Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Preparing your research
• Part 2 of 2: Collecting and analyzing data
• Tips

Qualitative research is a broad area of ​​research that uses unstructured data collection methods such as observations, interviews, surveys and documents to find themes and meanings that contribute to our understanding of the world. Qualitative research often tries to uncover reasons for behavior, attitude and motivation, rather than just giving details about the questions of what, where and when. Qualitative research can be applied in many different disciplines such as social sciences, healthcare and business and is a common part of almost every workplace and educational institution.

To step

Part 1 of 2: Preparing your research

1. Identify a question you want to research. A good research question must be clear, specific and enforceable. To conduct qualitative research, your question should explore reasons why people do or believe things.
   • The research question is one of the most important parts of your research design. It determines what you want to learn or understand and it also helps you specify your research, since you cannot research everything at once. Your research question will also shape "how" you will conduct the research, as different questions require different research methods.
   • Find the balance between a big question and an investigable question. The first is a question that you would really like to have answered and it is often very broad. The second is a question that can be directly explored using available methods and tools.
   • You will have to start with a big question which you will then narrow down to make it actionable so that it can be researched effectively. For example, 'What is the significance of teachers' work for other teachers?' Is too broad for one survey, but if that's something you are interested in, you can narrow it down by narrowing down the type of teacher or by focusing at one level of education. For example, "What is the significance of the work of teachers for teachers who teach as a second career?" Or, "What is the significance of the work of teachers for the work of primary school teachers?".
2. Do a literature search. A literature search is a process of studying the written work of others on your research question and a specific topic. You read about various topics within the same direction and you analyze studies related to your subject. You then prepare an analytical report that assembles and integrates existing research (rather than simply presenting a brief summary of each study in chronological order). In other words, you "examine the research." Br>
   
   • For example, if your research question focuses on how second-career teachers make sense of their work, you might want to analyze the literature on second-career teaching - what motivates people to take second-career teaching? How many teachers teach as a second career? Where do most of them work? By reading and analyzing existing literature and research, you will be able to refine your research question and obtain the basis you need for your own research. It also gives you a sense of the variables that impact your research (e.g. age, gender, class, etc.) and that you should take into account in your own research.
   • A literature search will also help you determine if you are really interested in and committed to the topic and research question and if there is a gap in the existing research that you want to fill with your own research.
3. Check whether qualitative research is suitable for your research question. Qualitative methods are useful when a question cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" hypothesis. Qualitative research can often mainly be used to answer "how" or "what" questions. They are also useful when budgetary problems have to be taken into account.
   • For example, if your research question is "What is the significance of the work of teachers for second-career teachers?", Then that is not a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no". It is also unlikely that there is one overarching answer. This means that qualitative research is best suited.
4. Find out what your ideal sample size is. Qualitative research methods do not rely as heavily on a large sample size as quantitative methods, but they can still provide important insights and findings. For example, since it is unlikely that you can fund it all To research teachers in the Netherlands who teach as a second career, you may choose to limit your research to an urban area or schools within a radius of 20 kilometers.
   • Find out what the possible results are. Because qualitative methodologies are generally quite broad, it is almost always possible that the research will yield some useful data. This differs from a quantitative experiment where an unproven hypothesis could mean that all the work was actually done for nothing.
   • Your research budget and available financial resources should also be considered. Qualitative research is often cheaper and easier to plan and carry out. For example, it is usually easier and more cost effective to gather a few people for interviews than it is to purchase a computer program to perform statistical analysis and hire the appropriate statisticians.
5. Choose a qualitative research methodology. The design of a qualitative study is the most flexible of all experimental techniques. So there are a number of accepted methodologies available to you.
   • Action investigation - Action research focuses on solving a direct problem or working with others to solve a problem and tackle a particular issue.
   • Ethnography - Ethnography is the study of human interaction and communities through direct participation and observation within the respective community. Ethnographic research originated in the discipline of social and cultural anthropology, but it is more widely practiced today.
   • Phenomenology - Phenomenology is the study of the subjective experiences of others. It explores the world through the eyes of another person by discovering how they interpret their experiences.
   • Grounded theory - The goal of grounded theory is to develop a theory based on systematically collected and analyzed data. Specific information is looked at and theories and reasons are derived for the phenomenon.
   • Case study research - This qualitative research method is an in-depth study of a specific individual or phenomenon in the existing context.

