Premier University: Qualitative Research Methodology Review

This literature review paper provides a comprehensive overview of qualitative research methodology within the social sciences and related fields. It explores the increasing use of qualitative research across various disciplines, highlighting its importance in understanding human behavior and organizational development. The paper delves into the design of qualitative research, offering methodological suggestions to enhance clarity and understanding for readers. It covers various qualitative research methods, including phenomenology, ethnography, narrative approach, grounded theory, content analysis, action research, historical research, and case studies. The study emphasizes the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, providing a detailed understanding of the subject for new researchers and students. The paper uses secondary data from various publications, research reports, books, journals, and online sources to enrich the analysis. The objective is to provide a basic understanding of qualitative research, equip readers with sufficient information to appreciate how qualitative research is undertaken, and highlight different types of qualitative research.

Munich Personal RePEc Archive
Qualitative Research Methodology in
Social Sciences and Related Subjects
Mohajan, Haradhan
Assistant Professor, Premier University, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
10 December 2018
Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/85654/
MPRA Paper No.85654, posted 04 Apr 2018 12:47 UTC

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Qualitative Research Methodology in Social Sciences and
Related Subjects
Haradhan Kumar Mohajan
Premier University, Chittagong, Bangladesh
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Abstract
This literature review paper discusses the proper use of qualitative research methodology to
discuss several aspects of the research for the improvement of the skill of the readers. During the
last few decades, the use of qualitative research has been increased in many institutions. It can
be used to explore several areas of human behavior for the development of organizations. The
purpose of this study is to provide inspirations to the new researchers for the development of
their qualitative articles. The paper analyzes the design of qualitative research giving some
methodological suggestions to make it explicable to the reader. In this paper an attempt has been
taken to study the background of the qualitative research methodology in social sciences and
some other related subjects, along with the importance, and main features of the study.
Keywords: Research methodology, qualitative research, phenomenology, ethnography,
narrative approach, grounded theory, content analysis, action research, historical research,
case study.
Introduction
Every research must involve an explicit, disciplined, systematic (planned, ordered, and public)
approach to find out most appropriate results. Qualitative research is inductive in nature, and the
researcher generally explores meanings and insights in a given situation [Strauss & Corbin,
2008; Levitt et al., 2017]. It refers to a range of data collection and analysis techniques that use
purposive sampling and semi-structured, open-ended interviews [Dudwick et al., 2006;
Gopaldas, 2016].
It is described as an effective model that occurs in a natural setting and enables the researcher to
develop a level of detail from high involvement in the actual experiences [Creswell, 2009]. It

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consists of a set of interpretive material practices that makes the world visible. It is multi-method
in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter [Denzin & Lincoln,
2005]. It is a type of social science research that collects and works with non-numerical data that
seeks to interpret meaning from these data that help us to understand social life through the study
of targeted populations or places [Punch, 2013]. It is the observations and interpretations of
people’s perception of different events, and it takes the snapshot of the people’s perception in a
natural setting [Gentles et al., 2015]. It investigates local knowledge and understanding of a
given program, people’s experiences, meanings and relationships, and social processes and
contextual factors that marginalize a group of people. It is less structured in description, because
it formulates and builds new theories [Leedy & Ormrod, 2001]. It focuses on words rather than
numbers, this type of research observes the world in its natural setting, interpreting situations to
understand the meanings that people make from day to day life [Walia, 2015].
Qualitative research comprises of the following methods: logic, ethnography, discourse analysis,
case study, open-ended interview, participant observation, counseling, therapy, grounded theory,
biography, comparative method, introspection, casuistry, focus group, literary criticism,
meditation practice, historical research, etc. [Cibangu, 2012].
Qualitative research is a form of social action that stresses on the way of people interpret, and
make sense of their experiences to understand the social reality of individuals. It makes the use
of interviews, diaries, journals, classroom observations and immersions; and open-ended
questionnaires to obtain, analyze, and interpret the data content analysis of visual and textual
materials, and oral history [Zohrabi, 2013]. It is exploratory, and seeks to explain ‘how’ and
‘why’ a particular social phenomenon, or program, operates as it does in a particular context. It
tries to help us to understand the social world in which we live, and why things are the way they
are [Polkinghorne, 2005].
It has gained more and more area in the social domain. It aims to provide a detail understanding
into human behavior, emotion, attitudes, and experiences [Tong et al., 2012]. The main
paradigms within the qualitative research are positivist, interpretivist, and critical paradigms
[Punch, 2013]. It is used to explore the behavior, perspectives, feelings, and experiences of
people, and what lies at the core of their lives. The basis of it lies in the interpretive approach to
social reality, and in the description of the lived experience of human beings [Atkinson et al.,
2001]. It has a profound impact on the research area of education, health care, nursing,
sociology, anthropology, psychology, management, information systems, etc. [Denzin &
Lincoln, 2005].
Qualitative researchers are interested in people’s belief, experience, and meaning systems from
the perspective of the people. Qualitative research does not include statistical analysis and
empirical calculation [Brink, 1993]. The roots of qualitative research lie in social and cultural
anthropology, philosophy, psychology, history, and sociology. The goal of the qualitative
tradition is a ‘deep understanding of the particular’ [Domholdt, 1993]. The purpose of qualitative
research is to describe and interpret issues or phenomena systematically from the point of view
of the individual or population being studied, and to generate new concepts and theories. The
choice of methodology is directed by the questions being raised [Viswambharan & Priya, 2016].

