UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

Quantitative Research Masters in project Planning and

Management

1/13/2011

Fred Wafula Wekesa .

IN THIS MODULE WE SHALL COVER THE FOLLOWING

Introduction
Qualitative research
Qualitative research Vs Quantitative research
Sampling methods in Qualitative research
Ethics in Qualitative research
Methods of data collection in qualitative research
Data analysis in qualitative research
Limitations of qualitative research

Introduction

Qualitative research is a strong tool that is being used to effectively address the social issues that
affect individual and families. By using qualitative research, researchers are able to collect data
and explain phenomena more deeply and more exhaustively(Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003).The
two most common types of research are ; quantitative and qualitative research.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is a naturalistic/ interpretive scientific research. Scientific research consists
of an investigation that:
• seeks answers to a question/ evaluator defines a research problem
• systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question( researcher
formulates research questions and defines the population and samples)
• collects evidence and analyzes them
• produces findings that were not determined in advance
• produces findings that are applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of the study

Qualitative research shares these characteristics. Additionally, it seeks to understand a given

research problem or topic from the perspectives of the local population it involves. Qualitative
research is especially effective in obtaining culturally specific information about the values,
opinions, behaviors, and social contexts of particular populations (FHI, 2005.)

Qualitative research is also known as explorative research. It employs many methods of

interpretive modes of inquiry that include the following (Glesne and Peshkin, 1992):

Attempts to shed light on a phenomena by studying

indepth a single case example of the phenomena. The
Case study
case can be an individual person, an event, a group, or
an institution.

Theory is developed inductively from a corpus of data

Grounded theory
acquired by a participant-observer.

Describes the structures of experience as they present

Phenomenology themselves to consciousness, without recourse to theory,
deduction, or assumptions from other disciplines

Focuses on the sociology of meaning through close field

Ethnography observation of sociocultural phenomena. Typically, the
ethnographer focuses on a community.

Systematic collection and objective evaluation of data

related to past occurrences in order to test hypotheses
Historical concerning causes, effects, or trends of these events that
may help to explain present events and anticipate future
events. (Gay, 1996)
Differences between qualitative research and quantitative research.
General framework
Analytical objectives
Question format
Data format
Flexibility in study design
Quantitative research
Seek to confirm hypotheses
about phenomena
Instruments use more rigid
style
of eliciting and categorizing
responses to questions
Use highly structured methods
such as questionnaires,
surveys, and structured
observation
To quantify variation
To predict causal relationships
To describe characteristics of
a population
Close ended
Numerical (obtained by
assigning numerical values to
responses)
Study design is stable from
beginning to end Participant
responses do not influence or
determine how and which
questions researchers ask
next
Study design is subject to
qualitative
Seek to explore phenomena
Instruments use more flexible,
iterative style of eliciting and
categorizing responses to
questions
Use semi-structured methods
such as in-depth interviews,
focus groups, and participant
observation
To describe variation
To describe and explain
relationships
To describe individual
experiences
To describe group norms
Open ended
Textual (obtained from
audiotapes, videotapes, and
field notes)
Some aspects of the study are
flexible (for example, the
addition, exclusion, or
wording of particular
interview questions)
Participant responses affect
how and which questions
 statistical assumptions and
conditions
Nature Etic in nature( findings and
interpretations based on the
view of the researchers
researchers ask next
Study design is iterative, that
is, data collection and research
questions are adjusted
according to what is learned
Emic ( here the feelings and
points of view of respondent
are put into account

In summary……..

Generally, qualitative research is the type of research that gathers data that look into issues that
touch on the following about people and the society;

• Concerned with the feelings, meanings and values about a subject

• Things not easily measured using numbers such as behavior, sensory, perceptions,
opinions and values..

• Enables exploration of motives, attitudes and preferences and how they are formed.

• Results can‟t be related to whole population.

• Provides depth of information which may also be used to guide quantitative studies.

• More of depth than breadth ( Adipo, 2007)

Behavior:

In this context the research will basically look at what a person is doing or what an individual or
the society has done

Opinion/vaues:

• What a person thinks about a topic

 • About values attached to things or practices

Feelings

• About what the respondents feel

• Note that respondents sometimes respond with "I think ..." so be careful to note that
you're looking for feelings

Knowledge:

• To get facts about a topic of interest

• May include what respondents know or have heard about something

Sensory

• About what people have; seen, Seen, touched, heard, tasted, Smelt

Qualitative research design

The questions for qualitative research should be open ended

• Designed to encourage a full disclosure of meaningful answers.

• Are less leading.

• Begins with words like why, how or phrases like “Tell me about….“.

• Solicits additional information from the inquirer.

