Brown Ch 11 Flashcards
naturalistic inquiry, which suggests that a phenomenon is only understood in context and that multiple perspectives can and do exist and differ among individuals
uses inductive reasoning, in which data are collected and, based on that data, an understanding is reached
The philosophy behind qualitative research
Instead of specific, quantifiable questions, qualitative research questions are broad and general.
•They are open to revision and often change during the course of a study, exemplifying the discovery perspective that is central to research.
They avoid terminology such as “cause” or “relate,” because these words suggest an expected outcome and instead use “discover,” “inquire,” “describe,” and “explore.”
•Consistent with an exploratory perspective, they tend to begin with “what” or “how,” rather than “why.”
Qualitative research questions
Because each individual’s lived experience is unique and highly influenced by the real-world environments in which they live, qualitative research takes a naturalistic approach to the selection of participants and settings to study.
•Unlike sampling in quantitative research, qualitative sampling is often an ongoing process that is linked to data collection.
•Sampling continues until the emergent themes are fully developed and data saturation is reached.
Selection of participants and settings in qualitative research
purposive sampling
study participants and settings are selected for a purpose or a specific reason
snowball sampling
the initial participants are asked to recruit additional participants from their own social networks
used when the goal of the study is to construct a new theory.
‒These studies start with purposive sampling and, as theoretical concepts emerge, participants are selected who can contribute to the developing theory.
Theoretical sampling
Methods of data collection:
occurs in a real-world environment using naturalistic observation (events are observed as they naturally occur)
open-ended interview
In a semi-structured interview, an interview guide is created by researchers, along with follow-up probes, but the questions are still general and open-ended in nature
Focus groups allow multiple individuals to be…
interviewed at once to target a specific topic
objects that provide information about the subject of interest
Artifacts
When recording observations in the form of field notes, the focus is on…
watching and listening, and they describe both what is seen and the researcher’s impressions
In participant observation, the researcher…
engages with participants during their naturally occurring activities to gain a more in-depth understanding of the situation
participants take photographs and write accompanying narratives to answer specific questions
photovoice
Qualitative data analysis begins by
looking at data in its original form (e.g., interview transcripts or field notes), then coding the data to elicit themes and/or annotating documents
Data analysis is inductive..
with themes emerging from the data, as opposed to trying to fit data into pre-established themes
Data analysis and data collection are iterative processes:
as data is collected, it is analyzed, and this analysis leads to decisions about the need to collect more data and/or recruit new participants.
lengthy process that involves identifying patterns within the data that can be categorized for easy retrieval
Data analysis
created that includes a list of all the codes with operational definitions to enhance the rigor of the data analysis process.
multiple coders operate with the same definitions, which allows for a greater variety of perspectives and is a useful strategy for reducing subjectivity and bias.
Codebook
The results section of a qualitative study reports…
themes, describes what the themes mean, and often illustrates the themes through actual quotations from the study participants