Qualitative Research Methods Matrix

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Section 1

Approach	Disciplinary Roots	Focus of Central Research Question	Unique Terminology	Primary Data Sources	Sampling Issues	Analysis Plan Guidelines	References
Basic Qualitative Inquiry	Philosophy, history constructionism, phenomenology	How can the experience of [an event, circumstance, program, a context] be described or explored? What is the meaning of [a process, program, or event] to the target individual(s) of interest? What “practical” knowledge can be learned?	Use of the words “describe,” “explore,” “experience,” and “meaning” in title and research questions	Interviews	Choice is a function of the question	Content analysis is a good choice as it is generic and exploratory	Elo et al., 2014 Merriam, 2009 Saldana, 2016 Worthington, 2013Bowers et al., 2001
Qualitative Case Study	Sociology, anthropology	Investigation of the real-life experiences within the context of where they take place	Use of words “explore,” “examine,” “understand”	Documentation, archives, interviews, observation	Purposeful sampling can be biased	Theoretical context analysis to outline the cases of interest	Baskarada, 2014 Stake, 2008 Gammelgaard, 2017Donelly et al., 2013
Grounded Theory and Realism	Positivist philosophy, sociology, symbolism	Qualitative data analysis for outlining a hypothesis with a further rejection or justification	Emergence of theory, inductive, theoretical sampling, constant comparison, open coding, axial coding, saturation, memo writing	In-depth interviews	Theoretical sampling requires a personal hypothesis outline, presenting potential biases.	Primary data collection is a good way to draw a hypothesis	Strauss & Corbin, 1997 Charmaz, 2014Barello et al., 2014
Phenomenology and Heuristic Inquiry	Philosophy, sociology, anthropology	What is the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived experience of this phenomenon for this person or group of people? What is my experience of this phenomenon and the essential experience of others who also experience this phenomenon intensely?	Phenomena, personal experience, consciousness, essence, epoche, tacit knowledge	In-depth interviews	Researcher bias associated with criterion sampling	Selecting a subject for inquiry and conducting an open naïve interview with the sample	Moustakas, 1990 Almaas, 2002Howard & Hirani, 2013

Section 2

Approach	Disciplinary Roots	Focus of Central Research Question	Unique Terminology	Primary Data Sources	Sampling Issues	Analysis Plan Guidelines	References
Social Constructivism and Narrative Inquiry	Sociology, communication theory, theory of constructivism	Definition of people’s perspective of a particular issue by forming their “narrative”	Story, narration, interpretation influences	In-depth interviews	Select individuals who have directly experienced the phenomenon of interest	Formulation of a common topic for collecting unique participants’ narratives through in-depth interviews	Clandinin, 1990 Blustein et al., 2013
Systems Theory	Philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology	How and why does this system as a whole function as it does? What are the system’s boundaries and interrelationships, and how do these affect perspectives about how and why the system functions as it does?	System, boundaries, homeostasis, adaptation,	Focus groups, team sessions	Find moderators to initiate insightful discussions	Gather a team of individuals from different systems in order to facilitate discussion	Buckley, 1967 Whitchurch & Constantine, 2009Pallan et al., 2012
Ethnography and Autoethnography	Literary arts, anthropology, communication studies, sociology	How can the narratives of individuals obtain a new perspective when intertwined and analyzed through a common lens?	Analytic autoethnography, evocative autoethnography, complete member researcher status, narrative	Autobiographical data	Reflect on the autobiographical past without distorted and biased perception	Create a culture gram, a mind map, and a collaborative, reflective discussion	Ellis, Adams & Bochner, 2011 Hoey, 2014 Rose, 1993Hernandez et al., 2015
Interactive and Participatory Qualitative Applications	Communication studies, anthropology, sociology	The shift from the researchers to the direct participants of the study, examination of their explicit experience	Action research, co-researcher, participant-researcher, learning organization, dialogue, appreciative inquiry	Reflective journals, interviews	Establish a strong communication bond between the authors of the research and participants	Create an open discussion of the joint participatory plan	Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995 Bergold & Thomas, 2012Hutchinson & Gallant, 2016

The italics text indicates an example response.

