aN OVERVIEW OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

1. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
A Primer
JEFFREY ALCANTARA LUCERO
MPMG, MAN, MAEd, BScN, AHScEd, CSE, RN, CHNS, FNP, SHNC
Congressional National High School

2. Abstract. The central question to be examined revolves around the perceptions,
attitudes and awareness regarding HIV/AIDS among undergraduate students at the North-West
University (Vaal Triangle Campus). Therefore, the objective of this research was to assess these
perceptions, attitudes and awareness regarding HIV/AIDS. A convenience sample of
undergraduate students was used in a cross-sectional design (N = 290). A semi-standardized
questionnaire as well as a biographical questionnaire was administered. The semi-standardized
questionnaire was proven to be reliable. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of between 0.65 and
0.71 was obtained. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that
students experienced and perceived differences with regards to their biographical variables in
terms of their perceptions, attitudes and awareness regarding HIV/ AIDS. Differences were also
found between students in different study modules and study years. The findings revealed that
the majority of the students were quite knowledgeable regarding HIV/AIDS. While some
students had detailed knowledge of the disease and its prevention, others (the minority) were
either completely ignorant about it or deny its existence. Recommendations were made for
future research in the area of HIV/AIDS within the context of tertiary education.
Source: HIV/AIDS Perceptions, attitudes and awareness
of undergraduate students by Van Wyk (2005)

3. The rain drives, drives endlessly,
Heavy threads of rain;
The wind beats at the shutters,
The surf drums on the shore;
Drunken telephone poles lean sideways;
Dank summer cottages gloom hopelessly;
Bleak factory-chimneys are etched on the filmy distance,
Tepid2 with rain.
It seems I have lived for a hundred years
Among these things;
And it is useless for me now to make complaint against them.
For I know I shall never escape from this
Dull barbarian country,
Where there is none now left to lift a cool jade winecup,
Or share with me a single human thought.
Source: Poet Among Barbarians by John Gould Fletcher

4. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
A Primer
JEFFREY ALCANTARA LUCERO
MPMG, MAN, MAEd, BScN, AHScEd, CSE, RN, CHNS, FNP, SHNC
Congressional National High School

5. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH (1)
• The purpose of this research is to describe and explain, explore and interpret,
and build theory.
• The nature of the research process is more holistic and ‘emergent,’ starts with
unknown variables, uses flexible guidelines, leads to ‘context-bound’
information, and incorporates personal views.

6. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH (2)
• The data collection is dependent on personal involvement with a small sample
size, using loosely structured or non-standardized observations and interviews
• The data analyses search for themes and categories, inductive reasoning, and
the analyses may be subjective and potentially biased.
• The reports on findings are highly structured with words, narratives or
individual quotes, with a more personal literary style

7. TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
•Case Study
•Ethnography
•Phenomenology
•Content and Discourse
Analysis
•Historical Analysis
•Grounded Theory

8. CASE STUDY
• This involves a long-time study of a person, group, organization, or situation.
• It seeks to find answers to why such things occur to the subject.
• It involves a variety of data collection methods such as interviews,
questionnaires, observations, and documentary analysis.

9. ETHNOGRAPHY
•It is the study of a particular cultural group to get a clear
understanding of its organizational set-up, internal
operation, and lifestyle.

10. PHENOMENOLOGY
•It is the study of how people find their experience
meaningful.
•Its primary goal is to make people understand their
experience in order to understand the meanings attached
to their experience.

11. CONTENT AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
•It requires an analysis or examination of the substance or
content of the mode of communication used by people.
•It is a study of language structures used in the medium of
communication to discover the effects of sociological,
cultural, institutional, and ideological factors on the
content.

12. HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
•It is the examination of primary documents to make you
understand the connection of past events to the present
time.

13. GROUNDED THEORY
•It takes place when a new theory is discovered to underlie
your study at the time of data collection and analysis.
•By observing your subjects, you will happen to find a
theory that applies to your current study.

14. ADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH (1)
• It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter, which means that
those involve in the research understand things based on what they find
meaningful.
• It promotes a full understanding of human behavior or personality traits in
their natural setting.
• It is instrumental for positive societal changes.
• It engenders respect for people’s individuality as it demands the
researcher’s careful and attentive stand towards people’s world view.

15. ADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH (2)
• It is a way of understanding and interpreting social interactions.
• It increases the researcher’s interest in the study as it includes the
researcher’s experience or background knowledge in interpreting
verbal and visual data.
• It offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about
something.

16. DISADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
• It involves a lot of the researcher’s subjectivity in data analysis.
• It is hard to prove the validity or reliability of the data.
• Its open-ended questions yield ‘data overload’ that requires long
time analysis.
• It is time consuming.
• It involves several processes, wherein the results greatly depend on
the researcher’s views or interpretations.

17. RESEARCH IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF
KNOWLEDGE

18. BASIC APPROACHES TO RESEARCH
•Positive or Scientific
•Naturalistic
•Triangulation or Mixed

19. POSITIVE OR SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
•It gives stress to measurable and observable facts instead
of personal views, feelings, or attitudes.
•It involves collecting data in controlled ways.
•Factual data are collected in numerical or statistical forms
using numbers and the like.

20. NATURALISTIC APPROACH
• It is people oriented.
• The data collected represent personal views, attitudes, thoughts,
emotions, and other subjective traits of people in a natural setting.
• Collecting data is done in family homes, playground, workplaces, or
schools.
• It focuses on discovering the real concept or meaning behind people’s
lifestyles and social relations.