Qualitative method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Qualitative method - Essay ExampleBroadly, there are two approaches in sight of information for research utilizations in tender sciences qualitative research and vicenary research. Quantitative research originated in the natural sciences such as chemistry, physics, biology, geology and others, and focused on investigating things the researcher could observe and measure in whatever way. Evidently, applicability of this approach to social science research was rather limited social gentleman is im thinkable to documentaryly measure in the same way as natural world.Researchers working in the social sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology and others were interested in studying behaviour of human beings and various aspects of the social world inhabited by people. Attempts to explain human behaviour in simply measurable damage had only partial success although measurements obtained with the help of quantitative research told researchers how often human beings demonstrate some or other type of behaviour or how often certain social phenomenon occur, no quantitative research could determine why people demonstrate such behaviour or why things in social world occurred in some specific way. Qualitative research is an effective alternative to think the answer to this question.Qualitative research is defined as multimethod in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its accede reckon (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994 2). Qualitative research is based upon a solid philosophical basis which includes a number of substitution classs. Theorists schema four major philosophical paradigms that formed the basis of qualitative approach in social sciences positivism, postpositivism, captious theory, and constructivism (Guba and Lincoln, 1994). Positivist philosophy founded by a famous French theorist A. Konte played exceptionally strategic role in development of qualitative research. Positivists argued that the objective reality did not depend upon the perspectives of taken by researchers. Consequently, there is no difference between reality and perception of reality, and the primary task of researchers is to disclose facts of the objective world. This paradigm is present in a diluted form in some qualitative research. Postpositivist philosophy is a contemporary modification of Kontes positivism. Adherents of this paradigm claim that human being is not capable of perfect tense and comprehensive understanding of reality admitting that serious analysis and accurate collection of information can necessitate the researcher close to such understanding. Postpositivism exerts substantial influence on qualitative research (Shaw, 1999 45-47). Critical paradigm emerged in the second half of the last century in Germany. Proponents of this paradigm argued that reality could not be grasped without researchers bias that is caused by historical, political, societal, ethnic, or gender conditions. Consequently, realisation of social conditio ns and values should be the primary purpose of research (Harvey, 1990). Critical ethnography, feminist research and participatory action research are the best cognise methods within qualitative approach which rely upon the critical paradigm. And finally representatives of constructivist paradigm claimed that reality was not possible to study and understand in pieces, but only holistically and in context. Therefore, the traditional relationship between researcher and subject of research was labelled