SOC 387: Qualitative Methods - Application of Open Coding Technique

This report provides an overview of qualitative research methods, with a specific focus on open coding and grounded theory. It explores the use of qualitative research in social science, particularly in understanding human behavior, and outlines various methods such as descriptive, correlational, and experimental research. The report details the process of open coding, emphasizing its role in qualitative data analysis through conceptualization, categorization, and pattern identification. It also discusses the benefits and problems associated with qualitative research and open coding. The document includes an assignment briefly summarizing study participants' characteristics and references a list of appendices, providing a comprehensive insight into the application and importance of qualitative methods in social research. Desklib offers this and many other resources to aid students in their studies.

QUALITATIVE METHODS SOC 387
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Table of Contents
Background of the study............................................................................................................3
The qualitative method of research............................................................................................3
Open Coding..............................................................................................................................3
Grounded theory.....................................................................................................................3
Qualitative Research..................................................................................................................4
Use of the qualitative method of research in the social science:............................................4
Human behavior.....................................................................................................................4
Answering questions like.......................................................................................................6
Methods used for qualitative research....................................................................................6
Open Coding..............................................................................................................................7
Use of the open coding in the qualitative method of the research..........................................7
Data should be examined thoroughly for...............................................................................8
Conceptualization.......................................................................................................................8
Categorization............................................................................................................................8
Pattern........................................................................................................................................9
Research primarily tries to find patterns in data........................................................................9
Patterns have the following characteristics................................................................................9
Cause and effect.......................................................................................................................10
The theory is the overall research goal based on..................................................................10
Benefits and problems..............................................................................................................10
Benefits.................................................................................................................................10
Problems...............................................................................................................................10
Assignment 1: Open Coding....................................................................................................11
Summarize briefly your study participants’ characteristics in a table included or an
Appendix..............................................................................................................................11
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Reference list............................................................................................................................12
Appendices...............................................................................................................................15
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Background of the study
The qualitative method of research
The qualitative method of the research is a kind of marketing method of research. The data
is obtained through conversational communication. The method of the research is used in
case of the marketing oriented research works to determinate the cause and the effect of the
expectation of the customers. The qualitative method of the research is obtained from the
paradigm which is constructive. The research method is used to determine the impacts of
the social phenomena in the variables. The interviews, surveys and the texts are used in this
method of research. The Qualitative method of the research is dependent on the inductive
approach (Willig, 2017).
Open Coding
The process of open coding is significantly important in the case of the qualitative analysis of
the data. The open coding of the grounded theory is an measure for the analytical approach of
observing the data attached to the qualitative research work. The concepts or codes help in
this process. The naming, description and classification of the social phenomena is the
principal aim of the open coding process. The open coding acts by dividing the information
and the data collected by the qualitative approach and describing them with small names and
the sequences. The data is divided into the short expressions then concepts and the
annotations are attached to the expressions. The main aim of the open coding is to break the
pieces of information into small pieces of expressions and categorise them. The codes or
concepts used in the open coding may be linked with the paragraphs or lines or protocols and
texts. Different research workers use different types of codes. The researchers use the
questions very often to determine the process of the open coding. The questions are 1.
What(The definition and the description of the social phenomena) 2. Who(Identification of
the individuals of the social phenomena) 3. How(Having the knowledge of the different
aspects of the social phenomena) 4. When(The time, place of the social phenomena) 5. What
for(identification of the intentions of the individuals attached to the social phenomena) 6.
Which (Strategies and the action plan to perform the job) 7. Why(The4 actual reason behind
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the social phenomena). Open coding is used in the grounded theory (Willig, 2017). [Refer to
Appendix 1]
Grounded theory
The grounded theory demonstrates the process of the generation of the data which remains
grounded in social phenomena. The aim of the grounded theory is to generate and analyse the
data. The social phenomena are analysed and uncovered by the process of the grounded
theory. The grounded theory generally uncovers the social phenomena like feelings, the
behaviour of the population. The grounded theory is used in case of the qualitative method of
the research. Glaser and Strauss developed the Grounded Theory in the United States. The
grounded theory is the general methodology of uncovering of the data grounded in the social
phenomena and the systemical analysis of the data. The features of the grounded theory are:
1. Collection of the data and the process of the analysis of the data (Bavik, 2016).
2. The generation of the codes and the categorisation of the small fragments of the
expressions.
3. The sampling and the “abstract categorisation” of the data.
4. The discovery of the social processes in the information.
5. Using the analytical memos in case of the coding
6. Development of a theoretical framework.
The steps involved in the grounded theory are 1. A sampling of the data 2. Determine the
theoretical sensitivity 3. The analysis of the informations by the grounded theory 4. The
categorisation of the expression and development of the codes (Bavik, 2016).
Qualitative Research
Use of the qualitative method of research in the social science:
The term qualitative implies the analysis and the emphasis of the information and the data
that can not be measured experimentally. The terms like quantities, amount and the intensity
cannot define the phenomena analysed by the qualitative method of the research. Qualitative
researchers expand the nature of the social phenomena which is based on reality. The
situation constraints and the relationship of the researcher and the topic of the research
determines the process of the enquiry. The researchers use the “value-laden” services for the
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enquiry. They arrange the surveys of the social phenomena on the basis of the social
experiences. In the case of social science, the behaviours of the individuals or the population
are studied. The social phenomena analysis does not depend on the pre-existing hypothesis.
