RESEARCH DESIGN

enables the researcher to

organize the components
of his or her research in
an orderly and coherent
manner.
1. Clearly identify and describe the
research problem or topic, and
justify the selection of the
appropriate design to be used
2. Review and synthesize previous
studies and literature related to
the topic
3. Clearly identify hypotheses that
are significant to the problem
4. Determine the data
necessary to test the
hypotheses and explain how
the data will be obtained.
5. Describe the methods of
analysis that will be used on
the data gathered in order to
evaluate the hypotheses of the
study
 Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is defined

as the “naturalistic method of
inquiry of research which deals
with the issue of human
complexity by exploring it
directly.” (Polit and Beck,
2008)
 Common Types of Qualitative
Research
1. Phenomenological study. This type of research
seeks to find the essence or structure of an
experience by explaining how complex
meanings are built out of simple units of inner
experience. It examines human experiences
(lived experiences) through the descriptions
provided by subjects or respondents. The goal
of this study is to describe the meaning that
experiences hold for each subject. Some of the
areas of concern for these studies are
humanness, self-determination, uniqueness,
wholeness, and individualism.
Example: What are the common
experiences encountered by a
person with a spouse who is
undergoing rehabilitation?
With the given problem, the
researcher has to discover the
inner feelings, emotional
hardships, and mental
disturbances that the respondent
is experiencing.
ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines the experiences
of eight elementary principals from the Midwest who were
involved in dual-career relationships with children under the
age of 18. The primary data collection method was in-depth
interviews. The data were coded and analyzed according to
the research questions. The research resulted in three
major themes which emerged out of the experiences shared
by the elementary principals: 1) there exists a gap between
actual and perceived values; 2) stress develops from a high
number of work tasks; 3) coping strategies are utilized to
manage daily stressors. I analyzed these themes from the
principals’ experiences through the theoretical lenses of
theory-in-use and espoused theory, symbolic
interactionism, cultural hegemony, and authentic
leadership. The experiences associated with the elementary
principals in this study serve as a framework for discussion
about the gap that exists between principals’ actual and
perceived values.
2. Ethnographic study. This study involves the
collection and analysis of data about cultural
groups or minorities. In this type of research, the
researcher immerses with the people and
becomes a part of their culture. He or she
becomes involved in the everyday activities of
the subjects, and gets to empathize with the
cultural groups experiencing issues and
problems in their everyday lives. During the
immersion process, the researcher talks to the
key persons and personalities called key
informants who provide important information for
the study. The main purpose of this study is the
development of cultural theories.
Example: What is the demographic profile
and migratory adaptations of squatter
families in Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City
(dela Cruz, 1994)?
Abstract There has been increasing social debate in recent
times surrounding men’s identities, men’s health and
wellbeing, and men’s place within contemporary western
society. The purpose of this thesis was to contribute to
new knowledge of these issues through an ethnographic
exploration of two small sub-cultures of young adults.
Utilising participant observation the researcher described
in detail the ways in which masculinities were
constructed in everyday life. The researcher spent over 2
years as a participant observer of a small group of men
from a gymnasium in Melbourne, which followed a
briefer but still illuminating period spent with a group of
men from a small community in Australia. An
ethnographic approach and a non-clinical and
nondeviant sample were used to build in-depth
knowledge from a neutral lens that did not assume an
existing male deficit or crisis.
ABSTRACT This study is an ethnographic analysis of the
relationship between female employers and female domestics
in the Philippines focusing on how it maintains and
reproduces the intersecting class and gender relations of
power that brought the two women together. It also explores
relationality - how the privileging of one group of women is
related to the exploitation of another. Data for analysis was
based on interviews with 25 female employer-female
domestic dyads in a city in the Philippines in 1989. The
questions for the semi-structured interviews were focused on
four major research questions:1.) What kinds of female
employer-female domestic relationship exist between the
women in this city?; 2.) What makes one female employer-
female domestic relationship similar to and different from
another?; 3.) What is unique about the Philippine case in
