Chapter 15 - Sampling & Data Collection in Qualitative Studies Flashcards
What is qualitative research concerned with?
- measuring attributes
- identifying relationships
- ->discovering MEANING, need a representative sample
- generalizability is NOT an issue
Convenience Sampling
- volunteer sample
- ->recruit using bulletin board, newspaper, or internet
- want a diverse group who identify themselves (ex. people with nightmares)
- not preferred b/c may not provide the most information-rich sources
- economical to launch sampling process
Snowball Sampling
- network sampling
- asking early informants to make referrals for other participants
- disadvantage: may recruit a small network of friends
Purposive Sampling
–>researchers deliberately choose the cases/types of cases that will best contribute to the study
Stratgies of purposive sampling
- Maximum Variation Sampling: deliberately selecting cases with wide variation on dimensions of interest
- ->BEST CHOICE - illuminates the scope of the phenomenon, shows patterns - Extreme (Deviant) Case Sampling: provides opportunities from the most unusual and extreme informants
- Typical Case Sampling: selecting participants who illustrate or highlight what is typical/average
- Criterion Sampling: studying cases that meet a predetermined criterion of importance
Confirming vs. Disconfirming Cases
–>purposive strategy used at end of data collection
Confirming Cases: additional cases that fit researchers conceptualizations and strengthen credibility
Disconfirming Cases: new cases that do not fit and challenge researchers interpretations
-offer new insights into revisions of original conceptualization
Theoretical Sampling
- used in grounded theory studies
- ->”what groups should the researcher turn to next?” in order to further the conceptualization
OBJECTIVE is to discover categories and their properties and to offer new insights into interrelationships that occur in the substantive theory
Data saturation
sampling to the point at which no new information is obtained and redundancy is achieved
-broader scope of research question = more participants needed
Sampling in Ethnography
“BIG NET” approach to begin - mingle with as many members of a culture as possible
- heavily rely on a few KEY INFORMANTS (highly knowledgable about culture - link to the “inside”)
- sampling THINGS as well as people (events, activities, records, artifacts, places)
Sampling in Phenomenological Studies
SMALL sample of participants (10 or less), seek diversity
- all participants must have experienced the phenomenon
- be able to articulate what is like to have lived that experience
Interpretive phenomenologists may also sample artistic or literary sources -additional insight
Sampling in Grounded Theory
Samples of 20-30 people (theoretical sampling)
- select informants who can best contribute to the evolving theory
- bring on more contributors as the study continues
- sample until saturation, then may use confirming/disconfirming cases
Critiquing Sampling Plans
- Adequacy: sufficiency/quality of data that the sample yielded, no “thin” spots
- Appropriateness: concerns methods used to select the sample
- results from the sample that best supplies information that meets study’s conceptual requirements (includes all kinds of information –> unusual cases) - Transferability: can it be applied to others in the same criteria?
Data collection in Ethnography
Types: observation/interviews + artifacts
Units: cultural system
Points: mainly longitudinal
Length: LONG (months to years)
Issues: gaining entree, determining a role, loss of objectivity, premature exit
Data collection in Phenomenology
Types: primarily in-depth interviews, some diaries/written materials
Units: individuals
Points: cross-sectional
Length: moderate
Issues: bracketing one’s views, building rapport, listening while preparing for what to ask next, handing emotions
Data collection in Grounded Theory
Types: primarily individual interviews, some group interviews/observation/documents
Units: individuals
Points: cross-sectional or longitudinal
Length: moderate
Issues: building rapport, listing while preparing what to ask next, handling emotions
Unstructured Interviews
used when researchers have no preconceived view of information to be gathered
- aim to learn about respondents perceptions/experiences
- ->start by asking a GRAND TOUR question: broad
Structured (focused) Interviews
used when researchers have a list of topics/broad questions that MUST be covered in an interview
–>use a written TOPIC GUIDE to ensure all questions are addressed
Focus Group Interviews
involved groups of 5-10 people whose opinions/experiences are solicited simultaneously
- can generate a lot of dialogue
- disadvantage: not everyone will feel comfortable sharing
Personal Diaries
standard source of data in historical research
- provides an intimate description of a person’s everyday life
- unstructured
Critical Incidents Technique
method of gathering information about peoples’ behaviors in specific circumstances
- focus on FACTUAL INCIDENT (an integral episode of human behavior) with a significant outcome
- 50-100 incidents are collected, but less people because one person can describe multiple incidents
Photo elicitation
an interview stilted and guided by photographic images
-can promote collaborative discussion
PHOTOVOICE: participants take photos of themselves and then interpret them
Participant Observation
- unstructured observational data
- participant observers take part in the functioning of the group under study –> asks questions, records info, observes
- social interaction and gain further insight
Four phases of participant observation
- Primarily observation and active listening
- Primarily observation and limited participation
- Primarily participation with continued observation
- Primarily reflection and reconfirmation of findings with participants
Relevant aspects of observation to record:
- Physical setting - “where”
- Participants - “who”
- Activities - “what is going on”
- Frequency and Duration - “when”
- Process - “how is the activity organized”
- Outcomes - “why”
Recording Observations
- Log (field diary) - daily recording of events/conversations
- Field Notes - broader, more interpretive
- ->descriptive notes: objective descriptions of events/conversations (thick)
- ->reflective notes: document researchers personal experiences, reflections, and progress in the field with different purposes
- ->theoretical notes: document interpretive efforts to attach meaning to observations
- ->methodology notes: reminders about how subsequent observations should be made
- ->personal notes: comments about researchers own feelings
