses complex reasoning that is multifaceted,
interactive and simultaneous.
Adopts and uses one or more strategies of inquiry.
Contd….

22. Conceptualizing and planning
Generally begins with a broad area to be studied.
Identify a site for data collection.
Make preliminary contacts with key actors in the
selected site to ensure cooperation and access to
informants.
In qualitative research, the research design is
often referred to, as emergent design- a design
that emerges during the course of data collection.
Audio taping or videotaping interviews with
informants.
PROCESSES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

23. Data collection
Data analysis
Interpretation
These processes take place in an
interactive fashion.
The investigator starts data collection
by talking with or observing a few
people who have first-hand experience
of the phenomenon under study.
The analysis of qualitative data is an
intensive and time-consuming task.
CONDUCTING THE QUALITATIVE STUDY

24. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS
Phenomenological studies
Ethnographic studies
Grounded theory studies
Historical studies
Case studies
Action research studies

25. Other Types of Qualitative Research Designs
Philosophical inquiry
Critical social theory
Ethno science
Hermeneutics
Ethnology
Ecological psychology
Ethno methodology
Symbolic interaction
Discourse analysis

26. PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH
 Assess human experiences through description
provided by the people involved.
e.g. Experience of survivors of Tsunami
 Otherwise called lived experiences.
 Each person has own reality; reality is subjective
 Generate theories or models of phenomenon being studied.
 Used to study areas in which there is little knowledge.
From the individual descriptions, general or
universal meanings are derived in other
words the essences of structures of the experience.
Moustakas,1994

27. APPROACHES IN PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Descriptive – Describe experience as they are lived and
capture the lived experiences of the study participants.
e.g. psychological experience of victims of earthquake.
Interpretive - The person who had experienced, should
interpret for the researcher and the researcher then
interprets the explanation provided by the person.

28. PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH-
SALIENT FEATURES
Sources of data- real life situations of persons.
Tool: semi structured interview schedule.
Data collection technique: in depth interviews, audio
taping, examining diaries written by subjects.
Validate emerging themes with the study participants.
Data analysis: difficult and tedious to obtain clear&
concise findings.
Bracketing about the phenomena. It helps to build up
rapport, encourage listening while preparing what to
ask next, keep discussions on track and handle
emotions.

29. “A Phenomenological study of the lived experiences of
earth quake victims in selected areas of Gujarat.”
E.g.

30. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES
 Ethnography is one of the oldest forms of qualitative
social research.
 In Nursing it began in 1960.
It is a research methodology suited to the exploration
of cultures or anthropological investigation.

31. Contd….
Involves collection and analysis of data about cultural groups in
their natural setting ( Nursing - patient care unit, community settings
etc) E.g. socio cultural beliefs of people about women
empowerment .

32. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES - TYPES
 Macro Ethnography -
studies concerned with
broadly defined
cultures.
 Micro Ethnography-
studies focusing on
narrowly defined
cultures e.g. culture of
homeless refugees,
nurses' communication
with children in
leukemia ward.

33. Salient Features of Ethnographic Studies
Researcher lives with the people and becomes a
part of their culture
Participants are considered as co researchers
Extensive field work is required
Time consuming
Level of intimacy with the participants required
Bracketing of researcher feelings/views

34. Information sought in three areas
 Cultural behaviorwhat members do
 Cultural artifacts what they make& use
 Cultural speech what they say
Data collection technique –
 In depth structured or semi structured interviews of
key informants,
 Examination of cultural artifacts,
 Rcord analysis,
 Observation of physical evidences such as
photographs, diaries , letters etc.
Contd……

35. Data collection & analysis- simultaneously.
New question emerges with understanding of a
data.
End purpose is, to develop cultural theories.
Contd…..

36. ETHNO NURSING
Focuses mainly on observing and documenting
interactions with people of their daily life conditions
and patterns influencing human care, health and
nursing care practices
E.g. Incidence and severity of intravenous drug errors
committed by Nurses in ICU.

37. Institutional ethnography
 Coined by Dorothy Smith ,a Canadian sociologist .
 An institution’s organization of professional services
are studied from the perspectives of those who are
clients or front line workers.
 Used in Nursing, social work,
community and occupational
therapy etc

38. Auto Ethnography
 Researchers scrutinize the groups and cultures to
which they belong otherwise termed as insider
research , peer research , or complete member
research
 Advantage – in depth data is accessible , ease of
recruitment of subjects
 Disadvantage- less objectivity when sensitive issues
are studied

39. E.g. An ethnographic study on socio cultural beliefs of
people about child marriage in selected rural communities of
Rajasthan.

