Two of the three types of qualitative research include phenomenological research and ethnographic research. Phenomenological research is a type of research that seeks to describe a phenomenon from individuals’ perspective and experiences (Grand Canyon University, 2018).
This research study does not provide further explanation of the phenomenon rather a description of a particular phenomenon. Information is collected through interviews that are conducted on individuals who have a first-hand knowledge or experience of an event or the phenomenon under study (Neubauer, Witkop, & Varpio, 2019). An example of a phenomenological research includes a research about women’s access to higher education opportunities in a certain country. This study is practical for a small study. On the other hand, ethnographic research involves the observation of the social life/culture of a particular social system or the interaction of a study’s participant with the environment (Morgan-Trimmer & Wood, 2016).
An example of ethnographic research involves a research aimed at understanding how consumers of a specific product relate to the product. This study is practical for a large study. One of the differences between a phenomenological research and ethnographic research is that a phenomenological study research aims at understanding the perspective of study participants where researchers collect information from the experiences of individuals (Neubauer, Witkop, & Varpio, 2019).
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This is different from ethnographic study research where researchers seek to understand the common and shared experiences of a particular group. This is done through observation over a period where the researcher may be required to live among individuals of the group under study. During this process, the researcher is expected not to abandon his/her inquiry by getting assimilated perceptions of the group under study (Morgan-Trimmer & Wood, 2016).
Phenomenological research uses other means to interpret the experiences of participants in spite of some of the bias that may be evident. Another difference is in the selection of participants where ethnographic research study uses purposeful sampling technique to select participants based on their experience regarding the research topic (Morgan-Trimmer & Wood, 2016).
In phenomenological research study, participants include wiling individuals who have lived and are living in the social group under study. One similarity between the two research studies is the use of interviews to collect data (Grand Canyon University, 2018). Although ethnographic research study collects data through observation after establishing a long-term relationship with the participants, interviews are also used where the participants are given an opportunity to share their opinions regarding the research topic.
References
- Grand Canyon University. (2018). Nursing Research: Understanding Methods for Best Practice. Grand Canyon University.
- Morgan-Trimmer, S., & Wood, F. (2016). Ethnographic methods for process evaluations of complex health behaviour interventions. Trials, 17(1), 232. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-016-1340-2
- Neubauer, B. E., Witkop, C. T., & Varpio, L. (2019). How phenomenology can help us learn from the experiences of others. Perspectives on medical education, 8(2), 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-019-0509-2