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Recently interest in social sciences of qualitative research is growing remarkably. The rapid rise
of qualitative research to prominence in scientific communities; considerable debate has ensued
regarding epistemological, philosophical, and methodological issues [Spencer et al., 2003].
Literature Review
Burns and Grove [2009] have provided their opinions that qualitative research is a systematic
and subjective approach to highlight and explain daily life experiences, and to further give them
proper meaning. Alberto Crescentini and Giuditta Mainardi have presented some guidelines, and
suggestions for the preparation of a good qualitative research paper [Crescentini & Mainardi,
2009].
Svend Brinkmann, Michael Hviid Jacobsen, and Søren Kristiansen have discussed six histories
of qualitative research as: i) the conceptual, ii) the internal, iii) the marginalizing, iv) the
repressed, v) the social, and vi) the technological histories of qualitative research [Brinkmann et
al., 2014]. Md Shidur Rahman has discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using
qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods in language [Rahman, 2017]. Looi Theam
Choy has compared strengths and weaknesses of both qualitative and quantitative research
methodologies in social sciences [Choy, 2014].
In the grounded theory qualitative method has used by Williams and Irurita [2005] to study the
personal control and emotional comfort of hospitalized patients. Interviews are conducted with
40 patients, and 75 hours of field observations. Personal control referred to the ability of patients
to influence their environment; emotional comfort was defined as a state of relaxation that
affected the physical status of the patient.
In a case study of launching a product on a new market, Luminita Pistol and Rocsana Bucea-
Manea-Tonis have applied conjoint analysis approach to imitate and determine the optimal
marketing mix for a Romanian company that struggles to face the market higher competition.
They have tried to show how to use marketing simulation, more precisely conjoint analysis, in
evaluating the market conditions when launching a new product on a new market [Pistol &
Bucea-Manea-Tonis, 2017]. Hezi Aviram Shayb, in a case study, has analyzed the success
stories of some of the biggest and strongest companies in the world. He has also shown that there
are some risks when one runs his/her business. He has stressed on setting up a strong plan in
dealing with crisis, a business organization needs reliable, efficient and effective tools in
business organizations [Shayb, 2017]. Rocsana Bucea-Manea-Ţoniș and Radu Bucea-Manea-
Ţoniș have studied a case of Romanian SMEs that focus on technical elements for collecting
data from Romanian SMEs managers and save it in a MySql database [Bucea-Manea-Ţoni ș &
Bucea-Manea-Ţoniș, 2017].
Jenny Edwards provides information about conducting action research on the effects of cognitive
coaching and adaptive schools. She shows the ways of formulating research questions, selecting
the setting, determining the participants, choosing the procedures, applying to Institutional
Review Boards, writing grants, analyzing the data, and sharing the findings [Edwards, 2016].
Vieri Maestrini, Davide Luzzini, Abraham B. (Rami) Shani, and Filomena Canterino have
investigated the potentialities of action research within purchasing and supply management

