Qualitative Research Design Essay

Phenomenology

This research design looks or tries to describe subjectively the occurrences of a certain event or experience in real life situation. This research design tries to analyze the sequence which led to the occurrence of the event to have a clear understanding of the phenomenon (Gray, 2013). Additionally, this research design depends mostly on individual perspectives and interpretation of the event. Thus, personal feelings, experience, perceptions, reactions are integral part of this research design. Hence, the aim of this research is to find out the effects of the event on the life of the individuals who witness the event or took part in the event. This research can also be based on personal unique life experience and examine in reality how a person has lived their life based on certain event(s). Furthermore, this design tries to look at how the environment was or is affected by the occurrence of the event (Holloway, et al., 2013).

Methodology

Sampling methods are used to pick individuals and narrow the number of the correspondence to the research. The researcher is not limited on the number of correspondence to pick. It depends on the volume of data the researcher wants. The methodologies which are mostly used in collecting data for this research design are interviews and observations. These methods make sure the researcher capture the effects of the event in reality and the respondents don’t have to think about the experience. After the data has been collected, coded and ranked, the researcher looks at the common themes to come out with the findings of the research (Merriam, 2014).

Advantages

The data is fresh (first hand information) and is not manipulated, hence gives the real perspective of the event.
The researcher has in-depth description of the of the event from the respondents which helps the researcher to have a clear understanding of the event

The design is not affected by statistical or mathematical errors

Disadvantages
The research is affected by biasness since it depends on the personal experience. Additionally, the respondents may try to lie or exaggerate the effects of the event so as to be more convincing or appear real.

It may consume more time and resources in moving from one place to another in collecting data.

The researcher may not get a common theme since every respondent may give their own version of the event.

References

Gray, D. E. (2013). Doing research in the real world. Sage.
Holloway, I., & Wheeler, S. (2013). Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. John Wiley & Sons.
Merriam, S. B. (2014). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
Patrick Biddix. (2015). Retrieved from //researchrundowns.wordpress.com/qual/qualitative-research-design/
UMSL. (2015). QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS. Retrieved from http://www.umsl.edu/~lindquists/qualdsgn.html
Willig, C. (2013). Introducing qualitative research in psychology. McGraw-Hill International.