Qualitative research is used to deconstruct. Primarily it is based on the framework that there is no, single reality, reality is different for different people and changes over time, and meaning is only understood from a particular situation or in a certain context. Qualitative research is more a reasoning process in which the researchers puts different piece together in order to form a more “whole” perception. Typically there are four major qualitative designs used in such research: phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory and action theory (McBurney 1998).
Phenomenology is a philosophical and a research methodology. The meaning of one’s lived experience might be the subject of such a design. In this situation, the methodology would include questioning the actual person and them interpreting the explanations given. Grounded theory relies more on symbolic interactionism and methodology encompasses collecting data, observing, organizing data and forming theory based on data. Interviews, public records, observation and other forms of data collection might be utilized. An ethnography is observational and data oriented but focuses on one specific culture or group. Collecting data on the culture of football fans at a local university would be an example of an ethnographic design.
There are four main types of research designs: pre-experimental, true experimental, quasi-experimental and factorial (McBurney 1998). A pre-experimental design is absent several of the criteria necessary for true experimental research design. Typically pre-experimental design research is lacking random selection. Typically a single group is observed or studied and there is no control group. Examples of pre-experimental designs include pilot studies, one-shot case studies, and a majority of research that is concentrated on only one group. The advantages to such research is that it is often practical and no follow-up research is required....