Additional: Recap of the QM Lectures Flashcards
Compare the goals/type of analysis approach between Quantitative and Qualitative research
Quant
- numbers
- statistical analysis
- feel of analysis is ‘cold/bare’
- goals: nomothetic (discovery of universal laws) and hypothesis testing
- reliable stable relationships
- general application
- detached researcher
- assumed ‘objective’
- often deductive
Qualitative
- text/verbal
- illustrative and interpretative analysis
- ‘warm and rich’
- idiographic (behaviour in context) and exploratory
-potentially variable meanings
- application is particular
- researcher is ‘involved’
- assumed ‘subjective’
- often inductive
What are the characteristics of the deductive approach?
- Emphasises scientific principles
- Moves from theory to data
- Seeks to explain causal relationships
- QUANT data
- Structured methodology
- Researcher independence
- Operationalisation of concepts
- Reductionist
- Generalisation
What are the characteristics of the inductive approach?
- Moving from data to theory
- Understanding the meanings human attach to events
- Close understanding of the research context
- Collection of qualitative data
- Flexible structure to permit changes of research -more fluid
- Realisation that researcher is part of process
- Less concern with need to generalise
Epistemology and Ontology - define these concepts
Epistemology - study of knowledge (what is it and how do we know what we know)
Ontology - study of reality and existence
What is social constructivism
Argues that knowledge is constructed through interaction with others
–> people work together to actively construct artifacts through interactions
What is critical realism?
Branch of philosophy distinguishes between the ‘real’ world and the ‘observable’ world
–> the ‘real’ can not be observed - it exists independent from human construction
–> The world we know is constructed from our perspectives and experiences, through what is observed
Compare Big Q, Small Q, and Biggish Q
Big Q = application of quali techniques in a quali paradigm
Small Q = use of quali techniques but not necessarily in a quali paradigm (philosophy is not necessarily quali)
Biggish Q = sits in the middle
–> more structured than Big Q
–> more in line with qualitative philosophy than small Q
What is thematic analysis
Method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns within data
–> It organises and described your data in detail
–> It interprets various aspects of the research topic
Define these key terms in thematic analysis:
- Data corpus
- Data set
- Data item
- Data extract
Data corpus: All data collected for a project (eg. interviews, websites, diaries)
Data set: All data from the corpus used for a particular analysis (eg. interviews)
Data item: Piece of collected data (eg. an interview)
Data extract: Identified chunk of data item (eg. a quote from interview)
Compare grounded theory with thematic analysis
Grounded Theory: quali method used to develop theories directly from data
–> Relies on systematic data collection and analysis to generate insights grounded in the data itself
The main difference is TA does not start with a hypothesis
What is discourse analysis
Focuses on the everyday management of relations between mental states and an external world
–> Considers how people in talk AND text formulate personal subjectivity
–> Mental states, dispositions, feelings, judgements, and reactions
–> Ties them to descriptions and assessments of what the world is like - the object side
