SOC 2805 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Qualitative Research, Grounded Theory
• Qualitative Designs
o Qualitative research approaches have historic origins in anthropology, sociology,
the humanities and evaluation.
o Narrative research
▪ The researcher studies the lives of individuals by asking for stories about
their lives. These stories are often retold by the researcher in a narrative
chronology
o Phenomenological research
▪ The researcher describes the lived experiences of individuals about a
phenomenon as described by the participants. This culminates in a work
that describes the essence of several individuals who have experienced the
phenomenon.
o Grounded theory
▪ The researcher derives an abstract theory of a process, action or interaction
grounded in the views of the participants.
o Ethnography
▪ This is a design coming from anthropology and sociology in which the
researcher studies shared patterns of behaviors, language and actions of an
existing cultural group in the natural setting over time
o Case studies
▪ The researcher develops an in depth analysis of a case involving one or
more individuals. Detailed information is collected using a number of
methods.
• Mixed Methods Designs
o Combines quantitative and qualitative methods to build on the strengths of each
method
o Convergent parallel mixed methods
▪ The researcher collects both quantitative and qualitative data at about the
same time and integrates the information when interpreting the results
o Explanatory sequential mixed methods
▪ The researcher conducts quantitative research, analyzes the results and
explains the results in more detail with qualitative research. The initial
quantitative phase is followed by the qualitative phase.
o Exploratory sequential mixed methods
▪ Reverse of the explanatory sequential design. The researcher begins with
qualitative research to explore the views of the participants. The data is
then analyzed with the information used to then build an instrument to use
in the quantitative research phase.
o Advanced mixed methods strategies
▪ Transformative mixed methods use a theoretical lens drawn from social
justice or power.
▪ An embedded mixed method involves convergent or sequential use of
data. The qualitative or quantitative data is embedded in the larger design.
▪ Multiphase mixed methods use concurrent or sequential strategies over
time.
Research Methods
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
