Our world has drastically changed
over the past 150 years from one of a mostly agrarian society to one that is industrialized
and centered around commerce. The speed
of the change hit new heights with the invention of the PC and the spread of
the internet. Few can doubt that this
would not have been possible were it not for engineers and scientists conducting
research to push the boundaries of science.
Most of this research was conducted via experimental means – i.e. an
experiment is conducted to test a hypothesis and to gather data, the data is interpreted
via statistical methods, and the results are published – however not all
research is performed in this manner.
Qualitative research, or phenomenological inquiry, “uses a naturalistic approach that
seeks to understand phenomena in context-specific settings” (Hoepfl 1997). Further, qualitative research can be broadly
defined as, "any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by
means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification” (Hoepfl
1997). In other words,
qualitative research uses observations of nature/the test subject in its
natural settings and deduces the causes based on the observations. For example, I could perform qualitative
research by going to a local mall, people watch to gather observations on
fashion trends, and then determining who the popular stylist is.
Qualitative
research has several key elements associated with it. First, qualitative research uses “the natural
setting as the source of data and the researcher attempts to observe, describe,
and interpret settings as they are” (Hoepfl 1997), vice trying to manipulate the
settings. This statement basically
restates what I said above – that observations are made in the test subjects
natural setting. Secondly, the “the researcher
acts as the human instrument of data collection” (Hoepfl 1997). In other words, the researcher must be making
the observations, which makes sense since it would be hard to interpret your
results if you were not there to collect them.
Thirdly, the use of inductive data analysis is key (Hoepfl 1997). The key here is inductive vice
deductive. Inductive logic takes
multiple individual observations and attempts to make a general statement
governing the group whereas deductive logic takes a general statement and
checks the statement by looking at observations (if A then B statements are key
in deductive logic). Fourth, “reports
are descriptive, incorporating expressive language and the presence of voice in
text” (Hoepfl 1997). This statement is
almost directly contrary to most quantitative reports where you want to present
the facts in the most objective manner possible without using any first person
nouns. Fifth, “qualitative research has
an interpretive character, aimed at discovering the meaning events have for the
individuals who experience them” (Hoepfl 1997).
This again goes back to the original statement that you are trying to
find the cause of events by looking at (interpreting) observations. Sixth, “researchers pay attention to the idiosyncratic
as well as the pervasive, seeking the uniqueness of each case” (Hoepfl
1997). What this is saying is that all
data is taken into consideration as opposed to some quantitative research where
outliers are often discarded as either faulty indications or observations. Seventh, “qualitative research has an
emergent (as opposed to predetermined design, and researchers focus on this
emerging process as well as the outcomes or product of the research” (Hoepfl
1997). In other words, qualitative
research projects are fluid in design and can warp to suit the needs of the
observations – researchers let the observations take them to the conclusions as
opposed to forcing the observations to conform to your conclusion. Finally, “qualitative research is judged
using special criteria for trustworthiness” (Hoepfl 1997). Due to the nature of the style, results must
be judged in a different manner than quantitative research. Phrases like credibility of the author,
transferability of the results to different subject areas, past dependability,
and conformability are used when judging the accuracy of qualitative results.
As
described above, qualitative research is an entirely different approach to
determining phenomenon in this world.
Rather than starting with a general statement and then testing for
accuracy of the statement, qualitative research goes about it in the opposite
manner – make neutral observations in the test subjects environment, and then
determine if a general statement can be made based on the observations. As an engineer, this type of thinking is
entirely foreign however one that is just as important at furthering our quest
for knowledge.
Hoepfl, M. C. (1997). Choosing qualitative research: A primer for
technology education researchers. Retrieved from
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v9n1/hoepfl.html
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