Qualitative Research
Originally prepared by Professor Peter Woods.
Component now run by Dr. Nick Pratt.
© P Woods, Faculty of Education, University of Plymouth, 2006
Parts of this component were previously published by the Open University in Section 6 of its Study Guide for E835 Educational Research in Action, 1996. We are grateful to the OU for permission to re-use this material.
Contents
1. Features of Qualitative Research
There is a wide range of approaches to qualitative research. Atkinson et al (1998), for example, outline seven different approaches used in British educational research deriving from symbolic interactionism, anthropology, sociolinguistics, ethnomethodology, qualitative evaluation, neo-Marxist ethnography, and feminism. In addition, a number of terms are often used interchangeably, such as 'ethnography', 'case study', 'qualitative research', though each, in fact, has its own particular meaning (Click here to visit the section on Qualitative Approaches in The Research Methods Knowledge Base). In effect, however, most qualitative approaches have:
- a focus on natural settings;
- an interest in meanings, perspectives and understandings;
- an emphasis on process;
- a concern with inductive analysis and grounded theory.
[Component leader's note: It is worth noting that I now tend to use the term 'interpretive research' to avoid confusion between the notion of 'qualitative data' (data which is qualitative in nature) and a 'qualitative stance' to research (which describes a paradigmatic position. You can read more about this disctinction in the beginning research component.]
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