User Guide: Qualitative Design Advisor

Welcome to the Qualitative Design Advisor. Unlike Quantitative research (SPSS/AMOS), which tests theories with numbers, Qualitative research seeks to explore, understand, and interpret the deep meanings of human experiences. This tool helps you select the right methodological "lens" to view your data.

1. The 5 Approaches (Creswell & Poth)

There are five widely recognized qualitative designs. Choosing the wrong one is a common reason thesis drafts get rejected:

Phenomenology: Focuses on the "essence" of an experience. (e.g., What is it like to be an introverted teacher?)
Case Study: Focuses on an in-depth exploration of a "bounded system" (a specific class, school, or program over a specific time).
Grounded Theory: Focuses on generating a new theory from the data collected in the field.
Ethnography: Focuses on the shared culture, behaviors, and language of a specific group of people over a long period.
Narrative: Focuses on the life stories and chronologies of one or two specific individuals.

2. Writing Qualitative Research Questions

Your Research Question (RQ) dictates your entire methodology. Qualitative RQs must be open-ended, exploratory, and non-directional.

DO NOT use Quantitative words: Impact, Effect, Determine, Relationship, Compare. These require statistical testing.

DO use Qualitative words: Experience, Perceive, Understand, Describe, Process.

Bad: Does AI writing software impact student motivation?

Good: How do students describe their motivation when using AI writing software?

3. Why Justification Matters

In a Master's thesis, you cannot simply state "I used a Case Study." You must justify why a Case Study was the absolute best fit for your specific research question compared to the alternatives. This tool generates an APA 7 paragraph citing methodological literature to help you build a rigorous justification for your Methodology chapter.