QUALITATIVE ORIENTATION TOWARD RESEARCH COURSE 1 LECT.DR. ADRIANA ŞTEF Ă NEL

After this course students must be able to:  Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative methods of research  Distinguish between inductive and deductive methods  Explain the different perspectives taken by positivism and interpretivism

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ORIENTATIONS TOWARD RESEARCH Research: Collect empirical data systematically Examine data pattern Differences between: Quantitative Methods Qualitative Methods Epistemological positionObjectivismConstructivism Relation between researcher and subjectDistant/outsiderClose/ insider Relationship between theory/concepts and researchFactsMeaning Scope of findingsNomotheticIdeographic The nature of dataData based upon numbers Data based upon text

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH OBJECTIVISM VERSUS CONSTRUCTIVISM  Quantitative research: reality exists independently of the researches  Qualitative research: truth and meaning are constructed and interpreted by individuals  EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT RESEARCH FOCUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH SCOPE OF FINDINGS THE NATURE OF DATA Realitatea este o construcţie umană, care nu există în lipsa societăţii care o modelează și a înţelesurilor pe care aceasta i le atribuie (Berger, P., Luckmann, Th., 2008) Dacă există o știință a societăților, ar fi de așteptat ca acesta să nu fie o simplă parafrază a prejudecăților tradiționale, ci să ne facă să vedem lucrurile altfel decât cum le apar ele oamenilor obișnuiți; căci obiectul oricărei științe este să facă descoperiri și orice descoperire zdruncină mai mult sau mai puțin opiniile primite de-a gata. Émile Durkheim Regulile metodei sociologice 1895/2002

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DISTANT/OUTSIDER VERSUS CLOSE/INSIDER  Quantitative research: researchers keep themselves at a distance from those they are researching  Qualitative research: usually involves direct contact between researcher and those they are researching EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT RESEARCH FOCUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH SCOPE OF FINDINGS THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH FACTS VERSUS MEANING  Quantitative research: concentrates on gathering of facts in order that truth claims can be established  Qualitative research: seek the construction of the truth EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT  RESEARCH FOCUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH SCOPE OF FINDINGS THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DEDUCTION/CONFIRMATION VERSUS INDUCTION/EMERGENT  Quantitative research: commence deductively with a theory which will subsequently be tested through the process of the research  Qualitative research: inductively build the theory EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT RESEARCH FOCUS  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH SCOPE OF FINDINGS THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH NOMOTHETIC VERSUS IDEOGRAPHIC  Quantitative research: low-like findings that hold irrespective of time or place  Qualitative research: locates its findings in specific time periods and localities EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT RESEARCH FOCUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH  SCOPE OF FINDINGS THE NATURE OF DATA

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH NUMBERS VERSUS TEXT  Quantitative research: generate data in form of numbers  Qualitative research: generate rich or deep data, usually in form of text but sometimes in photographs, maps or visual media EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND SUBJECT RESEARCH FOCUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY/CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH SCOPE OF FINDINGS  THE NATURE OF DATA

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES POSITIVISM Reality consists of what is available to the senses Inquiry should be based upon scientific observation The natural and human sciences share common logic and methodological principles INTERPRETIVISM Out interest in the social world tends to focus on exactly those aspects that are unique, individual and qualitative, whereas our interest in the natural world focuses on more abstract phenomena, that is, exhibiting quantifiable, empirical regularities Crotty, 1998 apud Gray, D., p.21

INTERPRETIVIST APPROACH  SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM  PHENOMENOLOGY  REALISM  HERMENEUTICS  NATURALISTIC INQUIRY Columb, descoperitorul Americii, a ignorant superb propria sa descoperire, pentru că acesta nu corespundea imaginii acceptate a lumii. O anumită geografie imaginară transmisă din Antichitate s-a dovedit mai puternică decât faptele geografice reale. Boia, L. 1998, p.25

INTERPRETATIVIST APPROACH  People interpret the meaning of objects and action in the world and then act upon those interpretations  Meanings arise from the process of social interaction  Meanings are handled in, and are modified by, an interactive process used by people in dealing with the phenomena that are encountered  SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM PHENOMENOLOGY REALISM HERMENEUTICS NATURALISTIC INQUIRY

INTERPRETATIVIST APPROACH  The world is socially constructed and subjective  The observer is a party to what is being observed  The researcher must try to understand what is happening  Focus on meaning  Construct theories and models from data SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM  PHENOMENOLOGY REALISM HERMENEUTICS NATURALISTIC INQUIRY

HISTORY AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCT The case of Republic Moldova’s Wikipedia history page Wikipedia: collective construction of reality (history) collective intelligence as the amount of individual contributions of the users, self-organization of masses of ordinary people on the Internet. These crowds emerge, define the collective problem or task by themselves, solve it, and vanish as entities (Hintikka, K.A., 2008, abstract). Încontinuu prezentul creează trecutul. Într-adevăr, masa, nesfârșită cât nisipul oceanului, pe care o reprezintă faptele trecute, miriada de trăiri ale oamenilor de când a apărut homo sapiens nu e, cum își închipuie conștiința naivă, o masă inertă de viață latentă, fiecare atom de trăire trecută lăsând dâre, urmări, fibre din care, desigur, cele mai multe pier cu vremea, dizolvate într-un fel de uriașă magmă, dar unele s-au prelungit până în prezent, iar consecințele lor pot apărea pe neprevăzute în viața noastră, oriunde pe planetă. Djuvara, N. 2011, p.7

APPROACHES TO QUALITATIVE DESIGN  Research design sits between a set of research questions and the data  It is strongly influenced by the epistemological stance adopted by the researcher  An important feature of qualitative design is that it is emergent

Bibliography Babbie, Earl (2007/2010) Practica cercetarii sociale [The Practice of Social Research]. Iaşi: Polirom. Neuman, Lawrence (2011) Social Research Methods. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Pearson.