Qualitative Research Designs

Grounded Theory in Exploring Cognitive Moral Logics: The Case of Software Piracy

Since the article specifically looked to address concerns on the lines of morality in the context of Software piracy, the use of grounded theory as a qualitative research design was highly significant. The use of grounded theory has an aim of discovering theory with an extensive data analysis. With the aspects of ethics and morality investigated in great detail, there would not have been any other qualitative research design that could have achieved the desired results (Bhal and Leekha, 2008).

The distinguishing factor in the case of grounded theory is that it operates in a complete reverse mechanism as compared to other social science researches. In the context of a traditional social science research, researchers look to start their research with the testing of hypothesis. On the other hand, the grounded theory begins its proceedings with data collection through multiple methods. With the appropriate data collection completed, certain codes are extracted that are highly significant in interpreting the results and findings. The technical codes are then categorized into different groups so that they are easier to work with. Through the appropriate performance of the different procedures, the different categories are formed which help in the creation of the theory. On the other hand, a reverse hypothesis can also be formed on the basis of grounded theory (Kneafsey, Clifford, & Greenfield, 2013).

Ethnography in Women Administrators in Distance Higher Education- an Exploratory Study

The above article looked at the performance of women administrators in the context of distance higher education. The nature of this research was exploratory. In the context of this research, the most appropriate qualitative research design was ethnography since it specifically looks to investigate the various cultural phenomenon. Since the women administrators belong to a specific culture, the researchers looked to incorporate the essence of an ethnography based qualitative research design. Since the essence of ethnography is to represent graphically and in writing the culture of people, it would be highly significant in the context of such an exploratory research. The aim of an ethnography based research is to have an aesthetic impact on the reader as well as to portray a credible reality. It involves understanding the social life of humans and thus with the analysis of women administrators and their social life, ethnography is the most feasible qualitative research design (Conquergood, 2013).

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