MSLD500_Activity6.2_HoyeJennifer

For the record, I relly enjoyed the Ratcliffs explanation of qualitative Research...it was SO incredibly helpful! HERE is the link if you are finding yourself a bit confused when it comes to research data. The video's are a bit grainy and (at times) hard to hear, but they are FANTASTIC! I, for one, have had a hard time lately distinguishing the difference between qualitative and quantitative research. I understand that quantitative has to do with set data and numbers, but Ratcliff distiguishes between the two types of research. The differences are as follows:

Classic distinction between qualitative and quantitative. [from Cook & Reichardt (1979)]

Qualitative


•phenomenological
•inductive
•holistic
•subjective/insider centered
•process oriented
•anthropological worldview
•relative lack of control
•goal: understand actor's view
•dynamic reality assumed; "slice of life"
•discovery oriented
•explanatory


Quantitative


•positivistic
•hypothetico/deductive
•particularistic
•objective/outsider centered
•outcome oriented
•natural science worldview
•attempt to control variables
•goal: find facts & causes
•static reality assumed; relative constancy in life
•verification oriented
•confirmatory


What are the main elements of qualitative research?

Qualitative research seeks out the ‘why’, not the ‘how’ of its topic through the analysis of information and siuations – things like interview transcripts, survey responses, emails, notes, feedback forms, photos and videos. It doesn’t just rely on statistics or numbers, which are the domain of quantitative researchers.

Qualitative research is used to gain insight into people's attitudes, behaviours, value systems, concerns, motivations, aspirations, culture or lifestyles. It’s used to inform business decisions, policy formation, communication and research. Focus groups, in-depth interviews, content analysis, ethnography, evaluation and semiotics are among the many formal approaches that are used, but qualitative research also involves the analysis of any unstructured material, including customer feedback forms, reports or media clips.

Collecting and analyzing this unstructured information can be messy and time consuming using manual methods. When faced with volumes of materials, finding themes and extracting meaning can be a daunting task.

"Qualitative research is a loosely defined category of research designs or models, all of which elicit verbal, visual, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory data in the form of descriptive narratives like field notes, recordings, or other transcriptions from audio- and videotapes and other written records and pictures or films." --Judith Preissle


Reference:

http://qualitativeresearch.ratcliffs.net/1.htm