EXAMPLES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
METHODOLGIES

Action research

Some researchers believe that action research is a research method, but in my opinion it is better understood as a methodology. In action research, the researcher works in close collaboration with a group of people to improve a situation in a particular setting. The researcher does not ‘do’ research ‘on’ people, but instead works with them, acting as a facilitator. Therefore, good group management skills and an understanding of group dynamics are important skills for the researcher to acquire. This type of research is popular in areas such as organisational management, community development, education and agriculture.

Action research begins with a process of communication and agreement between people who want to change something together. Obviously, not all people within an organisation will be willing to become co-researchers, so action research tends to take place with a small group of dedicated people who are open to new ideas and willing to step back and reflect on these ideas. The group then moves through four stages of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. This process may happen several times before everyone is happy that the changes have been implemented in the best possible way.

In action research various types of research method may be used, for example: the diagnosing and evaluating stage may use questionnaires and interviews, whereas focus groups may be used to gauge opinion on the proposed changes.

Ethnography

Ethnography has its roots in anthropology and was a popular form of inquiry at the turn of the century when anthropologists travelled the world in search of remote tribes. The emphasis in ethnography is on describing and interpreting cultural behaviour.

Ethnographers immerse themselves in the lives and culture of the group being studied, often living with that group for months on end. These researchers participate in a groups’ activities whilst observing its behaviour, taking notes, conducting inter views, analysing, reflecting and writing reports – this may be called fieldwork or participant observation. Ethnographers highlight the importance of the written text because this is how they portray the culture they are studying.

Feminist research

There is some argument about whether feminist inquiry should be considered a methodology or epistemology, but in my opinion it can be both. (As we have seen, methodology is the philosophy or the general principle which will guide your research. Epistemology, on the other hand, is the study of the nature of knowledge and justification. It looks at from where knowledge has come and how we know what we know.)

Feminist researchers argue that for too long the lives and experiences of women have been ignored or misrepresented. Often, in the past, research was conducted on male ‘subjects’ and the results generalised to the whole population. Feminist researchers critique both the research topics and the methods used; especially those which emphasise objective, scientific ‘truth’.

With its emphasis on participative, qualitative inquiry, feminist research has provided a valuable alternative framework for researchers who have felt uncomfortable with treating people as research ‘objects’. Under the umbrella of feminist research are various different standpoints – these are discussed in considerable depth in some of the texts listed at the end of this chapter.

Grounded theory

Grounded theory is a methodology which was first laid out in 1967 by two researchers named Glaser and Strauss. It tends to be a popular form of inquiry in the areas of education and health research. The emphasis in this methodology is on the generation of theory which is grounded in the data – this means that it has emerged from the data. This is different from other types of research which might seek to test a hypothesis that has been formulated by the researcher.

In grounded theory, methods such as focus groups and interviews tend to be the preferred data collection method, along with a comprehensive literature review which takes place throughout the data collection process.

This literature review helps to explain emerging results.

In grounded theory studies the number of people to be interviewed is not specified at the beginning of the research. This is because the researcher, at the outset, is unsure of where the research will take her. Instead, she continues with the data collection until ‘saturation’ point is reached, that is, no new information is being provided. Grounded theory is therefore flexible and enables new issues to emerge that the researcher may not have thought about previously.

EXAMPLE 2: REVISED STATEMENTS

Original statement 1: This research aims to find out what people think about television.

After having thought about how to focus her topic, make the project more manageable and produce a worthwhile piece of research, the researcher came up with the following revised statement:

Revised statement 1: This research aims to find out what primary school teachers think about the educational value of ‘TheTeletubbies’ television programme.

This research topic is now well-focused. When the student suggested this research it was also very topical – The Teletubbies had been released only four weeks prior to the research and complaints about their language were filling the national media. The main clue to the methodology is the word ‘think’.The student wishes to get an in-depth opinion, but is not concerned with speaking to a large number of primary school teachers. This suggests a qualitative form of inquiry.

Original statement 2: My project is to do some research into Alzheimer’s disease, to find out what people do when their relatives have it and what support they can get and how nurses deal with it.

This researcher decided to narrow down his topic. Also, he found out some more information about whether his research needed to go to a Research Ethics Committee by checking out the website www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk. This site gives details about the committees, a list of meeting dates, guidance notes and application forms for those researchers interested in putting forward a proposal. More information can be obtained from National Research Ethics Service (NRES), 2nd Floor, A Block, 50 Eastbourne Terrace, LondonW2 6LG.Tel: 020 7725 3431. Fax: 020 7725 3465. Email: queries@nationalres.org.uk www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk

Revised statement 2: The aim of this research is to find out how many relatives of Alzheimer’s patients use the Maple ay Centre, and to ascertain whether the service is meeting their needs.

Again this topic is now much better focused. The research population is limited to relatives of Alzheimer’s patients who use the Maple Day Centre. One clue to the methodology is in the words ‘how many’ which suggests a quantitative study. However, he is also interested in finding out whether the service meets their needs, which requires some more in-depth inquiry. This suggests a combination of qualitative and quantitative inquiry.

Original statement 3: We want to find out how many of the local residents are interested in a play scheme for children during the summer holiday.

The tenants’ association thought carefully about the issues in which they were interested, eventually coming up with the following revised statement:

Revised statement 3: This research aims to find out how many people from our estate are interested in, and would use, a children’s play scheme in the school summer holiday. Again, the clue in this example is ‘how many’. The tenants’ association wanted to obtain funding for their play scheme and felt that it was important to gather statistics which they could take to possible funding organisations. This suggests a quantitative study.