6 Approaches To Qualitative Research

Six Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry
Gilbert Louis, Ed.D.

Five Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry
1. Narrative Inquiry
2. Phenomenology Inquiry
3. Grounded Theory Inquiry
4. Ethnography Inquiry
5. Case Study Inquiry
6. Historical Research
Narrative Inquiry
What understanding can
we gain from people’s
storied experiences?
Narrative Inquiry
Studies phenomena through narratives or stories told by those who have
experienced it.
Ex: Small business owners who have had a business fail.
Ex: Youth who have dropped out of school.
It is a way to understand the human experience, which is fundamentally
narrative.
Narrative research differs from story telling in that it is structured,
detailed, and systematic.
Researcher gathers one or more narratives and then retells or restories
then in to a chronological narrative.
Narrative Inquiry
Examples of narrative research:
Narrating social structure: Stories of resistance to

legal authority. (Ewick & Silbey, 2003)
Becoming a political woman: The reconstruction and

interpretation of experience through stories. (Bell,
1988)
What’s your narrative?
Phenomenology Inquiry
What is the meaning, structure,

and essence of the lived
experience of this phenomenon
by an individual or by many
individuals?
Attempts to understand people’s perceptions, perspectives, and
understandings of a particular situation or phenomenon.
Ex: Death of a loved one.
Ex: The experience of being a minority group member.
Purpose is to gain access to individuals’ life-worlds (lebenswelt) and to
describe their experiences.
Focus is on the experience people have had regarding a particular
phenomena and how they interpret those experiences.
Seeks to understand the commonality of the way people have
experienced the phenomena, which is called the “essence.”
Bracket: To suspend your preconceptions or learned

feelings about a phenomenon to experience its
essence.
Examples of phenomenological inquiry
A phenomenological investigation of online learners’

lived experiences of engagement. (Pazurek, 2013)
Locating and exploring perception in the reflective

thinking process. (Vagle, 2009)
What’s your phenomenon?
Grounded Theory Inquiry
What theory or explanation

emerges from an analysis of
the data collected about this
phenomenon?
Developed by two sociologists, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, in the
late 1960s.
Is a general methodology for developing theory that is grounded in data
systematically gathered and analyzed? (Strauss & Corbin)
Has four characteristics:
Fit– the theory must fit the data
Understanding– the theory should be clear and easily understandable
Generality– should be able to apply to a larger population than that
studied.
Control—the variables should be able to be identified and applicable to
everyday situations.
Examples of Grounded Theory research
Pluralistics dialoguing: A theory of interdisciplinary

teamworking. (McCallin, 2007)
Balancing: A basic process in end-of-life cancer care.

(Thulesius, Hakanssoa, Petterson, 2007)
What’s your topic that needs a theory?
Ethnography Inquiry
What are the cultural
characteristics of this group
of people or of this cultural
scene?
Ethnography Research
Means “writing about people.”
Comprehensively describes the culture of a group of
people. (Traditional definition.)
More widely defined as the study of the cultural
characteristics of small groups of people or other cultural
scenes as they relate to (educational, healthcare, business,
criminal justice) issues.
Ethnography Research
Examples of ethnographic inquiry
An ethnographic study of norms of inclusion and

cooperation in a multi-ethnic middle school. (Deering,
1996)
Criminological ethnography: Risks, dilemmas, and
their negotiation. (Yates, 2004)
What’s your ethnographic study?
Case Study Inquiry
What are the characteristics of

this single case or of these
comparison cases?
Case Study Inquiry
Provides a detailed account and analysis of one or more cases.
A case is “bounded.” The boundaries of the system being studied are
identified or outlined.
Cases can be an object or entity with a clear identity (first year teacher,
healthcare workers union, 24th Police Precinct), but can also be an event
(campus protest), an activity (learning to walk after a serous injury) or a
process (starting an new business.)
 Three kinds of case studies:
Intrinsic case study—interest in studying a specific case (Lehman Brothers collapse)
Instrumental case study—interest in studying a case to understand similar cases
Collective case study– multiple cases in one research study
Case Study Inquiry
Examples of case study inquiry
Analyzing a web-based e-commerce learning

community: A case study in Brazil. (Joia, 2002)
Role of stress in lives of doctoral candidates. (Wallis,

2016)
What’s your case study?
Historical Inquiry
What events and/or
conditions that occurred in
the past give insight to
current problems and issues
or predict future events?
Historical Inquiry
Describes past events, problems, issues, and facts.
 Data sources are often contained in documents such as diaries, newspapers,
records, photographs, relics, and interviews.
Is a flowing, dynamic account of past events which involves an interpretation of
these events in an attempt to recapture the nuances, personalities, and ideas
that influenced these events.
Five reasons for conducting historical research:
To uncover the unknown.
To answer questions about the past.
To identify the relationship that the past has to the present.
To record and evaluate the accomplishments of individuals, agencies, or institutions.
To assist in understanding the culture in which we live.
Historical Inquiry
Examples of historical research:
Representations of Masculinity in Southern Fiction,

1820-60.
The Experience of Japanese Americans during the Civil

Rights Movement.
What’s your historical point of inquiry?
What approach are you taking?

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Six Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry

Gilbert Louis, Ed.D.

Narrating social structure: Stories of resistance to

Becoming a political woman: The reconstruction and

What is the meaning, structure,

Bracket: To suspend your preconceptions or learned

A phenomenological investigation of online learners’

Locating and exploring perception in the reflective

What theory or explanation

Pluralistics dialoguing: A theory of interdisciplinary

Balancing: A basic process in end-of-life cancer care.

An ethnographic study of norms of inclusion and

What are the characteristics of

Analyzing a web-based e-commerce learning

Role of stress in lives of doctoral candidates. (Wallis,

Representations of Masculinity in Southern Fiction,

The Experience of Japanese Americans during the Civil

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