terms of this employer-employee relationship?; and 4.) How is
the intersectionality of class and gender relations articulated
in the female employer-female domestic relationship?
ABSTRACT In this dissertation I examine “gay” life in the
Philippines by focusing on a longstanding friendship group
of same-sex attracted middle-class young men living in
Metro Manila who identify as bakla/gay/homosexual. I
explain how dynamics of gender and sexuality including
identity expression are conceptualised, articulated and
negotiated through the interphase of Philippine culture,
social class, economic status and the cultural appropriation
and adaptation of elements of Western gay discourse and
lifestyle. Ethnography was selected as the most appropriate
qualitative research method because of its theoretical and
philosophical “fit” with the methodological assumptions that
underpin this study. A key feature in both the theoretical
and ideological approaches taken in this project has been
the inclusion of Filipino theoretical perspectives rather than
coming from a purely Western paradigmatic viewpoint.
3. Historical study. This study is
concerned with the identification,
location, evaluation, and
synthesis of data from past
events. This is not only limited to
obtaining data from the past, but it
also involves relating their
implications to the present and
future time. Example: What were
the roles of women in the
Katipunan?
Legacies of Previous Local Leaders
(Municipal Mayors)
4. Case study. It is an in-depth
examination of an individual,
groups of people, or an
institution. Some of its
purposes are to gain insights
into a little-known problem,
provide background data for
broader studies, and explain
socio-psychological and socio-
cultural processes.
A case study also involves a
comprehensive and extensive
examination of a particular
individual, group, or situation over
a period of time. It provides
information on where to draw
conclusions about the impact of a
significant event in a person’s life
(Sanchez, 2002). Example: How
do cancer survivors look at life?
5. Grounded theory study. The
method involves comparing
collected units of data against one
another until categories,
properties, and hypotheses that
state relations between these
categories and properties
emerge. These hypotheses are
tentative and suggestive, and are
not tested in the study.
Example: Ten school counselors were
given structured interviews to help
determine how their professional identity
is formed. This data was coded first to
form concepts. Then, connections
between these concepts were identified.
A core concept emerged and its process
and implications were discussed. School
counselors’ professional interactions
were identified as defining experiences in
their identity formation (Brott & Myers,
1999).
A constructivist grounded theory design was
proposed to explore the experience of
hope for women who are bereaved
palliative caregivers and to develop a
substantive theory to explain how these
women resolve their concerns relating to
hope in their lives. Hope is an important
psychosocial resource through difficult life
circumstances, yet very little is known
about the bereaved palliative caregiver’s
experience of hope, or how they manage
the stressful adjustment from caregiving to
bereavement.
The purpose of this study was to explore the
perceptions of experienced individual online
students at a community college in Texas in
order to generate a substantive theory of
community college student perceptions of online
instructor presence. This qualitative study used
Active Interviewing and followed a Straussian
grounded-theory design to guide the collecting
and coding of interview data in order to identify
emerging categories and generate substantive
theory. The researcher collected data through
interviews with 16 online students, all of whom
had taken at least four online courses at a
community college.
6. Narrative analysis. The main
sources of data for this type of
research are the life accounts
of individuals based on their
personal experiences. The
purpose of the study is to
extract meaningful context
from these experiences.
a. Psychological – This involves analyzing
the story in terms of internal thoughts and
motivations. It also analyzes the written
text or spoken words for its component
parts or patterns.
b. Biographical – This takes the individual’s
society and factors like gender and class
into account.
c. Discourse analysis – This studies the
approach in which language is used in
texts and contexts.
7. Basic interpretative qualitative study.
This is used when a researcher is
interested in identifying how
individuals give meaning to a situation
or phenomenon. It uses an inductive
strategy which is a process of
analyzing patterns or common
themes to produce a descriptive
account that summarizes and
analyzes the literature that defined
the study.
Example: An interview of 45
women from varying backgrounds
and a comparison of the
developmental patterns discerned
with earlier findings on male
development. They found
women’s lives evolved through
periods of tumultuous, structure
building phases that alternated
with stable periods (Levinson &
Levinson, 1996).