Qualitative Research in Practice : Stories From the Field - Blogs Unpad

Qualitative research in practice
misunderstood. Some primarily quantitative researchers see a
limited role for using qualitative research in an exploratory capacity,
but always followed by quantitative research. Blalock (1970), for
example, considers that ‘techniques of participant observation are
extremely useful in providing initial insights and hunches that can
lead to more careful formulations of the problem and explicit
hypotheses’, but are rarely sufficient in themselves to stand alone
(1970, pp. 45–6). This has led to the perception among some
researchers that the qualitative phase of such studies is somehow
lesser, not part of the real research so much as paving the way for
it. We would see the qualitative phase of such a study as having a
developmental purpose in relation to the quantitative phase, and to
the study as a whole. Thinking of the different methodological
components in terms of their purpose gets away from any suggestion
that one is inherently of more value than the other. Even where
one method is more prominent, as often may be the case, the use of
a properly thought out mixed-method design implies that all the
components have a specific purpose and are equally necessary to
the overall research.
In the development of a scale to assess and evaluate the learning
needs and concerns of prospective parents, Imle and Atwood (1988)
attempted to use qualitative and quantitative methods in equal but
different ways. They used qualitative methods first, to develop and
define concepts that represented the needs and concerns experienced
by expectant parents. The inductively generated concepts
were then used to develop the Transition to Parenthood Concerns
(TPC) Scale. Prospective items were rated for clarity, consistency
and content validity by panels of doctoral students and expectant
parents before final inclusion in the scale. This is an example of a
process designed to meet quantitative psychometric estimates for
scale testing while also preserving the meaning of the items from the
perspective of expectant parents.
Laurie also used qualitative approaches—interviews and group
discussions—in the development of a questionnaire module on the
allocation of resources within households, to be included in a largescale
survey of British households.
Issues and questions emerged from the data collected in the first stage
of the project which we felt obliged to pursue, not only for
clarification of the qualitative data but to meet the design imperatives
of a quantitative, longitudinal study. Without the use of qualitative
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