Rersearch Approaches: Case study, Ethnographic, Grounded, narrative and action research
Summary
TLDRToday's class delved into various research approaches, including case study, grounded theory, ethnographic research, narrative inquiry, and action research. Each method was explored for its unique characteristics, such as the in-depth 360° perspective of case studies, the theory-building process of grounded theory, the immersive and long-term nature of ethnography, the story-based understanding of narrative inquiry, and the practical, change-oriented approach of action research. The lecture emphasized the importance of selecting the right research method based on the study's objectives and provided insights into how each approach contributes to the research process.
Takeaways
- 📚 Research approaches are crucial for structuring a research study and providing direction for research projects.
- 🔍 The initial step in research is identifying a specific area of study to focus on, which helps in narrowing down the scope of research.
- 📖 Conducting a literature review (a priori) is essential to understand what has been previously studied in the chosen research area.
- ❓ Formulating a good research question is a critical step as it guides the methodology and data collection process.
- 🔍 The methodology defines the source of data collection, whether primary or secondary, and helps in participant description or source identification.
- 📊 Data collection can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed, and the analysis methods vary accordingly.
- 🔗 Posteriori analysis helps relate research findings to existing literature and can lead to new research or societal applications.
- 📝 Case study method is an investigative approach used to understand a group or individual in-depth, often focusing on a smaller, restrictive population.
- 🌐 Ethnographic research involves in-depth, long-term study of a group or culture, employing multiple methodologies to achieve a theoretical understanding.
- 📖 Narrative inquiry focuses on understanding experiences as stories, using verbal and written narratives to explore subjective phenomena.
- 🔄 Action research is a flexible, applied methodology aimed at supporting change through research, integrating social research with practical actions.
Q & A
What are the steps involved in conducting a research study?
-The steps involved in conducting a research study include identification of the research area, doing a basic review of literature (a priori), formulating research questions, defining methodology, data collection, data analysis, and defining posteriori which helps relate findings to existing literature.
Why is it important to narrow down the research area during the initial phase of research?
-Narrowing down the research area is crucial as it allows for a more focused and structured approach to research, enabling in-depth study of a specific component rather than attempting to study everything, which is impractical.
What is the purpose of a priori in research?
-A priori serves to review existing literature in a specific research area, helping to derive the need for the study and narrow down research questions based on what has already been studied.
How does methodology guide the research process?
-Methodology guides the research process by determining the sources of data collection, whether primary or secondary, and defining participant descriptions or sources of secondary data, which in turn shapes how data is collected.
What is the case study method and when is it used?
-The case study method is an investigative approach used to understand a group of people or an individual in detail, often employed when a specific phenomenon is observed or to gain new understanding of a rare population.
What are the characteristics of a case study?
-Characteristics of a case study include bounding the case to set boundaries on what is studied, having a clear purpose, and focusing on a restrictive population, often for in-depth understanding rather than generalization.
What is grounded theory and when is it used in research?
-Grounded theory is used when existing theories are insufficient to define a phenomenon or are incomplete. It involves data collection and analysis to construct a new theory or redefine an existing one.
What are the types of grounded theory?
-There are two types of grounded theory: classical grounded theory, which focuses on developing new theories from data analysis, and constructivist grounded theory, which emphasizes understanding subjective experiences.
What is ethnographic research and how does it differ from other research methods?
-Ethnographic research involves in-depth investigation of a group or culture over an extended period, often using multiple methodologies. It differs by its immersive nature and focus on understanding cultural phenomena through prolonged engagement.
What is narrative inquiry and how is it used in research?
-Narrative inquiry is a research method that focuses on studying experiences as stories. It uses verbal and written narratives to understand subjective phenomena and is often transactional, reflecting exchanges of ideas.
What is action research and how does it differ from other research approaches?
-Action research is a flexible, applied research methodology aimed at supporting change. It differs from other approaches by integrating social research with actions to promote development, focusing on practical solutions to problems.
What are the steps involved in action research?
-The steps in action research include investigating the current situation, planning for change, introducing and trying out new practices, monitoring the effectiveness of interventions, and analyzing data to generate actionable knowledge.
Outlines
🔍 Introduction to Research Approaches
This paragraph introduces the concept of research approaches, emphasizing their importance in structuring and directing research projects. It outlines the steps involved in conducting research, such as identifying a research area, reviewing literature, formulating research questions, defining methodology, collecting data, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. The paragraph also introduces various research methods like case study, grounded theory, ethnographic research, narrative approach, and action research, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of each in subsequent paragraphs.