The qualitative study also approaches without the pre-existing hypothesis and the theories. So
in the case of the social science, the qualitative approaches play an important role as the
social phenomena and the experiences cannot be calculated, measured experimentally and
they have no quantities, amount and the intensity (Bourne et al 2017). [Refer to Appendix 2]
Human behavior
The determination of human behaviour in case of social psychology is dependent on the
qualitative method of the research. The qualitative methods allow the research workers to
know the different aspects of the human behaviour. There are different kinds of the scientific
methods to determine the different aspects of the human behaviour. The social psychologist
and the research workers rely on these methods in a great manner. The research methods help
to find the answers of the human behaviours to not only there searchers but also to the
teacher, business professionals, policy makers and the administrative powers too. There are
different methods to determine the social behaviours of the human (Bourne et al 2017). The
methods are written below:
1. Descriptive research
Descriptive research is needed for the determination of the behaviours already present
in a group or population. If the variables are related to each other then the descriptive
studies will be failed. The descriptive studies can be performed only in case of the
determination of the theories which already is present in the population or the group.
The descriptive searches are of three types. They are
a. The surveys: The surveys are quite cheap and effective. The surveys are the
most frequently used method of the descriptive research. In case of the surveys
the people usually fill up the questionnaires and it works as a opinion poll. In
the case of the surveys, a lot of data can be gathered in a relatively short
amount of time (Bristowe et al 2017).
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b. The observation method: The observation method allows the researchers to
observe the behaviours of the people minutely and then construct a result. The
research workers artificially an environment in the lab or any other and
observe the behaviours of the people in respect of the environment. The aim of
the observation method is to collect the natural reaction of the people against a
artificial environment. For the gaining of the greater ecological validity, the
researchers use the artificial environments in the lab. The different kinds of the
observation method have different kinds of the outcomes. The natural
observation and the artificial observational method
Has differences between them. The natural method of observation is cheap and
on the other hand, the artificial method of observation is more costly
(Bristowe et al 2017).
c. The case studies: The case studies generally does not considered as a
frequently used method of the qualitative research of the human behaviours. The case studies
are generally used in the observation of the individuals from a group or population. The case
studies provide a piece of first-hand information about the behaviour of the individual
(Cardona-Morrell et al 2016).
2. Correlational research
The correlational method of the research used in the case where there is a relationship
between the variables. The relationship between the variables and the consequences of the
phenomena is studied in the case of the correlation method of research. The human
behaviours against the media content on the television can be studied by the correlational
method of the research. The correlational method uses the data from the other research work,
observation of the behaviours and the pieces of information collected from the surveys. If
there is not a relation between the variables then the correlational research work will be failed
(jjay.smartcatalogiq.com). [Refer to Appendix 3]
3. The experimental method of research
The experimental method of the research is used to uncover the relationship between
the variables. In case of the experimental research work, the researcher usually
divides the participants into two different groups. They are
a. The control group:
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The people of the control group are not provided any kind of the treatment.
The people of the control group work as a baseline (Thomas, 2016).
b. The experimental group:
The people of the experimental group provides the treatment to determine the
effects of the social phenomena on the variables. The researchers can
manipulate the level of the independent variables and the causal relationship
between the variables could be known by method of the research
(jjay.smartcatalogiq.com).
In this way, the qualitative method of the research helps to determine the consequences of the
human behaviour (Iaquinto, 2016).
Answering questions like
The qualitative method of the research gives the research workers to gather information
about the different aspects of the research work.
1. Why the topic has been selected for the research work. The qualitative method of the
research helps to determine the relevance of the research topic in the modern day
world.
2. Who are the examples of social phenomena? The qualitative method of the research
helps to determine the individuals from a population responsible for the social
phenomena. The random selection of the samples helps in this process.
3. When and where the phenomena took place? The qualitative method of the research
helps to gather knowledge about the occurring place of the phenomena and the time of
the occurrence also comes to know.
4. What are intentions of the persons involved in the social phenomena? The qualitative
method of the research helps to know the intentions of the persons responsible or
victim of the phenomena (journals.sagepub.com).
Methods used for qualitative research
• Interviews
The interviews are the one of the greater source of the information in case of the
qualitative method of the research. The interviews are done in the field of the business,
management of the customer relationship, in the field of the political choices and in case
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of the social phenomenons. The interviews are conducted by the research team itself or
the other third parties. The information of the interviews are collected from the
newspapers and the other research works or the websites also. When the pieces of
information of the interview are collected from the other sources then it will be
recognised as a source of the secondary data (Myneni, 2015).
• journals
The journals are the written documents which act as a source of the secondary data.
TGHe data is used in the long term qualitative research work. The pieces of information
collected from the journals are much more reliable than the interviews and the surveys.
