Theoretical Research Framework
The word ‘research ‘ has a wide and varied meaning, which encompasses a variety of interpretations. In everyday research, we may be driven by nothing more than curiosity and self-interest. For example, purchasing a laptop computer or inquiring about a new flavoured coffee with a Starbucks’ barista. On the other hand, formal critical social research requires a more demanding approach requiring proven systems to gather details and come to conclusions.
Research is a process of discovering or uncovering new knowledge using techniques, theories, and methods. Characteristics include a systematic approach, purposeful in nature, and a disciplined process for gathering information and data from human experience (Reid et al., 2017). The process can be simple or complex, but critical social research remains the same – scientific, essential, and action-oriented.
This reflective essay will be written in the tradition of teacher-researcher. It will first explore the qualitative methodology of critical social research that supports my research interest and question. The essay will then, through literature review, articulate qualitative research philosophical and theoretical assumptions. This will be followed by explaining the case study and interview methods that complement my research question. Finally, I will discuss the researcher’s role and integrity in research.
My Research Interest
Having a policing and law enforcement background, I was aware that some of the best qualitative research ideas come from your personal life. A recent experience has been retired from forty years in law enforcement and addressing my new career in adult education. I dipped into this experience and knowledge reservoir for research topic inspiration.
While some police officers look forward to retirement, it can be a very challenging time for others. Some officers feel relief, excitement for new work challenges, the opportunity to explore new hobbies, to be more physically active and to improve social networks. Others may feel a loss of social status and social networks and financial stress (Heybroek, Hayes, & Baxter, 2015).I would suggest that by answering my research question, the findings could enable police organizations to provide much-needed support to police officers leading up to and following retirement.
My Research Question
How does retirement impact a police officer’s health and wellness?
This question is at the core of beginning my qualitative research project. Questions asked by myself were ‘what do I need to understand,’ ‘what is going on here,’ ‘where am I going with this question,’ ‘who gains and who loses,’ ‘is it desirable,’ and ‘what should be done’ (Flyvbjerg, 2002). I am working within a familiar research context, so I do not have to create several research questions to navigate unfamiliar territory. My general research interest and the context is enough to construct a map for my research question. However, I am aware qualitative research questions can and should be influenced by the field and can be modified over time. The insights I seek can be best found through qualitative research and are compatible with my epistemological leanings, which will be robust enough to address my research question. That must make me a social change-oriented researcher. At the very least, on the path to becoming one.
Knowing My Paradigms
Tacit theories drive all research, and in critical social research there is a systematic approach to identifying the values and principles that underpin the work (Reid, et al, 2017). Any research endeavour embodies and is influenced by a world view. As a researcher and investigator, I must look at how my worldview is influenced by how I view it ontologically, epistemologically, and methodologically. This means I must give careful consideration to the ways in which my past experiences, points of view, and roles impact my interactions with, and interpretations of, any interaction or context when investigating my research question.
As a qualitative researcher, I will serve as a research instrument while absorbing, sifting through, and interpreting the world through observation, participation, and interviewing. It is important to be self-reflexive, which means I am thinking about my background and its influence. “A reflexive researcher actively adopts a theory of knowledge. A less reflective researcher implicitly adopts a theory of knowledge” (Carter & Little, 2007, p. 1319). Critical researchers base their work on specific philosophical perspectives, which may be based on single or multiple paradigms depending on the type of research. It is critical to be clear and consistent in naming my position and identifying my research paradigms. This is important as my paradigms determine and direct all other decisions made within my chosen research endeavour (Reid et al., 2017). These paradigms are all interrelated in practice and thinking and define the nature of inquiry for ontology, epistemology, and methodology.
I will take the interpretive research approach, which has been defined as constructivism, anti-positivism, naturalism, and qualitative research. This approach is contributed to Max Weber, who advocated an approach of ‘understanding’ rather than ‘explaining’ in social sciences (Crotty, 1998). The basic idea is that the natural world and the social world are fundamentally different from each other. The social world deals with human beings and cannot be studied by simple cause and effect relations.
Relativism is the ontological foundation of interpretive research, meaning reality varies from individual to individual, and it is subjective. Individuals’ approach to reality differs from person to person and is rooted in a local context rather than a general context. The epistemological foundation of the interpretive approach has been termed subjectivism. The world does not exist independently of our knowledge of it (Grix, 2004). This means reality is personal and individually varied. The researcher in the interpretive paradigm is subjective and participatory as opposed to objective and detached.
