Doing Psychology

Question 1

What is the goal of the quantitative approach?

Answer 1

To develop formal (explicit) theories that can be tested

Question 2

How would the quantitative approach define a theory?

Answer 2

A principle or set of principles that explains a body of facts

Theories (ideally) make mathematical predictions, which can be tested by collecting data and submitting that data to formal statistical analysis

In logic/maths = A theory is a set of sentences in a formal language

Question 3

What makes a good theory?

Answer 3

Specifies the relations (often casual) between states
E.g. Evolution explains change or organisms over time due to mutation and selection

Question 4

What are the features of a theory?

Answer 4

Theory has a goal of understanding
Theory is expressed as an explanation
Theory set of principles that explain a system
Set of axioms
Set of inferences to explain existing data & predict new data
Theory must predict or it is not useful

Question 5

What are not features/aspects of a theory?

Answer 5

Theory is not a description
Specify structures of of interest & relations between them
Must specify relations between entities via transformative function
Theory is not a set of data
Theory is not a diagram (unless it includes a description of the logic underlying the specified relationships)

Question 6

What is good science?

Answer 6

Produces ‘good’ and testable theories

Question 7

What do theories of cognition believe about the mind?

Answer 7

That the mind is an intelligent system

Question 8

Who proposed a way to understand intelligent systems?

Answer 8

David Maar 1980 - Answered the question of how intelligent systems work?

Question 9

What were the three different components of David Maar’s explanation of intelligent systems? (Name only)

Answer 9

Computational theory, Representation and Algorithm, Physical implementation

Question 10

What is the computational theory of understanding intelligent systems?

Answer 10

What problem is it solving (& why)?
What are the constraints on its solution?
What, in general terms, is the nature of the problem that is getting solved or the function that’s being computed?

Question 11

What is the representation and algorithm explanation of understanding intelligent systems?

Answer 11

What information does the system represent and how does it represent that information?
What does it do with that information?
What algorithm is it running on the information in order to get something useful out of it?
What is the input to the system, what is its output, and what stages does it go through in between?

Question 12

Why are the three different levels important in understanding a system?

Answer 12

In order to understand a system fully, it needs to be described at all three levels

Question 13

What is the physical implementation view of intelligent systems?

Answer 13

How are these representations and algorithms realised in the hardware of the device itself (e.g. in the neurons in the brain)

Question 14

How does an example of a cash register demonstrate the different levels of Maar’s explanation?

Answer 14

Example of a Cash register
Computational - Problem is arithmetic
Representation and algorithm - Representation is arabic numerals & algorithm operation is on least significant digits
Implementation - Series of 10 notch metal wheels turned by a control structure

Question 15

What level do we want to study cognition at?

Answer 15

Implementation level can be too abstract or complicated at first so representation level easier as well as being abstract

Question 16

What is an example of a model that works on the level of computational theory?

Answer 16

Rescorla-Wagner model that explains learning via association as it specifies a function mapping input state to output state

Question 17

What features would a model of the level of representation and algorithm have?

Answer 17

Specify representations for input and output
- Content
- Format (e.g. spoken)
Specifies algorithm for transforming input representations into output representations
Precise series of operations

Question 18

How would physical implementation look like in application? (e.g. what features of the brain would be focussed on)

Answer 18

How do real neurons behave?
How do real neurons learn connections?
How are items encoded by real neurons?
How is association implemented in real neurons?

Question 19

What are the two types of models used in Psychology?

Answer 19

Mathematical models
- e.g. Rescorla-wagner model
- Many models of personality specify which traits interact to produce
things like preferences or behaviours

Process models
- Most common in cognitive and behavioural neuroscience

Question 20

What are the two broad classes of process model?

Answer 20

Symbolic
Represent knowledge as symbolic data structures
Manipulate data structures with variablised rules

Connectionist
Represent knowledge as nodes in a network
Processing is carried out by passing activation between nodes

Question 21

What is representation like in symbolic models?

Answer 21

Symbolic data structures
Basic (or atomic elements)
Rules for composing elements to make more complex structures
Basically a language
E.g.
Basic elements → Variables (S,T,U,V) & Operators (& or !)
Rules for making propositions → Any variable is a legal proposition (any two legal propositions can be combined by an operator)

Question 22

What are processes like in symbolic models?

