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Different Methods Of Qualitative Research

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This essay will look at the qualitative approaches to research and look into more detail at the main traditions and theoretical approaches to qualitative research, the main research methods associated with qualitative research; and the main criticisms that are frequently levelled at qualitative research.
There are many different definitions of qualitative research; one definition that defines it well is; “a means for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. The process of research involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s setting.” (Creswell, J. 2009)
There are many different methods of qualitative research and the approaches used include narrative, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and case study. The narrative approach retells a person’s story across time; it explores what the story means and the lessons to be learnt from it. The goal of phenomenological research is to describe participants’ experiences in a specific context and understand a phenomenon.
Grounded theory research looks at a process, an action or an interaction with the goal of developing a theory. The researcher attempts to derive a general, abstract theory of a process, action, or interaction grounded in the views of participants in a study. This process involves using multiple stages of data collection and the refinement and interrelationship of categories of information (Strauss & Corbin,
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