📚 In-depth Exploration of Case Study Method
This paragraph delves into the case study method, describing it as an investigative approach that allows for a comprehensive understanding of individuals or groups. It highlights the microscopic nature of case studies, where every aspect of the subject's life is examined in detail. The paragraph discusses the bounding of cases, the purpose of case studies, and the types of case studies, including critical, extreme, representative, and longitudinal cases. It emphasizes the need for a clear rationale when choosing a case study approach and the importance of understanding the unique aspects of each type.
🌱 Grounded Theory: Building New Theories from Data
The paragraph focuses on grounded theory, a research approach used when existing theories are insufficient to explain a phenomenon. It explains that grounded theory involves shaping data collection and analysis methods to construct new theories. The paragraph differentiates between classical and constructivist grounded theory, with the former focusing on objective happenings and the latter on subjective experiences. It outlines the steps in grounded theory research, including identifying a research area, defining research questions, collecting data, analyzing and coding data, and refining or developing theories based on findings.
🌐 Ethnographic Research: Immersive Study of Cultures
This paragraph discusses ethnographic research, which involves in-depth, long-term study of a group or culture. It emphasizes the immersive nature of ethnographic studies, where researchers may participate in the culture they are studying. The paragraph outlines the flexible methodology of ethnographic research, which can include both primary and secondary data sources. It highlights the iterative process of modifying research methods until a theoretical understanding of the culture or group is achieved.
📖 Narrative Inquiry: Understanding Life Stories
The paragraph introduces narrative inquiry, a research method that focuses on understanding experiences through stories. It discusses the transactional nature of narrative approaches, which involve the exchange of ideas and the verbalization of subjective phenomena. The paragraph explores the various forms of data collection in narrative inquiry, such as interviews, qualitative surveys, and focus group discussions. It also mentions the use of narrative inquiry in understanding psychological experiences and the importance of considering both verbal and written narratives.
🔄 Action Research: Research for Real-World Change
This paragraph defines action research as a flexible, applied approach aimed at bringing about change. It contrasts action research with other methods by emphasizing its practical application and theoretical underpinnings. The paragraph outlines the steps in action research, including investigating a current situation, planning and introducing changes, monitoring the effectiveness of interventions, and analyzing data to generate actionable knowledge. It highlights the cyclical nature of action research, where findings may lead back to the investigation phase if interventions are not effective.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Research Approaches
💡A Priori
💡Methodology
💡Case Study Method
💡Grounded Theory
💡Ethnographic Research
💡Narrative Inquiry
💡Action Research
💡Data Collection
💡Data Analysis
Highlights
Research approaches are essential for structuring and directing research projects.
The first step in research is identifying a specific research area to focus on.
A priori literature review helps derive the need for the study and narrow down research questions.
Methodology defines the source of data collection, whether primary or secondary.
Data collection can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed, depending on the research design.
Posterior analysis relates findings to existing literature and can lead to new research or societal applications.
Case study method is an investigative approach to understand individuals or groups in depth.
Bounding the case in case study research involves setting boundaries on the scope of the study.
Purpose of case study must be well-defined, especially when generalization is not possible.
Types of case studies include critical, extreme, representative, and longitudinal studies.
Grounded Theory is used when existing theories are inadequate to explain a phenomenon.
Grounded Theory involves inductive methods to derive or create new theories from data.
Ethnographic research immerses the researcher in a group or culture for an extended period.
Narrative inquiry focuses on understanding experiences through the stories people tell.
Action research is a flexible methodology aimed at supporting change through research.
Action research integrates social research with actions to promote development and solve problems.
The steps in action research include investigating, planning, introducing changes, and analyzing outcomes.
