dimensions of qualitative research
researchers use qualitative research to understand beliefs, interests, and actions over a period of time to gain a more in-depth understanding of their lives and the significance of their actions (Denzin & Lincoln, 2013).
There are several dimensions of qualitative research that make it interesting and unique. Firstly, this research method is more concerned with expressing phenomena in words as opposed to statistical data. As mentioned above, this mode entails studying people in their natural settings through observation and interviews and trying to make sense of their way of life; a concept called constructivism. Erickson (2011) states that the findings of a qualitative research study are often reported in narrative form. This form of data interpretation makes the qualitative research model interesting and unique.
Secondly, the qualitative research method is unique, as evidenced by its utilization of a naturalistic approach when answering research questions that prove difficult when investigated using other research methods (Ravitch & Carl, 2016). Examples of the impossible research topics tackled through a naturalistic approach include the history of particular cultures, sexual dysfunction, domestic violence, and human anatomy, to name a few.
Another aspect that exemplifies this model’s uniqueness is that it leads to the development of a researcher-participant relationship (Yob & Brewer, n.d.). The research techniques associated with qualitative research design develop and strengthen the relationship between the participants and the researchers. This is because of the close contact that is involved during interviews, the issuing of questionnaires, and the observation of participants in their natural element. Erickson further emphasizes this uniqueness in his work through the historical accounts of great scholars in history, such as Herodotus and Sextus Empiricus, who conducted cross-cultural surveys on different topics (Erickson, 2011). Further, qualitative research is the only research design that includes researchers as tools based on their work in the field as data collectors.
References
Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Chapter 1, “Qualitative Research: An Opening Orientation” (pp. 1–31)
Erickson, F. (2011). Chapter 3: A history of qualitative inquiry in social and educational research. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 43–58). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2013). Chapter 1: Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. The landscape of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 1–44). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/17670_Chapter1.pdf
Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working toward the common good: An online university’s perspectives on social change, 1-25.