• Also called infinite response/unsaturated questions

• Broad & require more than one/two word responses

• Neutral & allows free and unrestrained response

• Do not give respondents answers to choose from

• Encourages response in a sentence, a paragraph

Sampling methods in qualitative research

Sampling in qualitative research is based on the study‟s research objective and the
characteristics of the study population that is pegged on size and diversity. There are there most
common methods used in qualitative research sampling

Purposive sampling
Quota sampling and
Snowball sampling

What is purposive sampling?

Purposive sampling, one of the most common sampling strategies, groups participants according
to preselected criteria relevant to a particular research question (for example, HIV-positive
women in kisumu city). Sample sizes, which may or may not be fixed prior to data collection,
depend on the resources and time available, as well as the study‟s objectives. Purposive sample
sizes are often determined on the basis of theoretical saturation (the point in data collection
when new data no longer bring additional insights to the research questions). Purposive sampling
is therefore most successful when data review and analysis are done in conjunction with data
collection (FHI, 2005).

What is quota sampling?

Quota sampling, sometimes considered a type of purposive sampling, is also common. In quota
sampling, we decide while designing the study how many people with which characteristics to
include as participants. Characteristics might include age, place of residence, gender, class,
profession, marital status, use of a particular contraceptive method, HIV status, etc. The criteria
we choose allow us to focus on people we think would be most likely to experience, know
about, or have insights into the research topic. Then we go into the community and – using
recruitment strategies appropriate to the location, culture, and study population – find people
who fit these criteria, until we meet the prescribed quotas. An example is recruiting sexually
active girls in a contraceptive study ( Adipo, 2007)
What is snowball sampling?
This method is also known as chain referral sampling – is considered a type of purposive
sampling. In this method, participants or informants with whom contact has already been made
use their social networks to refer the researcher to other people who could potentially participate
in or contribute to the study. Snowball sampling is often used to find and recruit “hidden
populations,” that is, groups not easily accessible to researchers through other sampling
strategies such as female sex workers.
It other quarters this method is popularly referred to as respondent driven sampling

What are the fundamental research ethics principles?

Three core principles, originally articulated in The Belmont Report, form the universally
accepted basis for research ethics.

Respect for persons requires a commitment to ensuring the autonomy of research participants,
and, where autonomy may be diminished, to protect people from exploitation of their
vulnerability. The dignity of all research participants must be respected. Adherence to this
principle ensures that people will not be used simply as a means to achieve research objectives.

Beneficence requires a commitment to minimizing the risks associated with research, including
psychological and social risks, and maximizing the benefits that accrue to research participants.
Researchers must articulate specific ways this will be achieved.

Justice requires a commitment to ensuring a fair distribution of the risks and benefits resulting
from research. Those who take on the burdens of research participation should share in the
benefits of the knowledge gained. Or, to put it another way, the people who are expected to
benefit from the knowledge should be the ones who are asked to participate.

In addition to these established principles, some bioethicists have suggested that a fourth
principle, respect for communities, should be added. Respect for communities “confers on the
researcher an obligation to respect the values and interests of the community in research and,
wherever possible, to protect the community from harm.”2 We believe that this principle is, in
fact, fundamental for research when community-wide knowledge, values, and relationships are
critical to research success and may in turn be affected by the research process or its outcomes
(FHI, 2005)

Qualitative research methods

Data collection in qualitative research

There are three ways of data collection in qualitative research

Use of focus group discussions

Use of key informant interviews

Use of observations

Focus group discussions, uses and limitations

A focus group discussion (FGD) is a group discussion of approximately 6 - 12 persons guided by
a facilitator, during which group members talk freely and spontaneously about a certain topic.
Participants should be roughly of the same socio-economic group or have a similar background
in relation to the issue under investigation. The age and sexual composition of the group should
facilitate free discussion. Members stimulated to respond by others comments and support

A FGD is a qualitative method. Its purpose is to obtain in-depth information on concepts,

perceptions and ideas of a group. A FGD aims to be more than a question-answer interaction.
The idea is that group members discuss the topic among themselves, with guidance from the
facilitator (IDRC, 2010).

Focus group discussions are usually tape recorded and transcribed later for analysis.

FGD techniques can, for example, be used to:

1. Focus research and develop relevant research hypotheses by exploring in greater depth
the problem to be investigated and its possible causes.

For example:
 A district health officer had noticed that there were an unusually large number of cases of
malnutrition of children under 5 reported from one area in her district. Because she had
little idea of why there might be more malnutrition in that area she decided to organise
three focus group discussions (one with leaders, one with mothers from the area and one
with health staff from the area). She hoped to identify potential causes of the problem
through the FGDs and then develop a more intensive study, if necessary.