Part 2 of 2: Collecting and analyzing data

1. Collect your data. Each research methodology uses one or more techniques to collect empirical data, including interviews, participant observation, fieldwork, archival research, documentary material, etc. The method of data collection will depend on the research methodology. For example, case study research usually relies on interviews and documentary material, ethnographic research, on the other hand, requires significant fieldwork.
   • Direct observation - Direct observation of a situation or your research topics can be done by reviewing video material or by live observation. In direct observation, you specifically observe a situation without influencing or participating in it in any way. For example, you may want to see what routines teachers have who teach as a second career, both inside and outside the classroom and so you decide to observe the students and the teacher for a few days, knowing that you have the necessary permission from the school. for. In the meantime, you take notes carefully.
   • Participating observation Participant observation is the immersion of the researcher in the community or situation being studied. This form of data collection often takes more time, as there must be full participation in the community to find out if your observations are valid.
   • Interviews - Qualitative interviewing is basically the process of data collection by asking people questions. Interviewing can be very flexible - they can be one-on-one, but can also take place over the phone, the Internet, or in small groups called "focus groups." There are also different types of interviews. Structured interviews use pre-made questions, while unstructured interviews are more free conversations where the interviewer can ask questions and explore different topics as they come up. Interviews are especially useful if you want to know how people feel or how they react to something. For example, it would be very helpful to interview teachers who teach as a second career, structured or unstructured, to obtain information on how they represent and discuss their teaching careers.
   • Surveys Written questionnaires and open-ended surveys about ideas, perceptions and thoughts are another way to collect data for your qualitative research. For example, if you are studying second-career teachers, you may decide to conduct an anonymous survey of one hundred such teachers in the area because you are concerned that they are less sincere about an interview than an anonymous questionnaire.
   • Document analysis - This includes analyzing written documents, images and audio that exist without any involvement or initiative from the researcher. There are many different documents, including "official" documents produced by institutions and personal documents such as letters, memoirs, diaries and, in the 21st century at least, social media accounts and online blogs. For example, if you are researching education, then institutions such as public schools produce many different types of documents, including reports, flyers, manuals, websites, curricula, etc. You may also want to find out if there are teachers teaching second careers who have online meetings. keep or have a blog. Document analysis can often be useful in conjunction with other methods such as interviews.
2. Analyze your data. Once you have collected your data, you can begin to analyze it and develop answers and theories for your research question. While there are a number of ways to analyze your data, all approaches to analysis in qualitative research involve textual analysis, whether written or verbal.
   • Encoding - In coding, you assign a word, phrase or number to each category. Start with a predefined list of codes derived from your previous knowledge of the subject. For example, "financial difficulties" or "community involvement" may be two codes to consider after conducting your literature review of second-career teachers. You then systematically review all of your data and "code" your ideas, concepts, and themes as they are placed under categories. You will also develop a series of codes that have been generated from reading and analyzing the data. For example, while coding your interviews, you may notice that "divorce" occurs regularly. You can add a code for this. Coding helps you organize your data and identify patterns and commonalities.
   • Descriptive statistics - You can analyze your data by using statistics. Descriptive statistics help describe, display or summarize your data to highlight patterns. For example, if you have the top 100 teacher assessments, you may be interested in the overall performance of those students. Descriptive statistics make that possible. Keep in mind, however, that descriptive statistics cannot be used to draw conclusions and to establish or reject hypotheses.
   • Narrative analysis - Narrative analysis focuses on speech and content such as grammar, word usage, metaphors, themes of the story, meanings of situations and the social, cultural and political context of the story.
   • Hermeneutical Analysis Hermeneutical analysis focuses on the meaning of a written or spoken text. Mainly you try to understand the subject of study and try to reveal a kind of underlying coherence.
   • Content analysis/Semiotic analysis - In content analysis or semiotic analysis you look at texts or series of text, looking for themes and meanings by looking at regularity in words. In other words, you try to identify structures and patterns in the verbal or written text in regularity and then try to draw conclusions based on that regularity. For example, you may come across the same words or phrases, such as "a second chance" or "make a difference," in several interviews with second-career teachers and decide to explore what this regularity could mean.
3. Write down your research. When preparing a report of your qualitative research, you need to remember who exactly you are writing it for and you need to know what expectations there are in terms of formatting. You need to make sure that the purpose of your research question is compelling and that you explain your research methodology and analysis in detail.

Tips

• Qualitative research is often seen as the precursor to quantitative research, a more logical and data-driven approach that uses statistical, mathematical and / or arithmetic techniques. Qualitative research is often used to generate potential leads and formulate an actionable hypothesis that is then tested using quantitative methods.