40. 3.GROUNDED THEORY STUDIES
 Qualitative research
approach developed
by two sociologists
Glaser and Strauss in
1967.
 Leader of GTS-
George Herbert
Mead (sociologist)-
1960 proponed this
theory.

41.  Grounded theory studies are studies in
which data are collected and analyzed and
then a theory is developed that is grounded
in the data.
 Grounded theory is based on the
conceptualization of the participant’s
behavior.
 The theory explores how people define
reality and how their beliefs are expressed in
their actions.
Contd……

42. Reality is created by attaching meanings to
situations. Meaning is expressed in symbols such
as words, religious objects and clothing.

43. The symbolic meanings are the basis of actions
& interactions.
It differs from individual to individual.
Meanings are shared in a group life.
With interactions new meanings may develop
and self is redefined.
The GT researcher seek to understand the
interactions between self and the group from
the perspective of those involved.
Contd…..

44. Grounded theory is an excellent method
for understanding the processes through
which patients learn to manage new or
chronic health problems.
Eg. Researcher trying to understand how
Women deal with menopausal symptoms.
Contd….

45. E.g. A grounded theory research on the
adaptation level of patients with
Quadriplegia at Balarampur Hospital ,
Lucknow

46. Grounded theory- Salient Features
 Purpose - Theory development
 Used in discovering what problems exist in a
social scene &how persons handle them.
 Involves formulation, testing, & redevelopment of
propositions until a theory is developed .
 Method: Steps occur simultaneously; a constant
comparative process.
 Sample size: 20-25
 Sampling : Purposive .
Those who can shed new light on the phenomena
are included in the study. Diversity than similarity is
sought in samples .

47.  Setting : Naturalistic setting.
 Data collection technique:
 Participant observation
 In depth interview
 Audio video taped
 Handwritten notes
Contd….

48.  After identifying concepts ,literature review is
done to identify similar associations
 Grounded theory can discover fundamental
patterns in all social life- basic social processes.
 Is concerned with generation of hypotheses than
testing.
Contd….

49.  Data collection and analysis occur simultaneously
 A process called constant comparison is used in
which data are constantly compared to data that have
already been gathered
 Pertinent concepts are identified ,coded ,constantly
reviewed as new interpretations are made of the data
Contd….

50. Analysis
 Concept formation
 Concept development –
 Reduction;
 Selective sampling of literature
 Selective sampling of subjects
 Emergence of core concepts.
 Concept modification & integration

51. Outcomes
Theory supported by examples from data.
Throughout the study the researcher makes
corrections and adjustments to the theory to
allow for interpretation of new data.
E.g. Personal control and emotional comfort of
hospitalized patients – personal control was
found to be central feature of emotional
comfort

52. 4. HISTORICAL STUDIES
Definition
A systematic and objective location evaluation
and synthesis of evidence in order to establish
facts and draw conclusions about past events
E.g. A historical study on the development of
Kerala Nurses and Midwives council

53. 1. Describe and examine events of the past to understand
the present and anticipate potential future effects.
2. Difficult to conduct but gaining importance in Nursing.
3. Historical researches mainly focused on nurse leaders.
PURPOSE

54. Values of Historical research
Provides solution to problems of the past.
Findings obtained shed light on the contemporary
problems.
Provide ideas towards present & future trends.
Stress the relative importance and effects of the
interactions that are found in all cultures.

55. Formulate idea - Select topic after reading related
literature.
Develop research questions .
Develop an inventory of sources - archives,
private libraries, papers.
Clarify validity & reliability of data - primary
sources, authenticity, biases .
Develop research outline to organize
investigative process .
Collect data.
Method

56. Primary source of data collection: historic
artifacts, relics (items of physical evidences)
records, writings, minutes of meetings,
photographs, documentary films.
Secondary sources encyclopedias, textbooks
etc.
Data need to go for external criticism-
authenticity of the source ( validity)& Internal
criticism( reliability) accuracy of the material
in the source.
Contd….

57. 5. CASE STUDIES
In depth examination of people or groups of
people, institution, event or place.
Concept rooted in sociology, used much in
anthropology, law and medicine.