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research, focusing in particular on buyer-supplier relationship issues [Maestrini et al., 2016].
Joseph A. Maxwell reviews earlier research, in both the natural and social sciences that clearly
integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods, and discusses some
contemporary research traditions [Maxwell, 2016].
In the content analysis, the research report has five sections [Williams, 2007]: i) the description
of the materials studied, ii) the characteristics and qualities studied, iii) a description of the
methodology, iv) the statistical analysis showing the frequency table, and v) drawing conclusions
about the patterns, themes, or biases found in the human communications and data collection.
Natasha Constant and Liz Roberts have observed that narrative is rarely adopted as a form of
evaluation in research area. They have conjectured that narrative as an evaluative approach for
research projects with a core science communication element and offer several narrative methods
to be trialed [Constant & Roberts, 2017]. Greenhill et al. [2016] used narrative methods to assess
incidents of play, socialization, fun, and amusement to consider how social interactions relate to
the gaming elements of citizen science platforms.
Kalpita Bhar Paul has introduced an interpretive approach of phenomenological research
methodology in environmental philosophy [Paul, 2017]. Kimberly M. Jones-Goods and Marquis
Carter Grant have explored the factors affecting elementary teacher’s ability to understand the
academic needs of their racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse special education students, and
the ways in which their values and beliefs influenced their use of culturally responsive practices
in the special education classroom [Jones-Goods & Grant, 2016].
J. A. Hatch identifies five research paradigms: positivist, post-positivist, constructivist,
critical/feminist, and poststructuralist; and poses ontological, epistemological, and
methodological questions for each [Hatch, 2002]. In a review paper Haradhan Kumar Mohajan
has discussed reliability and validity of a good research that increase transparency, and decrease
opportunities to insert researcher bias in qualitative research [Mohajan, 2017].
Objective of the Study
This study analyzes the qualitative research methodology for the new researchers. We have tried
to highlight aspects of qualitative research strategy in social sciences and related subjects. This
study will bear the following specific objectives:
▪ To provide a basic understanding of qualitative research.
▪ To equip with sufficient information to appreciate how qualitative research is undertaken.
▪ To highlight different types of qualitative research.
▪ To describe in brief the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, advantages, and
importance of qualitative research.
Methodology of the Study
Research methodology indicates the logic of development of the process used to generate theory
that is procedural framework within which the research is conducted [Remenyi et al., 1998]. The
methodology of this article is to discuss aspects of qualitative research in social sciences and
some related subjects in some details. The data were collected to achieve the result for the

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purpose and scope of this study. In this study secondary data are used to enrich the article. For
the collection of secondary data we have used both published and unpublished data sources.
The published data are collected from: i) various publications of foreign governments or of
international bodies and their subsidiary organizations, ii) various research reports are prepared
by research scholars, universities, economists, etc., in different fields, iii) books of various
authors, hand books, theses, magazines, and newspapers, iv) various sources from university
libraries, vi) technical and trade journals, vii) websites, and viii) public records and statistics,
historical documents, and other sources of published information.
The unpublished data are collected from many sources. They are found in diaries, letters,
unpublished biographies and autobiographies, and also from scholars and research workers, trade
associations, labor bureaus, and other public/private individuals and organizations.
Historical Background
We cannot ignore the past experiences for the present and future development. Historical
research is founded on identification, analysis, and interpretation of old texts, which is one of the
functions of hermeneutics. It is a scientific method that seeks to understand a text and to interpret
it to other people. The folk wisdom expresses, “The nation which forgets its history is forced to
repeat the same mistakes” [Špiláčková, 2012]. To understand qualitative research it is pertinent
to know the brief history of research, its traditions and philosophical foundation. History writing
in qualitative research is not only just discussing the past but also about prospects for the future.
Medieval philosophers of scholasticism distinguished qualia (the qualities of things) from
quanta (the quantities) hundreds of years ago. The 17th centurion empiricist philosopher John
Locke argued that primary qualities were thought to be independent of observers, such as,
extension, number, and solidity. Secondary qualities were thought to be produced as effects in
observers, such as, colors, tastes, and smells. The post-medieval philosophers, such as,
Descartes, Locke, Hume, etc., confined the secondary qualities to the subjective mind
[Brinkmann et al., 2014]. European intellectual history has begins in the 18 th century. Modern
scientific thought emerged during the Scientific Revolution by Newton and Galileo. French
philosopher August Comte founder of sociology merged rationalism and empiricism in a new
dogma called positivism [Walia, 2015].
Qualitative research was first used by anthropologists and sociologists as a method of inquiry in
the early decades of the 20th century. For example, in the 1920s and 1930s, social anthropologists
Mainowski [1920] and Mead [1935], and sociologists Park and Burgess [1925] had remarkable
contribution on qualitative research. The period from 1900 to 1945 is called the traditional age of
qualitative research. During this period, qualitative data analysis aimed at a more or less objec-
tive description of social phenomena in society or in other cultures. The positivist paradigm
reflects the principles of scientific enquiry of qualitative research. For example, the Chicago
School in sociology and the research of Malinowski in ethnography are formed in the traditional
age [Denzin & Lincoln, 2005].
Much of the literature of qualitative research and its textbooks begins in the 1960s and 1970s
[Flick, 2014]. The period from 1950 to 1970 is the second stage, called the golden age of

