Qualitative Research in Instructional Technology Essay

WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH? One of the trends over the past decade has been the growing use of and interest in qualitative research for educational research. Qualitative research, broadly defined, means any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification. Where quantitative researchers seek causal determination, prediction, and generalization of findings, qualitative researchers seek instead illumination, understanding, and extrapolation to similar situations. Qualitative analysis results in a different type of knowledge than does quantitative inquiry. (Hoepfl, 1997) During the past several decades, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, naturalistic†¦show more content†¦Qualitative and quantitative methods each bring a unique perspective to research and both methods satisfy the major goals of research in different ways. Historians, political scientists, sociologists and educators like myself seek to have a broad yet deep understanding of society and politics based on multiple perspectives. Very often, we want both a theoretical and empirical understanding of a given topic, as that suggests knowledge of general concepts along with detailed information. We aim to describe and form arguments mainly by explaining in qualitative terms the noteworthy attributes of a given social or political event, trend or phenomenon. Marie Hoepfl synthesized information form several resources as she attempted to define qualitative research and I have come to appreciate this list: 1. Qualitative research uses the natural setting as the source of data. The researcher attempts to observe, describe and interpret settings as they are, maintaining empathic neutrality. 2. The researcher acts as the human instrument of data collection. 3. Qualitative researchers predominantly use inductive data analysis. 4. Qualitative research reports are descriptive, incorporating expressive language and the presence of voice in the text. 5. Qualitative research has an interpretive character, aimed at discovering the meaning events have for the individuals who experience them, and theShow MoreRelated Qualitative Research for Instructional Technology Essay1853 Words   |  8 PagesQualitative Research Qualitative Research Defined: The simplest way to define qualitative research is to say that it is a type of research which involves interpreting nonnumerical data. 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