Transcripts
hello everyone in today's class we are
going to focus on different research
approaches research approaches help us
plan our research study in a structured
manner it often gives the direction for
the research project or research work we
are
engaging before I disc discuss about
different research approaches it is
important to reflect on the steps
involved in doing a specific
research this has already been discussed
during other components of the class as
well as when you were doing your
research work the first step is
identification of research
area we can't study
everything and everything around the
world so we need to narrow down our
research understanding to a smaller
component that will help us do our
research in more structured
manner so the first step involves is re
identification of research area the next
thing is doing
basic review of literature and we term
it as a priori a priori helps us what
has already been studied in this
specific research area we are interested
in based on a
priori
the need for the study can be derived
and thereby research questions can be
narrowed down the process of making a
good research question has already been
discussed in different
components based on the research
question the method ology can be
defined methodology helps us understand
from where we are going to collect our
study if the data is going to be
collected from primary
source the participants can be decided
and that can be described better in
terms of participant description if the
data is collected from a secondary
resource the sources of secondary data
can be defined appropriately
The Next Step involves the actual data
collection the data collection take can
take place in qualitative format or
quantitative format or even in mixed
format the collected data is further
analyzed and the various methods of data
analysis will be spoken in a different
section after that the posterior are
defined posterior are something which
helps us understand how the findings are
related to existing
literature that will often complete the
research based on posterior a new
research can be derived or the Highlight
uh the findings can itself be used in
terms of making this or helping the
society so these are the steps involved
in a research
now let's reflect on different research
approaches in this particular section we
are going to speak about Cas study
method grounded Theory method
ethnographic research Narrative Approach
and action
research we have heard about case study
method since the time we have studied
psychology and we have briefly mentioned
about case study method even during our
classes case study research is is often
termed it as investigative approach
where we are trying to understand a
group of people or an individual in an
investigative format in the sense we
trying to understand the person from a
360 degree
perspective case study method can help
us understand the phenomena or a
person in detail and helps us get a
deeper
understanding
case study can stem out of various needs
such as a specific phenomena is
happening in our
society or something which has been
observed by A specific group of people
and something has been observed uh about
some rare population a
new understanding is needed so those are
the times when case study methods can be
used dominantly case study method method
is done on a very restrictive
population unlike quantitative study we
can't generalized to a larger group for
case study usually a smaller group is or
preferably an individual is focused on a
lot of researchers have highlighted that
a case study research appears like a
microscopic approach means in the sense
the people who are part of the case
study appears to be under microscope
where every aspect of their lifestyle or
happening or complete picture is
recorded in a structured
manner often people see this particular
thing like peeling of an onion like
onion have different different layers so
as in when we are doing research it can
appear like we are peeling the onion and
more and more information is derived
now let's speak about different
characteristics of of case
study we can't study everything around
the world even so thing can happen when
we are doing case
study bounding the case simply means we
are setting boundaries on what exactly
we intend to
study even though we aim to have a 360°
approach we still need to Define what we
are exactly studying so bounding the is
simply helps us who we are studying what
we are studying and how long we study so
bounding the case simply means creating
a boundary or rather say defining what
we intend to
study the next thing is purpose of case
study because case study is done on a
restrictive population it often requires
a structured reason why we are doing
a specific case study why we are
avoiding usage of any other research
means so a good case study needs to have
a very good reason why a case study
approach has been
used let us further reflect on different
types of case study you all have an
understanding of it but let then let us
just now term it the first one is
critical case the critical case is often
seen as a unique population for example
um philx Gage case can be a critical
case the next thing is Extreme or a
unique case somebody who stands out for
example there are a lot of people who
are twins but very few are conjoined
twins even as an adult so that is a
unique aspect so if we are trying to
understand understand how the lifestyle
of these people are that is unique case
the next thing is representative case or
typical case sometimes for example you
are trying to understand the subjective
experience of people with
um
schizophrenia so you're trying to
identify one person from the population
who is a typical example of somebody who
is experiencing schizophrenia and trying
to do a in-depth understanding main
concern here is the person who you are
selecting for the case study should
appear like a typical example for the
concern the next thing is longitudinal
study certain times when we do case
study we want to understand in depth for
a longer duration and that is considered
as longitudinal case
study now let's go to the next thing
which is grounded
Theory grounded Theory the purpose of it
was frequently discussed during our
classes when some
phenomena which is existing cannot be
defined based on existing
Theory or existing Theory stands
incomplete we take the help of grounded
Theory I'll repeat myself once again we
take help of grounded Theory when
existing
theory is not able to
define the
concerns or rather say we are not able
to theoretically Define the reason for a
specific phenomena or the
existing Theory stands
incomplete while defining the existence
or the reason for a phenomena
for example when I'm doing a study on
situation
ship I feel that none of the existing
