Designing a PhD Proposal in Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is an important investigative tool in the behavioral sciences (Islam & Faruque, 2016). This kind of research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that makes the world visible. Qualitative methods have much to offer when we need to explore people’s feelings or ask participants to reflect on their experiences. These practices transform the world. They turn the world into a series of representations, including field notes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos. At this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). In the social sciences, qualitative research is a term that describes research that focuses on how individuals and groups view or understand the world and construct meaning out of their experiences. A number of referred definitions are mentioned below:

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  Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting a detailed view of informants within their natural setting (Creswell, 1994).

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  The way in which people being studied understands and interprets their social reality is one of the central motifs of qualitative research (Bryman, 1988, p. 8).

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  Qualitative research based in an interpretive paradigm is exploratory in nature, thus enabling researchers to gain information about an area in which little is known (Liamputtong & Ezzy, 2005).

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  Qualitative research uses a naturalistic approach that seeks to understand phenomena in context-specific settings, such as “real world setting [where] the researcher does not attempt to manipulate the phenomenon of interest” (Patton, 2001, p. 39).

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  Qualitative research, broadly defined, means “any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification” (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, p. 17).

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  The notion of researcher's involvement and immersion into the research by discussing that the real world are subject to change and therefore, a qualitative researcher should be present during the changes to record an event after and before the change occurs. However, both qualitative and quantitative researchers need to test and demonstrate that their studies are credible (Patton, 2001).