Qualitative Research Design
A design in the field of research serves as a blueprint or a skeletal framework of your
research study. It includes many related aspects of your research work. A choice of research design
requires you to finalize your mind on the purpose, philosophical basis, and types of data of your
research, including your method of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting the data. It is a
plan that directs your mind to several stages of your research work.
Five Commonly Used Qualitative Research Designs
1. Case study – describe a person, a thing, or any creature on Earth for the purpose of
explaining the reasons behind the nature of its existence. Your aim here is to determine why
such a creature (person, organization, thing, or event) acts, behaves, occurs, or exists in a
particular manner. Usually, a case study centers on an individual or single subject matter.
Your methods of collecting data for this are interview, observation, and questionnaire.
2. Ethnography – This involves a study of a certain cultural group or organization in which you,
the researcher, to obtain knowledge about the characteristics, organizational set-up, and
relationships of the group members, must necessarily involve you in their group activities.
Ethnography requires your actual participation in the group members’ activities.
3. Historical Study – differs from other research designs because of this one element, the
scope. The scope or coverage of a historical study refers to the number of years covered, the
kind of events focused on, and the extent of new knowledge or discoveries resulting from
the study. The data collecting techniques for a study following a historical research design
are biography or autobiography reading, documentary analysis, and chronicling activities.
This last technique, chronicling activities, makes you interview people to trace a series of
events in the lives of people in a span of time.
4. Phenomenology – aims to understand a phenomenon or event by describing participants’
lived experiences. This makes you follow a research method that will let you understand the
ways of how people go through inevitable events in their lives. You are prone to extending
your time in listening to people’s recount of their significant experiences to be able to get a
clue or pattern of their techniques in coming to terms with the positive or negative results of
their life experiences. Unstructured interview is what this research design directs you to use
in collecting data.
5. Grounded Theory – aims at developing a theory to increase your understanding of
something in a psycho-social context. Such study enables you to develop theories to explain
sociologically and psychologically influenced phenomena for proper identification of a
certain educational process. Collecting data based on this research design is through formal,
informal, semi-structured interview, as well as analysis of written works, notes, phone calls,
meeting proceedings, and training sessions.
Sampling
sampling - a word that refers to your method or process of selecting respondents or people to
answer questions meant to yield data for a research study.
population - The bigger group from where you choose the sample
sampling frame -term used to mean the list of the members of such a population from where you
will get the sample.
Two Classes of Sampling Strategies
! Probability sampling - involves all members listed in the sampling frame representing a certain
population focused on by your study. An equal chance of participation in the sampling or selection
process is given to every member listed in the sampling frame.
Types of Probability Sampling
1. Simple Random Sampling – which you can choose a sample from a population. Every
member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.
2. Systematic sampling – similar to simple random, but is usually slightly easier to conduct.
Every member of the population is listed with a number, but instead of randomly generating
numbers, individuals are chosen at regular intervals.
3. Stratified sampling – involves dividing the population into subpopulations that may differ in
important ways. It allows you to draw more precise conclusions by ensuring that every
subgroup is properly represented in the sample. To use this sampling, you divide the
population into subgroups (called strata) based on the relevant characteristics (e.g. gender,
identity, age range, income bracket, job, role, etc.
4. Cluster sampling – involves dividing the population into subgroups, but each subgroup
should have similar characteristics to the whole sample. Instead of sampling individuals from
each subgroup, you randomly select entire subgroups.
Non-Probability Sampling
! Non-probability sampling disregards random selection of subjects. The subjects are chosen based
on their availability or the purpose of the study, and in some cases, on the sole discretion of the
researcher.
Types of Non-Probability Sampling
1. Convenience sampling – simply includes the individuals who happen to be most accessible
to the researcher. This is an easy and inexpensive way to gather initial data, but there is no
way to tell if the sample is representative of the population.
2. Voluntary response sampling – mainly based on ease of access, instead of the researcher
choosing participants and directly contacting them, people volunteer themselves by
responding to a public online survey.
3. Purposive sampling – also known as judgment sampling, involves the researcher using their
expertise to select a sample that is most useful to the purposes of the research. An effective
purposive sample must have a clear criteria and rationale for inclusion. Always make sure to
describe your inclusion and exclusion criteria.
4. Snowball sampling – if the population is hard to access, snowball sampling can be used to
recruit participants via other participants. The number of people you have access to
“snowballs” as you get in contact with more people.
5. Quota sampling – relies on the non-random selection of a predetermined number or
proportion of units. This is called quota. You first divide the population into mutually
exclusive subgroup (strata) and then recruit sample units until you reach you quota. These
units share specific characteristics, determined by you prior to forming your strata.
