Qualitative Reserch: Five Essential Reads for Doctoral Candidates in the Social Sciences

Obtaining a doctoral degree (doctorate) is probably one of the most remarkable milestones you can achieve in your lifetime because it enables you to gain insight into contemporary research approaches by which you can contribute to the ongoing developments in theory and practice in your respected area of inquiry.

Most probably, the status tag apart, the excitement comes from the fact that a PhD degree cultivates in a person the fine research and thinking skills by which one can make an original contribution to the evolution of knowledge.

Though there are quite a few books available today on qualitative inquiry and research, major universities in the US, UK, Australia, and elsewhere, one way or another, recommend at least five books that are considered a well-blended synthesis of contemporary theory and practice within qualitative inquiry. For a doctoral candidate planning to start their PhD, beginning their coursework, or just thinking about moving on, reading through these (or at least some of these) books can be quite enlightening.

In this post, I offer a succinct introduction to these five books with an aims that the reader would, in short time, find out why these books are so important today for a doctoral candidate in the social sciences.


1. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Author: John W. Creswell. (2012, 3rd Edition)

In this book, Creswell, a learned and globally renowned research scholar, presents a thorough synthesis of contemporary thought on theory and practice revolving around qualitative research design and the role of five major approaches within qualitative paradigm: (i) Narrative Research, (ii) Phenomenological Research, (iii) Grounded Theory Research, (iv) Ethnographic Research, and (v) Case Study Research.

This volume is not simply a sell-yourself thing. The author situates these approaches within contemporary thought processes and practices. He also takes his reader for a walkthrough from philosophical foundations of these approaches to actually writing a qualitative inquiry choosing one or more of these approaches together.

This book can be a delight for any reader interested in gaining an in-depth insight into qualitative research today with specific reference to the five approaches at hand. Don't miss it!


2. "Stretching" Exercises for Qualitative Researchers. Author: Valerie J. Janesick (2010, 3rd Edition)

Janesick uses the metaphor of stretching exercises to relate the elusiveness of qualitative thinking and its subtleties with a clear aim: clarifying misunderstandings around qualitative research and inculcating its real essence in the reader. The book is structured on four major concepts of qualitative research: (i) observation, (ii) interviews, (iii) the role of the researcher, and (iv) qualitative data analysis. The author also defines many related concepts to form a holistic understanding of qualitative research is. She draws useful comparisons between qualitative research and quantitative inquiry to keep clear many a misunderstanding.

The book stands apart for its metaphoric uniqueness with which it discusses all the major areas of qualitative research and conveniently transfers a robust understanding to the reader. Personally, I believe that this book is a very good complement to Creswell. Grab it. A creative piece.


3. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Author: Michael Quinn Patton (2002, 3rd Edition)

Though Patton has written this book primarily for doctoral students in psychology, perhaps, it would not be naive to claim that it is equally effective for students working in other disciplines. This volume is undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive works on qualitative inquiry.

Patton presents a number of examples, metaphors, references, and critical commentary to build on the three important areas of qualitative research and its evaluation: (i) Conceptual issues in qualitative inquiry, (ii) Qualitative designs and data collection, and (iii) Analysis, interpretation, and reporting. The reader simply sways with Patton on an intellectual journey of discovery. The narrative is very powerful yet so convincing. In this volume, such matters as appropriate sample size for a PhD dissertation (something that keeps doctoral students' mind spinning all the time!) are discussed at length.

Personally, I would recommend this read to every doctoral student in qualitative research! 


4. Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Author: Joseph A. Maxwell (2012, 3rd Edition)

Maxwell's effort is focused on helping the students take a kickstart with qualitative research. More often, this book is recommended to students who are just beginning to sharpen their concepts and skills as qualitative researchers. Maxwell does his job really well. He assists the reader on how to develop a systematic understanding of major concepts from scratch. For this purpose, he offers quite a few interactive exercises that do the wonder. Alongside, he keeps the tempo going by providing real-life examples that add to the gradual development of the student's thought. Miss it at your own risk!


5. Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. Author: David Silverman (2013, 3rd Edition)

Silverman takes a project-based approach to doing qualitative research. He not only brings forth the latest developments in qualitative research but also assists his reader in going through different phases of a qualitative research project such as the role of the supervisor in a research endeavor and how to approach your oral exam or defense. I must say that Silverman has come a long way forward to offer a practical guide to doctoral students. Moreover, he provides a useful chapter on Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), making it a rounded effort. He also offers effective matrices and grids that a student can use to keep track of their activities as researchers. 

At the end, I would say that no single work of human effort and creativity is perfect. This is the reason we have so many books on the same area and still counting. However, this should also be acknowledged that we together are responsible for the development of this world. I am very hopeful that the set of these five books can nurture fine conceptual and practical research skills in anyone serious in pursuing a career in qualitative research. Good luck.

