The Different Roles of Theory in the Five Main Approaches of Qualitative Research, Essay Example

In this assignment, the different roles of theory in the five main approaches of qualitative research are considered. Using the spectrum of theory roles provided in Creswell (2007, p. 85), traditions are classified as using theory at the beginning of the study, using theory at the end of the study, using study either at the beginning or at the end of the study, or not using theory in the study at all. Within this main level of differentiation, further comparison and contrast is provided for traditions that fall under the same level of the spectrum. Following this, I develop insights on what I currently believe is the role of theory in my proposed qualitative study, and identify considerations that I must keep in mind regarding theory based on its role in the different traditions.

On one side of the spectrum are phenomenological and ethnographic studies. As discussed by Creswell (2007), these traditions of qualitative inquiry typically utilize theory at the beginning of the study, before first-hand data gathering is conducted. Phenomenology as a qualitative research tradition focuses on drawing an understanding of a specific experienced concept, such as say “romantic rejection.” However, before inquiry can be conducted on such a concept, it is important for qualitative researches using the phenomenological approach to draw boundaries on the study. Thus for phenomenology, the role of theory is to help the researchers develop what is to be studied and how it is to be studied (Creswell, 2007). That is, it enables the researchers to have a clear idea of what they want to investigate and the manner through which an appropriate investigation must be conducted. Consider the example of a study on examining the experience of romantic rejection among nerds. In this study, it is important for researchers to have a formal, operational definition of two terms, “romantic rejection” and “nerds.” The meanings of these two terms as they are meant in the study must exist prior to the study. That is, there must be such a thing as nerds and there must be such a thing as “romantic rejection” before the researchers embarked on their research. Otherwise, there is no phenomenon to study. The questions are what is the “romantic rejection” and who are the “nerds” referred to in the study? These are the questions that ought to be answered by social science theories. For example, the term “romantic rejection” can draw definitions from the social theory of interactionism which holds that meaning is produced through the communicated involvement of people with one another (Farlex, 2011). On the other hand, the term “nerd” can draw meaning from group theories that dwell upon the development of cliques and the dynamics of social rejection. As such, it is important for researchers to engage the theories at the beginning of the study so that they can pinpoint what to look for. Ethnographic studies also make use of theory before engaging in the study, albeit in a somewhat different manner. As discussed by Creswell (2007), ethnographers “bring a strong cultural lens to their study” (p. 86). That is, they enter the community that they intend to research with an underlying theoretical perspective on how they ought to perceive the experiences that they will have. Creswell (2007) pointed out based on the previous work of Fetterman that ethnographic researchers may take on an ideational theoretical perspective or a materialistic theoretical perspective when engaging in their study. Ethnographers who take an ideational point of view would perceive practices and beliefs of people in the community which they experience for themselves as the product of shifts in ideas and philosophies. For example, as a researcher immerses himself in the daily life of a Native American tribe, he or she will perceive such works as using primitive tools more as a tradition of respect to ancestral heritage. On the other hand, a researcher who has a materialistic view would tend to interpret experiences based on the presence or absence of resources. Thus, such a researcher when placed in the same community in the previous example would focus on what facets of modern technology are missing in the tribe and what the tribe has done to compensate for this. Of course, it is also possible for a researcher to adopt both perspectives. It is also possible for the researcher to adopt a different perspective altogether, or to shift his or her theoretical perspective in the middle of the study. However, the point is that the researcher must enter the community with some perspective for analyzing what he or she will encounter, which should be grounded on some theoretical basis.

