In music therapy and music education, qualitative research is just one of three of the main types of behavior research. Within the qualitative research genre, there are 4 basic characteristics:
1) noninterventionist - which is the observation in the natural settings,
2) interpretation - which is the interpretation of both EMIC issues (which are those of the participants) and of ETIC issues (those of the writer),
3) highly contextual description - of people and events, and
4) validation of information through triangulation.
The qualitative study utilizes words and narrative in order to tell the story. According to Phillips, "the main outcome is to present a close-up picture of one participant of a small group of participants in relation to some criterion" (Phillips 83).
According to Phillips, the following are characteristics of qualitative research:
1) Natural Setting - the research takes place in a natural setting such as a classroom or a music therapist's office.
2) Multiple Methods of Data Collection - researchers must seek to build reliability and credibility with the individuals. Data can be collected in numerous ways including openended observastions, interviews, and documents.
3) An Emerging Process - The research questions can change throughout the study as well as the data-collection process.
4) Multiple Strategies of Inquiry - researchers must use 1 or more strategies of investigation.
5) Fundamentally Interpretive - the researcher interprets the collected data.
6) Holistic View - a broad view.
7) Reflexivity of the Researcher - the study reflects on who the researcher is.
8) Complex, Cyclic Reasoning Process - utilizes complex reasoning. The thinking is a cyclic process.
According to Phillips, in qualitative research, there are as many as 28 modes of inquiry, but most fall into 1 of 5 categories: narrative, phenomenology, ethnography, case study, and grounded theory. The 28 genres are usually grouped into one of two broader genres titled: interpretive and critical thinking.
Interpretive Studies are studies that seek "to understand a situation from the perspective of the participant" (Phillips 85). Narrative, phenomenology, ethnography, case study, grounded theory, and action research all fall within this category. Critical Thinking are studies "concerned with empowering human beings to transcend the constraints placed on them by race, class, and gender" (Phillips 85). This broader genre includes feminist, deconstruction, postmodern, popular culture, and critical ethnography.
According to Phillips, data collection of a qualitative study seeks to identify the purposefully selected site or individuals for the proposed study and indicates the types of data to be collected. There are four types of data: observation, interviews, documents, and audio/visual materials. To analyze the data that was collected there is a three step process: 1) it is ongoing that involves reflection about the data, questions, and writing memos throughout the duration of the study, 2) it involves open-ended data, and 3) researchers must tailor the data analysis beyond the generic approaches.
The data presented must be reliable and validates. In order to validate the data, you can either use triangulation (3 analysis types used in the study), member-checking (participants provide feedback to check the accuracy of the data collected), thick description (writes richly so that readers made experience the study), bias clarification (clears any researcher bias), differing perspective (provides a different perspective that counters the theme), prolonged time (spend in-depth time), peer briefing (another person reviews and asks questions about the collected data), and external auditor (someone new to the researcher reviews the project).
Qualitative Research is flexible. The format of a qualitative study often changes as questions and responses dictate the course of the study. There are 5 pieces of "machinery," as Phillips calls it, that work behind a qualitative study: 1) Time, 2) Subjectivity, 3) What does not fit, 4) Relationships, and 5) Context.
According to Mertler in Chapter 4: Developing a Research Plan, we are now looking at what is the last part of the planning stage in developing a plan. We must ask research questions that will help guide our study. First, the researcher must determine if the study will be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed. If the researcher chooses to perform a qualitative research study, the study will be guided by only research questions that will most likely be stated throughout the study once they begin to collect data. But if the researcher chooses to perform a quantitative research study, it will be guides by either researcher questions or hypotheses. Mertler defines a research question as "the fundamental question inherent in the research topic under investigation."
Mertler confirms what Phillips stated in that the most common qualitative designs used in a study are case studies, ethonographies, and phenomenological studies.
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