Dealing with Bias in Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Dealing with Research Bias with Smiles

This blog post discusses one of the most complex and intimidating areas of research: Researcher’s bias, and how to handle it. The purpose of this post is to communicate to the reader (and novice researchers) that:

• Understanding bias is not a herculean task; 
• Defining it in your research study is also quite systematic; and
• Some useful strategies can be effectively adopted to address/reduce bias in research. 

We may define bias as an “unknown or unacknowledged error created during the design, measurement, sampling, procedure, or choice of problem studied”. More errors lead to less reliability of a study and vice versa. Thus, bias and reliability are mutually-exclusive. Your job is to work toward eliminating one (bias) to strengthen the other (reliability). (For a detailed discussion of bias in quantitative research, see: Research Bias.

In extant empirical literature, bias has long been recognized as a critical factor that can hamper a carefully designed research study. Although there are quite a few commonalities shared by positivists (quantitative researchers) and interpretivists (qualitative researchers) in relation to addressing bias in research, primarily, the two broad paradigms take different positions on not only defining what it means to be biased and neutral/objective in a research effort but also in attempts to devise strategies to address bias in a research endeavor.

First off, it is important to understand that the concept of bias has been extensively studied in different domains: social, management, and natural sciences, and other fields of inquiry such as management information systems. Today, it is seen as one of the most abused and misused concept not only in the production of research but also in the publication of it. Read more.

I will now very briefly review some major areas within the two paradigms on the concept of bias. This understanding alone will take away half of your fear and pain regarding bias and how to address it.

Bias in Quantitative Research

In quantitative research, bias is more relevant to the overall research design. Although it is present and discussed in the later stages as well, the emphasis is placed on the initial stages when a study is being planned. The position of this school of thought is that it is the way you plan your research design, instruments or research tools (e.g. questionnaire) that decides whether the study is reliable or not.

Therefore, for quantitative research studies, your conceptualization and the research design (sampling, instruments, tests, etc.) play an important role. A carefully designed study can lead to more rigorous conclusions. Strategies to address bias:

• Rigorous literature review

• Conceptualization of the problem, hypotheses, and propositions

• Choosing the most appropriate tools and strategies for data collection

• Using the most appropriate data analysis procedures

• Peer-review of the research plan

• Pilot study

 

Bias in Qualitative Research

In qualitative research studies, however, bias takes a somehow different meaning: something that has caused ongoing debates and heated arguments among qualitative researchers alone! Read more.

In simple words, qualitative research is more a matter of investigating people’s lived experiences. One of the most important sources of data comes in the form of words. Thus, there are as many theories of interpreting these words and lived experiences of people as, perhaps, there are scholars!

Overall, the basic meaning of ‘error’ is also relevant here. However, it is much more than this: It is about social issues, gender, ethnicities, background (and what not!) of people that may lead them to be biased toward some particular group and individuals.

For instance, a researcher, while studying a different ethnic community, may not be welcomed into an indigenous community as warmly as a person from their own community. This creates problems. How to address this issue and many more relevant to such a context?

Fortunately, to date, quite a few useful strategies and guidelines have been proposed; following these strategies can lead you to form a better and valid research report that can be trusted and admired. I list some major strategies that are recommended by most of the qualitative research scholars today:

• Write clearly ‘everything’ in the research report, from A to Z: your problems, the many issues you confronted during the research (at any phase), and so on…

• Confront your biases: acknowledge your background, ethnicity, language, beliefs, and so on.

• Take a position on a social issue and investigate it through that perspective, i.e., feminist, Marxist, pragmatist approach, etc.

• Maintain confidentiality and anonymity of the research participants (a very complex area).

There are some other important things to consider but there are some very useful strategies. Now, if you follow these strategies, what would be the result? It would be a research report that is honestly communicating to the reader all that the researcher thought, perceived, explored, and found out. 

This way, your study is an open book to your reader. For instance, you might state that, “I didn’t feel comfortable in that community because of my different ethnic background; however, I discussed this issue openly with these people, and we came up to a mutual acceptance – at least for the period of research! 

The reader would certainly acknowledge your truthfulness. Such a confrontation and reporting would also ensure them that you’ve been unbiased in your judgments: you didn’t say anything stereotypical about that particular community. Instead, you acknowledged your limitations and moved on to explore the social issue from the particular position you could naturally have in that research context.

Reading, writing, and reflection on these strategies are undoubtedly important activities that can help you refine your study. You might want to look at a very good article here.

Last word, be as systematic for validity in quantitative research, and be as detailed in your description as you can. This is your route to a reliable research study in qualitative domain, something that can convince others of your hard work.

Start working NOW!