© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind. Nonexperimental Research: Qualitative Methods

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative research.  Discuss the different types of research sources that are regularly used in qualitative research.  List the advantages and disadvantages of the case study method.  List four ways ethnographies differ from case studies.

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  List six steps involved in historical research.  Discuss primary and secondary sources.  Given an historical data source, identify whether the source is primary or secondary.  Explain why authenticity and accuracy are important to historical research.  Discuss internal and external criticisms of historical research.

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Conducting Qualitative Research  Research Sources  Case Studies  Ethnographies  Historical Research  Qualitative Research Tools

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.

 Qualitative research ◦ Uses descriptions rather than numerical measurements of behavior ◦ Asks different kinds of questions

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 Documents are often saved to provide a record for later use ◦ Public documents are usually readily available ◦ Availability of internal documents may be restricted

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Provide descriptive data about an organization  Can be a “gold mine” of useful information

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Physical traces that are usually not purposely left behind  Can provide insight into behavior that cannot be observed directly

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Researchers actually watch the behavior of interest  Usually unobtrusive—the researcher does not interfere with or participate in the behavior

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Observers are members of the group being observed  Observers can become biased— maintaining objectivity is essential

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Focus groups are formed to address specific issues  A focus group has four main functions: ◦ Gather information ◦ Generate insight ◦ Understand how a group’s members reach decisions ◦ Encourage interaction

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 Study one (or a few) persons, institutions, or events  Are designed to gather as much detail about a subject as possible

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Limited focus allows detailed examination of subject  Use several different techniques to gather data  Best way to gather detailed information about subject  Can suggest directions for future research

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Time-consuming  Subject to biases in observing and recording data  Lack breadth  Cannot demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships  Limited generalizability

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 A good way to study a culture  Provide rich detail about their subject

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  The holistic perspective is more concerned with the “big picture” ◦ Looks at the entire group’s behavior rather than at individual behaviors  Frequently uses participant observation  Ethnographers avoid proposing hypotheses ◦ Researchers begin with only enough information to “fit in”

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.

 “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it!” (George Santayana, 1905)  Historical research is also called historiography

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Define a topic  Form a hypothesis  Decide on useful and appropriate sources  Determine how to evaluate evidence  Integrate and synthesize data  Interpret results with reference to the original hypothesis

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Primary sources ◦ Originate with the people or animals actually involved in the historical event ◦ Are direct results of the historical event

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Secondary sources ◦ Are at least “once removed” from the historical event ◦ Result from “after-the-fact” reports of an historical event

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Authenticity or external criticism asks whether data originated as described ◦ Did the person who signed a document actually write it? ◦ Was an artifact found where it was left, or was it “planted” or moved?

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Authenticity or internal criticism asks whether the source of the data was objective and trustworthy ◦ Do archival documents “fairly” represent what actually happened? ◦ Do surviving artifacts adequately reflect an entire culture or only a small part of it?

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Generalizability is limited  Data are not observed by trained observers, and so may be questioned  Time-consuming  Evaluated by different criteria than quantitative research

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.

 Help manage large, qualitative data sets  Enable plain text analysis  Link between documents  Search documents  Code and analyze data

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?  Discuss the different types of research sources that are regularly used in qualitative research?  List the advantages and disadvantages of the case study method?  List four ways ethnographies differ from case studies?

© 2011 Pearson Prentice Hall, Salkind.  List six steps involved in historical research?  Discuss primary and secondary sources?  Given an historical data source, identify whether the source is primary or secondary?  Explain why authenticity and accuracy are important to historical research?  Discuss internal and external criticisms of historical research?