Evaluate the characteristics, purposes, benefits, strengths, and weaknesses of qualitative research methods.

1: Evaluate the characteristics, purposes, benefits, strengths, and weaknesses of qualitative research methods.
State a research topic that is appropriate for qualitative research.
Explain how the characteristics of each of the five methodological approaches align with an associated research question.
Competency 4: Describe methods for data collection and analysis.
Provide a rationale for using a qualitative approach for the proposed study.
Competency 5: Apply qualitative research methodology.
State a research topic that is appropriate for qualitative in nature, including key concepts or phenomena inappropriate language; specify clearly the relationships between or among the concepts; name the target population; and focus the concepts appropriately.
Develop one research question for each of the five methodological approaches, which is aligned with the research topic and qualitative method of research.
Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with the expectations for members in the identified field of study.
Convey purpose in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
Example of research questions
Types of Questions for Each Methodological Approach
Type of Question Methodological Approach
Descriptive questions about values, beliefs, and practices of members of a cultural group under inquiry.
What are the behavioral patterns of . . .?
What is the culture of . . .?
Example questions:
What is the culture of an all-girl public school?
What is the culture of street corner life?
Ethnography.
Case study questions involve an intense study of an individual or an organization. The case to be studied is often chosen due to its uniqueness. The case is a single research subject—a person, a program, an event, an activity.
Example questions:
What are the dimensions of job burnout for community college professors?
What is the experience of parents that are raising a child that has an emotional behavior disorder?
What are the issues that impact family traditions for Latino individuals living in a culture in which they are the minority? (This question could also be ethnographic).
What is the impact of 360-degree feedback on U.S. Air Force personnel?
What is the experience of military families during the deployment of the husband or father to a combat zone?
What are the characteristics of the parent-teacher programs in the Wayne County school district?
Case study.
Process questions about changing experience over time or its stages and phases:
What is the process of becoming . . .?
Understanding questions:
What are the dimensions of this experience . . . ?
In grounded theory, the researcher may ask understanding questions to elicit the understanding of the participants about their experiences:
How do college students describe the process of persisting academically?
How do adolescents that have completed an intensive outpatient treatment program describe the experience of recovery?
What is the process of falling in love?
Grounded theory.
Questions about meaning, experience, lived experience, and about the core or essence of phenomena or experiences:
What is the meaning of . . .?
What is the experience of . . .?
What is the lived experience of . . .?
How do people experience and describe . . .?
What is the essence of . . .?
Example questions:
What is the meaning of anxiety?
How do people experience and describe romantic love?
What is the essence of loneliness?
What is the mature woman’s lived experience of divorce?
What is it like to experience betrayal?
Phenomenology.
Focus of our attention outwardly on experiences:
What was experienced?
What happened?
To what does the belief point to in the outer world?
Example questions:
What are common post-graduate experiences in becoming a licensed psychologist?
What are the attitudes and opinions of teachers toward the No Child Left Behind Act?
What experiences lead to the development of trust in interpersonal relationships?
What experiences of support are most important to women that are undergoing treatment for breast cancer?
Generic qualitative inquir

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