The UST Graduate School (UST-GS) Education Cluster conducted a webinar on the Designs and Uses of Qualitative Research held on February 27, 2021, through Zoom teleconferencing. The lecturer was Dr. Esther Priyadharshini from the School of Education and Lifelong Learning of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.
Attended by over 100 students and professors from UST, the webinar aimed to introduce to its participants the current trends in qualitative research designs and how they are used in the field of education across the globe.
In her lecture, Dr. Priyadharshini strongly warned her audience on how researchers misuse qualitative research. She noted that interpreting qualitative research like quantitative research, poor analysis, and inconsistency with underpinning philosophical assumptions are errors researchers should watch out for. She then discussed the place of qualitative research in the continuum between science and social science in the lenses of ontology, epistemology, and methodology.
Priyadharshini also presented different qualitative research designs while sharing her own experiences in applying these designs herself and by her colleagues and students. She centered on mainstream qualitative research designs such as narrative research, qualitative case study, ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, and participatory action research. She also presented two new emerging designs: speculative design and affective/sensory design.
The lecture was followed by commentaries from the Panel of Reactors composed by Graduate School students Mr. Marwin Obmerga, Mr. Christopher Paulo Manlapaz, and UST Graduate School faculty member Prof. Aleli Sevilla, Ph.D. An open forum followed.
The program was facilitated by Master of Arts student Ms. Gerby Parra, and was organized by students and faculty members of the UST-GS Education Cluster spearheaded by Assoc. Prof. Rodrigo Litao, Ph.D., and Asst. Prof. Gina Lontoc, Ph.D.
