Qualitative Research Decision Making

Within this assignment there will be a clear demonstration and understanding of the concept of research in relation to the acquisition of underpinning knowledge appropriate to my programme of study. I will also be undertaking a comparative analysis of the nature and validity of quantitative and qualitative research methods. I will also be demonstrating skills in critical analysis of methods of data collection and selection of appropriate methods to informing future working practice. I will also be analyse the ethical considerations in relation to the development and undertaking of research.

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.

The most important factor for testing trustworthiness is credibility, a way of checking this is by using an activity known as member checks. This is when ’the data and the findings from data analysis are brought back to the original participants to seek their input concerning the accuracy, completeness and interpretation of the data’ (Macnee 2004). Trustworthiness can also be tested in the form of triangulation. This involves using more than one form of data collecting and comparing results to reach an agreement. Triangulation involves using ‘compatible data collection methods such as participant observation, qualitative interviewing and field notes’ however another way using dissimilar data can also be used to illuminate the same phenomenon such as using a structured questionnaire with focus group interviews’ (Gerrish, Lacey 2006).

Now, it is time to give an overview of some of the design threats to construct validity. If the researcher did not define the construct efficiently than it can lead to the inadequate preoperational explication of constructs threat (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Next, is the mono-operation bias, which is the use of the study program only one time and one place (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Third, the mono-method bias is the use of any one measure or observation (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Finally, the confounding constructs and the levels of constructs threat (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Overall, this threat to construct validity is a labeling issue like some of the other threats to construct validity (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). However, there are more design threats than listed in this paper to construct

In the text book, “Theories and Research of Personality” written by Daniel Cervone and Lawrence A. Pervin, the authors talk about the goals to research and they are referring to reliability, validity, and ethical behavior. With reliability, the author is referring to the “extent to which observations can be replicated and whether the measures of the research are dependable or stable” (Cervone, Pervin 43, 2013). Reliability is extremely important to have when conducting research because if the research conducted is not reliable then when trying to get research out to people, other psychologists will not believe what you are trying to get across and in the long term affecting ones career. Also Cervone and Pervin talk about validity which is,

5. Were the assumptions and data collection procedures congruent? Research was based on actual real events it is important to collect data enough to support this study, most of the cases are volunteered participants that are open to talk about their experiences.

As you stated the authors mention that caution should be utilized when the results are interpreted. The research methods of questionnaires and self-reporting,

The theory of reliability states that it is impossible to calculate the reliability of a study in an exact way. Instead, reliability is estimated and this creates an imperfection in research. There are four major types of reliability. The first is inter-rater or inter-observer reliability. This means the reliability that is used to assess the degree to which the different people who are observing or rating the items being studied give estimates that are consistent regarding the same phenomenon. A good example is the popular example of a glass half empty and one that is half full. This is to mean that people who are in essence similar in every nature may have different ideas or views of the same phenomenon. This kind of reliability is estimated by using a pilot study which is used to establish the expected reliability in the main study(Rosnow & Rosenthal, 2012).

*For accurate inference, researchers need to analyze data drawn from representative samples. Discuss some of the practical limitations to doing so for qualitative and quantitative approaches.

For Example, Qualitative researchers use conformability, dependability, credibility, and transferability to evaluate the trustworthiness of a qualitative research report. In order to prevent researcher bias they can have other researchers point out

It is important for us to understand the methods used in psychological research so that we can assess the validity of the findings of such researches. First, we will be able to understand how researchers obtain the empirical data that serves as the foundation for their research. Subsequently, we can determine whether these data originate from case studies, surveys, naturalistic observations, or controlled experiments. In the latter case, we could know which variables are controlled and / or manipulated and how the experiments’ environments serve to regulate such conditions. Lastly, taking all these into account, we would be able to make an informed decision on the reliability of the data and the legitimacy of the psychological findings that follows.

This may influence me to judge responses that confirm my assumptions about my research question as relevant and reliable while dismissing evidence that contradicts my assumptions3. Hence, this may introduce confirmation bias into my research when conducting interviews and data analysis3.

It is a time demanding design given that is a qualitative study. In order to manage, there will be research assistants that will help especially in collection of data from the respondents. The data analysis is complex and need time and finance. The thematic approach will be used in addition to prudent coding data (Li, Chen, & Zhu, 2014).

Qualitative research is the technique that is used as a part of exploratory research and to derive the independent variables. There are different methods through which we can conduct the qualitative research. As a part of this study we have adopted the following methods:

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]