2. Strength of Qualitative Research
• The strength of qualitative research is its ability to
provide complex textual descriptions of how people
experience a given research issue. It provides
information about the “human” side of an issue –
that is, the often contradictory behaviors, beliefs,
opinions, emotions, and relationships of
individuals.
• I have compiled and overviewed twenty two
qualitative research methods to help students,
practitioners and academics with their research
projects.
3. 1. Typology
• Typology – is the classification of observations in terms of their
attributes on two or more variables
• Typologies of research topics in a specific area are necessary because
they enable the organization of knowledge. They are very useful to
understand the relationships between the research topics, leading to
the analysis of the main topics, their time evolution, etc. They have has
been used many times by other researchers to analyze trends,
compare research outputs, etc.
Reference: Smith G., Krogstad J.L. (1988) “A taxonomy of content and citations in Auditing:
A journal of Practice and Theory”; Auditing : A journal of Practice and Theory, vol.8 n°1, Fall p. 108-117.
4. 2. Grounded Theory
• Grounded theory (GT) - is a systematic methodology in the social
sciences involving the generation of theory from data
• Grounded theory is a research method, which operates almost in a
reverse fashion from traditional research and at first sight may appear
to be in contradiction to the scientific method. Rather than beginning
with a hypothesis, the first step is data collection, through a variety of
methods. From the data collected, the key points are marked with a
series of codes, which are extracted from the text. The codes are
grouped into similar concepts in order to make them more workable.
From these concepts, categories are formed, which are the basis for
the creation of a theory, or a reverse engineered hypothesis . This
contradicts the traditional model of research, where the researcher
chooses a theoretical framework, and only then applies this model to
the phenomenon to be studied.
Reference: Patricia Yancey Martin & Barry A. Turner, "Grounded Theory and Organizational Research,"
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, vol. 22, no. 2 (1986), 141.
5. 3. Analytic Induction
• Analytic Induction - refers to a systematic examination of similarities
between various social phenomena in order to develop concepts or
ideas. Social scientists doing social research use analytic induction to
search for those similarities in broad categories and then develop
subcategories. For example, social scientist may examine the category
of marijuana users' and then develop subcategories for 'uses marijuana
for pleasure' and 'uses marijuana for health reasons'. If no relevant
similarities can be identified, then either the data needs to be
reevaluated and the definition of similarities changed, or the category is
too wide and heterogeneous and should be narrowed down.
Reference: Charles C. Ragin, Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method,
Pine Forge Press, 1994,
7. 5. Quasi-Statistics
• Quasi-Statistics - simple counts of things to make statements such as
“some,” “usually,” and “most” more precise.
• For example, to perform an educational experiment, a class might be
arbitrarily divided by alphabetical selection or by seating arrangement.
The division is often convenient and, especially in an educational
situation, causes as little disruption as possible.
Reference: Problems of Inference and Proof in Participant Observation Howard S. Becker America Sociological Review
Vol. 23, No. 6 (Dec., 1958), pp. 652-660 (article consists of 9 pages)
8. 6. Narrative Event Analysis
• Narrative event analysis - involves stories and the systematic
investigation of chains of events and / or actions that lead to a
conclusion.
• Narrative event analysis enabled a focus on the interaction of events
over time and enabled the researcher to move beyond simple
correlation between variables. Its enables consideration of the
important explanations that can emerge from considering timing, order
and interaction of events.
• Narrative event analysis presented is guided by the work of Franzosi
(2003) who developed a distinct approach to the analysis of what he
terms “narrative data”. His ambition, however, was to convert
qualitative data text into a numerical scale by adopting a coding
framework that, in his most celebrated applications, allows counts of
coded events from over 15,000 narrative texts that enabled him to
develop di-graphs or maps.
References: Abell, P. (1987). The Syntax of Social Life: Theory and Method of Comparative
Narratives Oxford.
Franzosi, R. (1998). "Narrative analysis, or why (and how) sociologists should be interested in
narrative." Annual Review of Sociology 24: 517-54.
9. 7. Domain Analysis
• Domain Analysis - helps in Knowledge Management to discover
patterns that exist in the cultural behaviour, cultural artifacts and
cultural knowledge in the group from whom the data was gathered.
