The Nature of Inquiry and Research

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Research is a process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information that will help
explain or find solution of a problem or phenomenon. It is a process of acquiring knowledge
based on the scientific method of inquiry. The purpose of research is to inform action. A
study should seek to contextualize its findings within the larger body of knowledge. But
to qualify as research, the process must have certain characteristics:

Characteristics of research
According to Kerlinger (1970) and Bridges (2006) research must be characterized by:
1. Critical- Research is critical in the sense that it actively seeks to
questions its own claim, assumptions and methods. Where explanations are
offered, the research process seeks to verify them, generating and testing
alternatives.
2. Systematics- Research I s deliberate, planned and intentional activity. It takes
a specific question or questions which provide its focus and directions.
3. Transparent- Its aims, methods, assumptions, arguments, data and claims are
explicit and clear.
Results of their supporting justification are closed fully, taking care to minimize
the danger of this interpretations, and made widely available.
Almeida, Gaerlan and Manly (2016) proposed the following characteristics of
research:

1. Controlled- it minimizes the effects other factors affecting the relationship

2. Rigorous- it ensures that procedures followed to find answer to questions are
relevant, appropriate, and justified.
3. Systematic- the procedure follows certain logical sequence
4. Empirical and critical-the conclusion drawn is based upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real life experiences or observations.
5. Valid and verifiable- this implies that whatever one can conclude on the basis of the
findings is correct and can be verified by others.
6. Critical- critical scrutiny of the procedures used and the methods employed is
important to a research inquiry. The process of investigation must be free from any
drawbacks. The process and the procedures used must be able to withstand critical
scrutiny.

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 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
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ETHICS
• Cognizance of the critical need to attend to Ethical Norms for Research
ethical issues in research arose from atrocities 1. Use of valid research design
perpetrated in the name of research, such as 2. Evidence of researchers
the medical experiments conducted by the competency
Nazis during World War II and the Tuskegee 3. Identification of consequences of
experiment, which involved studying the course the research in terms of keeping
of syphilis in black men in studies conducted in participant’s identification
the United States from 1933 to 1972 even confidential
after a treatment for the disease had been 4. Maximizing benefits, minimizing
discovered. These examples represent risks
extremes in the unethical conduct of research; 5. Appropriate sample selection and
however, researchers also need to be aware of voluntary
less obvious, yet still harmful, effects of 6. Informing participants of
research compensation for potential harm.

• The United States,the National Commission for

the Protection of Human Subjects of
Biomedical and Behavioral Research was
established in 1978 to develop regulations to
guide ethical conductfor researchers. The
results of the National commmission’s work are
found in the 1979 Belmont Report, which
outlines three basic principles to guide
researchers:
a. Beneficence: Researchers should strive
to maximize the good outcomes for
science and humanity and minimize risk
or harm to individuals in the research.
b. Respect: Researchers should treat the
people in their study with respect and
courtesy, with particular concern for
children and people who have mental
retardation or senility.
c. Justice: Researchers should ensure
that the people who participate in the
research are those who reap the
benefits of the research. They should
achieve this by the use of procedures
that are reasonable, non exploitative,
carefully considered, and fairly
administered.

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 • Research methods refer to the kinds of
tools used to collect data in studies whereas
methodologies are the more comprehensive
Saturday, October 24, 2020 3:08 PM
designs and frameworks used in the
• Qualitative research addresses the investigations.
question of “what?” Knowing what Different assumptions in knowing the
something is entails a world
conceptualization of the matter under 1. Epistemological- asking questions about
investigation as a whole and in its knowledge and how knowledge is acquired
various parts, the way these parts are 2. Ontological- inquiring about the nature of
related and organized as a whole, and reality and what it means to be or exist?
how the whole is similar to and
different from other things. 3. Paradigms- set of practices that define a
• Knowing what something is may also scientific discipline or approach to conducting
involve the conceptualization of its research
“how”— its process and temporal Research perspectives of qualitative
unfolding in time. researchers
• Qualitative knowledge may also 1. Interpretivist
include an understanding of the • Interpretive researchers in this text (in the
context, the consequences/outcomes, fields of biography and life story research,
and even the significance of what historical research, ethnographic research,
is investigated in the larger world. The autoethnography, narrative inquiry, case study
construction of theories, hypothetical research, arts-based research, practitioner
explanation, prediction, and measurement action research, and program evaluation) assume
that people create their own meanings in
of a subject matter presupposes
interaction with the world around them. For
qualitative knowledge—that is, knowledge
interpretive researchers, there is no single,
of the basic characteristics of the
unitary reality apart from our perceptions, and
subject matter. because each individual is unique and lives in a
• In the history of the sciences that unique reality, individuals cannot be aggregated
concern human mental life, great or averaged to explain phenomena. This notion of
attention has been devoted to the uniqueness applies to the researcher as well; in
rigorous specification of procedures interpretive research, the effect of the
for In the history of the sciences that researcher on the research itself is
concern human mental life, great acknowledged. Interpretive investigators
attention has been devoted to the attempt to understand phenomena by accessing
the meaning and value that study participants
rigorous specification of procedures
assign to them how participants experience the
for
world, and even allow questions to emerge and
Key Ideas
change as a situation becomes familiar. Research
• Empirical knowledge may be generated grounded in critical theory draws on many of the
using scientific or social scientific same assumptions as the interpretive view,
approaches to study both physical and which acknowledges that reality is constructed
human phenomena through the meaning individuals give to a
• Qualitative research places more particular phenomenon. The important
emphasis on the study of phenomena from difference is that critical theorists focus on the
the perspective of insider ways power is embedded in the structure of
society and how individuals become
• Qualitative research from the critical
empowered to transform themselves, the
theoretical view uses interpretive
social organization around them, and society as
frameworks but also reveals ways that
a whole.
power is embedded in social context

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theoretical view uses interpretive
social organization around them, and society as
frameworks but also reveals ways that
a whole.
power is embedded in social context

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Saturday, October 24, 2020 3:19 PM

Critical Research Approaches to qualitative analysis

• The critical researchers in this text 1. Phenomenology- is a method originally
(who focus on African American formalized in philosophy that has also been
evaluation, critical ethnography, feminist employed across the humanities, social
research, indigenous research, and sciences, and service professions.
democratic research) are informed by Phenomenologists have used clearly defined
principles of social justice, in terms of both methods for formulating meaning- oriented,
working with and affecting outcomes in the descriptive knowledge ins psychology
community. Critical theorists ask about
the sources of inequality and 2. Grounded theory- develop in sociology
oppression in society, how language and with emphasize on theory building, has
communication patterns are used to oppress contributed well- delineated procedures that
people, and how individuals achieve autonomy have been widely utilized in diverse human
in the face of societal oppression. sciences and human life

Perspectives of Qualitative Research 3. Discourse analysis- is one of the family

1. Etic perspective (outsider- researcher) of contemporary approaches that emphasize
2. Emic perspective (insider- participants) human language as a socially contextual
performance and that brings a socially
critical lens to study of science and human
life
4. Narrative research- draws upon the
literary studies as well as interdisciplinary
social and intellectual movements. It
emphasizes the interpretative power of
stories to disclose human meaning
5. Intuitive inquiry- has joined the
approaches to qualitative research more
recently, emerging from the study of
spiritual and transformative
experiences, and contributing to the
growing traditions of qualitative
research by formally specifying methods
that incorporate researchers’ intuitive,
emotional, and personal capacities, which
have long been informally employed in
scientific analyses and theorizing, in
order to serve psychology’s aspirations to
foster personal and cultural transformation.

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