Creswell (2007) placed biographical traditions and case studies at the middle of the spectrum because in these types of qualitative researches, theory may be used at the beginning of the study or at the end of the study. For biographical researches, Creswell (2007) classified them as traditional or interpretive. Under the traditional approaches, theory is relied upon at the beginning of the study to frame how the researcher would approach the biographical subject. For example, using the feminist theory, the biographical researcher may consider the subject’s gender as pivotal to the study, and focus on questions that have to do with the subject’s experiences on being a member of the dominant or the marginal gender in his or her society. As such, the theoretical perspective lends direction to the biographical tradition, as opposed to merely blindly asking the subject about his or her life experiences. However, the interpretive approach uses theory at the end of the data gathering in the study rather than at the beginning. In this approach, the researcher seeks to find as much information about the subject as possible, and does not make use of any theories at the beginning of the study to focus data gathering around particular themes. Rather, the researcher tries to draw out all information from the subject and then make sense of this information afterwards by interpreting them and possibly linking them to existing theories. In the interpretive approach, it may be surmised that the use of theory at the start of the study is avoided in order to reduce the possibility of researcher bias affecting the data gathered from the study. Without a guiding theory, all information about the biographical subject is drawn, and it is ultimately left to the subject to focus on specific areas based on the length and detail of his or her responses. In the case of case studies, Creswell (2007) identified three possibilities based on studies reviewed. There are case studies in which theory is not utilized at all. These are descriptive case studies in which the main goal is to identify existing issues. As such, it is important for data gathering to be unbounded by theory so that all possible issues existing can be determined. The second possibility is that theory may be used to help explain the findings of the study (Creswell, 2007). That is, theory is utilized as an explanatory tool. As with the interpretive biographical approach, no theories are used at the beginning of the study to position how data would be gathered and interpreted. Theory is only utilized after data gathering, based on the dominant themes of information gathered in the study. Finally, theory can be used at the beginning of the study to develop a framework of how the case may be approached (Creswell, 2007). This may be useful in cases where there is already an abundance of theoretical knowledge in the subject area which can help researchers pinpoint specific matters on inquiry before conducting data gathering. In such case studies, theory may also be used to provide justification on why the specific case is being investigated.

Finally, the grounded theory tradition lies at the other end of the spectrum. Creswell (2007) designated it as thus since theory in the grounded theory approach is always utilized at the end of the study. In fact, grounded theory is all about developing a new theory based on data that may be linked to other existing theories or positioned under specific theoretical paradigms. Using theory at the beginning of a grounded theory research in order to frame how data would be gathered is intuitively counterproductive, as this would mean that the researcher is already picking a possible theory that is applicable to the study. Since the objective of grounded theory is to actually generate theory at the end of the study, it is important for data gathering to be free of theoretical influences. As such, Creswell (2007) prescribed that grounded theory research should always begin with gathering data extensively, followed by developing a theory based on the data gathered, and then finally comparing and contrasting that developed theory with known theoretical models and positioning it within existing theoretical paradigms if possible.

At this time, I believe that the role of theory in my intended qualitative study of determining a theory on retention dynamics of salespeople is as a positioning and clarifying agent at the end of the study. Needless to say, there are a number of existing theories that can be found about employee retention in general. However, what I wish to do is to free myself from the influence of any of those theories at the beginning, as I believe that this is necessary in order for me to be able to develop a theory that specifically deals with the concerns of salespeople. Only after having gathered data and formulating a theory based on that data, should I refer to existing theoretical models about employee retention for me to determine how close or how far my theory about salespeople’s retention concerns stand with respect to other, more general theories about employee retention. This is in line with my selected research tradition of grounded theory. I should keep in mind that in the grounded theory approach, it is imperative that the theory drawn is based solely on the data gathered, as any influence from existing frameworks may prevent the researcher from becoming aware of the actual dynamics that exist in the data gathered. I should keep in mind that in grounded theory, the underlying assumption at the beginning of the study is that there are none. That is, the researcher does not assume anything about the subjects to gather data from in order to help make sure that whatever is gathered is entirely from the subjects of investigation and not influenced by prior thinking of the researcher.

In conclusion, it is clear that theory is used in qualitative researches in a number of ways. It may be used at the beginning of the study as a guiding framework on what to focus on and how to conduct data gathering, or it may be used at the end of the study to help interpret the data gathered or to compare the theory developed with existing theories. There are some approaches in which theory may either be used at the beginning or the end of the study, while there are others in which theory is best utilized immediately at the beginning to ensure that the study remains relevant to an intended focus, or at the end of the study in order to ensure that existing theory does not influence a new theory that is intended to be developed. As such, researchers must take care in determining the role of theory in their respective studies.

References

Creswell, J. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Sage Publications, Inc.

Farlex. (2011). Interactionism. Retrieved June 15, 2011 from: http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/interactionism