• A domain analysis allows the ethnographer to move from merely
observing a social situation to discovering the cultural scene, two
closely related but dramatically different concepts. It is the first type of
ethnographic analysis, the others being taxonomic analysis,
componential analysis and thematic analysis. Knowledge domains
discover the specific nature of the relationships existing between
cultural concepts, individual interpretations and particular terminologies
in order to determine actual cultural activities, objects and knowledge.
Reference: "Participant Observation and The Ethnographic Interview", James P. Spradley, Wadsworth Thomson Learning
(1979)
10. 8. Taxonomic Analysis
• Taxonomic Analysis - is a search for the way that cultural domains are
organized. It usually involves drawing a graphical interpretation of the
ways in which the individual participants’ moves, form groups and
patterns that structure the conversation.
• In taxonomic analysis an analysis is conducted of the roles of one
individual as they necessarily relate to other roles of the same
individual (i.e., a father is by definition someone who has already been
a son, and someone who may yet become a grandfather, or an uncle,
or a father-in-law, etc.). Taxonomic analysis of role identities requires a
different perspective than componential analysis which defines a role
by asking how a person with that role is different from another person.
• A taxonomic analysis is useful in understanding knowledge creation
and utilization, and the knowledge needs of the organization and its
members.
References "Participant Observation and The Ethnographic Interview:", James P. Spradley,
WadsworthThomson Learning (1979) "Taxonomic Analysis", James P. Spradley, Harcourt
Brace (1980)
11. 9. Thematic Analysis
• Thematic analysis - was used as a method to identify, analyse and
report patterns (themes) within data. It minimally organises and
describes data in rich detail.
• The benefit of thematic analysis is that it is not a linear process of
simply moving from one phase to the next. Instead, it is more a
recursive process, where movement back and forth is needed,
throughout the six phases below. It is also a process that develops over
time.
Reference: Braun, V. and V. Clarke (2006). "Using thematic analysis in psychology." Qualitative Research
in Psychology 3: 77-81.
12. 10. Metaphorical Analysis
• Metaphorical Analysis - is conceptualized in cognitive linguistics—as a
qualitative method for psychological research for several reasons.
Metaphors are culturally and socially defined, yet they also represent a
basic cognitive strategy of analogical problem solving. Metaphors are
context-sensitive, yet at the same time they are abstract models of
reality much in the same way as mental models and schemata in
cognitive psychology. The multifaceted properties of metaphors allow
for the study of micro-interactions between cognition and culture in
open and qualitative research designs. They also enable the bridging of
the gap between quantitative-experimental and qualitative approaches
in psychology. Because metaphors are of high plausibility in everyday
experience, metaphors are a valuable tool for interventions in applied
fields of research such as organizational and work psychology.
Reference: Karen S Moser, Metaphor Analysis in Psychology—Method, Theory, and Fields of Application Forum for
Qualitative Research Volume 1, No. 2, Art. 21 – June 2000
13. 11. Hermeneutical Analysis
• Hermeneutical Analysis – is the study of meaning or of meaningful
things and actions such as those found in literature and culture.
Hermeneutics is associated with qualitative social research in general,
and with phenomenology in particular.
Reference: S. Lowe, A. Carr, M. Thomas, L. Mathys, The fourth hermeneutic in marketing theory, Marketing
Theory June 2005 vol. 5 no. 2 185-203
14. 12. Discourse Analysis
• Discourse Analysis - a study of the way versions or the world, society,
events and psyche are produced in the use of language and discourse.
The Foucauldian version is concerned with the construction of subjects
within various forms of knowledge/power. Semiotics, deconstruction
and narrative analysis are forms of discourse analysis.
Reference: Discourse and Text: Linguistic and Intertextual Analysis within Discourse Analysis, N Fairclough Discourse &
Society (1992) Volume: 3, Issue: 2, Publisher: Sage Publications, Pages: 193-217
15. 13. Semiotics
• Semiotics - is the science of signs and symbols, such as body
language
• Helps in determine how the meanings of signs and symbols is
constructed. Assume meaning is not inherent in those, meaning comes
from relationships with other things. Sometimes presented with a
postmodernist emphasis.
• Example: meaning of brands
Reference: Narrative, Content, and Semiotic Analysis, P K Manning, B Cullum-Swan,Handbook of Qualitative
Research (1994)Issue: 9, Publisher: Sage, Pages: 463-478
16. 14. Content Analysis
• Content Analysis - examine documents, text, or speech to see what
themes emerge. What do people talk about the most? See how themes
relate to each other. Find latent emphases, political view of newspaper
writer, which is implicit or look at surface level - overt emphasis.
