Assignment: Please follow the Instructions
At least 100 words
Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years and all references must be formatted in current APA style.
Response to Kathryn Parker:
There are five approaches that drive qualitative research. They are the narrative approach, the phenomenological approach, the grounded theory approach, the ethnographic approach and the case study approach (Creswell & Poth, 2025).
The narrative approach is a way for research to process and make sense of ourselves (D'Cruz et al., 2019). In qualitative research, the narrative approach requires the researcher to study and gather information. The narrative approach also requires the researcher to include the culture of the person as a way of understanding their lived experience (Creswell & Poth, 2025). The purpose of the narrative approach is to capture in-depth insight into data that cannot be quantified.
The phenomenological approach is focused on understanding the common meaning about a problem shared between the participants (Creswell & Poth, 2025). A key feature is that phenomenological aims to highlight participants perspective. Another component of phenomenological approach is the focus on smaller sample size but more in-depth information. The purpose is to work to identify shared patterns across different experiences.
Grounded theory can be summarized by supporting a theory that is developed by collecting data from participants (Creswell & Poth, 2025). The goal of grounded theory is to develop a new theory based on data that is observed. The theory is used to explain processes or interactions that cannot be explained by a current existing theory. Grounded theory is helpful for studying new or complex issues.
One of the most impactful aspects of the ethnographic research approach is the ability to be engrossed in the natural setting of the study's participants. This provides the opportunity to understand cultural patterns and social interactions. This approach can be difficult because of the time that is required to be able to fully understand the environment (Creswell & Poth, 2025).
Finally, the case study approach is the qualitative research approach that involves a detailed understanding of a small number of cases (Creswell & Poth, 2025). The reason a researcher uses a case study is to gain a deeper understanding of a complex issue in real-life. There are times when the data cannot tell the complete story without having additional information that can be captured by examining the details of single cases.
For my research plan overview, I believe the right approach would be phenomenological. The reason I believe this is the right choice is because I am expecting the sample size to be small but significant in depth. The purpose will be to describe young adults' experiences transitioning out of foster care in Florida. The best way to capture this information is by gathering personal narratives from participants. Need Assignment Help?
- American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.
- Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2025). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
- D'Cruz, K., Douglas, J., & Serry, T. (2019). Personal narrative approaches in rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury: A synthesis of qualitative research. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 29(7), 985-1004.
Respond to Kimtrese Slaughter
Phenomenological
Phenomenological research investigates the shared meaning of a concept or phenomenon for a shared group of individuals (Creswell & Poth, 2024). This approach seeks to understand lived experiences from a first-person perspective. Phenomenology explores specific experience from a first-person perspective. Phenomenology explores specific experiences, such as examining the lived experiences of psychotherapists who encounter daily mental stress. Phenomenology is interested in how, rather than merely what, we experience. It concerns how the object reveals or displays itself (Zahavi, 2025). Data collection typically relies on interviews with one or more people who have all experienced the same phenomenon. Käufer and Chemero (2021) underscore that phenomenology seeks to explain the meaning of our experiences, that all meaningful experiences are conscious, and that phenomenology therefore focuses on conscious events. Zahavi (2025) identifies two types of phenomenological research, including transcendental phenomenology, which focuses on understanding the human experience free from any preconceived biases. Hermeneutic phenomenology focuses on how people make sense of their lived experiences. Given the need to immerse oneself in participants' perspectives, phenomenology presents its challenges. Phenomenological research requires researchers to manage their personal biases (Williams, 2021). Applying reflexivity and bracketing helps researchers to interpret narratives authentically.
Narrative
Narrative approach is a genre of analytic frameworks in which researchers interpret stories told within research contexts of research and/or shared in everyday life (Usman et al., 2025). It focuses on the detailed stories or life experiences of a single event or a series of events experienced by a small number of individuals (Papakitsou, 2020). Biographical, autobiographical, oral history, and life history are types of narrative approaches (Usman et al., 2025). The key founders of this approach are Theodore Sarbin, Jerome Bruner, D. Jean Clandinin, and Donald E. Polkinghorne (Sevilla-Liu, 2023). The narrative approach can be labor-intensive as it requires extensive data, relies on participants' memory, and may also introduce researcher bias (Usman, 2025).
Grounded Theory
Grounded Theory is one of the most widely utilized qualitative research methodologies across diverse disciplines, including social psychology, education, nursing, marketing, and health sciences (Tarozzi, 2020). Originating in 1967 with Glaser and Strauss's seminal study on the experience of dying in hospitals, the approach was initially defined as a systematic set of procedures for inductively generating theory from data (Creswell & Poth, 2024; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). To execute this method, researchers must collect and analyze data simultaneously; utilize rigorous coding procedures, engage in constant comparative analysis, and construct interconnected categories to produce a fully grounded theory (Turner & Astin, 2021). Consequently, data collection and analysis can be time sensitive, requiring advanced skills in both qualitative coding and conceptual theory development. (Cresswell & Poth, 2024).
