1. Qualitative Research Project Presentation
The Role of Law Enforcement in Drug Courts
Khaled A. Elsharkawy
Advanced Qualitative Research Methods in Public Service
Instructor: Dr. George Franks
Date: December 9, 2012

2. Definition of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is defined as research devoted to developing
an understanding of human.
Qualitative research is a combination of data collection and
theory generation based on observations, interviews and other
interactions with subjects in social settings.

3. General Characteristics of Qualitative Research
Qualitative data, data are collected in the form of words, rather
than numbers.
Concerned with process, researchers are interested in how things
occur. Also, they assume change is ongoing.
Inductive reasoning for data analysis, researchers explore open
questions, rather than testing hypothesis.

4. The Problem Statement
The first step in any research project is to define the problem
that the study will seek to address.
The problem statement explains the rationale for engaging in
qualitative research.
Example, my current study is “the role of law enforcement in
drug courts case study in Orange County.” the opening
paragraph of the research plan will highlight the need for this
information to be illuminated.

5. A statement of Purpose
Describe the researchable problem and clearly express the study’s
purpose.
Clearly and succinctly identify key concepts of interest to be studied.
Define the population to be studied and the study setting.
Justify the study as a means of generating new knowledge.

6. Research Questions
A good research question needs to be clear, specific and achievable.
The research question should explore reasons for why people do
things or believe in something.
Qualitative research can deal with so-called descriptive questions as
well as with explanatory questions.
For instance, in my current study a descriptive question is what
experiences do the police officer perception of the value of the
Orange County drug court? Explanatory questions in the study are (1)
how does law enforcement impact the drug court? And (2) how
would law enforcement involved in the drug benefit the community?

7. Selecting a Qualitative Research Design
The four major types of qualitative research methods are:
Ethnography: Ethnography (i.e., the discovery and description of the
culture of a group of people).
Phenomenology: Phenomenology (i.e., the descriptive study of how
individuals experience a phenomenon).
Grounded Theory: Grounded theory (i.e., the development of
inductive, "bottom-up," theory that is "grounded" directly in the
empirical data).
Case Study Research: Case study (i.e., the detailed account and
analysis of one or more cases).

8. My Chosen Design Is Case Study
I have chosen the case study design over the phenomenology
and ethnography design.
The research in law enforcement in drug court is one of
community based problem, program, process, and detailed
investigations of group.

9. The Advantages of Case Study
First, the case study can accomplish many of the same goals as other
methods.
Second, the case study can also use either a primary (the researcher
collects the data) or secondary (the researcher uses someone else's
data) approach
Third, the detailed qualitative accounts often produced in case studies
not only help to explore or describe the data in real-life environment,
but also help to explain the complexities of real life situations.

10. The Disadvantages of Case Study
First, many researchers using the case study method make the
mistake of relying too heavily on interpretation to guide findings and
recommendations.
Second, case studies are often accused of lack of rigor.
Third, case studies provide very little basis for scientific generalization
since they use a small number of subjects, some conducted with only
one subject

11. Data Collection Instruments
Interviews: Interviewing is a technique of gathering data from humans
by asking those questions and getting them to react verbally.
Focus groups: Structured or unstructured focus groups allows for
interaction between more participants and the interviewer about your
topic.
Observations: Observation is the technique of obtaining data through
direct contact with persons or group of persons.
Documents: If the focus of the study is the examination of documents.

12. The Benefits of Using Interviews as Research Setting
Interviews are a systematic way of talking and listening to people.
The researcher or the interviewer often uses open questions.
Data is collected from the interviewee.
The interviewee or respondent is the primary data for the study.
Interview is a valid and reliable instrument
It is flexible, accessible, intelligible, and - at its best - highly
illuminative.

13. Selecting a Sample
different strategies for selecting a sample depending on :
1- the scope of the study,
2- the amount of time the researcher is willing and able to spend in
3- data collection,
4- and the tradition of inquiry used for the project.
Sample size: In any research study, the target sample size—the
number of those to be interviewed or participate in focus groups—
depends on the financial and human resources available to the
research team.

14. Data Analysis
Coding: Identify themes, ideas and patterns in my data.
Statistics: analysis the data using statistics. Descriptive statistics simply
describe what the data is showing while inferential statistics tries to
formulate conclusions beyond the data.
Narrative analysis: Narrative analysis focuses on speech and content,
such as grammar, word usage, story themes, meanings of situations, the
social, cultural and political context of the narrative.
Content analysis: Content analysis looks at texts or series of texts and
looks for themes and meanings by looking at frequencies of words.

15. Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
Protection of participants through the informed consent process
favors formalized interaction between researcher and participant.
Researchers need to consider seriously the rights and wrongs of what
they may be undertaking and the moral values and principles that
guide their actions.
Researchers need to communicate clearly and sincerely the nature
and reasons for their research.
Researchers need to respect people’s rights.
Researchers need to avoid harm, risk, or wrong to the group of people
they are studying or are working with.
Researchers need to protect the identity of respondents.