SEMINAR-WORKSHOP

August 24, 2012

A. LITERATURE REVIEW
B. METHODS OF COLLECTING
Qualitative Data
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 WHY WRITE A LITERATURE REVIEW?

 You are asked to write literature reviews in some of your

courses so that you can demonstrate to your lectures that you
are able to:
 Determine what has already been written on a topic
 Identify previous approaches to the topic
 Identify central issues in the field
 Integrate what previous researchers have found
 Identify important issues that are instill unresolved
 Write a draft of the review
 Read and think about what you have written and then rewrite
 What makes a good literature review
 Clearly delimits the subject matter to be reviewed
 Covers all important relevant literature
 Is –up-to-date
 Provides an insightful analysis
LITERATURE REVIEW

 In a literature review you are required to

present:
 Established findings
 Conflicting evidence
 Gaps
 NO USE OF WIKIPEDIA SOURCES –
SHOULDBE FROM SCHOLARLY JOURNAL:
DISSERTATION, THESIS
What is Qualitative Research?
Qualitative research
is intended to approach the world ‘out
there’ and to understand, describe
and sometimes explain social
phenomena ‘from the inside’.
Ways of Doing Qualitative Research
1. By analyzing experiences of individuals or groups
(biographical life histories, daily/professional
practices, daily accounts/stories)
2. By analyzing interactions and communications
in the making
(observing or recording practices)
3. By analyzing documents or similar traces of
experiences or interactions
(texts, film, images, music)
What are qualitative data?
Any form of human communication – written, audio,
visual (behavior, symbolism or cultural artefacts
 Individual interview and its transcript
 Focus group and its transcript
 Participant observation
 Advertisements: print, visual, audio
 Films
Video recordings
Video diaries
Videos of interviews
Home videos
Various documents
Diaries
Photos
Online chat, Facebook, e-mail
What are the designs of
qualitative research?
1. Ethnography
 studies an intact cultural group in a natural setting
during a prolonged period by collecting, primarily
observational data
(Wallen & Fraenkel, 1991 in Creswell, 1994)
 Is flexible and typically evolves contextually in
response to the lived realities encountered in the
field setting
(Grant & Fine, 1992 in Creswell, 1994)
2. Grounded Theory
Attempts to derive a theory by using
multiple stages of data collection and
the refinement and
interrelationship of categories of
information
(Strauss & Corbin, 1990 in Creswell,
1994)
3. Case Studies
 Explores a single entity or phenomenon (the case)
bound by time and activity (program, event, process,
institution, or social group) and collects detailed
information by using various procedures during a
sustained period
(Merriam, 1988; Yin, 1989 in Creswell, 1994)
4. Phenomenological Studies
 Examines human experiences through the detailed
descriptions of the people being studied
 Understands the ‘lived experiences’
 Studies a small number of subjects through
extensive and prolonged engagement to develop
patterns and relationship of meanings
 Brackets the QR’s experiences to understand those
of the informants
(Dukes, 1984; Oiler, 1986 in Creswell, 1994)
What are the steps involved in
data collection?
1. Identify the parameters in purposefully selecting
the informants:
 Setting
 Actors/informants
 Events
 Process
(Miles & Huberman, 1984 in Creswell, 1994)
2.Indicate the types of data and provide
a rationale for the data collection
procedures.
Observation
Interviews
Documents
Visual Images
Observation – multiple observations
Complete participant
Participant as observer
Observer as participant
Complete observer
Interview – series of interviews
Face to face (one on one)
Telephone Interview
Focus Group

may be recorded by note-taking, audiotapes, videos

Documents – repeated analysis
 Public documents

 Private documents
Journal, diaries, letters, e-mails
Audio-visual Materials – repeated analysis
 Photographs
 Videotapes
 Art objects
 Film
 Computer software
 Audio CDs, tapes
3. Design and advance protocols for collecting
information.
As the QR engages in multiple observations, he must
be ready with a protocol or form to record
information and to note observations in the field.
Include the demographic information – time, place, date
of the observation.
Note Observations
Descriptive notes – portraits of the
informants, a reconstruction of
dialogue, a description of the physical
setting, accounts of particular events,
and activities
Reflective notes – records the QR’s
personal thoughts such as
speculations, feelings, problems, ideas,
hunches, impressions, and prejudices

(Bogdan & Biklen, 1992 in Creswell,

1994)