Rationale for and Potential Bias in Qualitative Research (Research Paper Sample)

Rationale for and Potential Bias in Qualitative Research
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Rationale for Using Qualitative Research instead of Quantitative Research
Qualitative research focusses on the meanings, traits, and the defining characteristics of people, events, settings or culture, as well as interactions and experience, as compared to quantitative research that centres its research on numerical descriptions of objects and their relationship (Tewksbury, 2009 p.38). For example, through a qualitative inquiry, it is easy to establish the behaviour, health characteristics, setting, the influence of culture, and other aspects of the ethnically-defined aboriginal group. The inquiry will establish the educational patterns of the group, their interactions within and outside of the social confines of their community, and how these qualitative aspects influence their educational behaviour. This process can only be achieved through qualitative research, unlike quantitative research that embedded on deductive approaches to the study problem. As a result, qualitative research is best at capturing the individual's lived experience (Stuckey, 2013) to understand them and their culture.
In qualitative research, the principal researcher is the agent for data collection and analysis. Irrespective of the type of qualitative research (ethnographical, grounded theory, phenomenology, or narrative), the investigator is the one that goes into the field to collect data. This is because qualitative research deals with the “essence and ambience” of the population studies (Tewksbury, 2009), requiring the researcher’s presence. By being in the field, the researcher prides in the collection of undistorted, first-hand information from the participants. Furthermore, being in the field allows the lead researcher to relate the participants’ experiences, beliefs, and cultures with their settings. As a result, the researcher captures expressive information not found in quantitative studies (Miller, 2010). Since qualitative research involves data collection in word-forms (as opposed to the numerical attributes of quantitative research), only the lead researcher understands the wording, necessitating transcription of the words into codes that generate hypotheses. This way, the data collected is very reliable, unlike data collected by other parties besides the lead researcher in quantitative research.
Qualitative research provides a holistic view of the target population. It includes items not found in quantitative research. It is possible to understand the participant's beliefs and attitudes, the demands, motives, as well as their contextual experience (Stuckey, 2013). Furthermore, the study involves putting an object in its setting; this can be social, historical, economic or physical. For instance, considering the case of the ethnically-defined aboriginal group, the researcher can determine holistic perceptions and life's qualities of this group, and the reason for their high school drop-out rates. By conducting a qualitative inquiry on the issue, the researcher can establish the setting of the problem, and provide a cause-effect relationship between the problem of high school dropout and the participants'' holistic attributes.
Therefore, qualitative research provides a deep and true understanding of study population, bearing in mind that it provides a holistic picture of the participant about the problem at hand. It also allows the subjective analysis of some social or participant attributes that cannot be possible through quantitative research. Furthermore, the inductive approach applied by the researcher allow the generation of more new knowledge about an object, person, phenomenon or interaction compared to the quantitative research’s deductive approach.
Potential for Bias in Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research significant potential for bias. When taking the example of the case involving the ethnically-defined aboriginal group, biases relating to data collection emerge. The first bias relates to the accessibility regarding geographical placement and ethnic acceptability. This is because the aboriginal population stays in rural settings, hence, transportation and other logistical issues may likely impede the accessibility of the group. Furthermore, the researcher is likely to meet linguistic barriers, especially from older members of the community. As a result, the study will suffer a selection bias towards the sample population (Pannucci & Wilkins, 2010).
The aspect of randomization lacks in qualitative research. While designing the study, the researcher may be unaware of the personal attributes of the participants. When taking the case scenario of the aboriginal group, the researcher does not know their geographical locations. As such, randomization of the homesteads or localities becomes a problem, bringing the concept of...