Qualitative Approaches to Research Studies and Techniques Prof. Dr. Md. Rezaul Karim

1. Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project Urban and Rural Planning Discipline Khulna University Training on Research Methods and Techniques Qualitative Approaches to Research Studies and Techniques Prof.Dr. Md. Rezaul Karim Urban and Rural Planning Discipline Khulna University

2. Select Data Collection Techniques Data collection technique influenced by • Type of information needed • Time available • Cost

3. Qualitative Methods • Qualitative Methods take many forms including descriptions of people, places, conversations and behavior • Open-ended nature of qualitative methods allows the person being interviewed to answer questions from his or her own perspective

4. Qualitative vs. Qualitative

5. Qualitative vs. Qualitative

6. Qualitative Methods

7. Qualitative Methods Strengths • Provides vital information on attitudes and practice • Findings from qualitative research can be used to base qualitative research • Can easily combine with quantitative information

8. Quantitative Methods Strengths • Used to gather large amount of data • Features a high level of reliability • Findings can be tested using statistical means, helping one to be sure of its reliability

9. Quantitative Methods Weaknesses • Rigid approach and attempts to control all the variable factors that might influence findings • Inappropriate to measure human knowledge attitude and practice • Small samples invalidates generalization of results • Non scientific-

10. Focus Group Discussions What is FGD • A structured group process used to obtain detailed information about a particular situation • The focus group discussions (FGDs) are rapid assessment, semi‐structured data gathering methods in which a purposively selected set of participants gather to discuss issues and concerns based on a list of key themes drawn up by the researcher/facilitator (Kumar 1987).

11. Focus Group Discussions Qualities of a facilitator • familiarity with the discussion topic • ability to speak the language spoken of the area • cultural sensitivity, including not acting as a judge, a teacher, does not looking down on respondents, not agreeing or disagreeing with what is said, and not putting words in the participants’ mouths • sensitivity to men and women • politeness • respect for participants

12. Focus Group Discussions What are FGDs? When to use FGDs? When not to use FGDs? Using FGDs. Facilitating FGDs. Who should facilitate? Who should participate? What questions to ask? How to analyse data and write the report

13. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Composition of FGD • 6-9 participants brought together to discuss a clearly defined topic • Composed of homogeneous people representing a particular segment of population (e.g. gender, age social group-pastoralists, internally displaced persons)

14. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Timing • A group session should last 1 to 1 and a half hours, maximum 2 hours. • Facilitator keeps discussion and track by asking a series of open ended questions to stimulate discussions

15. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Advantages • Easy to undertake • Results obtained in a short time • Social interactions in the group produces freer and more complex responses • The investigator can probe for clarification and solicit greater details

16. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Disadvantages • Groups are often difficult to assemble • Individual responses are not independent of each other • Group is hand selected therefore the results may not be representative of the general population

17. Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) • A process of learning about rural conditions in an intensive, iterative, and expeditious manner – GrandStaff et al. (1987). • A Systematic but semi-structured activity carried out in the field by a multi-disciplinary team, and designed to acquire quickly new information on, and hypotheses about, rural life – Conway and Barbier (1990).

18. Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) • Advantages of rapid rural appraisal • Low-cost, requires little time, can encourage local participation, can decrease outsider bias, can encourage participation of frequently overlooked groups, offers flexibility in method selection • Disadvantages of rapid rural appraisal: • Seasonal bias, accessibility bias, elite bias, may not be generalizable.

19. Preparations • What are the objectives of the exercise(s) • Why is the work being done? • What type of information do you need? • Define the study area • Province • District • Community • Review “secondary” data: • Reports, maps, photos • UN, Govt., NGOs etc.

20. Preparations (cntd) • Direct observation • Learn about the area • Only a “starting point” • Do not assume you know! • Prepare check-lists

21. Check-Lists • General information • Agro-ecological zones • Climate • Main economic activities of local population • Socio-economic information • Distribution of assets • Gender roles • Land tenure system • Interest groups • Labor use patterns • Access to services and markets • Cultural attitudes towards farming • Farming system information

22. Check-Lists: Farming system information • Physical resource base: land, soil, water, vegetation, etc. • Land use patterns: agriculture, livestock, forestry activities • Cropping patterns: crops, varieties, patterns, rotations, varietal preferences • Assets available (e.g., major tools) • Yields per crop per unit of land • Quantities of physical, variable inputs used per crop per unit of land • Labor used per crop per unit of land • Prices for: inputs, outputs, labor, land, capital

23. Planning Community Meetings • Location of meeting • Mosque or other communal meeting place • Private compound • Seating is important • Time • Who can and cannot attend? • Who will facilitate exercises? • Group or individual meetings? • Culturally will everyone participate equally?