Qualitative Research to Frame My Research Interest
When conducting research, there are many options in terms of selecting methods and methodology. Troudi (2010) asserts that it is imperative for researchers to establish a clear link between the paradigmatic nature and their studies’ theoretical framework, which will help them choose a suitable research design, methodology, and method(s). Qualitative research will answer my research question due to its investigative nature and its ability to identify attitudes, opinions, and other defined variables in my sample population.
Assumptions underlying qualitative research
The qualitative research method is a strategy of enquiry, which moves from underlying assumptions to research design and data collection. Qualitative research occurs in natural settings, often requires multiple methods, is grounded in people’s lived experiences, and is naturalistic, emergent, and evolving (Marshall & Rossman, 2016). Qualitative methods are an umbrella concept that covers interviews, participant observation, and textual analysis. These methods can include field research, focus-groups, office, or classroom. Qualitative methods do not require long-term immersion in a specific culture or require a holistic examination of all social practices. Some studies may cover a short (less than one hour) duration of a day or lengthy (5,000 participants) open-ended qualitative survey approaches over a period of time. The following are assumptions of qualitative research.
- multiple realities and perspectives exist among the researchers and participants
- researchers interact with participants creating a distance between them
- categories of interest may emerge to be used to frame an understanding
- patterns or theories can be uncovered, explaining a phenomenon of interest.
- data accuracy involves verifying results with informants or triangulation
Strengths of Qualitative Research
Depending on the research topic, qualitative research can embrace and explain the complexity of social interactions expressed in daily life while in natural settings. It is a method generally used for understanding views and perceptions, and the participants can contribute to the interactions allowing for observations to be clearer while opening the possibility for including quantitative data such as statistical analysis and applications. Qualitative research is investigative research. As a member of the RCMP for 25 years, I conducted qualitative research daily while conducting interviews. I asked the right questions, listened thoughtfully, identified the most important information, and then pieced the research together to solve a crime.
Qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter; it attempts to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003). My qualitative data sources will include observation, interviews, questionnaires, documents, and impressions and reactions. Data will be derived from direct observation of behaviours, from interviews, from written opinions and narratives, and/or documents, including field notes.
Weaknesses of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research acknowledges the researcher’s subjectivity and requires that the inquirer’s biases, motivations, interests, or perspectives are identified and made explicit throughout the study. Due to this subjectivity, the following negative results can occur:
- researcher’s bias can alter the design of the study and/or enter into data collection
- sources or participants may not all be equally credible
- background information may be missing
- study groups may not be representative of the larger population
It may take time to build trust with the participant, which facilitates a full and honest self-representation. Short term observational studies are at a particular disadvantage where trust-building is concerned. Transferability from researcher to participant is considered a major challenge in qualitative research due to the subjectivity of the researcher.
Methodologies and methods that will support my research question.
Case Study
The case study approach allows me to focus on an already existing concern in society whereby I may shed some new light on the subject. The case study allows in-depth exploration of issues in their real-life settings and is used to describe, compare, evaluate, and understand different aspects of a research problem.
Because of the interpretive position I am taking in this research and the nature of the research question, a case study is appropriate because it provides concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. This approach will allow me to collect data, analyze information, report the results, and explore the key characteristics, meaning, and implications of my research topic. I do not have the time or resources for a large-scale research project, and a case study will keep my project focused and manageable. I will be exploring one case study and analyzing the subject in depth.
Strengths of the Case Study
Robert Yin, Sharan Merriam, and Robert Stake are three seminal authors and distinguished researchers whose methodological suggestions in case study research largely impacted educational researcher’s decision concerning case study design (Yazan, 2015). Yin provides a clear process to the case study, which includes methods for avoiding bias and conducting ethical research. Yin makes it clear the researcher should be open to contrary evidence, and it is important to see all the data and not just what the researcher is hoping to see. Yin encourages all researchers to avoid falsifying or plagiarizing information and to maintain a professional competence that includes keeping up with related research, ensuring accuracy and understanding and divulging the needed methodological qualifiers and limitations to one’s work (Yin, 2014). Merriam has made case study more accessible to researchers by outlining concepts and process for research implementation. She clarifies when and why a case study is appropriate and why it should be chosen over another method. Stake contributed to the development of a case study as a valid methodology for research by emphasizing the concept of triangulation for data analysis which is used by qualitative researchers to verify and provide validity in their studies through multiple perspectives.
