# Defining Qualitative Research Assignment Jethro Jones ## Assignment Directions Complete the readings, watch the supplemental videos, & lecture for this week.  Then, write a **one-page**synopsis of your understanding of qualitative research.  Consider the following questions to help you get started. - What is qualitative research? - What are some key attributes of conducting qualitative research?   - When and why would a researcher use qualitative methods? - How do you address ethics, equity, and integrity when conducting qualitative research?   **Assignment Guidelines** - Times New Roman (Arial or Calibri), 12pt font, 1” margins, single space - Include a few in-text references using APA format. - Provide a reference list in APA (an additional page) - Submit online by September 9 at 11:59 PM ## Assignment Qualitative Research is a way to make meaning of the world and experiences in a person-focused way. While quantitative data can be valuable in its own right, qualitative research helps us make meaning of what goes on in the world. Bailey and Hudson describe qualitative research as focusing on non-numerical data to understand opinions and experiences, answering "why" and "how" rather than "how much" or "how often" as in quantitative research (Bailey & Hudson, 2022). Robert K. Yin, author of Qualitative Research from Start to Finish states that "virtually every real-world happening can become the topic of a qualitative study" (2016, loc. 1223[^1]). This means that because virtually anything can be turned into a qualitative study, which is both exciting and overwhelming. There are so many different types of qualitative research that it is easy to feel overwhelmed by so many choices, but the simple fact is that you can still do a qualitative study without diving into all the different areas of focus, but if you do, you must understand the nuances, strengths, weaknesses, and literature around those distinct fields of study (Yin, 2016). Qualitative research aims to explore and describe phenomena, often using these distinct fields (case studies, ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology, and more) (Office of Research & Doctoral Services, 2015; Yin, 2016). Gathering data is fundamental to qualitative research, but data is not the same as in quantitative research, as we aren't looking at only numbers. Data is typically gathered through interviews, observations, document analysis, and any other way you can to ascertain the experience of the subject (Office of Research & Doctoral Services, 2015). One of the drawbacks of qualitative research is in it's applicability outside of the research itself. Validity in qualitative research is ensured through strategies like prolonged engagement, rich description, triangulation, and member checking (Office of Research & Doctoral Services, 2015). This approach is suitable for studying subjective experiences and can be a powerful tool for social change (Bailey & Hudson, 2022; Office of Research & Doctoral Services, 2015; Yin, 2016). I'm excited about this method because I'm very interested in individual experiences of events and training programs and will certainly use a qualitative approach in my dissertation. ### References - Bailey, E., & Hudson, J. (Directors). (2022, March 2). _How to Present Your Academic Research: Posters and Presentations_ [Video recording]. ASU SAM Lab. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCnpm620tkg&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCnpm620tkg&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ) - Office of Research & Doctoral Services (Director). (2015, August 13). _Overview of Qualitative Research Methods_ [Video recording]. Walden Office of Research & Doctoral Studies. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAUNs-IoSQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAUNs-IoSQ) - Yin, R. K. (2016). _Qualitative research from start to finish_ (Second edition, Kindle). The Guilford Press. [^1]: This is the Kindle edition, so location numbers are used to provide a more precise citation.