Ch 9. The Nature of Qualitative Research

Question 1

Qualitative research is concerned primarily with words and images…

Answer 1

…rather than numbers

Question 2

Immersed in the social setting (kind of qualitative research)

Answer 2

Ethnography/participant observation

Question 3

In-depth, semi-structured, or unstructured (kind of qualitative research)

Answer 3

Qualitative Interviewing

Question 4

Interview several people together (kinds of qualitative research)

Answer 4

Focus Groups

Question 5

Discourse and conversation analysis (kinds of qualitative research)

Answer 5

Analyze the language

Question 6

Content analysis (kinds of qualitative research)

Answer 6

Qualitative analysis of texts and documents

Question 7

Engage participants to produce social change (kinds of qualitative research)

Answer 7

Participatory action research

Question 8

The Main Steps in Qualitative Research

Answer 8

1. Establish a general research question
2. Select a relevant site & subjects

3.Collect the data

4. Interpret the data
5. Conceptual and theoretical work (tighter specification of the research question and collection of further data)
6. writing up and findings/conclusions

Question 9

Blumer (1954): definitive versus sensitizing concepts. What are their definitions?

Answer 9

1. definitive concepts: defined with nominal and operational definitions, as in quantitative research
2. Sensitizing concepts: provide only a general sense of reference and guidance as to the content of the concept

Question 10

What are two key criteria to evaluate a qualitative study

Answer 10

trustworthiness & authenticity

Question 11

Trustworthiness’ four criteria

Answer 11

Credibility
Transferability
Dependability
Confirmability

Question 12

Do the people studied agree with the interpretation of their thoughts and actions offered by the researcher?

Answer 12

Credibility

Question 13

Can the findings be applied to other contexts or people not studied?

Answer 13

Transferability

Question 14

Thick description helps to determine whether transferability is possible. What is “thick description”?

Answer 14

Provides enough information to conduct later comparison to findings from other studies

Question 15

Were proper procedures followed? Can the study’s theoretical inferences be justified?

Answer 15

Dependability

Question 16

seeing through the eyes of the people being studied (2):

Answer 16

1. empathy
2. in-depth description and emphasis on context

Question 17

Flexibility and Limited Structure of Qualitative Research(4)

Answer 17

1. questions should be quite general
2. usually little or no theory driving the research
3. topics explored may change as the study progresses
4. allows the researcher to find new directions of study

Question 18

• Seeing through the eyes of others
• Bringing out a sense of process
• Having a flexible and unstructured method of inquiry
• Achieving a deep understanding of the people or groups being studied
• Pursue social justice and bring about social change

Answer 18

Ultimate Goals of Qualitative Research (5)

Question 19

there are many critiques of qualitative research (5)

Answer 19

• can be too impressionist
• bias can result from personal relationships
• unclear how a particular topic/theme became focus of research
• too subjective
• researchers will bring different reactive effects (gender race social position)

Question 20

One critque of qualitative research is that it is not generalizable.

Answer 20

generalization may not be the goal of research and an in-depth description and understanding may be goal instead.

Question 21

• difficult to determine how the research was conducted
• why were certain people chosen for in-depth interviews
• unclear how researchers arrived to specific findings

Answer 21

Complaints that qualitative research lacks transperency

Question 22

Contrasts between Quantitative and Qualitative Research (important for exam) (10)

Answer 22

1. Numbers vs words
2. Point of view of researcher vs points of view of participants
3. Researcher distant vs researcher close
4. Theory and concepts tested in research vs theory and concepts developed from data
5. Structured vs unstructured
6. Generalizable knowledge vs contextual understanding
7. Theory testing vs theory development
8. Hard reliable data vs rich, deep data
   Macro- vs micro-
9. Behaviour vs meaning
10. Artificial settings vs natural settings

Question 23

Qualitative research often involves the grounded theory approach

Answer 23

the use of data to develop theories

Question 24

going back and forth from data to theory, revising the theory in the process

Answer 24

iterative process

Question 25

Auditing” is sometimes done wherein

Answer 25

peers review the research and procedures to see if the study is dependable