ABSTRACT
A qualitative research approach is the most appropriate and indeed the only way of achieving some research objectives. Almost all qualitative research is “grounded” in the sense that the conclusions emerge from the data collected rather than being based on preexisting hypotheses. Data may be gathered from a variety of sources, such as participant interviews, observation, field notes, photographs, video recordings, diaries, or digital sources. There are several different ways to collect and analyze the data and four possible “stances” regarding the analytical approach. The four interpretive stances are positivism, postpositivistic, interpretive, and critical. Qualitative data generally originates from two sources: field-generated data and “found” data. The process of qualitative data analysis is to identify, examine, compare, and interpret patterns and themes. Indeed, in qualitative research, data collection and analysis are often concurrent, with new analysis initiating additional data collection, which in turn stimulates subsequent analysis.
