Qualitative Research: Methods, Techniques, and Traditions
Qualitative Research
1. Introduction
c) Pilot studies that, in contrasting ideas and research methods, can develop grounded theories (grounded theory).
d) Thought experiments (what if…) directed to look for logical implications of the characteristics of the phenomena we intend to study.
The concepts used in qualitative research are open and in guidance, subject to continuous transformation. Qualitative research raises the how not the why.
A good design should integrate all the components in harmony.
2. Research-Related Investigation
As important as the conceptual framework is the situational context.
The investigation prioritizes the consideration of factors that influence the actors when they are in the research situation. It is understood that they are seen in their own world, and the investigator must analyze the situation in the context it occurs. The observer has to let the observed develop their own speech in their own language.
Moreover, persons under observation may not behave as they would in a situation of absolute privacy; naturalness can be affected.
But we must also consider the impact that the observer has on the observed. This dual relationship: observer-observed is called reflexivity.
This relationship brings with it two important aspects: 1) It is a relation of interaction, not merely bland and distant observation. 2) Secondly, the psychological relationship established between them carries with it an identification of empathy and complicity to produce mutual understanding.
The rapport established between the field researcher and those involved in it is part of the process of knowledge production. The subjectivity of the researchers and observers alike come into play in the process.
The reflections of the researchers about their actions and observations during the fieldwork, their impressions, irritations, feelings, and other data become their own right, forming part of the interpretation and being documented in the diaries of field or context protocols.
3. Samples
When we discuss sampling, the first thing that comes to mind is the idea of quantitative probability sampling, but the idea of incorporating the selection of informants, moments, and places is key in the definition of a sample.
One of the more generalized questions is, “How many cases are needed?” This question is steeped in quantitative logic since the number of cases is not the goal but rather the representativeness of the elements chosen in the sample. Critical cases are included in the sample when there is a deepening of interest shown by the investigator and conducting theoretical grounding.
Strauss and Corbin: Sampling is done based on the evolution of the relevance of concepts.
4. Field Work
Not only must we choose between the potential of different research techniques in the abstract, but we also have to reckon with criteria for distinguishing between different research situations that can benefit us in getting data.
The objective is to obtain data of great depth and richness to understand the manifestations of individuality of the subjects observed.
5. Data Analysis
For qualitative analysis, the researcher must start simultaneously with the fieldwork. The notes made to contextualize the situation being studied cannot be left for the moment of writing the report but must be analyzed and reanalyzed throughout the research process.
So the purpose of the researcher moves from the variables to the individual themselves and the situation that surrounds them, observing people and not just standard features.
The qualitative approach does not imply the absence of analytical lines:
1. Categorization process: Fracturing data and then rearranging categories to facilitate comparison within and between categories. These categories may be directed in advance or generated during the research process or defined from the categories that the observed define themselves.
2. You can deploy strategies of contextualization to understand the information in context (discourse analysis, case studies, etc.).
3. Researchers must be very careful in the preparation of reports to collect their ideas in the field about the methods, previous conceptualizations, and initial goals.
6. Weaknesses of Qualitative Investigation
The criticism focuses on validity and reliability.
Regarding validity, we simply highlight the large number of studies that prove it: market research, ethnographic, social, etc.
Concerning reliability, this approach also moves away from the purely quantitative to invest in qualitative techniques such as data triangulation. However, the assurance lies in the structural representation of the informants and the saturation of the speeches of the individuals chosen to represent these structural features to which they belong. When saturation of discourses occurs, and certain reliability is achieved, it is time to close the fieldwork.
Qualitative Research Traditions
The quantitative representation is intended to measure and account for the facts in the numerical language of social reality under observation so that they can contrast the hypotheses that were set in a previous theoretical model for the proper conduct of the investigation.
The qualitative, in turn, revolves around the analysis of subjectivity to understand the symbolic dimension of social interaction and their subjective meanings produced through the language used in everyday life, which will be analyzed for hypothesis production.
Some authors place the principles of the history of investigation in Plato (pre-quantitative: formalist abstract) and Aristotle (pre-qualitative: substantivalist and direct contact with things), but neither can be considered a pure representative yet because there were no conditions in the Middle Ages for them to be developed.
There are two theories that will guide us in the development of research:
Vidich and Lyman (1994) begin their periodization in the fifteenth century, divided into 8 periods:
1. Early ethnography: Discovery of the other (there are others, and the Bible does not explain them).
2. Colonial ethnography: Unprofessional ethnography. Conquering civilization. Behavior and customs of the primitive, counts, and files.