Ethnography
According to Creswell and Poth (2025), ethnography involves the in-depth study of an entire culture or group within its natural, intact habitat over an extended period. In this research method, the researcher focuses on describing and interpreting the shared patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a specific culture. Data collection relies heavily on observation, fieldwork artifacts, and unstructured interviews (Creswell & Poth, 2025). Ethnography is grounded in the idea of naturalistic research, which focuses on research conducted in real-world settings (Wardell, 2025). This method of research has various contributors, such as Bronislaw Malinowski, who immersed himself in the Trobriand Islands; he emphasized the value of living among the subjects and learning their language. This laid the foundation for ethnography; Joseph Francois Lafitau provided the current definition of ethnography, and Henry Morgan was a pioneer of participant observation (Ugwu, 2017). This method has been used in fields such as sociology, psychology, geography, education, health research, and even tourism (Wardell, 2025). Finally, ethnography requires prolonged immersion in a culture or group (Coffey, 2018).
Case Study
A case study is one of the most widely used strategies in qualitative social research and is employed across several social science disciplines, such as sociology, management, anthropology, and psychology (Priya, 2021). Case study research explores a real-life, contemporary, bounded system using a single case or multiple cases, through detailed, in-depth data collection from multiple sources (Creswell & Poth, 2024). The key historical and academic figures of case study research design are Frederic Le Play, Robert E. Park, Earnest W. Burgess, Florian Znaniecki, Robert K. Yin, Robert E. Stake, and Alexander George (Sclafani, 2017). Researchers must first identify a bounded case: collect information from multiple sources, develop a detailed case description, and analyze themes and interpret findings within the case's context (Greenhalgh, 2025). A researcher cannot use a case study with a large population, as it can be time and labor-intensive, and can be subject to researcher bias
Finally, include a sixth paragraph that explains which approach you plan to implement in your Research Plan Overview 2 and why it is the right approach for you to use.
Finally, I am planning my research around the phenomenological approach. This approach is most appropriate because my goal is to understand the lived experiences and meanings of African American women associated with positive spiritual coping and resilience. The phenomenological research inquiry seeks to uncover the deep, shared experience of psychological resilience and culturally grounded coping mechanisms within a specific population (Creswell & Poth, 2024). My plan is to allow participants to share their detailed personal experiences. Phenomenology specifically aligns with my goal of understanding how participants experience spirituality and resilience in their daily lives.
References:
Agar, M. (2022). Ethnography. In Handbook of pragmatics: Manual. Second edition (pp. 1546-1554). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Coffey, A. (2018). Doing ethnography. London: SAGE Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2025). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (5th ed.). Sage Publications
Chowdhury, A., & Shil, N. C. (2021). Thinking 'Qualitative' through a case study: Homework for a researcher. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 5(2), 190-210.
Gallagher, S. (2022). What is phenomenology? In Phenomenology (pp. 1-10). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Glasser, B.G., & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine de Gruyter.
Greenhalgh T. Case studies: a guide for researchers, educators, and implementers. BMJ Med.
Käufer, S., &Chemero, A. (2021). Phenomenology: an introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
Papakitsou, V. (2020). Qualitative research: Narrative approach in sciences. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience & mental health, 3(1), 63-70.
Priya, A. (2021). Case study methodology of qualitative research: Key attributes and navigating the conundrums in its application. Sociological Bulletin, 70(1), 94-110.
Tarozzi, M. (2020). What is grounded theory? Bloomsbury Academic.
Timonen, V., Foley, G., & Conlon, C. (2018). Challenges When Using Grounded Theory: A Pragmatic Introduction to Doing GT Research: International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1).
Turner, C., & Astin, F. (2021). Grounded theory: what makes a grounded theory study? European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 20(3), 285-289.
Ugwu, C. (2017). History of ethnography: Straitening the records. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 9(7), 64-68.
Usman, A. C., Al-Hendawi, M., & Bulut, S. (2025). Approaches to qualitative research: A narrative literature review. Advances in Medicine, Psychology, and Public Health, 2(2), 81-95.
Sevilla-Liu, A. (2023). The theoretical basis of a functional-descriptive approach to qualitative research in CBS: With a focus on narrative analysis and practice. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science., 30, 210-216
Sclafani, C. (2017). A case study primer: Origins and basic principles. Global Journal of Human-Social Science: G (Linguistics & Education), 17(3)
Wardell, S. (2025). Ethnography : the basics (First edition.). Routledge.
Williams, H. (2021). The meaning of "Phenomenology": Qualitative and philosophical phenomenological research methods. The Qualitative Report, 26(2), 366-385.
Zahavi, D. (2025). Phenomenology: the basics. Routledge.