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qualitative research, and has experienced modern approach (the modernist phase). In this period,
data analysis was driven by various ways of coding for materials often obtained from participant
observation. The symbolic interaction perspective [Becker et al., 1961], the development of the
grounded theory [Glaser & Strauss, 1967], the attempt in ethnography [Garfinkel, 1967] have
commenced the modern qualitative researches [Spradley, 1980].
During 1970 to 1986, blurred genres, a variety of new interpretive, qualitative perspectives, such
as, hermeneutics, structuralism, semiotics, phenomenology, cultural studies, and feminism have
developed. In this period, the first software programs and packages for computer-supported data
analysis were developed [Geertz, 1973]. During the period from 1986 to 1990, the crisis of
representation, the researchers struggled with how to locate themselves, and their subjects in
reflexive texts. The focus on analyzing data was much more on interpretation than on identifying
linear models. For example, the paradigm model suggested by Strauss and Corbin in 1990 as an
orientation for coding data assumes that causes lead to phenomena [Strauss & Corbin, 2008].
The postmodern period of qualitative research started in 1990 to 1995. It is a period of
experimental and new ethnographies. During this period narratives have replaced theories, or
theories are read as narratives. The end of grand narratives is proclaimed; the accent is shifted
towards theories and narratives that fit specific, delimited, local, historical situations, and
problems [Denzin & Lincoln, 2005].
The post-experimental inquiry is from 1995 to 2000. During this period qualitative research
linkages to democratic policies, and becomes more prominent. The methodologically contested
moment is during 2000 to 2010. It is characterized by further establishing qualitative research
through various new journals. The future period is 2010 and onwards; confronts the
methodological backlash associated with the evidence-based social movement. The development
of qualitative research focused on the rise of evidence-based practice as the new criterion of
relevance for social science, and to the new conservatism in the USA [Denzin & Lincoln, 2005].
This history of qualitative research is limited to the USA which has started in the 15 th to 16 th
centuries under the banner of descriptive anthropology or ethnography [Denzin & Lincoln,
2005]. Qualitative research has developed on North American continent in the later part of the
19th century, and which later spread also to the European continent. In Britain, qualitative
research became popular through its use in educational sociology in the 1970s and 1980s
[Burgess, 1985].
The first volume of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education had been
published in 1988; and the first volume of the journal, Qualitative Inquiry, was not published
until seven years later in 1995 [Pierre, 2012].
Qualitative Research Procedures
Qualitative research is difficult to define clearly. It has no theory or paradigm that is distinctively
its own. Nor does qualitative research have a distinct set of methods or practices that are entirely
its own [Denzin & Lincoln, 2011]. As like all kinds of research, qualitative research needs some

