4 Module 4: Research Design: Collecting and Interpreting The Data of Everyday So
4 Module 4: Research Design: Collecting and Interpreting The Data of Everyday Social Reality
Learning Objectives
- Distinguish between between quantitative and qualitative research in terms of focus, philosophical roots, goals, design and data collection methods
- List and briefly describe the three primary goals of qualitative research
- List and briefly describe typical sources of qualitative data (e.g., Interviews, focus groups, observations and documents)
- List and briefly describe the primary methods of qualitative data analysis (i.e., preparing, summarizing and presenting qualitative data)
- List the primary strategies for determining the validity of qualitative data
- Explain when qualitative research methods are appropriate for a research study
- Explain why it is important to communicate research findings to both, specialized academic audiences and general public audiences
4.1 Introduction to Qualitative Inquiry and Methods of Data Collection and Analysis
Sociologists examine the social world, see a problem or interesting pattern in that world, and set out to study it. They use research methods to design a study — perhaps a positivist, quantitative method for conducting research and obtaining data to explain, predict or control an aspect of social reality; or alternatively, an ethnographic study utilizing an interpretive framework to produce enhanced understanding of the meaning and process of social action and interaction within complex social environments. Planning the research design is a key step in any sociological study. As described in Module Three, there are multiple layers of research design that need to be taken into consideration. Using the research onion metaphor developed by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2012), the outer layers of the onion (research philosophies, modes of reasoning, and time horizons) point to the various conceptual and logical decisions that inform the process of research inquiry undertaken within particular studies. In discussing the outer layers of the research onion in Module Three, emphasis was placed on a selection of research philosophies and modes of reasoning that inform the collection and interpretation of empirical evidence in the form of meanings, experiences and motivations. Those meanings, experiences and motivations that inform the social actions and social interactions of human actors within the contexts of their everyday social realities. Module Four begins with a brief overview of the conceptual dimensions of qualitative research inquiry before shifting to an examination of the more concrete strategies and methods involved in collecting, summarizing, interpreting and representing various types of qualitative data.
(Overview of Qualitative Research Methods available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAUNs-IoSQ )
Researchers who work with qualitative research methods seek to understand social worlds from the perspectives of the participants. Following the lead of Weber’s Verst