Importance Of Qualitative Research

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1.8.3 Qualitative research Creswell (2003) defines qualitative research as an enquiry useful for exploring and understanding a central phenomenon. The phenomenon in this study is the PD programmes of a case study school. To know more about this phenomenon, the researcher asked the teachers, both specific and open-ended questions in order to understand their perceptions. From the data, I as the researcher will interpret the meaning of the information by drawing on teachers’ perceptions and past research. According to Thakral (2011) and Barnard (2004) similar research has been conducted in Hong-Kong and Northeast Tennessee respectively, using the qualitative research design. Therefore, the researcher was confident with the adopted design. Furthermore,…show more content…
These are ways and means by which researchers are able to gather information relevant to the research problem to be investigated. Researchers employ a number of different types of research instrument in gathering information to address the specific research problems. Vaus (1995) states that a variety of research tools used to collect relevant data needed for the study: questionnaire surveys, interviews, observations and documentary analysis provide a rich information data base for qualitative study. For Patton (2002), the data for qualitative analysis typically come from field work, during which the researcher spends time in the setting under study – a programme, an organisation, a community, or whatever situations of importance to a study can be observed, people interviewed and documents analysed. The tools selected in the study are based on their relevance in getting the best possible responses from the participants in order to address the research questions. The aims of the research tools are to obtain a range of responses to enable the researcher to fulfil the objectives of the study and to provide answers to the research questions (Bell, 2005). Moreover, seeking documentary information and observation is commonly used in case studies (Yin, 2003). Observation and interviews have been widely used by qualitative researchers as they provide a genuine look into the soul of another (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003). In regard to questionnaire survey, Cohen and others (2007) explain that a questionnaire provides anonymity to its respondents; hence it encourages them to provide honest responses to the questions asked. For the purpose of this study, looking at the nature of the research questions posed and the phenomenon under study, open-ended semi-structured interview and document analysis were considered appropriate. Other researchers have previously used such research tools in similar studies regarding
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