What is action research? Action research (AR) is a type of inquiry generally undertaken by practitioners who become researchers, or who work in partnership with university researchers, to examine issues…

Case study research The term ‘case study’ is used for a research approach with specific boundaries and can be both qualitative and quantitative. Stake (2000) states that much qualitative research…

Intentionality and the early stages of phenomenology Phenomenology begins with Husserl who was the core figure in the development of phenomenology as a modern movement. It is important, however, to…

The nature of narrative and story Stories are reflections on people’s experience and the meaning that this experience has for them. Narrative research is a useful way of gaining access…

History and origin GT originated in the 1960s by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, who worked together on research about health professionals’ interaction with dying patients in 1965. From research,…

The basic ethical framework for research Historically, attempts at establishing international rules for ethical research stem from the time after the Second World War, as a result of the criminal…

The historical perspective Modern ethnography has its roots in social anthropology and emerged in the 1920s and 1930s when famous anthropologists such as Malinowski (1922), Boas (1928) and Mead (1935),…

Selecting and formulating the research question The first step in the process is the selection of the research area, topic and question. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, Punch…

Participant observation Observation is a data source which researchers use to explore and understand the group or culture under study. In particular, it forms an essential element of ethnography and…

Theoretical frameworks and ontological position Social inquiry can be approached in several different ways, and researchers will have to select between varieties of approaches. Whilst often making a choice on…