General Information about Qualitative Research
Approaches to Qualitative Research
Philosophical Assumptions
Interpretive Frameworks
Theoretical Perspectives
100

An inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting.

What is Qualitative Research?

100

It is part of human sciences and describes the process of collecting and analyzing stories people are telling about their experiences and how they interpret them.

What is Narrative Approach?

100

The nature of reality. Reality is formed by the participants in the study. Participants could see their experiences differently. Use the words from the participants or direct quotes to illustrate themes. Themes are to be from what the participants shared.

What is Ontology?

100

In this interpretive framework, qualitative researchers seek understanding of the world in which they live and work. They develop subjective meanings of their experiences—meanings directed toward certain objects or things. These meanings are varied and multiple, leading the researcher to look for the complexity of views rather than narrow the meanings into a few categories or ideas. The goal of research, then, is to rely as much as possible on the participants’ views of the situation. Often these subjective meanings are negotiated socially and historically.

What is Social Constructivism?

100

This is an interpretive lens that may be used in qualitative research that focuses on gay, lesbian, or homosexual identity and how it is culturally and historically constituted, is linked to discourse, and overlaps gender and sexuality.

What is queer theory?

200

We refer to narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case studies in this book as approaches to inquiry.

What is Approaches to Inquiry?

200

It aims to describe, understand and interpret the meanings of experiences of human life. It focuses on research questions such as what it is like to experience a particular situation.

What is Phenomenology?

200

The researcher tries to get as close as possible to the participants being studies. Due to this, the evidence collected is subjective as it is based solely on the individuals views. For this particular assumption, it is important for the study to be conducted where the participants live and work in order to fully understand what the participants are saying…the longer the researcher stays in the field or gets to know the participants, the more they know.

What is Epistemology?

200

This interpretive lens focuses on the outcomes of the research—the actions, situations, and consequences of inquiry—rather than antecedent conditions. There is a concern with applications—“what works”—and solutions to problems. Thus, instead of a focus on methods, the important aspect of research is the problem being studied and the questions asked about this problem.

What is Pragmatism?

200

This is an interpretive lens used in qualitative research that focuses attention on race and how racism is deeply embedded within the framework of American society.

What is Critical Race Theory?

300

We use this term to refer to the entire process of research, from conceptualizing a problem to writing the narrative, not simply the methods such as data collection, analysis, and report writing.

What is Research Design?

300

It involves the collection and analysis of data. The theory is “grounded” in actual data, which means the analysis and development of theories happens after you have collected the data.

What is Grounded Theory?

300

These are stances taken by the researcher that provide direction for the study such as the researcher’s view of reality, how the researcher knows reality, the value-stance taken by the inquirer, and the procedures used in the study. These assumptions, in turn, are often applied in research through the use of theories.

What is Philosophical Assumptions?

300

Beliefs or frameworks that guide the actions of the researcher in conducting a study.

What is interpretive framework?

300

It is focused on as a dimension of human difference and not as a defect. As a human difference, its meaning is derived from social construction (i.e., society’s response to individuals), and it is simply one dimension of human difference.

What is disability theory?

400

Observations about a case or cases seem to suggest a theory or set of principles. It goes from the specific to the general. This calls for direct observation, without bias, to obtain knowledge. 

What is Induction?

400

It is a qualitative research method in which a researcher studies a particular social/cultural group with the aim to better understand it. You can do this through observation or through interviewing.

What is Ethnography?

400

It is shaped by the researcher’s experience in collecting and analyzing the data. In qualitative research, the logic is inductive, from the ground up, rather than handed down entirely from a theory or from the perspective of the researcher. The data collection strategy is planned before the study and can be modified throughout the study to fit new questions that may arise.

What is methodology?

400

This interpretive perspective has the elements of being reductionistic, logical, empirical, cause-and-effect oriented, and deterministic based on a priori theories.

What is Postpositivism?

400

This research methods, the goals are to establish collaborative and nonexploitative relationships, to place the researcher within the study so as to avoid objectification, and to conduct research that is transformative

What is Feminist Theory?

500

Knowledge of a theory or general principle allows you to make a prediction or an application to a single specific case. It goes from general to specific. It deduces the consequences of pre-existing knowledge, so you do not make new discoveries or gain new knowledge.

What is deduction?

500

It is a research method common in social science, it is probably one of the most common research methods. It is based on an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or event. It may be descriptive or explanatory.

What is Case Study?

500

Because the researcher is intimately involved in the study, they must be aware of their values and biases that can enter into the study. Researcher admits to these biases. Researcher discusses these within their study.

What is Axiology?

500

Researchers who use this interpretive framework advocate that knowledge is not neutral and it reflects the power and social relationships within society, and thus the purpose of knowledge construction is to aid people to improve society.These individuals include marginalized groups such as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, and societies that need a more hopeful, positive psychology and resilience.

What is Transformative Framework?

500

This interpretive perspective is considered a family of theories and perspectives that have something in common. It advance a reaction or critique of the 19th-century Enlightenment and early 20th-century emphasis on technology, rationality, reason, universals, science, and the positivist, scientific method. It assert that knowledge claims must be set within the conditions of the world today and in the multiple perspectives of class, race, gender, and other group affiliations.

What is Postmodernism?

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