58. Helps to explore real clinical situation.
Not used to test hypotheses, but hypotheses
are generated from it.
Data collection technique:
 Direct observation
 Questionnaire
 Written accounts by the subjects
 Interaction with subject
Contd…

59. Analysis –
 Content analysis,
 Form pattern, themes
 Synthesize experience.
Outcome -in-depth description of the experience.
Time consuming and expensive.
Chances of attrition are there.
E.g.
 How mothers respond in managing their children with
Thalassemia on Chelation therapy at home.
 A case study on the management of cervical cancer at
selected oncology centers at Kanpur.
Contd…

60. 6. ACTION RESEARCH STUDIES
Definition
Research that seeks action to improve practice
and study the effects of the action that was taken.
Streubert & Carpenter
Small scale intervention in the functioning of the real
world and the close examination on the effect of the
intervention.
 Became popular in 1940s.
 Lewin who was famous for changing theory is
behind this type of research.

61. Action research is a process of gaining
information about a situation through a deliberate
process of:
Making explicit assumptions about how and
why things work.
Planning to act to improve.
Carrying out the intervention that has been
planned.
Observing what happens as a result of the
intervention.
Reflecting on the observations.
Planning another intervention based on the
reformulated hypothesis.

62. It is a special kind of community based action
research in which there is collaboration between
the study participants and the researcher in all steps
of the study.
Participatory Action Research (PAR)

63. Reflection :
 People reflect on issues and processes and make
explicit interpretations, biases, assumptions and
concerns ,upon which judgments are made.
 In this way, practical accounts can give rise to
theoretical considerations.
Principles of Action Research

64. Dialogue:
 Phenomena are conceptualized in dialogue,
therefore a dialectical critique is required to
understand the set of relationships both between the
phenomenon and its context and in between the
elements constituting the phenomenon.
Collaboration:
 Participants in an action research project are co-
researchers.
 The principle of collaborative resource presupposes
that each person’s ideas are equally significant as
potential resources for creating interpretive
categories of analysis, negotiated among the
participants.

65. Risk:
 The change process potentially threatens all
previously established ways of doing things, thus
creating psychic fears among the practitioners.
 Principle to allay others’ fears and invite
participation by pointing out that they, too, will be
subject to the same process, and learning will take
place.
Multiple action and interpretation:
 A report, acts as a support for ongoing discussion
among collaborators, rather than a final conclusion
of fact.

66. Transformation (Theory and Practice)
 For action researchers, theory informs practice,
practice refines theory, in a continuous
transformation.
 People’s actions are based on implicitly held
assumptions, theories and hypotheses, and with
every observed result, theoretical knowledge is
enhanced.

67. On the spot procedure – deal with a specific
problem in a situation.
Depends mainly on observational and behavioural
data.
Constant, monitoring and evaluation are carried
out.
Conclusions are applied immediately and
monitored further.
Is a practical form of research with little or no
control over independent variable.
Salient features

68. Primary focus is on solving real problems.
Circumstances require flexibility.
Findings cannot be generalized.
Setting: Real situation.
Data collection methods: observation,
interview, socio drama, plays, skits, drawings,
painting, story telling etc.
Powerful in nursing to improve nursing
knowledge, actions and effecting organizational
changes.
Contd…

69. Planner
Leader
Catalyser
Teacher
Synthesizer
Role of the Action Researcher
Designer
Observer
Reporter
Listener
Facilitator

70. E.g.
An action research on the proposed well-being
training program to solve somatic morbidity among
chronic mentally ill women suffering from post
traumatic depression at Institute of Mental Health,
Chennai.

71. 1. Obtrusive
Semi structured interviews
In-depth interviews
Focus Group Discussions
Ethnography
Participatory Action
Research
Narrative and Life History
Participant observation
METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA

72. 2. Unobtrusive methods
Simple observation
Document analysis
Audio-visual
Text analysis / Discourse
analysis
Material culture
Auto-ethnography
(Object, subject and researcher ).

73. 3. Observation
Participant observation
 Appropriate for collecting data on naturally
occurring behaviors in their usual contexts.
In-depth interviews
 Optimal for collecting data on:
 Individuals’ personal histories
 Perspectives, experiences, particularly when
sensitive topics are being explored.

