Essay - Three Examples of Qualitative Research Methods: Biographical, Phenomenological, and Grounded...

Three Examples of Qualitative Research Methods: Biographical, Phenomenological, and Grounded Theory

As an investigational method, qualitative research uses interpretative (i.e., verbal) rather than empirical (i.e., numerical) ways of examining narratives; statistics, or other data, or ***** analyzing and interpreting case studies or case histories. In addition, ***** research is multi method in its focus, that is, it ********** an interpretative, natural*****tic approach to analyzing specific subject matter. Qualitative investigators study *****s within their natural settings, and therefore interpret phenomena based on meanings that their study subjects themselves attach to them. Further, qualitative ***** may include the use of case studies; life stories and/or other personal experiences; interviews, observations; focus groups; conversational analysis, or other types of verbal data. Three widely-used types ***** qualitative research methods are: (1) biographical; (2) phenomenological; (3) grounded theory.

The first qualitative method, biographical research, typically ***** for its core research data the life stories and/or partial ***** stories of selected individuals (***** instance, interview ***** or other individuals whom the researcher may observe, first-hand, within their day-to-day lives. Strengths of ***** research as a ***** investigative method include the fact that that ***** data is directly observable, and therefore verifiable by the *****, and in many c*****es data ***** also immediate and/or ********** (these, however, can also turn into drawbacks, if either the researcher is biased or study subjects are less than truthful). Typical drawbacks of biographical research, *****n, may include bias on the part of either the ***** ***** the researcher; lack of reliability ***** the ***** of l*****e story; partial life story; or interview subjects; lack ***** candidness on the part of ***** story; partial life story; or interview ***** pre-ex*****ting bias on the part of the researcher; faulty or incomplete data; faulty or ***** data reporting; and ***** or incomplete data analysis.

A sec*****d qualitative research *****, the phenomenological method, on the other hand, is ***** entirely on analysis of *****er-*****d phenomena, from which fresh intuitions, ***** in no particular theory, may be derived by the researcher, based on fresh first-***** observation. An example ***** such a research method, and topic, might be a study ***** which a researcher would endeavor to answer ***** following research question: "What is the essential structure of compassionate interactions ********** individuals who lack medical insurance, ***** ***** then present ********** within a hospit*****l emergency room for treatment?"

***** ***** method characteristics *****: scrutiny of abstract or philosophical ideas, ***** as, f***** instance, the original ***** from which a nation's Constitution or parliamentary system springs, and the ways such concepts are applied within day-to day life. During ***** course ***** phenomenological research, the researcher also effectively enters ***** same field of perception ***** the study participants themselves. Therefore, the researcher sees first-hand how the target study population experiences, lives, and displays the phenomenon being studied. Another ***** ***** a qu*****litative phenomenological study ***** be observing and ***** how various groups (e.g. blacks; Hispanics; women; Asians, or the disabled) experience discrimination ***** whites and/or o*****rs, and how manifestations