Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs

Key Ideas

• Empirical knowledge may be generated using scientific or social scientific approaches to study both physical and human phenomena.
• Qualitative research, as contrasted with quantitative studies, places more emphasis on the study of phenomena from the perspective of insiders.
• Quantitative researchers attempt to remain independent of the phenomena they study with the aim of generalizing findings, where as qualitative researchers immerse themselves, viewing meaning as more context- and time-specific and, in most cases, not generalizable.
• Qualitative research from the critical theoretical view uses interpretive frameworks but also reveals ways that power is embedded in social contexts.
• Research methods refer to the kinds of tools used to ...