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research questions. Research questions encompass a range of topics, but most focus on
participants’ understanding of meanings and social life in a particular context. In qualitative
research there is a close relation between the researcher’s goals and the researcher’s theoretical
frames. The theoretical frames consist of all the previous researches, findings or theories;
existing on the topics to be studied that are mobilized by the researcher. Methodological choices
are another point to prepare a qualitative research paper. These depend on which cases are
selected, how the information is collected, and how the data analysis is chosen [Crescentini &
Mainardi, 2009]. The qualitative research data are descriptive, in the form of interview notes,
observation records, and documents; and data are analyzed inductively. The study emphasizes on
a holistic approach, and final outcomes. The sources of data are real-world situations, natural,
non-manipulated settings. The researcher is immersed in the details specifies of settings.
Qualitative researchers have to use key principles of research design, such as, linking the
research questions to the methodological approaches, considering issues of analysis and data
collection as integrated, and being clear about the purposes of the research [Mason, 1996].
Types of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research methods typically include interviews and observations, but may also include
case studies, surveys, and historical and document analyses. Qualitative research is an umbrella
term used to refer to the theoretical perspectives designs as [Creswell, 2009; Hancock et al.,
2009]: narrative, phenomenology, grounded theory, action research, case study, ethnography,
historical research, and content analysis.
Narrative Research
It is a method that includes the analysis of the characteristics of the narrative text, and recently of
the meaning of inter-human relations in social, historical, and cultural contexts [Hoshmand,
2005; Felton & Stickley, 2018]. It focuses on people’s narratives either about themselves or a set
of events. Instead of looking for themes that emerge from an account, it concentrates on the
sequential unfolding of someone’s story so there is an emphasis on characters. It is time-
consuming, and usually includes a very small number of cases [Hancock et al., 2009]. For
example, a doctor takes interviews from limited number of patients, and the patients narrate the
pros and cons of the diseases; and pains and sufferings of the diseases, is a narrative research.
Narrative analysis focuses on stories that told by participants. The story aspect is seen as a
complete entity in itself with a beginning, middle, and an end. It is used when the study has a
specific contextual focus, such as, classrooms, and students or stories about organizations, when
the subject is biographical or a life history, or an oral history of personal reflections from one or
more individuals. For example, a researcher wants to study the effects of physical punishment in
schools in the 20 th century, is a narrative research [Grbich, 2007]. In narrative research data are
collected by observations, diaries, letters, interviews, artifacts, and photographs [Lenberg et al.,
2017].
Narrative research may give unique insight into procedural and impalpable aspects of participant
experience, informing project design, and illuminate context-based impacts that give greater

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power to local people. It allows for unique, context-based evaluations through time-oriented
structures revealing how changes occur and evolve from a personal perspective. It has distinct
communication features as: a set of characters developing over the course of the narrative, a plot,
a sequence of events, or a temporality with more or less degrees of cause and effect, and a
narrator/point of view [Constant & Roberts, 2017].
Phenomenological Research
The meaning of the phenomenon is conceptualized in the interior of the individual’s awareness.
Phenomenology is an approach to explore people’s everyday life experience. It is used when the
study is about the life experiences of a concept or phenomenon experienced by one or more
individuals. A phenomenological researcher investigates subjective phenomena [Creswell,
2009]. For example, a thoughtful understanding of the meaningful aspects of having a
conversation or a talk together or the experience of interacting online and the kind of contact or
closeness we experience through email, texting, or social networks may be of value to
professional practitioners as well as to anyone involved in the conversational relations of
everyday living. This type of research is used to study areas in which there is little knowledge
[Donalek, 2004; Guerrero-Castañeda et al., 2017]. For example, a researcher takes interview of
100 widows, and asks them to describe their experiences of the deaths of their husbands.
Creswell [2014] expressed that this type of study is the search for “The central underlying
meaning of the experience that emphasize the intentionality of consciousness where experiences
contain both the outward appearance and inward consciousness based on the memory, image,
and meaning.” For example, reading a story, having a talk with someone, sending an email or a
message, listening to a piece of music, etc. are reflections of phenomenological research.
Therefore, phenomenological research is a design of inquiry coming from philosophy and
psychology in which the researcher describes the lived experiences of individuals about a
phenomenon as described by participants [Creswell, 2014]. For example, we need to increase our
knowledge about experiences of new teachers with technology and the influence of these
experiences on their teaching practice and on student learning.
Edmund Husserl is the most important name in phenomenology [Husserl, 1960]. During his
time, Europe was dominated by a Christian vision, and passed through a period of transition,
from the world dominated by tradition to modern industrial era. At that time philosophies were
personal and offered answers to people’s questions, to their prejudices and religious believes.
Husserl’s purpose was to better understand human basics like: time, intent, color, and number
[Drobot, 2012].
Phenomenology attempts to understand how participants make sense of their experiences. It is a
popular study in psychology, and in some areas of nursing. It looks at subjective states so takes
an insider perspective [Hancock et al., 2009; Tuffour, 2017]. A phenomenologist considers the
meanings of experience, and describes the life world. Phenomenology could be difficult to
understand, particularly if a person has had a limited background in philosophy [Mariano, 1990].
It is rigorous, critical, and systematic [Streubert & Carpenter, 2002]. Although it is a challenging,
exciting, and at times exhaustive process, but the final research product might be very satisfying
for the researcher [Donalek, 2004].

