Research

1. THE COMPENDIUM OF RESEARCH DESIGNS
RESEARCH DESIGNS RESEARCH FOCUS
(CENTRAL PHENOMENON)
KEY FEATURES COMMON
TYPES
COMMON
METHODS
COMMON
ANALYSIS
COMMON REPORT FORMAT MAIN
AUTHORS/
ROOTS
FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS &
CONCLUSIONS
NARRATIVE Explore & understand individual
lives.
Stories of individual experiences –
usually in different contexts
As small as 1 participant
Collect stories.
Lives of a specific
duration/ time/ place
e.g., life of former
president/ pension
teacher/immigrant
-Life history
-Biographical
-Auto-bio
-Interviews
-Visuals
-Documents
Thematic
Dialogic
Chronological
Historical
Descriptions in: -
Chronological
Structural
-Quotes/excerpts
Discuss
similarities,
differences,
change,
coherence
-Clandinin &
Connolly
-Chase
CASE STUDY Explore issues, &, or understand in-
depth real-life situation in a
specific setting (bounded system
using certain parameters such as
place, people, timeframe etc)
In-depth exploration
of what is happening
in the setting.
e.g., experiences of
students in an
institution
-Single
-Multiple
-Interviews
-Observations
-Audio-visual
Thematic
(Within &
Cross-case)
Discourse
Analysis
In-depth descriptions
of the situation & the
setting
Building patterns in
cases (assertions)
Discuss overall
meaning of
the patterns
-Yin & Stake
-Merriam &
Tisdell
ETHNOGRAPHIC Explore & understand behaviours,
language & interaction of a culture-
sharing group.
Usually larger than 20
Collect everyday
activities.
e.g., the life of the
Jakun tribe
-Realist
(descriptive 3rd
person)
-Critical
ethnography
(criticist &
sometimes
foreground)
-immersive
observations
-Interviews
(informal)
Thematic
Semiotic
Descriptions in
structural relate with
enculturation,
socialization,
inequality, human
justice etc.
Journals, diary,
stories, analogies,
poems, songs,
documentaries
- Generate
overall
description of
the collective
culture-
sharing group.
-Criticize the
policy making
& call for
change
-Atkinson &
Hammersly
- Carspecken &
Apple
-Van Maanen
GROUNDED THEORY Explore & understand
ongoing/process of an event.
Generate / discover theory
Focus on process of
an event over time.
e.g., developing
educational program,
a process of military
spouse program
-Systematic
procedure
-Constructivist
approach – co-
construct with
participants
-Interviews
-Observations
Thematic
Discourse
-Describe everything
around ‘core’
conditions: causal–
intervening -
consequences
- Use of critical
incidents
Develop
theory in a -
‘statement/dia
gram/
hypotheses)
-Strauss & Cobin
-Glaser & Strauss
-Charmaz
PHENOMENOLOGICAL Explore & understand the ‘lived
experience’ (meaning making
when experiencing a phenomenon)
Descriptive
Interpretive
e.g., Grief, terminal
disease, mental
health, well-being
Transcendental
Hermeneutical
-Interviews
(1-1/FG)
-Observations
-Documents
Thematic
Discourse
Semiotic
Descriptions in:
-Textural
-Structural
- Vignettes
-Researcher’s
reflexivity
Discuss
essence of
‘lived
experience’
- Husserls
- Heidegger
-Moustakas