How to Avoid Bias in Qualitative Research
Review your institution’s or sponsor’s guidelines for conducting research., Draft your study early in the process., Keep detailed records., Incorporate all data in the report., Acknowledge the limitations.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Review your institution’s or sponsor’s guidelines for conducting research.
If your research is being funded by a university, a business, or another sponsor, be sure to familiarize yourself with the terms and conditions of the research agreement.
Some institutions may require that the results be shared with the institution.
Many agreements describe commitments to confidentiality and require that researchers disclose any conflicts of interest.Review your agreement with your sponsor to make sure that you are meeting all the guidelines. -
Step 2: Draft your study early in the process.
Before you begin to collect your data, write a draft of your study.
This will prepare you to focus solely on collecting the data when you enter that phase of research.
In addition, it will create an early record of your expectations, which can help you to recognize bias later in the process., Every researcher should keep detailed notes and electronic recordings while performing qualitative research.
Be sure you are recording the data during the experiment or observation.
Waiting to record the data at a later time can introduce errors or misinformation into your data., Include all of your findings and any preliminary data you collected in your report, even if the data did not seem useful.
Acknowledge whether you had any expectations and how those were confirmed or contradicted.
The reader should be able to see all the data so they can come to their own conclusions or offer constructive feedback.
Providing all the data to your reader will help prevent you from misrepresenting the information and from introducing bias into the study., Be sure to include a section that describes your study limitations within your report or paper.
In this section, be candid about any issues that affected the study or if there are any questions that require further research.
This will demonstrate to your reader that you have thought about your research critically and honestly.If you have conducted an opinion poll, for example, and you realized that some of your questions may have prompted a respondent to answer a certain way, acknowledge that in this section. “The survey questions included a statement that may have indicated to the participant that our research was being sponsored by the school.
This statement was listed toward the end, and most likely only influenced the two remaining questions.” -
Step 3: Keep detailed records.
-
Step 4: Incorporate all data in the report.
-
Step 5: Acknowledge the limitations.
Detailed Guide
If your research is being funded by a university, a business, or another sponsor, be sure to familiarize yourself with the terms and conditions of the research agreement.
Some institutions may require that the results be shared with the institution.
Many agreements describe commitments to confidentiality and require that researchers disclose any conflicts of interest.Review your agreement with your sponsor to make sure that you are meeting all the guidelines.
Before you begin to collect your data, write a draft of your study.
This will prepare you to focus solely on collecting the data when you enter that phase of research.
In addition, it will create an early record of your expectations, which can help you to recognize bias later in the process., Every researcher should keep detailed notes and electronic recordings while performing qualitative research.
Be sure you are recording the data during the experiment or observation.
Waiting to record the data at a later time can introduce errors or misinformation into your data., Include all of your findings and any preliminary data you collected in your report, even if the data did not seem useful.
Acknowledge whether you had any expectations and how those were confirmed or contradicted.
The reader should be able to see all the data so they can come to their own conclusions or offer constructive feedback.
Providing all the data to your reader will help prevent you from misrepresenting the information and from introducing bias into the study., Be sure to include a section that describes your study limitations within your report or paper.
In this section, be candid about any issues that affected the study or if there are any questions that require further research.
This will demonstrate to your reader that you have thought about your research critically and honestly.If you have conducted an opinion poll, for example, and you realized that some of your questions may have prompted a respondent to answer a certain way, acknowledge that in this section. “The survey questions included a statement that may have indicated to the participant that our research was being sponsored by the school.
This statement was listed toward the end, and most likely only influenced the two remaining questions.”
About the Author
Laura White
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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