Positivism And Paradigmatic Approaches

Power point slide Qualitative research is a difficult term to define…. Nevertheless, it is important to be familiar with some definitions in the field. The definition provided by Creswell 2009 is enlightening because it incorporates ……….. most important part of definition for me were reports detailed views of informants and natural setting.

There are four philosophical worldviews involved in research, post positivism, constructivism, transformative, and pragmatism. A personally believed view that creates a model of the world that allow researchers to interpret and make logic on the research. Post positivism is a world view that traditionally used, and reductionistic, discrete testable sets, as well theory driven, which can be uses in qualitative and quantitative research method. Constructivism world view, people seek to understand their world that construct subjective meaning for their experiences. this world view constructed through interaction, history, social negotiation, and culture. Researcher can use this views to development of theory. A transformative world view holds

Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are concerned with an individual’s point of view. Qualitative analysis tends to get closer to an individual’s perspective through the use of interviews and observation (Lincoln, 2003). Quantitative methods are unable to achieve and capture an individual’s perspective as they focus more on remote standardised procedures. Qualitative analysis provides explanations that tend to be rich in detail and capable of showing sensitivity and sequences in social life (Lincoln, 2003).

Qualitative research reflects different ways that researcher’s collect data and explore all of the information through literature review. Participant’s that are reviewing is often observed for analysis while “the role of the researcher focuses as the primary data collection instrument necessitates the identification of personal values, assumptions and biases at the outset of the study; Qualitative researchers ask at least one central question” (Creswell, 2014, which can be explored in several contexts with further questions. According to the text Research Design (2014) “the researcher’s role is typically involved in a

Qualitative method is using open-ended questioning, non-statistical research techniques, or value-based observations. In this research, three main methodologies are adopted as focus group, distributing questionnaires and conducting personal interviews simultaneously. Methods are all appropriate and contributed to a comprehensive research. The reason is that aim of this research is to acquire an in-depth understanding of

The approach of this study will take the epistemological position and a qualitative research design. Humphries (2008) asserts that qualitative research focusses on the subjective and recognises that the researcher will affect the data that is produced and therefore the outcome of the research. Denzin & Lincoln (2005:3) state that “Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them”. Quantitative research on the other hand, claims to be objective, removing the researcher’s views and values from the study. While traditionally quantitative data has been deemed to produce more reliable or valid data, it does not suffice to capture the complexities of the human experience as it assumes a positivist epistemology.

Qualitative research is conducted in a natural setting and attempts to understand a human problem by developing a holistic narrative and reporting detailed views of informants about the culture of a problem. It forms a report with pictures and words. One of the most important distinctions that sets qualitative research apart from more traditional types of research is that qualitative research is holistic in that researchers study phenomena in their entirety rather than narrowing the focus to specific defined variables” (p. 93). Similarly, Cresswell (1984) indicated that qualitative research “is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting” (p. 2). Cresswell’s definition clearly delineates the major characteristics of qualitative research. Pg. 50 (Smith & Davis, 2010).

Validity and reliability are the important aspects in any research. The thorough attention to these two important aspects can make all the difference between good research and poor research (Brink, 1993). According to the same researcher, the validity and reliability of a research can assist in ensuring the findings can be accepted as credible and trustworthy by associated scientists. Le Comple’s and Goetz’s study (as cited in Brink, 2003), claimed that the term validity is the concern about the accuracy and truthfulness of scientific findings. Validity in qualitative research is about the “appropriateness” of the tools used, processes and data and basically everything that is used in the research is appropriate (Leung, 2015).

This article defines qualitative research and what it is used for. After reading this article the reader will have a better understanding of what we have often thought the purpose of qualitative research answered ( “why” rather than “what”). This article also discusses how the method is used in different settings or scenarios.

Research paradigms (interpretive, positive and post-positive) are processes to follow when gathering information about a subject area, to then answer the hypothesis (Punch, 2009; Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2011), this study used the interpretive paradigm due to the social constructivism of people’s perceptions within the subject area and the outcome of the qualitative research methods and literature, triangulated to produce the following findings discussed later in the study (Merriam, 2009; Roberts-Holmes,2014).

[Qualitative research] is an effort to understand situations in their uniqueness as part of a particular context and the interactions there. This understanding is an end in itself, so that it is not attempting to predict what may happen in the future necessarily, but to understand the nature of that setting—what it means for participants to be in that setting, what their lives are like, what’s going on for them, what their meanings are, what the world looks like in that particular setting—and in the analysis to be able to communicate that faithfully to others who are interested in that setting….The analysis strives for depth of understanding. (p.1)

Positivism is an epistemological position that supports the implementation of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of social reality. According to Johnson and Duberley (2000) it is an approach to research that attempts to match as closely as possible to that in the natural sciences, by: a) relying on observations of the empirical world. b) Avoiding the use of subjective or metaphysical speculation. c) Attempting to be objective,

When utilizing a qualitative approach, the task becomes one of determining the qualitative method to be used. Additionally, Stake (2010) used purpose, research design, and methodical data techniques as a way of classifying types of qualitative research. Similarly, Cresswell & Cresswell (2007) spoke of five practices of qualitative research. These five practices consist of biography, phenomenological study, grounded theory study, ethnography, and case study. This researcher chose a phenomenological study for this research project.

Thomas A Schwandt (2000) examines three paradigm stances in qualitative research: interpretivism, hermeneutics and social constructionism. The interpretivists and the philosophers of hermeneutics argue that it is possible to understand human actions by directly grasping the subjective meaning of beliefs, desires and so on. Whereas, the social constructionists view that “all knowledge claims and their evaluation take place within a conceptual framework through which the world is described and explained” (Schwandt 2000: p. 191-197).

Qualitative research methods are utilized to study the social and cultural phenomena. So it includes observation, participant observation (field work), interview sessions, documents and texts and finally the researcher’s imitations and feedback. [Myers, 2009]