Doing qualitative research:some preliminary observation.

abstracts 

            This discourse represent the preliminary description of how to conduct qualitative research. The article is design to critically review the steps qualitative researchers need to ensure that they collect data in ways and method that are significant and scientifically and ethically acceptable. The article began by telling the challenges that are usually encountered while adopting the qualitative research methodology. It further present the most important ethical challenges include negotiating field access,  encounters with gatekeepers , seeking consent and building confidentiality with key informants and research participant. The paper also discussed the place of interview in qualitative research. Given that ethnography is one of the bedrocks of qualitative research , the paper draws from the work of bronislaw Malinowski one of the earliest anthropologist to employ ethnography as a research method. The article then highlighted precaution that researchers should take while on the field. This article used secondary source of data.

Introduction 

          Not everything that can be counted count , and not every thing that counts can be counted(Albert Einstein) cited in Patton and Cochran (2002:2). 

This article is a preliminary review of literature on qualitative research and its relevance to humanities, social science and related disciplines. The articles interrogate challenges usually encountered while conducting qualitative data collection. Harvey and myers (1995:13) argue that because research method are the means by which knowledge is acquired and constructed within a decipling it is mandatory that researchers methods adopted by scholars are both relevant and rigorous in order to be accepted as legitimate within a particular field of knowledge. In doing qualitative research , there are several common used method . jabar et all (2009:47) assert that research methodology explains how the research I s done , the method of collecting data , material used , subject interviewed or places visited if is also detail out the account of how and when the research is carried out and give reason why a particular method is used rather than other method. 


Commonly used method in qualitative qualitative research include documentary source , interviewing , life histories and other ethnographic method of data collection. Beside published and unpublished document , qualitative research techniques also utilise and and analyse personal  diaries , record and photographs or visual sociology. The primary variance.

Of qualitative research techniques include extensive use of in depth (open ended) interviews (IDIs) telephone interview , life histories , focus group discussion (FIDS) and other ethnographic method of observation. The adoption of multiple methods of data collection in qualitative research provides for flexible that enables coverage of a wide range of dimension of research problems.


qualitative research

     One important component of qualitative research is the need to adequately brief potentials research participant or group of participant in advance. In a situation where potentials research participant are not literate, oral consent should be obtained from potential participant before actual research visit and interviews. Such briefing should explain the purpose and objective of the research : specify particular time of day or days of week in which interviews or observation are to be conducted , sensitive participant key information , traditional institution /gate keepers , as well as other relevant institution that may be relevant to the successful conduct of the research from Patton and Cochran (2002:5) caution that "while written consent may in some situation frighten the individual you are talking to. You should at the very least obtain verbal consent " consent and confidentiality are the two key ethical issues in qualitative research  on the relevance of consent to qualitative research. Patton and Cochran (2002:5) advised that "every one who participates in your study should have freely consented to participate without being coerced or unfairly pressured " this implies that all research participant should be well informed about what participant entails and reassured that declining will not affect any services they receive on confidentiality Patton and Cochran (2002:5) posit that:

It us not always easy or even possible to measure the dangers of a certain context to a given population , let alone to individual. It is therefore essential to protect the identity of the person from whom you gather information .if collected , the identity of the participant must be protected at all times and not be left lying around in notebooks or in protected computer files.


Data collection and field observation should be conducted under strict condition of anonymity. Before the start of interview or observation session , research participant should adequately be informed that the exercise would be anonymous , that analysis derived from the finding would be kept anonymous , and conclusion derived from the data analysis would be an accurate estimation. 

Of what was research sites. A comparative check all qualitative methods of data collection techniques shows that there  is no single method that is inherently superior to another. The adoption of a particular technique should be driven by its ability to obtain scientifically credible data required if anything , all the qualitative research method should help to counterbalance research findings .

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