What characteristic of qualitative research is employed in the situation below

Definitions

a systematic subjective approach used to describe life experiences and give them meaning

a formal, objective, systematic process for obtaining information about the world. A method used to describe, test relationships, and examine cause and effect relationships.

Goals

To gain insight; explore the depth, richness, and complexity inherent in the phenomenon.

To test relationships, describe, examine cause and effect relations

Characteristics

• Soft science
• Focus: complex & broad
• Holistic
• Subjective
• Dialectic, inductive reasoning
• Basis of knowing: meaning & discovery
• Develops theory
• Shared interpretation
• Communication & observation
• Basic element of analysis: words
• Individual interpretation
• Uniqueness

Phenomenology

Purpose, goal - to describe experiences as they are lived

• examines uniqueness of individual's lived situations
• each person has own reality; reality is subjective

Research question development

• What does existence of feeling or experience indicate concerning the phenomenon to be explored
• What are necessary & sufficient constituents of feeling or experience?
• What is the nature of the human being?

Method

• No clearly defined steps to avoid limiting creativity of researcher
• Sampling & data collection

• Seek persons who understand study & are willing to express inner feelings & experiences
• Describe experiences of phenomenon
• Write experiences of phenomenon
• Direct observation
• Audio or videotape

Data analysis

• Classify & rank data
• Sense of wholeness
• Examine experiences beyond human awareness/ or cannot be communicated

Outcomes

• Findings described from subject's point-of-view
• Researcher identifies themes
• Structural explanation of findings is developed

Grounded theory

Purpose - theory development

• Used in discovering what problems exist in a social scene &how persons handle them
• Involves formulation, testing, & redevelopment of propositions until a theory is developed

Method - steps occur simultaneously; a constant comparative process

• Data collection - interview, observation, record review, or combination

Analysis

• Concept formation
• Concept development - reduction; selective sampling of literature; selective sampling of subjects; emergence of core concepts
• Concept modification & integration

Outcomes - theory supported by examples from data

Ethnography

Purpose - to describe a culture's characteristics

Method

• Identify culture, variables for study, & review literature
• Data collection - gain entrance to culture; immerse self in culture; acquire informants; gather data through direct observation & interaction with subjects

Analysis - describe characteristics of culture

Outcomes - description of culture

Historical

Purpose - describe and examine events of the past to understand the present and anticipate potential future effects

Method

• Formulate idea - select topic after reading related literature
• Develop research questions
• Develop an inventory of sources - archives, private libraries, papers
• Clarify validity & reliability of data - primary sources, authenticity, biases
• Develop research outline to organize investigative process
• Collect data

Analysis - synthesis of all data; accept & reject data; reconcile conflicting evidence

Outcomes - select means of presentation - biography, chronology, issue paper

Case study

Purpose - describe in-depth the experience of one person, family, group, community, or institution

Method

• Direct observation and interaction with subject

Analysis - synthesis of experience

Outcomes - in-depth description of the experience

Data collection

• Interview with audiotape & videotape
• Direct, non-participant observation
• Participant observation
• Field notes, journals, logs

Reliability & validity - rigor

Use of researcher's personality

• Involvement with subject's experience
• Live with data collection until no new information appears

Bracketing

• Researcher suspends what is known about the phenomenon
• Keeping an open context
• Set aside own preconceptions

Intuiting

• Process of actually looking at phenomenon
• Focus all awareness & energy on topic
• Absolute concentration & complete absorption in phenomenon

Can use > 1 researcher & compare interpretation and analysis of data

Data analysis

• Living with data
• Cluster & categorize data
• Examine concepts & themes
• Define relationships between/among concepts