Chapter 7 Flashcards - Qualitative Study Designs (Role of Theory, Sampling & Data Generation)
Theory can be used to?
- Inform the research problem and purpose
OR - the theory may be an outcome of the research
In what ways can theory be used?
- Theoretical Lens (perspective to guide)
* Helps shape research question, participant selection, data generation & analysis - Interpretative framework
* Specific theory drawn upon to make sense of research findings
Why do researchers need sampling for qualitative studies
Need to recruit samples of participants that best enables them to answer their RQ (research question)
What is purposeful sampling
Often is seen as a central feature of qualitative research
* Intent is to recruit sample of info rich-participants who will purposefully inform an understanding of the topic being studied
Recruting people for a study that match the characteristics of the phenomenon being explored
Specific forms of purposeful sampling include?
- Extreme case sampling
* Sampling participants deemed as outliers to the topic
* Unique or special characteristics => vary in insight and perspective - Maximum variation sampling
* Getting people who have a wide range of experience
* Selecting participants different in the first place to get varoius - Snowball sampling
* Locate key participants and ask them to identify others they would know that fit the researchers criteria for their phenomenon of interest
Example used for extreme case sampling?
HIV; when people who got HIV but didn’t get aids were extreme case sampled since they were the rare few who could provide insight into path researchers can take
Advantages and Disadvantages of Snowball Sampling?
Advantages:
* Referrals allow quick sampling
* Fast and cost efficient
* Obtain data from secretive individuals
Disadvantages:
* Initial participants may shape entire sample
* Oversampling network of peers leads to bias
* Hard to develop trust
How is sample size in qualitative and quantitative different?
- Quantitative looks to generalize findings for a bigger range of n
- Qualitative looks to go into in-depth findings for a smaller range of people => small n
Janice Moorse and her considerations of determining data saturation include…?
- Scope of the study
- Nature of the topic
- Quality of the data
- Number of interviews per participant
- Study Designs
What is scope of study when it comes to determining data saturation?
Broader the scope of the research question, longer it takes to reach saturation
* Much more data needed = more participants, interviews, data sources and more work without developing a better study
Study is larger but not necessarily rich
What is nature of topic when it comes to data saturation?
The topic can determine how many people will willingly participate in the study
- If topic being studied is obvious and clear and less info is required then less sampling is doable
- If the topic is not so obvious it might require more participants
How does quality of data affect data saturation
If the data lack depth it may be necessary to include more participants
* Not every participant shares information in the same way which causes data to sometimes lack depth
How does number of interviews per participant affect data saturation?
Multiple interviews per person rather than 1 => More data production
* Inverse relationship between amount of useable data obtained and number of participants
How do study designs affect data saturation
Study designs for example that “focus on multiple people in an organization” leads to more data collected = data saturation to be reached (no new data need be collected)
General guidelines for sample sizing for each strategy of inquiry
Narrative: 1-2 participants
Phenomenology: 5-8 participants
Grounded theory: 30-50 participants
Ethnography: single group of people that share same culture
Case Study: Single case or 4-5
Qualitative Description: Often takes “tone” of another strategy of inquiry and uses sample sizes consistent with that SOI