theories are able to define the cause of
situationship then to understand and
derive a new Theory or create a new
Theory I can use a grounded Theory
approach on the other hand we can also
use grounded Theory approach when and I
feel that my study on
situationship
is not clearly being defined based on
existing theories suppose I assume that
Freudian Theory Eric eron's theory none
of it is standing complete to define the
reasons for existence of
situationship that's when I go to
grounded
Theory
grounded Theory often involves
methods and strategies that shape the
data collection so in short when we are
doing grounded Theory our analysis and
data collection method is dominantly
going to be shaped based on the approach
we are
using based on the analysis we it is
going to help us construct a new the
the and there that is how we are going
to study a specific
phenomena sometimes in the process of
analysis we are trying to fit in means
in the sense we are trying to derive to
fit in a research idea which we have
means if I'm trying to build a new
Theory I'm trying to fit in the findings
of my study to the possible Theory I am
trying to
create now grounded Theory methods are
particularly helpful for studying
individuals groups or even social
phenomenas even organizational process
where existing theories are standing
meaningless or stands
incomplete grounded theory is often
considered Ed as inductive method mainly
because we are deriving a theory or
creating a theory or re understanding a
specific
phenomena from the by understanding the
drawbacks of the existing
theories now let's speak about the types
of grounded Theory there are just two
types types of grounded Theory the first
one is classical grounded Theory and the
constructivist grounded Theory when we
speak about classical grounded Theory it
is based on the tra approaches of the
founders of uh or rather say the
contributors of grounded Theory where
you are analyzing the data to develop a
new theory on the other hand when we
speak about constructivist grounded
Theory it helps us understand how
subjective
experiences are playing a role so
classical grounded theory
dominantly in simple possible way it
helps us say that what exactly is
happening when we speak about
constructivist grounded Theory it speaks
about the subjective experiences so
Theory derivation and Theory
understanding for classical grounded
theory is dominantly based on on what
exactly is happening on the other hand
constructivist grounded Theory
dominantly focuses on the subjective
experiences so how does a person feel in
a specific situation so that is
constructivist grounded
Theory now let's briefly focus on steps
involved it is similar to what we have
already learned
so we already know that we have to
identify a research area after initial
analysis which is a priori we are going
to define the research question based on
the research question derivation we
Define the methodology and thereby
identify who we are going to collect the
data from the data analysis is done and
after the data analysis done the further
coding is created mainly because we are
going to create theories out of the
codes derived and we going to redefine a
based on the codes derived after
analysis we are going
to re refine or rather say change
aspects of existing Theory or develop a
new Theory alog together based on the
findings once the theory is derived we
are going to validate we are going to
check whether the Theory actually exist
or not through another set of research
and then we are going to create a
document based on the findings that is
the central steps of grounded
Theory questions might come up regarding
elaborate on the steps involved in
grounded Theory kindly just don't keep
the headings make sure you give a
specific description with the
examples to understand
better
now let's speak about
the ethnographic
research ethnographic research is
something which is frequently done in
Psychology which speaks about doing an
investigation of a group for a longer
period of time means sometimes we when
we are doing a qualitative research we
just don't do it for a short duration we
do it for a longer
duration we try to immerse ourself of
and sometimes be even a participant
Observer we do multiple methods to get
the most accurate information about a
group so ethnographic research is highly
recommended when we are doing culture
specific
study sometimes even can involve usage
of secondary data along with primary
data when we are doing ethnographic
research because in this process we are
trying to immerse ourself to understand
the existence of a
phenomena ethnographic approach employs
multiple methodologies so in short we
don't follow a single methodological
structures so methodology frequently
changes based on what we intend to
study and we are going to keep doing the
research till a theoretical explanation
is derived about the reasons or of a
specific phenomena happening for a group
or a culture so in short we will keep
modifying our methodology or changing
the methodology till a theoretical
understanding is derived for our
specific
population now let's briefly speak about
the steps it is similar to what is the
normal steps involved in a research but
there is a slight
modification uh for others the
methodology remains constant but here
the methodology frequently keeps
changing so sometimes we may use a
quantitative approach after deriving the
data we have another new research where
we are trying to understand in terms of
qualitative approach
then we try to understand all together a
study based on secondary data so this
particular research method is highly
recommended when we are trying to
understand a specific culture at large
and dominantly for a longer
duration the next thing is narrative
inquiry narrative inquiry is frequently
used in psychology as well as in
subjects such as in English
narrative inquiry is a study of
experience as a story we all love
narrating stories but stories how we
narrate it and how we uh speak about it
speaks a lot about how we are thinking
and experiencing the world around so
narrative inquiry is a method which
which is dominantly stemming or
prominently trying to understand the
happenings based on the type of stories
we
make qualitative research generally uses
narratives mainly because it involves
verbal acts that someone is telling to
another person in a way that a situation
has occurred so in short it kinds of
verbalizes a subjective
phenomena
when we speak about narrative inquiry we
often just don't refer to verbal
information verbal we also focus on
written text so sometimes when we are
trying to understand how people create
stories we can do it based on
autobiographies interviews and so on
sometimes the narrative approaches can
even be done on field notes in the sense
when we are interacting how a person is
