Naturalistic Approach in Research
Naturalistic Approach
Introduction
Naturalistic qualitative enquiry expresses one’s view as to the nature of “reality”. It is the view that the real world is a dynamic system where in all parts are so interrelated that one part inevitably influences the other parts. To understand the real world, the parts cannot be seperated bit by bit, but the parts must be examined in the conext of the world. It is essentially a phenomenological view as differentiated from a logical-positivistic view of the reality of world. It refers to the inquiries that employ direct contact between invesigators and actors in the situation as a means of collecting data. It requires the use of emergent strategies to design the study rather than a priori specification, develop data categories from examination of the data thmselves after collection and do not attempt to generalize the findings to a university beyond thet bounded by the study.
Characteristics
1. Natural Setting – Studying real world situation in a natural situation, non manipulation and non-controlling
2. Human instrument – Inquirer is a major source of data collection
3. Inductive Analysis – Immersion in the details and specifies of the data to discover categories, dimensions rather than testing theoretically derived(deductive) hypotheses
4. Utilization of tacit knowledge – The human instrument builds upon his/her tacit knowledge and uses methods such as interview, observations, documents analysis unobtrusive clues
5. Holistic Perspective – Understanding of the whole phenomena rather than independent units
6. Qualitative data – Detailed thick description about cultural norms, values and tradition, direct quotations of experts
7. Grounded Theory – No priori theory can suit the multi realities;substantive theory emerging from the contextual data
8. Personal Contact and insight – Direct experience and insights of the researcher are important part of the inquiry for understanding the phenomenon
9. Dynamic System –
Introduction
Naturalistic qualitative enquiry expresses one’s view as to the nature of “reality”. It is the view that the real world is a dynamic system where in all parts are so interrelated that one part inevitably influences the other parts. To understand the real world, the parts cannot be seperated bit by bit, but the parts must be examined in the conext of the world. It is essentially a phenomenological view as differentiated from a logical-positivistic view of the reality of world. It refers to the inquiries that employ direct contact between invesigators and actors in the situation as a means of collecting data. It requires the use of emergent strategies to design the study rather than a priori specification, develop data categories from examination of the data thmselves after collection and do not attempt to generalize the findings to a university beyond thet bounded by the study.
Characteristics
1. Natural Setting – Studying real world situation in a natural situation, non manipulation and non-controlling
2. Human instrument – Inquirer is a major source of data collection
3. Inductive Analysis – Immersion in the details and specifies of the data to discover categories, dimensions rather than testing theoretically derived(deductive) hypotheses
4. Utilization of tacit knowledge – The human instrument builds upon his/her tacit knowledge and uses methods such as interview, observations, documents analysis unobtrusive clues
5. Holistic Perspective – Understanding of the whole phenomena rather than independent units
6. Qualitative data – Detailed thick description about cultural norms, values and tradition, direct quotations of experts
7. Grounded Theory – No priori theory can suit the multi realities;substantive theory emerging from the contextual data
8. Personal Contact and insight – Direct experience and insights of the researcher are important part of the inquiry for understanding the phenomenon
9. Dynamic System –
References: Proceedings (Two day National Seminar on “Recent Approaches In Educational Research” in 30th and 31st March 2012 at St.Justin College of Education, Madurai) Research Methods in Education-Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion & Keith Morrison Introduction toResearch-Mark Walsh,Lyne Wigens