Qualitative Research (QR) - Lecture No.2- Advanced Research Methods

Hello Friends Welcome to My blog, In this post I am going to share a lecture no two of advanced research methods subject. This lecture is provided by Sir, Mustafa Hussain.

Qualitative Research is not about testing hypotheses.Qualitative Research is not looking for cause and effect. Qualitative Research is not wanting to generalize from a sample to a population.
Qualitative Research does not look at specific variables.Qualitative Research is not interested in drawing inferences (deduction). Qualitative Research does look at human interactions in natural settings and what meanings they attach to action.

Five Approaches

Ethnography
Grounded Theory
Phenomenology
Case study
Narrative  inquiry (Biography)
Then there are various techniques/methods of collecting data.Methodology theoretical, ethical, political and philosophical orientation/assumptions of researchers that leads to use a specific method.

Ethnography

Ethnography is term or call it ‘research method’ associated with Anthropology – a social science that studies culture and sub-cultures. It is also applied in various forms of Business and managerial sciences today, especially with fields like marketing.  The main tool applied in ethnographic research is called Participant Observation. The researcher immerses him/herself into the culture, he/she wants to study.
It further requires values such as reflection and representation, against subjective understanding of what people do and why and to what ends.Use of field notes and keeping of a diary.And active participation for a relatively longer period of time.

Special Issues: Culture

Already from the 18th century Anthropology or Ethnographical studies were engaged with non-Western cultures and languages and it was associated with colonialism. While sociologists studied western cultures, anthropologists focused on the colonial others. Such is not the case today. Today they research much broader areas e.g., culture of prisons, hospitals or particular business or industries.

Getting Access

There is a special issue of getting access to a culture or sub-culture the researcher wants access to undertake participant observations.Some sub-cultures or societies might not like to give access to the researchers. They might not like to see an outsider entering their settings and disclose their secrets.It therefore makes important it important that researcher is somehow familiar with norms and mores of the culture he/she want to study and get access. Particularly in businesses or sub-cultures.

Technology and Ethnography

Tools used for ethnographical studies, however do not rely merely or solely on participant observations. Anthropologists today also use video-recording, online ethnography, photo ethnography. In the Journal of Business Communication, van Praet (2009), for instance, collected data at a British embassy, using participant observation, audio-recordings of weekly meetings, as well as interviews.

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