Qualitative research (QR)

 Qualitative research has many branches. The reason for the so many branches that make up
qualitative research is that researchers have different ways of capturing the
complexity of human behaviour and depth of perception of phenomena. There are
also reasons which are conditioned by the theory of knowledge that the
researchers have that seem to centre on the level of involvement of the
researched. In QR there are procedures that aim at involving the researched
completely. This view point informs such branches as action research and participatory
research.

Action research

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p style=”line-height: 150%; margin-top: 13.1pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;”>This basically evolves from the researched
– they have a need to carry out research to solve an immediate problem. The
role of the researcher is to enable them to realise this goal. The researcher
is part of the group and his/her role is to facilitate the process by asking
some questions which make the people themselves do most of the things.

Rapid Rural assessment

 This is a way of investigating
a problem in the shortest possible time. It is conducted by an
interdisciplinary team employing mainly interviews. It is a survey technique
that employs human instruments instead of questionnaires. RA arose out of the
frustration with some social science methods that are too lengthy though
rigorous or too brief and lacking in accuracy. The emphasis is on cost
effectiveness especially at the beginning of a research project.

Participatory Research

Participatory research combines research, education and action. The role
of the researcher in this case is first to become the focal point that enables
the participants to translate the unarticulated problems into needs, to provide
education in such areas as techniques for data collection and analysis and to
enable participants to plan and implement the results of the research.

Phenomenological research

The researcher has
greater control over the research process. He/she observes and records
phenomena as they occur or affect the participants in the research, and
interprets the findings using his or her own judgement. There is clear element
of expertism in phenomenological research though the biography of the
researcher needs to be known so that the interpretation can be judged against
the assumptions the researcher had at the beginning.

Ethnography

 is a form of qualitative research carried out singularly and
sometimes over a long period of time. It employs such techniques as observation
and interviews. The researcher stays on one site, talks to the participants and
some times takes part in activities e.g. teaching in a school, but primarily
he/she is a keen observer of what is going on.

Biographical Research

Biographical research
is a form of self-study. The participant is asked to write about
his/herself. What he/she writes is prompted by questions prepared by the
researcher. Mwanakatwe used one long autobiographical account by Mwamba
Luchembe (Mwanakatwe, 1993). In it, this ex-soldier who ruffled Kenneth Kaunda
by announcing a short-lived coup attempt recounted his own life from school to
the army and to the day when he announced the coup de tat. A biography written
on the basis of an interview is called a semi biography.

Case studies

Case Studies are
studies of single sites or persons in depth for the purpose learning about one
site or person. A case study takes a long time.