An academic writer conducts a qualitative study by opting for qualitative research. Different kinds of qualitative research assist students' decision-making by outlining suitable data collection and analysis techniques. But the question is, what types of qualitative research can a student use in academic writing? We will describe each kind of qualitative research and present examples for students' understanding. With the help of examples, we will explore the answer to this question.
What Are The Five Common Types Of Qualitative Research?
The common types of qualitative research are as follows;
1. Ethnography
A kind of qualitative research that studies the culture of the people is Ethnography. Ethnography aims to build a narrative statement against theory based on culture study. The researcher examines the practices of the people and their behaviours shaped up by their culture. The researchers study how people in a certain culture interact with others in their social environment. They identify the factors of language and rituals in a culture that helps populate their shared meaning throughout the world. Hence, the researcher studies a certain culture of people in-depth in qualitative ethnographic research.
Ethnography is the most relevant qualitative research used for data collection. The researcher immersed themselves into the culture and environment of the target population. Also, the researcher examines in detail the pros and cons of a certain culture. The roots of ethnography go back to "cultural anthropology", where researchers spent years learning the culture of the people. Finally, the researcher answers their research questions based on their experience, irrespective of relying on interviews or secondary data.
2. Narrative
In this kind of qualitative research, the researcher combines several events, stories and experiences gathered from one or two respondents. The researcher revises primary qualitative data for its data collection while forming a cohesive story. The researcher conducts in-detailed interviews and collects second-hand data through documents from credible sites. These interviews may take weeks, months or even years, but the final narrative does not need to be well-arranged. The researcher formulates themes by examining how a person's story exhibits a life influencing scenarios. Importantly, he presents these built-in themes as a story. The report reconciles to identify the themes, conflicting accounts, and opportunities for innovation. Hence, the researcher reformulates stories presented by the chosen target population. It is seen that most researchers become unable to work on this research, and therefore, they prefer to buy dissertations online.
3. Grounded Theory
This kind of qualitative research provides an explanation or a theory behind the happening of a certain event. The researchers use primary interviews and relevant documents in building an idea. The researcher conducts a series of techniques in framing themes and formulating theories. The sample size in a grounded theory study ranges from 20 to 60 participants. It assists the researchers in making informed decisions with a thorough understanding of a target population. He gets to know how and why a certain target population will behave in such a way or not. For this, he collects rich first-hand data for his research questions. The researcher finds the answers to these research questions based on an inductive approach. The data analysis takes place by analysing a single case in formulating a theory. The researcher analyses other issues in understanding if they contribute to an idea or not. Hence, he explains a theory through an in-depth data collection.
4. Case Study
A case study is a kind of qualitative research where the researcher thoroughly studies an organisation, event or entity. The researcher can also examine a case under investigation through multiple data collection techniques and data sources. Case studies can be descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory as well. An effective case study provides robust data on a subject to draw meaningful inferences. The researcher can collect data from either primary techniques (interviews, focused observations) or secondary techniques (published documents, reports).
5. Phenomenological
A kind of qualitative research that describes an activity, event, or phenomenon under study is a phenomenological study. The researcher investigates a phenomenon by describing participants' true lives experiences. The most suitable target population for a phenomenological study is participants who have experience in it. The appropriate sample size is 5 to 25 persons. The researcher relies on the respondent’s information in generating insights from the data. The data collection techniques involve watching videos, conducting interviews, visiting places, and reading documents.
Qualitative Research Examples For Students
Following examples of qualitative research will help students in understanding its kinds, data collection and analysis techniques as well;
Sr.No | Qualitative Research Examples | Kind of Qualitative Research | Data Collection Technique | Data Analysis Technique |
1 | Evaluating the market entry strategies of Amazon Prime in Indonesia and China. | Case Study (Amazon). | Secondary data Collection technique (published reports and documents of Amazon prime) | Systematic Literature Review (SLR) Technique. |
2 | Identifying root causes of employee turnover in multinational enterprises (MNEs) worldwide. | Grounded Theory Study. | Primary data collection through interviews and secondary data collection from existing relevant information. | For Primary: Thematic Analysis technique. For Secondary: Systematic Literature Review Technique. |
3 | Understanding the lived experiences of close family members and relatives for their loved one undergoing open-heart surgery in the US. | Phenomenological Study. | Primary data collection technique through interviews and watching videos. | Thematic Analysis Technique. |
4 | Understanding the interaction of the transport engineers with user-friendly and environmentally friendly technologies. | Ethnography Study. | Primary data collection through sustainable participation and observation with the transport engineers of the study. | Thematic Analysis Technique. |
5 | Exploring the possible association between fashion and social change in Nigeria. | Narrative Study | Primary data through observations and interviews and secondary data through already existing sources on the fashion and social change variables. | For Primary: Comparative Analysis Technique For Secondary: Systematic Literature Review Technique. |
Final Thoughts
Different kinds of qualitative research provide direction and a roadmap to the students in academic writing. They help them identify which data collection and analysis technique is most appropriate in academic writing. Hence, kinds of qualitative research effectively assist students' decision-making process.