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A phenomenological researcher would ask a question such as, “What is it like for a mother to live
with a teenage child who is dying of cancer?” The researcher might observe that the mother
would feel very hopeless and frightened. This mother has discovered an important reason for
living, whereas previously she had not felt needed anymore by her teenage child [Parse et al.,
1985]. Daly [2005] has studied the lived experiences of six mothers of suicidal adolescents. She
has identified six themes as: failure as a good mother, the ultimate rejection, feeling alone in the
struggle, helplessness and powerlessness in the struggle, cautious parenting, and keeping an
emotional distance.
Grounded Theory
Grounded theory is developed in 1967 by two sociologists, Barney Glaser, and Anselm Strauss,
in their book ‘The Discovery of the Grounded Theory’ from real life observations. This is an
approach to theory development grounded/rooted in the data rather than empirical testing of the
theory, that is, data are collected and analyzed, and then a theory is developed which is grounded
in the data [Glaser & Strauss, 1967]. These two authors defined the grounded theory as “The
theory that was derived from data, systematically gathered, and analyzed through the research
process” [Strauss & Corbin, 1990]. They took the idea from symbolic internationalist that
meaning is constructed through the use of sign, languages, and symbols. The main aim of it is to
generate theory from field by using observations [Walia, 2015]. For example, students could be
required to reassess the power they use in leadership situations to achieve their desired results.
According to Creswell the grounded theory research is “Researcher attempts to derive a general,
abstract theory of a process, action, or interaction grounded in the views of participants in a
study” [Creswell, 2009]. The basic principles of this theory are [Glaser & Strauss, 1967]: i) The
task of research is to discover new methods of understanding or investigating the social
processes and interactions, and ii) The purpose of the analysis is to generate or discover a theory
based on possibility fundamental patterns in life.
The grounded theory uses both an inductive and a deductive approach to the theory development.
It investigates social processes and interactions among lives of people [Atkinson et al., 2001]. It
deals with only inductive approach rather than deductive approach of inquiry [Glaser, 1992]. It is
an appropriate way to study human behavior on a sensitive topic even in a different cultural
context [Wolcott, 2009]. It is one of the data collection approach in qualitative research methods
which is totally based on data rather than try to emerge theory from data [Khan, 2014]. Here the
researcher does not test hypothesis, but builds the theory from unprocessed information or from
the extension of the existent theory [Yeh & Inman, 2007]. Various data collection techniques are
used to develop grounded theory, particularly interviews and observation. In this method data are
gathered through face-to-face, focus group, telephonic, etc., interviews [Tepper, 2000]. For
example, if we develop a theory of identity loss and reconstruction among young people with
new disabilities, we should examine our theoretical categories in other areas of life in which
people have experienced a sudden major loss, such as occurs with a partner’s sudden death, lay-
off from work, or loss of place due to a natural disaster.
Although both authors Glaser and Strauss evolved this theory, but they parted away and gave
different explanations on data analysis. Glaser avoids reviewing the literature until the first core
variables have been identified. He stresses that after reviewing literature, researchers get