24. Know Your Audience! • Bandorban, Matiranga • Community meeting • Men dominated discussions • Split into two groups by gender • Asked to discuss and prioritize issues • Women ranked labor shortage #1 • Men did not even mention labor! • Bring two groups together • Share what was discussed • Discuss issues

25. Crops grown (by season) Land use intensity Extent of inter-cropping Soil types and soil conditions (degree of salinity, water-logging) Farm sizes areas owned and areas cultivated Extent of farm fragmentation; size of individual plots, average number of plots owned, and distances from farmstead Ground topography: upland/lowland; land slope, field characteristics Crop yields Agricultural practices Land preparation Planting, sowing, transplantation Fertilizer application Weeding Irrigation, drainage Harvesting Crop processing Transportation Rapid Rural Appraisal method is good for investigating….

26. Common RRA Techniques • Semi-structured interviewing • Mapping and diagramming • Seasonal and historical diagramming • Preference ranking

27. Semi-structured interviewing Also called personal interviews or one-on-one interviews • Typically face-to-face, recorded, transcribed, reviewed for themes and direct quotes to use in reports • Semi-structured interviewing is a form of guided interviewing • Some of the questions are predetermined • New questions are usually generated during the interview • Use a checklist of questions as a flexible guide rather than a formal questionnaire • Interviews take the form of discussions • Interviewer and interviewee learn from each other

28. During the Interview • Use checklist to stimulate discussion and a participatory dialogue • Ask questions around existing information on the community, or visual material such as diagrams, photographs, or maps • Use “open-ended” questions: who? why? what? when? where? how? • Listen!!! • Take some notes during the interview • Better to complete notes immediately after the discussion

29. After the Meeting • Finish the discussion politely • Have evening brain-storming sessions with the team to complete notes and to prepare for the following day • Establish report writing procedures with the team making sure enough time is allocated

30. Mapping and Diagramming • Simple schematic devices • Present information in a condensed and readily understandable visual form • A simplified “model of reality” • Draw in the presence of different categories of people (women and men, young and old, etc.), as their perceptions, viewpoints and information will often differ

31. Information Collected with Mapping • Physical infrastructure • Social infrastructure • Cropping systems • Water sources • Woodlands • Major physical features • Land tenure systems • Grazing areas

32. Participants, Location and Equipment • Groups should generally not be too large (no more than 15) • Select a comfortable place, free from distractions • Equipment: Maps can be prepared with a variety of tools on a variety of surfaces. The most common combinations are: • sticks, stones, leaves, etc. on cleared smooth areas of ground • colored chalk on cement floors • colored pens on paper

34. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) • The approach aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people in the planning and management of development projects and programs.

35. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) “an approach and methods for learning about rural life and conditions from, with and by rural people (Chambers 1992). PRA extends into analysis, planning and action and closely involves villagers and local officials in the process. It is a shift from extractive survey questionnaires to experience sharing by local people.

36. PRA - Value Added • Empowerment • Respect • Localization • Enjoyment • Inclusiveness

37. PRA ranking exercise being carried out by members of a Farmer Field School in Bangladesh, 2004

38. Observation Observations generates questions for further investigations • Attendance at participation in activities, formal and informal • Structure counting (quantitative) observation yields useful preliminary information on physical features • Structures, sample (quantitative and qualitative)

39. Observation • Transect. Offers an overview of the field site and structured observation on natural resource and human activity • Record who walked the transect and at what time • Helps build rapport with the locals

40. Case Study In-depth analysis of a particular case—a program, a group of participants (gang, club, clan, family, etc.), a single individual, a specific site or location, or a policy. Describe the subject’s entire range of behaviors and the relationship to subject’s history and environment. Case studies can be: • Explanatory—measure causal relationship • Descriptive—describes context in which takes place • Exploratory—identify performance measures or pose hypotheses or research questions for further study

41. FIRST GROUP SECOND GROUP Perception of Compare the opinion holders in opinion of the the age group of first group with 40 an above the local leaders Re-examine with first group Final Land use map Flow chart of Retrospective Inquiry System (RIS) Retrospective Inquiry System (RIS)

42. Question and Answer