Qualitative Research Paper Outline

Qualitative Research Paper Outline 1
Fall 2010
Abstract (to be completed once study is completed- 250 words max)
1. Problem statement/ limitations of the literature
2. Purpose of the study
3. Theoretical framework and brief account of methods
4. Overall findings
5. Conclusion
I. Introduction: Overview of the study (500-750 words)
A. General phenomenon- overview that sets up your study
B. Problem statements- what issues exists or what problems still need to be addressed?
C. Limitations or gaps in existing literature- could be you are studying a population not yet studied, could be you are doing a qualitative research project where only quantitative has been done before, could be you are using a theoretical framework not yet used in or with a particular setting / population.
D. Purpose of the study: This is the rationale, significance or importance of the study. In other words it should explicitly state how your study will fill a gap in or add to existing literature by deepening our understanding.
II. Literature Review (2000-3000 words)
A. Theoretical Literature- Discuss your theoretical framework
1. Definition of the theory
2. Assumptions of theory
3. A few examples of the kinds of information this theory helps reveal
B. Empirical literature: Synthesis and Discussion of previous literature important to the present study
– is often organized from general concepts to more specific findings that relate to your question. Alternately, it can be organized by the major themes.
– is organized in a way such that it is a benchmark for comparing the results you find with this prior literature.
– it provides a background and context for the research question/problem
– synthesizes previous literature into coherent categories of information that help frame the study
– helps establish how these prior studies provide a “jumping off place” for your study. How will your study refine, revise, or extend what is now known?
– it is also not uncommon to revise this section as you collect and analyze your data to include more specific previous research that relates to your findings/question
NOTE* B can also come before A. In general, if your theoretical framework has not been widely used in a particular area, then you talk about it last, noting how your framework will bring forth new perspectives than previously noted. (e.g., you are studying body image of high performance distance runners and note that the literature has come from psychology, but you are interested in a feminist sociological perspective. Talk about what’s been found before for runners in psych, then talk about feminist theory and proceed with describing empirical research findings from other sports. In sum, the order of discussion for your literature review looks more like: empirical-theoretical-empirical. This sets up your study well in this order. Otherwise, if you are studying soccer from a feminist perspective, there are many other studies using this, so begin with the theory, its definition and assumptions, then move into specific findings that have to do with your research question.
III. Methods (500-1000 words)
A. General perspective- mention that it is a qualitative design, then specific research design and acknowledge that the study evolved as a process
B. Context
Describe the sport setting to be studied regardless of which sampling methods you used.
C. Sampling methods: you may have used one or more of these methods, especially for case studies
1. for interviews- describe characteristics of participants and how you gained access to them
2. for observation or participant-observation- describe how you gained access to this setting
3. for content analysis- describe how you accessed these
4. Human subjects’ statement: how you asked for consent forms, kept names confidential and met IRB standards, etc.
B. Data collection methods (Instruments)
1. Instruments: Identify briefly the key instruments to be used, which may include some but not all of the following: semi-structured interviews, recording devices, interview guidelines, observation forms, guidelines and schedules and/or document criteria. The actual interview questions and guidelines for analyses will be included as appendices.
2. Steps: Describe the steps you took to collect data and demonstrate knowledge of these various steps whether participant-observation, interviews, recording field notes, and especially how you conducted ongoing analysis as well. See sources such as Lincoln and Guba (1985), Denzin and Lincoln (2005), Glesne (2010), Patton (2001), Gratton and Jones (2010), Merriam (1988) or Creswell (2006) for details.
2. Researcher’s role: Describe your role as the researcher and explicitly state any previous experience with the sport setting, your personal experiences or biases that can help the reader understand you as one of the primary “instruments”
C. Data Analysis
1. Data organization: Describe how you kept data organized
2. Data coding procedures: Describe in detail how you coded data. Again, see references above. You should also reference your theoretical framework as well in terms of how it helped you look for certain patterns.
D. Summary of methods
IV. Findings/Results (1500-2500 words)
Organize this section according to the primary themes you found. Make sure to consider relationships between themes and present the information in the most logical order according to those relationships. Remain objective in this section, reporting only what you found and briefly whether or not this confirms, adds to or brings forth something new compared to previous findings.
V. Discussion (500-1000 words)
1. Focus of the study
2. Overview of significant findings
3. Interpretation of findings: Through your theoretical framework and previous literature. How do your findings fit within the larger context of sport? (In other words, what do your findings really mean in the larger context of sport?)
4. Theoretical Implications of the study (if any) and implications for practice
5. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research