• Theory driven - theory determines what you look for. Rules are
specified for data
Reference: Berelson, B., 1952. Content Analysis in Communication Research. The Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois
17. 15. Analytic Induction
• Analytic induction - is a way of building explanations in qualitative
analysis by constructing and testing a set of causal links between
events, actions etc. in one case and the iterative extension of this to
further cases.
Reference: Jack Katz (2001) "Analytic Induction," in Smelser and Baltes, (eds) International Encyclopedia of the Social and
Behavioral Sciences.
18. 16. Action Research
• Action research - is a methodology that combines 'action' and
'research' together. During a study the researcher is repeating the
process of performing an action, reflecting on what has happened and
using this information to plan their next action. This process of action
research has a refining effect on action and the researcher gains
understanding of what is going on (Dick, 1992, Greenwood 2002)
Reference: Dick B (1992) So you want to do an action research thesis? University of Queensland.
Greenwood, D. (2002). Action research: Unfulfilled promises and unmet challenges. Concepts and Transformation, 7(2),
117–139.
19. 17. Biography
• Biography - an approach to research which elicits and analyses a
person’s biography or life history - an extended, written account or
narrative of a person's life. Such a biography usually has a structure
and is expressed in key themes often with an epiphany or turning point.
Typically, the epiphany is the point in the person’s life when they think
things changed and they became a different person – the person they
are now. The narrative is usually chronological. Can be contrasted with
a life history which is usually given at an interview. However, this
distinction is not always maintained and the terms now tend to be used
interchangeably.
Reference: Interpretive Biography (Qualitative Research Methods) Author: Norman K. Denzin, Sage Publications, Inc
Pages: 96 Published: 1989
20. 18. Case Study
• Case Study – a research method (or design) focusing on the study of a
single case. Usually it is not designed to compare one individual or
group to another. Though it is possible to conduct a series of case
studies, each study would not be designed specifically to enable
comparison with others.
Reference: The Case Study Method in Social Inquiry Robert E. Stake Educational Researcher Vol. 7, No. 2 (Feb., 1978), pp.
5-8 .
Yin, R. (1984) Case study research. Beverly Hills, C A : Sage Publications
21. 19. Constructivism
• Constructivism - looks at the systems people create to interpret the
world around them and their experiences. It can also be referred to as
social constructionism. The epistemological view that the phenomena
of the social and cultural world and their meanings are not objective but
are created in human social interaction, that is, they are socially
constructed. The approach often, though not exclusively, draws on
idealist philosophy. Some writers distinguish Social Constructivism as a
more radical version of social constructionism, but often the terms are
used interchangeably.
Reference: Constructivism. Theory, Perspectives, and Practice, Fosnot, Catherrine,Teachers , 1996 College Press, 1234
Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027.
22. 20. Phenomenography
• Phenomenography - the subject investigates the differing ways in which
people experience, perceive, apprehend, understand, and
conceptualise various phenomena, and this has been seen as critical
for the development of learners' understanding of the central
phenomena, concepts and principles, and hence for their mastery of
the domain.
• Phenomenography is a qualitative research method, the history of
which goes back only to the mid to late 1970s. It should not be
confused with phenomenolgy. Phenomenology is the study of what
people perceive in the world; phenomenography is the study of the way
people conceive of the world. A good reference, to get started, is an
article by Marton:
Reference: Marton, F. (1981) Phenomenography - describing conceptions of the world around us. Instructional Science, 10,
177-200.
23. 21. Ethnography
• Ethnography - is a broad multi-qualitative method involving (participant
observation, interviewing, discourse analyses of natural language, and
personal documents) approach that studies people in their "...naturally
occurring settings or 'fields' by means of methods which capture their
social meanings and ordinary activities, involving the researcher
participating directly in the setting..." (Brewer, 2000:10).
Reference: Intergroup relations. The handbook of social psychology, Brewer, Marilynn B.; Brown, Rupert J. The handbook of
social psychology, 1998, Vols. 1 and 2 (4th ed.).(pp. 554-594) New York.
24. 22. Mood Mapping
• Mood mapping - involves plotting how you feel against your energy
levels, to determine your current mood.
• Application: Twitter studies of emotions
Reference: Mood Mapping: Plot Your Way to Emotional Health and Happiness Miller - 2009 - Pan Macmillan
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