narrating the sto like communicating
that also sometimes can be structurally
recorded in terms of understanding it in
a better
manner a lot of researchers often
consider narrative approaches
transactional experience in the sense
it's an exchange of ideas transaction uh
involves you telling the other person
responding and it goes on so a lot of of
research often consider Narrative
Approach as a transactional experience
mainly because it reflects how a person
shares relationship with people around
or places and also helps the
researcher develop ideas and understand
the existence at a whole usually
narrative inquiry is done when we are
trying to understand the psychological
sub uh experiences of a particular
person so yeah that is about Narrative
Approach the steps involves is similar
to what we already
know the different reasons or different
spaces where Narrative Approach can be
the best suited one as a research
methodology when we are trying to
understand a specific person after their
death probably they have written an
autobiography and we are trying to
understand how their lifestyle went for
example uh if you look at if somebody
can do a narrative analysis of
autobiography of Abdul Kalam which is
Wings of Fire although it was written by
somebody else but it still denotes a
autobiography so that is one such
example you can write any of the
examples questions can come up about
different methods or different steps
involved in narrative approaches you can
write the different steps which are
generally there however highlight the
uniqueness of Narrative Approach when
you're describing it then comes methods
of data collection in narrative inquiry
there are very various methods of
collecting data the first one is using
interviews then is qualitative surveys
in the sense we we have structured set
of questions and we expect participants
to answer them in an elaborate manner
recordings of history in the sense
documents
uh in form of libraries can be
used another interesting aspect of
collecting data in narrative inquiry is
focus group discussions whereas a group
or a community is called in or members
of the community is called in to
describe for example when you are trying
to understand how did people
see an
accident so you call everybody who saw
the accident and ask people how did the
car approach how did the person react
and so on so narrative enquiry is mainly
a study of how people make
Stories the last aspect here is action
research action research is one of the
best research search approach mainly
because of its
applicability the main aspect of action
research is supporting change it is set
to be a flexible research methodology
which AIMS in bringing in a
change in action research you just don't
do a research for the sake of it you do
a research to bring about a change for
example you have realized that in uh
you're doing a research on quality of
food in college canteen you're just not
doing a in if you're doing an action
research you're trying to bring in a
change through a
research this makes it unique mainly
because it has a very strong applicable
change it integrates social research
with exploratory actions to promote
development so because it is very
applicable by nature which aims to bring
in a solution this promotes the aspect
of
development action research as
previously mentioned is flexible by
Nature sometimes overlapping
investigation cyes sometimes you'll be
investigating uh based on the example
which I just gave you may be exploring
the quality of food sometimes you may
explore uh the interest level of
students sometimes the interest level of
employees are working and so on so there
can be an overlapping ideas as and main
thing here is the fluid nature of
research in action research it is not
very rigid the main goal of action
research is not to make it very rigid
but make it flexible however the central
idea here is to bring in a
change action research is both practical
and theoretical in the sense you use
Theory to derive to say that a problem
is happening because of this this is a
possible solution so suppose you realize
through theories that children college
students don't like uh same quality food
every day same tasting food every day
that's what theoretically it says so in
terms of practical knowledge you uh you
can also say that you're trying to bring
say that bring in variety of foods on a
daily basis so that people are more
interested to eat food in the
C the steps involved in action research
can appear to be different from
others mainly because of its applicable
nature so the first step here is
investigating a current situation in
partnership with planning for a change
so you not just doing a research you are
doing a research with a in your bag you
should always keep in mind that you are
doing a research to identify a problem
and trying to find a possible solution
to the problem the next step is
introducing changes trying out new
practices with the aim of improvement so
in this here it speaks
about theoretical application where you
have observed that in and theories have
said that uh college students prefer
variety college students uh
prefer more appetizing food at a lower
cost so this is what theories and
existing literatures have said so you're
trying to say to canteen owners that
bring in more variety and bring in a
reasonable cost Associated
food step three is monitoring whether
your intervention is applicable or not
so you have said that change the cost of
the food and bring in more variety so
this is your intervention so then you in
step three you are checking whether your
intervention is effective or Not by
again collecting data based on your
intervention whether your intervention
is effective or not step four is very
important where you're analyzing and
interpreting the data to generate an
actionable knowledge so in the sense if
the findings were effective in the sense
uh your intervention that if the cost is
reduced and the variety is added are
more people going to the canteen or not
so you are seeing whether your
intervention is effective if it is
effective it is adding on to the
knowledge system or thereby or else
again we'll go back to step one so that
is all for today's class when we speak
about exam from exam point of view try
to understand that the answers are
expected to be descriptive you can't
have a short answer the pointers are
mentioned here try to elaborate it based
on your subjective understanding you
will fetch better marks if give
examples uh I have already sent certain
sample questions make sure you refer
that for your preparation for your exam
that's it from my side for any further
clarification feel free to message me or
call me you can take the number from
your class thank you and have a nice
day
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