Qualitative Research Methods

Research Methods Matrix

The paradigm of qualitative research, although generally based on the premise of analyzing non-numerical data in order to have a better understanding of a real-life experience or a theoretical concept, obtains a variety of approaches to the research based on the subject of the analysis. Hence, creating a matrix of these methods provides the researcher with an opportunity to compare and contrast approaches in terms of their value to the study in question. The aforementioned matrix is divided into two sections, with each of the two parts including four approaches to qualitative research. The prominent common feature in all eight approaches is the in-depth communication and explicit interaction with the study subjects. Moreover, all the aforementioned phenomena are designed specifically to present insights into the data rather than systematizing it.

However, the two sections include a series of differences when it comes to the lens through which human experiences are perceived. Thus, in the first section, the primary focus is placed on the “researcher-subject” relationship paradigm. In basic qualitative inquiry, case study, grounded theory, and phenomenology, there is a distinct hierarchy that includes researchers collecting primary data through communication and connecting the data with the theoretical basis. Thus, even despite the relative freedom of primary data collection, the end-data is still processed separately from the respondents. Conversely, such qualitative approaches as participatory application, narrative inquiry, systems theory, and autoethnography are designed to minimize the distance between primary data and its processing. In the case of narrative and systems theory, this distance is reduced through a more complex approach to the experience assessment. Autoethnography and participatory approaches, for their part, imply either equal collaboration between the respondent and the study author or a full-scale combination of these two roles within an individual. Hence, when pondering the approach suitable for a specific scholarly inquiry, the matrix helps the researcher identify which approach would be more freeing and beneficial for the project based on the level of freedom and its fundamental objective.

Application of Research Methods

In a case scenario of establishing the correlation between social skills development and retention rates in higher education students, the primary objective would be to gain insights into the students’ social skills level and its impact on retention. Such an inquiry requires a high level of objectivity and third-party assessment, as it is highly unlikely that higher education students can assess this correlation without being biased. Hence, in order to avoid research biases such as intentionally increasing retention rate or improving social skills, the approach to the study should be chosen from the first matrix section. Based on the inquiry, it would be reasonable to state that a qualitative case study is a beneficial option. Thus, the primary goal of the existing project is to examine the social skills – retention correlation in the explicit context of receiving higher education. For this reason, the research will include two major parts: in-depth situational interviews with students on the matter of their social skills at the beginning and the end of the intervention and the observation of students in their natural habitat. Having obtained information on their social skills development, the researchers will later observe the retention rates among the sample, establishing a positive or negative correlation between the concepts.

References

Barello, S., Graffigna, G., Vegni, E., Savarese, M., Lombardi, F., & Bosio, A. C. (2015). ‘Engage me in taking care of my heart’: a grounded theory study on patient–cardiologist relationship in the hospital management of heart failure. BMJ Open, 5(3). Web.

Blustein, D. L., Kozan, S., & Connors-Kellgren, A. (2013). Unemployment and underemployment: A narrative analysis about loss. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 82(3), 256-265. Web.

Bowers, B. J., Fibich, B., & Jacobson, N. (2001). Care-as-service, care-as-relating, care-as-comfort: understanding nursing home residents’ definitions of quality. The Gerontologist, 41(4), 539-545. Web.

Donnelly, C., Brenchley, C., Crawford, C., & Letts, L. (2013). The integration of occupational therapy into primary care: a multiple case study design. BMC Family Practice, 14(1), 1-12. Web.

Hernandez, K. A. C., Ngunjiri, F. W., & Chang, H. (2015). Exploiting the margins in higher education: A collaborative autoethnography of three foreign-born female faculty of color. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(5), 533-551. Web.

Howard, A., & Hirani, K. (2013). Transformational change and stages of development in the workplace. Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, 8(1/2), 71.

Hutchinson, S. L., & Gallant, K. A. (2016). Can senior centres be contexts for aging in third places? Journal of Leisure Research, 48(1), 50-68. Web.

Pallan, M., Parry, J., & Adab, P. (2012). Contextual influences on the development of obesity in children: A case study of UK South Asian communities. Preventive Medicine, 54(3-4), 205-211. Web.