Janet Hightower

FIVE APPROACHES TO The Chicago School of Professional

Psychology

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH OL621

Discussion 2 Unit 3
 FIVE APPROACHES - TABLE 1
Method Study Focus Analytical Focus Background
Ethnography Culture cultural group Describe a culture or cultural group 20th Century anthropologist Boas,
(Seek to understand) Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, and Mead
Comparative cultural anthropology,
geographic locational studies (Creswell,
2013)

Grounded Theory Cultural groups Research theory grounded in data of Developed by Glaser and Strauss 1967,
(Discover) social processes sociology, and rooted in observation
(Creswell, 2013).

Phenomenology Individual experience Peoples Research the lived experiences Philosophical perspective- Psychology,
subjective experiences, interpretations Sociology and Social work.
of the world (Describe the experience)

Narrative Individual experiences told in stories Exploration of the individual Originated from literature, history,
and lived experiences (Report the phenomenon anthropology, sociology, sociolinguistics, and
story) education (Creswell, 2013)

Case Study One or more issues studied in a In-depth analysis of a single or Freud and Piaget modern social science,
setting (Explore a process) multiple case anthropology, and sociology (Creswell,
2013)
 FIVE APPROACHES - TABLE 2
Method Data Collection Data Analysis Questions
Ethnography Interview with artifacts for long periods Descriptive What is selfefficacy for Muslims and Christians?
of time (e.g. 6 months year) Analysis What role does ethics play in transnational
Interpretation organizations.
Grounded Theory Interview 20 30 people detailed Open coding What methods do leaders need to discover learn
theory Conditional Matrix new communication skills.
Selective Coding What is the process for implementing the ethical
Axial Coding rules for leaders, managers, and employees?
Phenomenology Interviews up to 10 people Description of experience What does it mean to apply strategic leadership
Meaning themes methods for leaders and employees? How would
Statements leaders and employees describe spiritual
leadership?
Narrative Interviews Epiphanies What is the experience of employees that became
Stories leaders for the first time?
Historical content When leaders change job, what are their
experiences in job motivation?
Case Study Documents, archival records, interviews, Description How do women in leadership positions decide
observations, and physical artifacts. Themes whether they are able to be effective leaders with
Assertions all male employees?
 FIVE APPROACHES - TABLE 3
Methods Overcoming Challenges

Ethnography
Researches need to be sensitive to the needs of the participants avoid going native.

Grounded Theory
Discriminant sampling, and recognize the primary outcome of the study is theory with specific components a
central phenomenon: causal conditions, consequences, strategies, and conditions and context (Creswell, 2013).

Phenomenology
Researchers need structured approach to analyzing data understand philosophical assumptions and identify
with the assumptions, and suspending in a reflective move cultivating curiosity (Creswell, 2013).

Narrative
Researcher needs to collect extensive information from the participant, clear understanding of individuals life
and experiences, and an active collaborative including their own experiences (Creswell, 2013).
FIVE APPROACHES COMPARISON
Comparing narrative research compared to ethnography:
Narrative inquires about the focus of the stories told from the participants around in
chronological order compared to ethnography which focuses on setting the participants
stories within the context of the culture and culture-sharing groups and compared to In case
study a single cases is selected illustrating an issue, with a detailed description of the setting
for the case.

Narrative compared to ethnography, and case study:

When comparing narrative to ethnography, and case study there is similarities when the unit
of analysis is a single individual. The similarities include data collection processes, interviews,
observations, documents and audiovisual materials, however, the types of data collection
would differ.
REFERENCE
Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.