Qualitative Research Using Quotes

If you are going to use the results of market research to make a big business decision, then it’s a good idea to do quantitative research rather than qualitative.

Darwin's work is a testament to the power of two of the most basic tools used in research, the pencil and paper.

Finally, another large-scale study [of false rape allegations] was conducted in Australia, with the 850 rapes reported to the Victoria police between 2000 and 2003 (Heenan & Murray, 2006). Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the researchers examined 812 cases with sufficient information to make an appropriate determination, and found that only 2.1% of these were classified as false reports. All of these complainants were then charged or threatened with charges for filing a false police report." Lonsway, K. A., Archambault, J., & Lisak, D. (2009). False reports: Moving beyond the issue to successfully investigate and prosecute non-stranger sexual assault. The Voice, 3(1), 1-11.

Collection Methods in Qualitative Studies Where was the setting of the study? What was the rationale for choosing the setting? Who were the participants and what were their roles and characteristics? Why were they chosen? What data collection methods were used? What role did the researcher adopt within the setting? Who collected the data and were they qualified for their roles? How were data collectors trained? Was the training adequate? Was the process of the fieldwork adequately reported? How did the event unfold? Was data collection continued until saturation was achieved? Were the researchers’ assumptions or biases acknowledged?

you will see this framework at work when ethnographers employ both quantitative (e.g., surveys) and qualitative data collection (LeCompte & Schensul, 1999) and when case study researchers use both quantitative and qualitative data (Luck, Jackson, & Usher, 2006; Yin, 2009).

Hammersley (2014) suggests that qualitative researchers aim to describe causation in one of two ways: 1. Create plausible models of causation using imaginative tools like metaphors literary devices, and thought experiments to explain how a thing might work in many different contexts, in abstract language 2. Conduct a deep analysis of observed, empirical data to generate

Fragmenting and colliding both hegemonic and oppositional codes, my goal is to reinscribe validity as a way that uses the antifoundational problematic to loosen the master code of positivism that continues to shape even postpositivism

As it turns out, this desire to be loved and to belong is not unique to emotionally needy writers spoiled by their parents. It is inherent to us all. It helps make us human. You'll find evidence of this in Brene Brown's research. She has spent the last twenty years studying the characteristics of people who, regardless of life circumstances, exhibit resilience. Using a qualitative research method known as grounded theory research, Brown conducted thousands of interviews with hundreds of people spanning all sorts of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds to conclude that "a deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need for all women, men, and children." "We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong," Brown writes in The Gifts of Imperfection. "When those needs are not met, we don't function as we are meant to. We break. We fall apart. We hurt others. We get sick." Her research concluded that the key to connection is no mystery: "I realized that only one thing separated the men and women who felt a deep sense of love and belonging from the people who seemed to be struggling for it. That one thing was the belief in their worthiness. If we want to fully experience love and belonging, we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging." In fact, Brown defines wholehearted living as "a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness." It's important to note that Brown uncovered these findings while researching the corrosive effects of shame. Shame is the ultimate connection killer, for it tells us that our flaws make us unworthy of love. Like many researchers and psychologists, Brown draws a distinction between shame and guilt, noting that the former focuses on being while the latter focuses on behavior. While guilt says, "I did something bad," shame says, "I am bad." Studies suggest a healthy dose of guilt can actually inspire us to make healthier choices, but shame, as a rule, proves counterproductive. For people of faith, and especially for Christians, this research raises some important questions. Does any claim to our inherent worthiness contradict religious teaching and the witness of our sacred texts? Can we deal honestly with our sins without internalizing shame? Does our belief system require that we see ourselves as nothing more than loathsome insects, deserving only to be swept by tsunami waves into the fires of hell? Or can we, too, engage the world from a place of worthiness? Many of us have been talked out of that hope by a parent, a Sunday school teacher, a pastor, or perhaps even our very own fragile selves. In some way or another, many of us have become convinced that we will never be worthy of love- because of our sin, because of our humanity, and because of something that happened in a mysterious garden a long time ago.

the core elements of the method are: the creation of a cross-functional team, or a set of teams that break down the traditional silos of marketing and product development and combine talents; the use of qualitative research and quantitative data analysis to gain deep insights into user behavior and preferences; and the rapid generation and testing of ideas, and the use of rigorous metrics to evaluate—and then act on—those results.

Information is only as useful how is collected an interpreted. Algorithms are only as good as the scope and reliability of the data sets to which they are applied. So too, the findings of a qualitative researcher are only as good as that individual's neutrality, perceptiveness, and skill at eliciting anecdote and emotion. In other words, how well the qualitative researcher listens. At best, a quant can give you broad brushstrokes while a qual can provide finer detail. Both approaches are valid, and when used in concert, can be extremely revealing.  But when it comes to human interactions, and divining individual's unique motivations, proclivities and potentials, listing is so far the best and most accurate tool.

Information is only as useful as how it is collected and interpreted. Algorithms are only as good as the scope and reliability of the data sets to which they are applied. So too, the findings of a qualitative researcher are only as good as that individual's neutrality, perceptiveness, and skill at eliciting anecdote and emotion. In other words, how well the qualitative researcher listens. At best, a quant can give you broad brushstrokes while a qual can provide finer detail. Both approaches are valid, and when used in concert, can be extremely revealing.  But when it comes to human interactions, and divining individual's unique motivations, proclivities and potentials, listing is so far the best and most accurate tool.

And while the details of how it is implemented vary somewhat from company to company, the core elements of the method are: the creation of a cross-functional team, or a set of teams that break down the traditional silos of marketing and product development and combine talents; the use of qualitative research and quantitative data analysis to gain deep insights into user behavior and preferences; and the rapid generation and testing of ideas, and the use of rigorous metrics to evaluate—and then act on—those results.

This is the pattern: poor quantitative results force us to declare failure and create the motivation, context, and space for more qualitative research. These investigations produce new ideas—new hypotheses—to be tested, leading to a possible pivot. Each pivot unlocks new opportunities for further experimentation, and the cycle repeats. Each time we repeat this simple rhythm: establish the baseline, tune the engine, and make a decision to pivot or persevere.

The research will involve quantifying responses to a series of drawing tasks. All participants in the study will be female, roughly between the ages of twenty and twenty-two. In 1990, at the time of the war, they would have been between four and six years old. I will use Piaget’s model of the preoperational stage of childhood development to limit the study’s grouping parameters. From Utrecht in Chicago, I bought enough art supplies to quantify their qualitative responses. Each participant must complete the same tasks: First, mix a color that represents how she remembers the invasion as a child. Second, draw her first memory of the invasion. Third, draw the objects around her during the invasion. The study will use projective drawing tasks to elicit and examine the nonverbal mental schema of the subjects, all of whom lived in Kuwait throughout the invasion and eventual liberation. The results will be measured for repetition of color, image, and symbol (CIS). I hope to find the answer to these questions from these young adults: Can childhood memories of the 1990 invasion be more accurately recalled using nonverbal, rather than verbal, communication skills? If so, do the recollections contain patterns of color, imagery, and symbols?