2. Formulate appropriate questions for more structured, larger scale surveys.

For example:

In planning a study of the incidence of childhood diarrhoea and feeding practices, a focus
group discussion showed that in the community under study, children below the age of 1
year were not perceived as having „bouts of diarrhoea‟ but merely „having loose stools‟
that were associated with milestones such as sitting up, crawling, and teething. In the
questionnaire that was developed after the FGD the concept „diarrhoea‟ was therefore
carefully described, using the community‟s notions and terms.

3. Help understand and solve unexpected problems in interventions.

For example:

In District X, the recent national (polio) immunisation days (NID) showed widely
different coverage‟s per village (50-90%) and in a number of villages a marked decrease
in coverage was observed compared to last year. Eight FGD were held with mothers, two
in town, three in rural villages with a marked decrease in NID coverage and three in
villages with a high coverage throughout. It appeared that overall, the concept NID had
raised confusion. Most people believed that this mass campaign strengthened the
children‟s immunity against any (childhood) disease, including malaria and Respiratory
Tract Infections. In the villages with a low NID coverage there had been a high incidence
of malaria in children immediately after the previous NID campaign and several children
died. Mothers therefore believed that the NID campaign was useless.*
 4. develop appropriate messages for health education programmes and later evaluate
the messages for clarity.

For example:

A rural health clinic wanted to develop a health education programme focused on

weaning problems most often encountered by mothers in the surrounding villages and
what to do about them. The focus group discussion could be used for exploring relevant
local concepts as well as for testing drafts when developing the messages. The
messages should be developed and tested in different socio-economic groups of mothers,
as weaning practices may differ with income, means of subsistence and education of the
mothers. Also ethnic differences may have to be taken into account.

5. Explore controversial topics.

For example:

Sexual behaviour is a controversial topic in the sense that males and females judge sexual
relations and sexuality often from very different perspectives. Sexual education has to
take this difference into account. Through FGDs, first with females, then with males, and
then with a mixed group to confront both sexes with the different outcomes of the
separate discussions (listed on flip charts) it becomes easier to bring these differences in
the open. Especially for teenagers, who may have many stereotypes about the other sex or
be reluctant to discuss the topic openly (particularly girls), such a „multi-stage‟ approach
is useful.

Strengths and limitations

Implementation of FGDs is an iterative process; each focus group discussion builds on the
previous one, with a slightly elaborated or better-focused set of themes for discussion. Provided
the groups have been well chosen, in terms of composition and number (see below), FGDs can
be a powerful research tool which provides valuable spontaneous information in a short period of
time and at relatively low cost.

FGD should not be used for quantitative purposes, such as the testing of hypotheses or the
generalisation of findings for larger areas, which would require more elaborate surveys.

However, FGDs can profitably complement such surveys or other, qualitative techniques.
Depending on the topic, it may be risky to use FGDs as a single tool. In group discussions,
people tend to centre their opinions on the most common ones, on „social norms‟. In reality,
opinions and behaviour may be more diverse. Therefore it is advisable to combine FGDs with at
least some key informant and in-depth interviews. Explicitly soliciting other views during FGDs
should be routine as well.

In case of very sensitive topics, such as sexual behaviour or coping with HIV/AIDS, FGDs may
also have their limitations, as group members may hesitate to air their feelings and experiences
freely. One possible remedy is the selection of participants who do not know each other (e.g.,
selection of children from different schools in FGDs about adolescent sexual behaviour), while
assuring absolute confidentiality.

It may also help to alternate the FGD with other methods, for example, to precede it by a self-
developed role play on sexual behaviour, or to administer a written questionnaire immediately
after the FGD with open questions on sexual behaviour in which the participants can
anonymously state all their questions and problems.

Key Informant interviews

The key informant interview is a standard anthropological method that is widely used in health
related and other social development inquiry. This is one method used in rapid assessment for
gathering information from the affected community. The term “key informant” refers to anyone
who can provide detailed information and opinion based on his or her knowledge of a particular
issue.
Key informant interview is a loosely structured conversation with people who have specialized
knowledge about the topic you wish to understand (EDC, 2004). Key informant interviews were
developed by ethnographers to help understand cultures other than their own. They seek qualitative
information that can be narrated and cross checked with quantitative data, a method called
“triangulation”.

Here the interviews are tape recorded

Observations
What is participant observation?
Participant observation is a qualitative method with roots in traditional ethnographic research,
whose objective is to help researchers learn the perspectives held by study populations. As
qualitative researchers, we presume that there will be multiple perspectives within any given
community. We are interested both in knowing what those diverse perspectives are and in
understanding the interplay among them.
Qualitative researchers accomplish this through observation alone or by both observing and
participating, to varying degrees, in the study community‟s daily activities. Participant
observation always takes place in community settings, in locations believed to have some
relevance to the research questions. The method is distinctive because the researcher approaches
participants in their own environment rather than having the participants come to the researcher.
Generally speaking, the researcher engaged in participant observation tries to learn what life is
like for an “insider” while remaining, inevitably, an “outsider.” While in these community
settings, researchers make careful, objective notes about what they see, recording all accounts
and observations as field notes in a field notebook. Informal conversation and interaction with
members of the study population are also important components of the method and should be
recorded in the field notes, in as much detail as possible. Information and messages
communicated through mass media such as radio or television may also be pertinent
and thus desirable to document.