Answer 22

Symbolic operations on the data structures & application of symbolic rules

In general → Cognition is like a traditional computer program
Mental representations are just like the data structures in a computer program

Procedures are just like the functions or methods that operate on data structures in a computer program

Question 23

What is the prototypical symbolic model (example of production system)?

Answer 23

1. A database is a set of known facts (represented as data structures)
2. Set of inference rules is created (if a proposed rule (e.g. cat smaller than elephant) fits a known fact in the database then the rule can be ‘fired’ and become part of the database)
3. Executive control structure (decides which rules to fire when; hard question; requires specific algorithm)

(Look at diagram in lecture notes for better understanding)

Question 24

What are the different states of operation for a production system?

Answer 24

Current state → The current contents of the database (e.g. known facts about the system, current state of chess board)

State space → Set of all possible states (all possible legal states of pieces on a chess board)

Goal state → The state you want the database to be in (e.g. checkmate)

State transition → Moving from one state to another (check-mate opponent)

Search - Algorithm for traversing the state space and finding the best path for moving from current state to goal state (which rules, in which order)

Question 25

What are the advantages of symbolic models?

Answer 25

Computational power
You can define variablized and universally quantified rules

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of symbolic models?

Answer 26

Symbolic rules are often too rigid to capture human behaviour
We don’t always apply a rule we know
Fail to capture shades of meaning
Not very automatic processing

Question 27

How are structured representations learned? (example of disadvantage of symbolic model)

Answer 27

New representations are combinations of existing representations that are already structured (e.g. by size - lion and dog)
Production systems assume these representations

Question 28

How are rules learnt? (example of disadvantage of symbolic model)

Answer 28

No graceful degradation with damage
No obvious neural implementation

Question 29

What are connectionist models?

Answer 29

Models compared of networks of interconnected nodes
Nodes are simple processors that mimic neurons or populations of neurons
Connections are weights between nodes
Representation - Patterns of activation on modes or neurons

Question 30

How does processing occur in connectionist models?

Answer 30

Processing - Nodes pass activation over weighted connections
Positive weights are excitatory connections
Can teach the network for something to have positive connection between units
Creating a negative connection - node will have negative weight so won’t activate
Using different types of connections we can teach the network things

Question 31

What are the advantages of connectionist models?

Answer 31

Flexible processing (parallel constraints)
Flexible representations
Distributed representations capture semantic content
Permit automatic generalisation
Graceful degradation with damage
Transparent neural implementation

Question 32

What are the disadvantages of connectionist models?

Answer 32

Not symbolic
Ability to generalise depends on similarity of examples
What you know about chasing can only generalise to objects like one’s you’ve seen chasing before
Cannot represent or use variablised rules:
∀ x, y, z if larger (x, y) and larger (y, z) then larger (x, z)
Must learn about different instances
But even children generalise to utterly dissimilar examples sometimes

Question 33

What is ‘vulnerable’ defined as?

Answer 33

Adult is ‘vulnerable’ when she/he is unable to take care of her/himself (Department of Health, 2004)

‘Vulnerable’ individuals are those who have enhanced risk of suicide, self-harm or harming others (Smith,2007)

There is innate, person vulnerability and then structural/contextual/environmental definitions

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006) - Based on way groups are
Marginalised
Socially excluded
Limited opportunities
Suffer abuse (physical, sexual, psychological and financial)
Hardship
Prejudice
Discrimination

Question 34

What is social exclusion and why can is occur?

Answer 34

What can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems
E.g. Unemployment, lack of skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime

Occurs because problems are linked, mutually reinforce each other - clustered in particular areas (‘Vicious cycle’)

Linked to disadvantages individuals face at birth & persist from generation to generation

Causes/consequences
E.g. Poverty,low income, unemployment, poor education attainment, poor mental/physical health

Question 35

What does the safeguarding vulnerable groups act (2006) state as a vulnerable groups?

Answer 35

Lone parents
People with disabilities
Older people
Children
Ethnic minority groups
Mentally ill
The homeless
Asylum seekers and refugees

Question 36

What is diplomacy?

Answer 36

Art of dealing with people in a sensitive and tactful way

Question 37

What is the tact-diplomacy model?