Limitations of case study
The weaknesses of case studies are the extent to which the findings of a case study can be applicable to other settings or external validity by way of statistical analysis. Although the data collected may be rich and complex, it means the data is open to different interpretations and potential researcher bias. (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000, p. 193) argue case studies can be generalized because looking at multiple actors in multiple settings enhances generalisability. It also acks the legitimate status of a social science research strategy due to its lacking well-defined and well-structured protocols (Yin, 2001). Methodologists fail to reach a consensus on the design and implementation of case studies, making it one of the most misunderstood methodology
Unstructured Interview
Interviews are used extensively in qualitative research to question and collect information from people for data collection. Interviews may be structured, semi-structured or unstructured (Robson, 2011). This less intensive qualitative research method can help social policy research and, in my case, consist of a semi-structured interview with a one-on-one interaction where I will ask questions but allow for variation in the order and format of questions.
By interacting with the same participant over time, I will be able to develop a trusting relationship, which will result in research that effectively captures a great deal of information about opinions and perceptions. Suppose the interactions take place on the interviewee’s “home turf” (for instance, in the interviewee’s home or workplace). In that case, I will also be able to gather observational data about actual activities and interactions.
I feel comfortable with this format because I am familiar with the topic and questions, and the experience will be less formalized. The questions will be structured, which will help initiate the conversation with participants and it is this conversation process that allows participants to frame their responses and allows for verbal clarification of what is said by the participant. My goal is in gaining an understanding of the research question by encouraging participants to share their own personal perspectives and experiences.
Strengths of the unstructured interview
The unstructured interview allows the interviewer to pose open ended questions and allows the participant to express his/her own opinion freely. It is possible to generate rich data, information, and ideas because the level of questioning can be varied to suit the context.
Limitations of the unstructured interview
Assessing the accuracy of qualitative findings is not easy. Traditional criteria for ensuring the credibility of research data such as objectivity, reliability and validity are used in scientific and experimental quantitative studies due to their standardized instruments’ relatively easy assessment. In contrast, qualitative research studies are usually not based on standardized instruments. These evaluation criteria cannot be strictly applied to the qualitative paradigm. This is due to the researcher being more interested in questioning and understanding the meaning and interpretation of the research question.
The limitations are as follows:
- it requires the researcher and participant to be at ease with each other.
- it is difficult to standardise the interview across different participants since each interview takes on its own format.
- it can be time consuming and difficult to analyse the data.
Role and Integrity
In order to ensure the trustworthiness of my research, appropriate criteria for qualitative research will include methods such as peer reviews, triangulation, and disclosure of my research bias. Creswell (1998) suggests trustworthiness of qualitative research can also be established by using credibility, transferability, dependability, and conformability.
Qualitative case study is the search for meaning through direct interpretation of what is observed, experienced, and reported. As an interpretive researcher, I will derive my data through direct interaction with the participant. I will be the primary instrument of data collection and analysis and will be conducting the interviews and making sense of the multiple interpretations as both my participant and I construct our own realities. It is my obligation to collect the data in a non-interfering and unbiased manner without predetermined constraints or conditions that control the study or its outcomes.
Conclusion
The use of qualitative research allowed me to construct and position my understanding in this spectrum so that I can conduct my research with a dependable and defensible design.
I will sum up my position on using the Qualitative research methodology and methods while focusing on the theoretical framework which support my research question and interest.
Epistemological commitments – constructivism.
Case Study – Particularistic (focusing on a particular event or phenomenon), Descriptive (yielding a rich description of the phenomenon being studied), and Heuristic (illuminating the readers understanding of the phenomenon being studied)
Designing my case study – using literature reviews as an essential phase contributing to theory development and research design. Literature reviews help mold research questions.
Qualitative research allows me to use the notion of praxis (practical action) and phronesis (practical wisdom), to further pursue my goal of allowing the possibility for my research participants to change in a positive way their behaviour and actions. My research question is, how does retirement impact a police officer’s health and wellness? Quantitative research using facts and figures will not prompt me or others to change, but Qualitative research helps me visualize and empathize with participants situations or plights. Should my qualitative research transform a participant or reader in a positive way, I would be delighted.
References
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