Data obtained through participant observation serve as a check against participants‟ subjective
reporting of what they believe and do. Participant observation is also useful for gaining an
understanding of the physical, social, cultural, and economic contexts in which study participants
live; the relationships among and between people, contexts, ideas, norms, and events; and
people‟s behaviors and activities – what they do, how frequently, and with whom.
In addition, the method enables researchers to develop a familiarity with the cultural milieu that
will prove invaluable throughout the project. It gives them a nuanced understanding of context
that can come only from personal experience. There is no substitute for witnessing or
participating in phenomena of human interaction – interaction with other people, with places,
with things, and with states of being such as age and health status. Observing and
participating are integral to understanding the breadth and complexities of the human experience
– an overarching research endeavor for any public health or development project. Through
participant observation, researchers can also uncover factors important for a thorough
understanding of the research problem but that were unknown when the study was designed.
This is the great advantage of the method because, although we may get truthful answers to the
research questions we ask, we may not always ask the right questions. Thus, what
we learn from participant observation can help us not only to understand data collected through
other methods (such as interviews, focus groups, and quantitative research methods), but also to
design questions for those methods that will give us the best understanding
of the phenomenon being studied.

This method is however time consuming for researchers. One can take up to one year taking
field notes
A second disadvantage of participant observation is the difficulty of documenting the data – it
is
hard to write down everything that is important while you are in the act of participating and
observing. As the researcher, you must therefore rely on your memory and on your own personal
discipline.

.
Data analysis in qualitative research

This is the process of bringing order, structure and meaning to the mass information collected.
Data in qualitative research is in the form of text- in the form of transcribed and translated data
or field notes, materials and pictures thus it is usually sometimes ambiguous and time consuming
in conducting analysis.

Steps in analysis

1. Data organization: these are derived from reading and field notes. Data here is
transcribed and translated, edited and cleaned up. FGDs are put together so are KI and all
the field notes relevant to the study.
2. Creating categories, themes and patterns: It is a very complex process that require the
researcher to be very familiar with the data. S/he must be able to detect various categories
in the data that is distinct from each other. They will then establish the relationship
among these categories. Themes and patterns evolve through out the data and the
researcher should be able to capture this. An example is the Prevention with the positives
where themes such as adherence counseling, ARVs, stigma and discrimination and
nutrition were identified as themes (BFS, 2009)
3. Coding: a code is basically a word or an abbreviation that represents a link between raw
data (interview transcripts and filed notes) and the researchers‟ theoretical concepts. First
of all nodes are developed and described based on emerging patterns, they could be
parent nodes, child nodes or grandchild nodes( Invivo 2010). These form what is called a
codebook that is used to code text: Basically coding is assigning texts to relevant nodes:
coding is very time consuming and is the core to data analysis in qualitative research.

Example:

C101:Adherence: means taking of drugs as prescribed by a doctor and within the stipulated
time.
C104: Balanced diet: all that pertains to food that has all the essential ingredients

Extract:

Part1: I take drugs everyday

Par2: I take drugs as instructed by my physician

Part3: I have always adhered to my drugs plus I take a balanced diet

Thus while coding scripts for participant one will share nodes C101 while scripts for participant
3 will share nodes C101 and C104 during the coding process.

4. Analysis: here the research will look at emerging patterns and generalize them to
determine adequacy and credibility of information, usefulness, consistency, and
validation of hypotheses.

Report writing: after analysis then come report writing and results dissemination to stakehpolders
for necessary policy formulation

Limitations of qualitative research

In summary there are basically two limitations of this type of research

1. One is that it is yet to impact on policy change in the research world especially in the
developing countries that tend to heavily make policies using quantitative techniques that
test hypotheses
2. The sampling size for qualitative research is yet to be explored. Many a times the sample
frame is too small to validate hypotheses.
Reference:

1. Daniel Adipo 2007 Research methods for data collectors, lecture notes
2. Educational Development center, 2004: www.dec.org
3. (Glesne and Peshkin, 1992): Lecture notes
4. FHI, 2005: Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector‟s Field Guide

5. International development research center: www.idrc.ca

6. INVIVO: http://www.qsrinternational.com

7. Olive M. Mugenda andAbel G. Mugenda 2003:Research methods, quantitative and

qualitative approaches