Answer 37

Encode and formulate
- Clarity, empathy, simplicity
- Open softly, build rapport, warm-up topic

Decode and translate
- Listen attentively
- Take time
- Non-verbal

Be polite
Timing
Message
- Relevant to audience, relationship, power dynamic

Question 38

What do we gain from qualitative research interviews?

Answer 38

Participants use own language = important for analysis of language/meaning
· Richness of how people talk about their views, lives (e.g. experiences)
· Discover what the respondents want to talk about as letting them talk
· Open new areas of research not anticipated
· Can be a way of getting sense of life of interviewees – pick up on cues about their life from beyond interviews
· Empowering participant (gives voice)

Question 39

What are the different types of research interviews?

Answer 39

Qualitative (Semi-structured & Unstructured) vs Quantitative (Structured)

Qualitative interviews = Individual interviews

Question 40

What is a quantitative structured interview?

Answer 40

. Fixed set of questions
· Short specific questions which correspond to predetermined categories (which will be coded) as questions with possible answers – sometimes has free response that can be categorised
· Fixed order questions
· No prompting/no improvisation
· Rapport with interviewee is formal

Question 41

What is a qualitative semi-structured interview/interview-guide approach?

Answer 41

Interview schedule only guides interview
· Interviewer has topics to cover but attempts to enter in world of interviewee and allows interviewee to develop unexpected themes
· Order of questions is not so important
· There is probing
· Relatively informal style - attempt to establish rapport with interviewee

Question 42

What is a qualitative unstructured interview?

Answer 42

· Interview schedule is not strictly followed
· Order of questions is not important
· Interviewer has topics to cover but want interviewees to talk about themselves and their own history
· Probing/follow up questions
· Attempt to establish closer relationship – researcher showing understanding, interest, sympathy
· Often used with ignored/misrepresented voices or sensitive topics - interviewer may need to develop counselling skills (e.g. empathy, honesty, support)
Build rapport (more informal)

Question 43

What are focus groups?

Answer 43

Referred to as group interviews
Researcher acts as a facilitator of a small group discussion (4 to 12 PPT)
Small group of people who share a common characteristic and experience
Flexible schedule of questions (can include stimulus material
Good when people don’t have a personal stake in the topic

Question 44

What is personal disclosure?

Answer 44

Personal disclosure – If you’re part of the group of interest – do you disclose this to PPT to get them to participate? – Needs to be disclosed in interview report

Question 45

What is a standardised interview (not the same as qualitative)?

Answer 45

Ideal interviewer is a ‘robot’ asking each PPT exactly the same questions, in the same way, in the same order

All of the questions are prepared in advance

Closed (yes/no) questions widely used

Response categories are determined in advance by the researcher

Every effort is made to minimise the impact of interviewer on the participant’s responses

Question 46

What should interviewers be like in qualitative interviews?

Answer 46

Interviewers, like PPT, are individuals with own particular interviewer style and might vary slightly with each PPT

Interview guide is prepared in advance but is normally flexible and responsive to the PPT & follow up on anticipated issues

Open-ended questions are preferred to encourage PPT to provide in depth and detailed responses

Goal of an interview is to capture range and diversity of participants responses in their own words

Interviewer plays active role in the interview co-constructing meaning with PPT

Interviewer should reflect on their practices and how they may have shaped the data

Question 47

What do you have to decide when creating an interview schedule?

Answer 47

What questions to ask?
o How to ask questions?
o What order to ask questions?
o i.e. designing interview questions requires making decisions about their content, scope, style, sequence)
o How to achieve a good schedule? No simple/single answer, only discover obtaining the answer

Question 48

What are the general guidelines of interviews?

