2.5 Study Special Populations

Qualitative data is not numerical and is more likely to take the form of observations or interviews. Obviously, it is very difficult to perform any statistical analysis on this kind of data. A further problem is that another researcher cannot replicate this data and therefore it is difficult to check the validity of what has been written. Researchers using this kind of data must be careful to avoid subjectivity, that is, they must avoid letting their personal beliefs or preferences affect the way they record and interpret the data. The advantage of this form of data collection is that it allows the researcher to answer open-ended questions; consequently, it is more flexible. Qualitative data also provides opportunities to explain the context of an observation and can therefore present a fuller picture (OU, 2001).

Within this assignment we are asked to identify if the research article that we choose for this unit is either a phenomenological approach or a generic qualitative approach was used, and then describe the physiognomies the evidence to support the identification. We then must explain and identify the main phenomenon that was under investigation in the research; describe the qualitative approach to analyzing the data in this study; describe what the data collection process as well as the role of the researcher; and evaluate the scientific merit of the selected approach. Next we will discuss how did the approach we used (either phenomenology or generic qualitative) help the researcher to answer the research question, and how differently might we have designed the research study differently?

As defined; child advocacy refers to a range of individuals, professionals and advocacy organizations who promote the optimal development of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically volunteer to protect children’s rights which may be abridged or abused in a number of areas. (Weinzweig, 2004) A child advocate not only provides a child with a safe haven, they also provide a voice when the child is not loud enough. Child Advocacy services can usually be sought after through the help of a case manager. In Colorado, when a child is placed in foster care, a service that is provided through the state is case management. One of the services that case

Although Qualitative research is criticized due to its small sample base, its strength lies in its flexibility to allow detailed scrutiny into complex phenomena, revealing valuable insights. Therefore, overall, the study has achieved its purpose, and the findings can be transferred to other future settings.

The method of qualitative research become key method in the human and social science and also in the education and health science. The definition of qualitative research is a research using methods such as participant observation or case studies which result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting or practice. Sociologists using these methods typically reject positivism and adopt a form of interpretive sociology (Parkinson & Drislane,2011). It involves the research using data that do not indicate ordinal values. Furthermore, qualitative research includes the different kinds of data collection, techniques of analysis and diversity of theoretical frameworks (Guest; Namey & Mitchell, 2013). According to Creswell(2013) ‘’the final written report or presentation includes the voices of participants, the reflexivity of the researcher, a complex description and interpretation of the problem, and its contribution to the literature or a call for change.

Qualitative research seeks to answer the “why” and not the “how” of the research project that is being conducted, this is done through a complex system of analyzing unstructured information such as survey’s , questionnaires, interviews, interview transcripts, open end survey’s, focus groups, observations, emails, notes, video’s, feed back forms and photo’s; most of the time a qualitative report won’t depend on statistical evidence alone it must be accompanied by detailed facts and proven facts and not hypotheses or in accurate data, this can lead to misunderstanding of data findings and can through the whole aim of the research project off and waste valuable time.

The more ‘extreme’ positions in the debate between qualitative versus quantitative research state that qualitative research is “unscientific, anecdotal, and saturated by the opinions of the researcher”, whereas the latter is “not representative of human behaviour” (Natasi & Schensul, 2005).

The data collection that was chosen in qualitative research is interviews. Interviewing involves asking questions and getting answers from participants in a study. Interviewing has a variety of forms (Rowley, 2012). These forms are: individual, face-to-face interviews and face-to-face group interviewing. Asking and answers of question can be done by the telephone, face-to-face, and also many include other electronic devises. Interviews can either be structured, semi-structure, and unstructured (Rowley, 2012).

not particularly familiar with qualitative research. 1 That is, we aim to write a paper which will be

This paper involves the critical analysis of a quantitative study and qualitative study. The results, discussion and global issues are discussed here. The author tried to identify the validity and trustworthiness of the study by conducting the critique.

Qualitative research focuses on exploratory research that looks at personal opinions, motivations, and emotions behind the information gathered. Qualitative research helps give insight into understanding the deeper meaning and answering the why and how behind the research. When conducting qualitative research one must first decide on a sample selection, which means picking a target population, community, or study area to obtain information from. Qualitative data collection is usually left open-ended using methods such as interviews, observations, focus groups, case studies, and assessments to produce common themes during data analysis (Yates & Leggett, 2016). There are two different kinds of data analysis, inductive and deductive. “Inductive analysis involves discovering patterns, themes, and categories in one’s data, whereas deductive analysis begins

The qualitative methodology gathers information that focuses to describe a phenomenon in an in-depth comprehensive manner. This is done in interviews, direct observation, participant observation, and case studies. In many cases, a small number of subjects participate in qualitative research because it requires many resources and is time consuming. The interview process are highly structured with open-ended questions, or be less structured with conversational interviews. Because of the time investment of qualitative research and the small number of participants, the findings cannot be generalized to the whole population (Taylor, Bogdan, & DeVault, 2015).

Next the differences between data collection will be discussed for qualitative and quantitative research. The difference is that “qualitative data involves words and quantitative data involves numbers” (Barnes, J. et. Al., 2010,

Qualitative data collection instrument provided me the opportunity to interview the research participant in asking them question not fully illustrated in the quantitative research questionnaire this two methods help in understanding the viewpoints of research participants.

Evidently, the advantages and disadvantages associated with a number of research approaches or methods are not absolute, but in some way connected to the context and the method in which academics seek to address the phenomenon under investigation. For instance, if the researcher aims to provide in-depth understanding into a phenomenon, the researcher may consider selecting a small but instructive sample, which is a characteristic of qualitative investigation. The researcher might use inferential statistics to quantify the findings, which is distinctive of quantitative