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prejudice about what to find, and the researchers get desensitized by borrowed concepts [Glaser,
1978]. Strauss indicates that to identify concepts and categories word by word, line by line
analysis of data is done in open coding. He describes three coding techniques for analyzing text
data as: open (identify categories), axial (flesh out and link to subcategories), and selective (form
theoretical scheme). Open coding is the first step of data analysis. It is a way of identifying
important words, or groups of words, in the data, and then labeling them accordingly. Axial
coding is needed at the latter portions of open coding as major categories emerge from the data.
In this step researchers can explain phenomenon of the study. In selective coding researchers
find out a core category, and relate it with the other major categories for generating a theory
[Strauss, 1987]. Researchers are encouraged to draw on own theoretical backgrounds to inform
analysis. For example, a researcher collects data from parents who have pulled their children out
of public schools, and develop a theory to explain how and why this phenomenon occurs,
ultimately developing a theory of school supplement.
A grounded theory report incorporates five aspects as: i) describe the research question, ii)
literature review, iii) describing the methodology, iv) data analysis that explains the theory, and
v) discussing the implications [Leedy & Ormrod, 2001]. Some key features of grounded theory
are as follows [Hancock et al., 2009]:
• It focuses on emergence, that is, a research should start from a position where the
researcher knows nothing about what they are studying, so that all concepts truly emerge
from the data.
• Sampling is based on theoretically relevant constructs.
• It supports constant comparative method which is a useful formulation of how to do
qualitative analysis, and can be used separately from the other elements of grounded
theory.
• Data analysis should occur at the same time as data collection to allow researchers to
refine the research question, and data collection procedures in the light of new findings.
• It needs theoretical sensitivity, that is, the ability to recognize what is important in the
data so that a researcher can give it meaning.
Action Research
Action research is an emergent inquiry process that integrates theory and action to couple
scientific knowledge with existing organizational knowledge and to address real organizational
problems together with the people of the system under inquiry [Coghlan, 2011]. It has a complex
history, because it is not a single academic discipline; but an approach to research that has
emerged over time from a broad range of fields [Brydon-Miller et al., 2003]. For example, a
school and its resources, curricula and pedagogical practices all precede and pre-figure the day-
to-day enactment of the practice of education in the school, having a life of their own.
It is a type of qualitative research that seeks action to improve practice and study the effects of
the action that was taken [Streubert & Carpenter, 2002]. For example, the language conventions
for communicating about human motivation are linked to certain activities, objects and settings.
It became popular in the 1940s. Kurt Zadek Lewin (1890–1947) is considered an influential
personality in spreading action research. He helped the social workers to improve their practices

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[Lewin, 1946]. Another social psychiatrist Eric Trist (1909–1993) is also a major contributor to
the action research during immediate post-war era, whose group was engaged in applied social
research, initially for the civil repatriation of German prisoners of war. Eric Trist and his
colleagues (Tommy Wilson, Melanie Klein, John Bowlby, Donald Winnicott, Wilfred Bion, and
Jock Sutherland) are credited to focus more on large-scale, multi-organizational problems. Both
Lewin and Trist applied their research to systemic change in and between organizations
[Gustavsen, 2008].
It is a systematic investigation performed by the teachers and other educational personnel to
collect and study data that can help them to realize and develop their practices. It is based on the
view that teachers and other educational professionals use to improve quality of teaching [Mills,
2003]. Actually it has found support from educators; others do not consider it as a legitimate
form of research and inquiry. Most of the researchers view it as an informal approach to
educational research [Stringer, 1999]. It is true that this type of research plays an important role
in education. It is used in real situations, rather than in contrived, experimental studies, since its
primary focus is on solving real problems [Brydon-Miller & Greenwood, 2006]. For example,
working with members of university human subjects review committees to develop a greater
shared understanding of the constraints within which they must operate and the shared mission of
the review process and action research.
Case Study
According to A. Sturman, “A case study is a general term for the exploration of an individual,
group or phenomenon” [Sturman, 1997]. Creswell [2009] defines case study as “Researcher
explores in-depth a program, an event, an activity, a process, or one or more individuals”. The
structure of a case study should be the problem, the context, the issues, and the lessons learned
[Creswell, 2014]. Hence, it is a comprehensive description of an individual case and its analysis
[Mesec, 1998]. J. Sagadin states that “A case study is used when we analyze and describe; each
person individually for his/her activity, special needs, life situation, life history, etc.; a group of
people, such as, a school department, teaching staff, etc., a problem or several problems,
process, phenomenon or event in a particular institution, etc., in detail. If we remain in such
analyses on the descriptive level, then a case study is considered as a form of descriptive method,
but if we climb to the causal level, case study proceeds towards causal experimental method”
[Sagadin, 1991]. According to H. Simons “Case study is an in-depth exploration from multiple
perspectives of the complexity and uniqueness of a particular project, policy, institution,
program or system in a real life” [Simons, 2009].
A case study is usually a study of a single case or a small number of cases [Sagadin, 1991]. Case
studies are considered as quantitative or qualitative research depending on the purpose of the
study, and the design are chosen by the researcher. These are in-depth examinations of people or
groups of people. These are one of the first types of research to be used in the field of qualitative
methodology. The case method has its roots in sociology, and has been found to be especially
valuable in practice-oriented fields, such as, management, public administration, psychology,
history, education, and medicine. Case studies are not used to test hypotheses, but hypotheses
may be generated from case studies. A case study is time consuming and may be quite costly
[Younger, 1985; Mills et al., 2010; Starman, 2013]. It is used to study one or more cases within a