Qualitative research follows the steps of the scientific method. In elementary science class we learned the steps of the scientific method:
- • Ask a Question
- • Do Background Research
- • Construct a Hypothesis
- • Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
- • Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
- • Communicate Your Results (Steps of the Scientific Method, 2015)
In the Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide qualitative research consists of an investigation that:
- • Seeks answers to a question
- • Systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question
- • Collects evidence
- • Produces findings that were not determined in advance
- • Produces findings that are applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of the study
Qualitative research seeks to explain how or why something occurs, in contrast to quantitative research that simply asks if something occurs. Qualitative looks at the question through the lens of a certain group of people, it explores phenomena. It can be flexible in its style or categories of questions and also in its methods of collection. Some researchers use focus groups, in depth interviews or behavior monitoring.
The questions asked by qualitative researchers are open-ended with the hope of explaining relationships, describe experiences and describe norms. Qualitative research is used once a behavior or phenomenon is found to exist; it is used a lot in social sciences. Researchers want to know why people behave the way they do, what cause them to respond in a certain way and how they make the decision to respond that way.
In my research I want to find out why people procrastinate, we already know that some people put work off, I want to know why and can their behavior be changed. Procrastination causes companies to lose money, are there ways to help workers stay on task? The answer to this comes from answering the underlying question of why people procrastinate. Is it that the task is one of low interest, or they have too many obligations, or is it a behavior they have had for as long as they can remember. Once we can find a reason why the behavior happened then we could move on to how to change the behavior. Changing the behavior might be something each person has to work on internally, or it might be something external, such as a reward, that will drive them to change. Each person is different; they have different reasons for procrastination and therefore may have different way to achieve change.
Qualitative research takes a behavior or occurrence and asks the questions why and how. The answers to these questions may not be “black and white” they may have many different answers based on people’s different experiences. Observation is a good tool used in qualitative research, stepping back and looking into a situation can sometimes obtain the most informative information. People’s behaviors can tell you a lot of information about them.
References:
Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 21, 2015, from http://www.ccs.neu.edu/course/is4800sp12/resources/qualmethods.pdf
Steps of the Scientific Method. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2015, from
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