74. Focus groups
 Effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms
of a group.
 Generating broad overviews of issues of
concern to the cultural groups or subgroups
represented.
Contd…

75. SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
 Purposive Sampling
 Quota sampling
 Snowball sampling

76. Sample size depend on the resources and
time available, as well as the study’s
objectives.
Purposive Sampling
Most common sampling strategy, according
to preselected criteria relevant to a
particular research question.

77. The criteria chosen by the researcher allows him to
focus on people, he thinks would be most likely
experienced, know about, or have insights into the
research topic.
Quota sampling
Researcher decides while designing the study how
many people with which characteristics to include
as participants.

78. E.g. To study a population of opium dependents,
the researcher establishes a few contacts initially
and these contacts help the researcher to get in
contact with other members in the group.
 Snowball Sampling
Also known as chain referral sampling.
Participants or informants with whom contact has
already been made use their social networks to
refer the researcher the other people who could
potentially participate in or contribute to the study.

79.  Interpretive methodologies encompass an
experience-near orientation that sees human action
as meaningful and historically contingent.
ANALSYING DATA IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Methods
 Interpretive techniques
Interpretive research focuses on analytically
disclosing those meaning-making practices, while
showing how those practices configure to generate
observable outcomes.

80.  When coding is complete, the analyst prepares
reports via a mix of: summarizing the prevalence
of codes, discussing similarities and differences in
related codes across. distinct original
sources/contexts, or comparing the relationship
between one or more codes.
 Coding
 Coding is an interpretive technique that organizes
the data and provides a means to introduce the
interpretations of it into certain quantitative
methods.

81.  Some qualitative datasets are analyzed without
coding. A common method here is recursive
abstraction, where datasets are summarized;
those summaries are therefore furthered into
summary and so on. The end result is more
compact.
 Recursive abstraction:

82.  Content analysis approaches range from
impressionistic, intuitive, interpretive analyses to
systematic, strict textual analyses .
Rosengren, 1981
 The approach varies with the theoretical and
substantive interests of the researcher and the problem
being studied.
Weber,
1990
 Flexibility has made content analysis useful for a
variety of researchers, the lack of a firm definition and
procedures has potentially limited its application.
Tesch,
 Content Analysis

83. Organize and prepare the data for analysis.
Read all data, get a sense of the whole.
Begin detailed analysis with coding process.
Generate a description of the setting/people as well
as categories or themes for analysis.
Identify themes (writing, visual, etc.).
Interpret and make meaning out of data.
STEPS
ANALSYING DATA IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

84.  Minimize the risk associated with research including
psychological and social risk.
 Maximizing the benefits that accrue to research
participants.
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
Respect for persons:-
 To protect people from exploitation of their
vulnerability.
 The dignity of all research participants must be
respected adherence to this principles ensures that
people will not be used simply as a means to achieve
research objectives.
Beneficence:-

85.  Include legalistic language and is signed by the
participant, the researcher and possibly a witness.
Justice:-
 Ensuring a fair distribution of the risk and benefits
resulting from the research.
 Participants should benefit from the knowledge.
Respect for communities:-
 An obligation to respect the values and interests of the
community in research and to protect the community
from harm.
Informed consent:-

86.  The data collector to
Maintain clear boundaries
between what they are told
by participants and what
they tell to participants.
 The conversation should
not be disclosed with out
indication.
Confidentiality :-

87. LIMITATIONS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Marketing successes and failures are based on
small differences in the marketing mix.
Qualitative research doesn’t distinguish these
differences as well as quantitative research can.
Not representative of the population that is of
interest to the researcher.
The multitude of individuals who, without
formal training, profess to be experts in the
field.

88. It is anecdotal (stories told for dramatic
quality without critical evaluation).
Unscientific.
Producing findings are not generalisable
Impressionistic
Subjective
Contd…..

89. CRITIQUING A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN
Phenomena under study warrants the
design.
Focus of study – Subjective nature of
human experience.
Specified the type of QD.
Significance to Nursing.

90. Sample selection appropriate to design
Sample size appropriate
Data collection process is clear
Researcher bias avoided
Appropriate data analysis method
Study findings and study limitations spelled out
Recommendations for further research stated
Contd…..

91. Qualitative research must be systematic,
rigorous and planned to make it credible
and dependable.
It involves critical self-scrutiny (active
reflexivity) to produce explanations.
Investigations produce social explanations
which are somewhat generalizable.
Qualitative research is still not be seen as a
unified body and face many.
CONCLUSION

92. SMILE PLEASE, THE PRESENTATION IS OVER NOW