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WHAT IS QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH ?

Copyright 1997. James P.Key. Oklahoma State

University

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

When conducting qualitative research, the

investigator seeks to gain a total or complete

picture.

According to Stainback and Stainback (1988),

a holistic description of events, procedures,

and philosophies occurring in natural settings

is often needed to make accurate situationaldecisions.

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CHARACTERISTIC

Purpose: Understanding - Seeks to understand peoples interpretations.

Reality: Dynamic - Reality changes with changes in peoples perceptions.

Viewpoint: Insider - Reality is what people perceive it to be.

Values: Value bound - Values will have an impact and should beunderstood and taken into account when conducting and reporting

research. Focus: Holistic - A total or complete picture is sought.

Orientation: Discovery - Theories and hypotheses are evolved from dataas collected.

Data: Subjective - Data are perceptions of the people in the environment.

Instrumentation: Human - The human person is the primary collection

instrument. Conditions: Naturalistic - Investigations are conducted under natural

conditions.

Results: Valid - The focus is on design and procedures to gain "real," "rich,"and "deep" data

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Maintaining The Validity Of Qualitative

Research Be a listener -Properly interpret the responses of the subject(s)

Record accurately - All records should be maintained in the form of detailed notesor electronic recordings. It should also be developed during rather than after the

data gathering session

Initiate writing early. It is suggested that the researcher make a rough draft of the

study before ever going into the field to collect data.

Include the primary data in the final report. The inclusion of primary data in thefinal report allows the reader to see exactly the basis upon which the researchers

conclusions were made.

Include all data in the final report.The researcher should not leave out pieces of

information from the final report because she/he cannot interpret that data.

Be candid. Do not spend too much time attempting to keep own feelings and

personal reactions out of the study.

Seek feedback.The researcher should allow others to critique the research

manuscript following the developmental process.

Write accurately. Incorrect grammar, misspelled words, statement inconsistency,

etc. will jeopardize the validity of an otherwise good study.

Wolcott, H.R. (1990). Qualitative inquiry in education: The continuing debate.