Keyton: Communication Research, 5e IM–1
Chapter 15
Designing Qualitative Research
Activity: Designing a Qualitative Study
Ask students to write the purpose statement for a qualitative study, according to the following script
(Creswell, 1994).
Script for a Qualitative Study
The purpose of this _______________ (type of qualitative method) study will be to _______________
(describe? understand? discover?) the _______________ (communication phenomenon you are
interested in studying) for _______________ (the unit of analysis: A person? A group of people? A
process? A site?). At this stage in the research project, the _______________ (communication
Activity: Acknowledging Assumptions
Students seem to have trouble acknowledging their assumptions about qualitative research contexts. This
exercise is a fun way to introduce the notion of assumptions and how assumptions bias our actions.
1. Bring several jigsaw puzzles to class—enough so that only three or four students are working on each
2. Give each group a puzzle without the lid identifying the puzzle’s picture. Your only instruction is to
tell them to complete the puzzle.
3. When groups are done, generate a class discussion about what assumptions students brought to the
puzzle-completion task. You can use the following questions to generate the discussion:
• What assumptions did you make because the thing given to you looked like a collection of
jigsaw puzzle pieces?
• What aspects of the puzzle pieces did you use to assume what the picture was?
• What assumptions did you make about the size or shape of the puzzle?
4. Now shift the discussion about assumptions in puzzle completion to the assumptions people hold
about communication environments. Select a communication environment with which students are
5. Ask students to generate a list of ideas for overcoming their assumptions in collecting qualitative data.
Activity: Identifying Researcher Roles
Put students in four groups—one for each of the four researcher roles (complete participant, participant–
as-observer, observer-as-participant, complete observer). Using one context (e.g., bus ride around
campus, sporting activity; any interaction context will work as long as it is public and two of the students
Activity: Gaining Access
Using the same four groups as in the activity above, assign students the task of figuring out how they
would gain access to different contexts (e.g., a public context in which students are currently not natural
actors) while remaining in their assigned researcher role. In addition, ask students to consider the
Activity: First Steps in Qualitative Data Collection
Select several common spaces that five or more students can easily observe in your building or elsewhere
In class, ask students who observed the same space to share their descriptions with one another. Next,
bring all groups back for a full class discussion. Ask about their frames of reference as they observed the
spaces. The following discussion questions can help develop the class discussion:
• How did you approach this description of a setting?
• What was the most difficult part of this exercise for you?
• How did your descriptions differ from those of your colleagues?
• How were your descriptions similar to those of your colleagues?
• What skills do you bring to observation?
• What skills do you need to improve or enhance?
Keyton: Communication Research, 5e IM–3
Activity: Collecting Data in Unfamiliar Settings
1. Ask students to select a space to observe in which conversation is naturally occurring. It should be a
2. While in the space, students should
• Describe the entire physical space
3. In class, after these observations, use the following questions to debrief the assignment:
• What challenged you about this assignment?
• What difficulties did you have in this field setting?
• How did your lack of familiarity with the setting create difficulties?
• What did you want to know about the people and their interactions that you could not find out
by observing?
This exercise was developed from an exercise suggested by Janesick (1998).
Activity: Developing Participant Observation Skills
Undergraduate students are in the process of becoming sensitive to their own communication and the
1. As a class, decide on one type of interaction in which all students can participate. If all your students
work, they could focus on their interactive role as an employee with a customer or client, or they could
3. In class, ask students to use their field notes to create a running descriptive account of what happened.
Then ask students to write analytical notes to augment their description, or to formulate questions about
Keyton: Communication Research, 5e IM–4
Activity: Sampling in Qualitative Designs
Lead your students in a discussion of how they might sample observations in the following settings:
1. Observing if/how/when students talk to one another on the campus bus.
3. Observing how instructors interact with one another.
4. Observing how customers interact with the counter staff at a food outlet frequented by students.
Worksheet—Designing Qualitative Research
Pick an interaction context of interest to you. Visit this site for informal observation before you answer
the following questions.
Description of the setting:
Description of the people in that setting:
Description of the interaction in that setting:
Additional Resources
Peticca-Harris, A., deGama, N., & Elias, S. R. (2016). A dynamic process model for finding informants and gaining
access in qualitative research. Organizational Research Methods 2016, 19, 376-401.
doi:10.1177/1094428116629218
Web Resources
For a list of Internet resources, visit https://www.joannkeyton.com/research-methods