Nature of Inquiry and Research

The research is subdivided in Qualitative and Quantitative. Both Research designs (a) are concerned with data reduction and the appropriateness of research methodologies to research questions, (b) seek to relate data analysis to published research studies and to ensure that no deliberate distortions occur, and (c) address the importance of transparency and the issue of error.

They differ in terms of their purposes, research instruments used, type of data collected, sampling technique, data analysis, and setting.

Qualitative research aims to provide a detailed understanding of people’s beliefs, emotions, experiences, attitudes, behaviors, and interactions wherein nonnumerical data are generated. It is characterized as a naturalistic inquiry, humanistic, holistic perspective, interpretive, reflexivity, on-going data analysis, flexibility, an iterative process, an emergent design, and involves a purposeful selection of participants.

It is subdivided into narrative research, phenomenological research, ground theory, action research, case study, ethnographical research, historical research, critical qualitative research, qualitative content analysis, postmodern research, and a basic interpretative qualitative study. It is applied in the field of psychology, anthropology, sociology, political science, medicine, education, and business.