The interviews and the kind of oral communication. Oral communication is not reliable
in some cases. The use of the interviews and the surveys in case of the qualitative
research work is against the ethics of the research work. Sometimes the international
journals provide photographs of the particular phenomena. The photographs are the
reliable source of the information in the research works (Pound, 2016).
● photographs
The photographs are the reliable sources of the information. The photographs are the
example of the visual communication. The visual communication and the
presentations are much more reliable than written communication. The visual
communication cannot be altered any more. The visual communications can be
achieved from the journals sometimes. The photographs are a reliable document of
the source in case of the qualitative method of the research (Sauvegrain et al 2017).
Open Coding
Use of the open coding in the qualitative method of the research
The open coding is the analytical approach of the qualitative research work. The open coding
gives the full set of the activities and for the ideas, concepts and the theories of the qualitative
research work. The pieces of information of the open coding can be gathered by the
newspapers, websites and the surveys. The open coding is the part of the Grounded Theory.
In the year of 1967, the Glaser and Strauss invented the open coding theory in the field of
social science. The application of the Grounded Theory is useful for uncovering the grounded
data from the hypothesis. Grounded theory is the methodological approach to uncover the
grounded data to generate a hypothesis which is not pre-existing. The importance of the
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naming of the small expressions lies in finding the relationship between the concepts and the
theories. The discussion and the sharing of the data can give beneficial results from the user
of the open coding process. This process is also known as the conceptualisation. The
eradication of the labelling from the expressions for their abstract presentation. The
behaviours of the different animals can be observed by the open coding system. The system
also allows to consider them as the abstract notion of living things. Open coding is used in
case of the qualitative method of the research. The open coding is used in case of the
qualitative method of the research because it helps to group the words and the phrases in the
abstract concepts (Sauvegrain et al 2017).
Data should be examined thoroughly for
• Process of the coding of the concepts:
“Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Systems (CAQDAS)” is used in the coding
of the expressions. The system is helpful for the coding of the codes in case of the
qualitative method of the research. Coding can be done individually or as a team.
● Categorizing of the codes: After the conceptualisation and the coding process the
categorisation is done. The categorisation is done by the use of the different colours.
The colours depicts different properties (Scholte, 2015).
Conceptualization
The main problem of the phenomenon is that the interview is not will to say the
truth. If the interviewee does not state the truth. The main aspect of
conceptualization is that if the concepts are not right then the information that is
being gathered with the help of their interview will be entirely wrong. Therefore it is
necessary to see that the information that is being gathered by the interviewer is not
wrong and the person is stating the truth (Scholte, 2015).
Categorization
After understanding the concepts of the information that is being provided by the
people who were being interviewed then the concepts are to be arranged and then
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made into collaboration with the report. Therefore it is the work of the interviewer
to check and see that the information that is being provided by the person is set up
and arranged in the proper manner it is only then that the information will e the
legality and validity. Although the interview is an expensive process all the
information that is getting has to be set up and arranged properly (Harper, 2017).
The category that is being spoken about is the reason why the person came to Canada and not
pakistan. When asked it can be understood that the person said that the person will not be
able to mix up with the culture in pakistan as there are several rules and regulation. Hence the
person wants to go to canada this i because there are lesser rules and the person will be able
to live and stay freely there.
The person, those who have been interviewed did not have any case of drug abuse. All the
people who had been interviewed had been sober and did not have any case of drug abuse or
any type of additional cases of traumas (Stenberg, 2016).
Pattern
The reasons for the analysis is that it helps in understanding the patterns of the
data., This means that the data that has been found out from the interview
has to be first properly analysed and then the information is to be taken out
of the data. This will help in proper analysis and evaluation and hence will
help making the work better (Stenberg et al 2016).
The patterns indicate the happening of the next behaviour in the human
beings. This means that if the behaviours of the people change then the
patter of the information that will be extracted from the people will also
have similar types of changes. This means the more the changes in the
behaviour of the people similar will be the changes in the pattern (Stenberg,
2016).
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Research primarily tries to find patterns in data
Patterns of the human behaviour helps in understanding the behavioural
changes in the human beings. This means if there is something happening in
life of the people those who are being interviewed similarly the patterns of
their way of answering will also change (Thomas, 2016).
Patterns have the following characteristics
• Likeness: The ability of the people to like the question that they are
answering also helps in understanding their pattern changes.
• Predictable variation: The changes in the patterns are quiet predictable
and can be understood that the reason for the happening is the changes in
the behavior of the human.
• Frequency: The frequency of being able to answer the questions also
changes with the change in frequency.
• Order: The order of the answer might also change along with the
behavioural change (Thomas, 2016).
• Relations
Dependency: The dependency of the people being interviewed is that they are
under the image that they are taken care by their parents and some of them are
working for a living (Seymour‐Smith et al 2016).
Cause and effect
The theory is the overall research goal based on
The overall goal is to make the information as original as possible. This is
because it depends on the person who is being interviewed , as to how the
person wants to react on the cause. Therefore it is the work of the interviewer to
collect the solid data from the person, that is the overall goal and objective.
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