Qualitative Research for Beginners: From Theory to Practice

Copyright © 2017 by Ismail Sheikh Ahmad (Ph.D.).

ISBN:                        Hardcover                     978-1-5437-4204-6

                                   Softcover                      978-1-5437-4203-9

                                   eBook                            978-1-5437-4202-2

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Contents

Author’s Note

Preface and Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: Underlying Issues and Fundamental Knowledge in Understanding Qualitative Research

1.1 Differentiating between Qualitative and Quantitative Perspectives

1.2 Decision Matters: Why Embark on a Qualitative Research Project?

1.3 Basic Approaches to Qualitative Research

Chapter 2: Fundamental Steps in Conducting Qualitative Research and Related Issues

2.1 Step 1: Identifying a Research Problem

2.2 Step 2: Purpose Statement and Research Questions

2.3 Step 3: Generating Interview Questions

2.4 Step 4—Piloting the Interview Questions

Chapter 3: Fundamental and Systematic Flow of Generating Quality Qualitative Data: From Piloting to Data Analyses

3.1 Stage 1—Collecting Qualitative Data

3.2 Stage 2—Organising the Qualitative Data for Analyses – Data Transcribing

3.3 Stage 3—Analysing and Categorizing the Transcribed Data: Generating Main Ideas

3.4 Stage 4—Combining Main Ideas in Generating Themes

3.5 Stage 5—Reliability in Qualitative Research: Credibility/Trustworthiness of the Generated Themes

3.6 Stage 6—Inter-Rater Reliability Check on Thematic Coding

Chapter 4: Mechanisms in Reporting Qualitative Research: How and What Should Be Written?

4.1 Formatting Issues—How Do I Report My Qualitative Data?

4.2—Describe-Compare-Relate (DCR): From Themes to Generating Model/Theory

4.3 Basic Steps in Writing an Effective Discussion-cum-Interpretation on Findings

Appendix 1a: Informed Consent Form to Conduct and Record Interview

Appendix 1a (continued): Certificate of Consent

Appendix 1b: Informed Consent Form to Conduct and Record Interview

Appendix 2: Transcription Based on Interview Questions

Appendix 3: A Sample Template In Generating Main Ideas forFour Research Questions (Rosnani Kassim 2016)

Appendix 4a: A Sample Template in Generating Themes

Appendix 4b: A Sample Template in Generating Themes (Hazlina Abdullah 2012)

Appendix 5: Summarised Themes Based on RQs and IQs (Rosnani Kassim 2016)

Appendix 6: Inter-rater Reliability Form and Sample (Rosnani Kassim 2016)

Appendix 7: A Sample of an Audit Trail (Rosnani Kassim 2016)

Bibliography

Author’s Note

The strength of this book lies in the simplicity of sharing the concepts and practices in qualitative research methods. It epitomises the basic know-how in grasping the qualitative research world.

Qualitative research methods have gained popularity inside and outside the academic world. Researchers have shown growing interest in understanding an issue through qualitative, and not just quantitative, lenses. Researchers are well aware of the challenges in making sense of the qualitative paradigm. In one sense, the qualitative concepts are rather different than the quantitative ones, and the data interpretations in generating the themes are rather recursive in the quest of arriving at the findings.

Qualitative Research for Beginners is fundamental enough to those researchers who are new to qualitative research methods. In the author’s humble opinion, this book will be useful in guiding the researchers to understand and appreciate the basic nature in conducting qualitative research. Readers will find the book full of simple examples and illustrations in guiding them to understand the concepts and know-how in data gathering, analysing, and reporting qualitative findings meaningfully. Qualitative research connotes contextually rich or thick data. In making sense of such information, the author provides adequate samples and mechanisms to reduce the rich information to meaningful findings. The author’s practical applied approach and straightforward writing style make this book easy to understand, thus helping researchers with their research projects.

The book is rather unique in several ways that are important to the beginners and presented in an applied manner. It provides

• an overview of the underlying issues in differentiating qualitative and quantitative research;

• basic approaches and process flows in conducting qualitative research;

• an extensive discussion on steps in conducting a doable qualitative research project; and

• a basic tool in reporting the qualitative findings.

Preface and Acknowledgements

The main objective of Qualitative Research for Beginners is to provide a simple guide to novice researchers in the world of qualitative research by understanding the what, or fundamental concepts of qualitative paradigm, as well as the basic tools, or how, in preparing qualitative research proposal, data gathering, data analyses, and data reporting techniques. The inspiration to prepare the content of this qualitative book comes from numerous related scholarly works and applied fields. It draws on many related research studies, previous experiences in conducting qualitative courses, and training of qualitative researchers in private and government agencies in Malaysia.

A number of people have helped me in the production of this book as well as referring me to a number of major players in the field of known qualitative authors, such as John W. Creswell; A. Michael Huberman; and Matthew B. Miles. Thanks to all of my former postgraduate qualitative research students and PhD supervisees for their useful discussions and insights in inspiring me to complete the writing journey. I would like to thank my main supervisor, Emeritus Professor Colin Harrison (Literacy Studies in Education, the University of Nottingham, England), who introduced me to the world of qualitative research back in the 1990s.

Introduction

Introducing new researchers with little background in the concepts and theories of qualitative research, as well as guiding them in completing qualitative research projects, is full of challenges. The purpose of this book is to help the new researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students in particular, and other educational practitioners with little or no background in qualitative research to grasp the basic underpinnings of qualitative research paradigms and the know-how of completing a basic qualitative research project.

Focussing on the fundamental needs of new researchers in understanding qualitative paradigm, I decided to present the content of the book in a more practical way, yet supported by scholarly references. Thus, the book advances a process-oriented framework in designing a qualitative research for beginners who seek assistance in preparing for a research project or a scholarly dissertation or thesis.

In understanding the how, I present examples of successful templates from the beginning of a proposal to a number of systematic steps in data analysis. Furthermore, explanations are given to each template, which avoids presenting it in a theoretical manner but focusses on how to conduct a qualitative study from beginning to end. In this way, a new qualitative researcher can learn how to generate a research problem, ask central and research questions, and collect and analyse the data.

Since there are different types of qualitative data, it made sense to give due attention to the interview process, which is the most common method of data collection in qualitative research. There is no specific qualitative software used in guiding the researchers. The intention is to expose them to the fundamental methodological approach in conducting the study, and due attention is given to qualitative data analysis.

The underlying approach and design of this book is research-based as well as utilising the author’s experiences in teaching qualitative research content at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) for more than a decade and conducting real-world qualitative research training in the government and private agencies in Malaysia. The book simplifies the basic differences between the qualitative and quantitative perspectives. This fundamental differences are crucial in mapping the minds of the new researchers from the very beginning of the course because sometimes prior knowledge in quantitative perspectives can lead to fundamental conflicts with new qualitative information. This is notable when it touches certain fundamental differences on data generalisation and the concept of reliability and validity of quantitative perspectives against its equivalent, such as credibility and trustworthiness.

Chapter 1attempts to trace the basic and fundamental attributional differences between qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Basic fundamental questions – for example, why certain qualitative research is chosen for a particular research project, as shown through a bird’s eye view of the process flow in qualitative research – are explained. The author’s experiences in teaching PhD and DBA courses (EDF 7810, advanced qualitative research methods, and MGT