Answer 48

Produce interview schedule according to your research question - look also at literature
o Decide upon themes or broad areas of your topic you want interviewee to talk
o Sequence the areas/themes in the most logical order (for your participants)
o For each themes/area you are interested in, design several questions and order the questions
o And leave sensitive/personal questions towards the end
o Opening up questions’ (more general questions or demographic questions)
o Follow up with more specific questions
o Open-ended questions (e.g., ‘what’, ‘how’ questions), with probes (e.g. Like how?’ ‘Like what?’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘So what happened then?’ ‘How did you feel then?’) or follow-up questions
o Prepare prompts (for questions you anticipate difficulties or misunderstanding, for example for general, vague questions)
o Use cues as continuers - such as ‘uhmm…’ ‘I see’ ‘right’ ‘yes’
o Simple, common sense (avoid jargon) questions
o Non-leading, two-in-one questions, non-threatening (e.g. avoid ‘why’ questions)
o Close the interview with a closing question or ‘clean-up question’ (to allow participants to raise issues about the topic not covered in the interview)

Question 49

How do we sample (different types) for interviews?

Answer 49

Big random sample (representative sample) for quantitative research but small sample carefully selected for qualitative research

Sampling strategies
> Use of non-representative sampling (general) - aim is not to generalise as working with specific questions so can work with carefully selected small samples

> Purposive sampling (or theoretical sampling)
Selecting people on basis of relevance to research question, theoretical position and analytical framework

> Snowballing sampling
Word of mouth/networks used to locate people who fit certain criteria - this is often the only way to locate an otherwise invisible group
Useful in problematic communities

> Convenience sampling
Locating a group of people as quickly as possible in order to maximise convenience and minimise cost - as friends, colleagues, students etc.

Question 50

What are ethics involved in interviews?

Answer 50

Researchers need to follow ethical codes
- Professional codes and guidelines - BPS ethical guidelines

General:
- obtain consent from institutions and participants
- reveal research aim (information sheet)
- establish: withdraw of participants, confidentiality/anonymity of data, right to publish findings, data protection, safety, etc.

Ethical considerations for interviews

• Whom do you need approval from? interviewee; parents or guardians; research community/review board (e.g. in medical settings)
• What information do you give about the research – prepare research information leaflet
  · What sort of information: researcher, project, interview questions, level of intrusion in private spheres, sensitive topics
  · How long interview should take
  · Right of interviewee not to answer questions and withdraw at any time
  · What will happen to information – writing findings/ dissemination
  · Level of confidentiality, anonymity
  · Benefits of the project
• How do you obtain approval – informed consent form
  · Assess research information that you gave about research in research information leaflet
  · Agreement in taking part in the study
  · Establish confidentiality, anonymity, storage and data protection (during the research and after)
• What difficulties may arise for interviewee and interviewer -sensitive topics, difficult interviewees
• How do you deal with withdrawals
• Is the personal safety of the interviewer guaranteed (face to face interviews at interviewee’s place, prisons, etc.)

Question 51

What is the planning process of qualitative research interviews?

Answer 51

Test the interview schedule before the interview
- Practice delivering and responding to the interview questions with family, friends, classmates, etc.
- But never know in advance if you will get a good interview – dependent on interviewee and specific interaction
- Where and how are you conducting the interview? in public/private spaces; face to face, over telephone online

· How are you recording? (check the recorder)

Question 52

What are the guidelines for face to face interviews in qualitative research interviews?

Answer 52

At start: Provide information about research, establish consent, confidentiality, how long will the interview should take, safety, etc.
o Establish rapport with interviewee and put interviewee at ease
o Ensure that there will be no interuptions
o Place recorder within the respondent’s reach - so can interrupt interview if they wish
o Opening up question(s) and then interview questions
o Ask one question at a time
§ NB: Do not always have to follow the question sequence but use to facilitate/guide the interview
o Listen to the interviewee, try not to interrupt interviewee
o Allow exploring new themes - need to think quickly and ask questions that are (nonetheless) related to research aim/question
o Monitor interviewee’s behaviour – e.g. monitor effect of questions on interviewee (seem uncomfortable with line of questioning? tired? bored?)
o Once interview is over, and recorder packed away, discuss with interviewee – e.g. comments about the interview; inquire if entire interview can be used
o Thank interviewee for taking part in the study
o Make notes about clues beyong conversation - e.g. apperance, facial expressions, comfort, etc. (audio record your notes after the interview)
o Make methodological notes – e.g. recruitment and briefing of interviewee (audio record your notes after the interview)
o Transcibe the interview within 12 hours of recording (maximise recall)

Question 53

What is meant by transcription?

Answer 53

Produce a written representation of audio (or audio-video) recording
· How much detail
o Different transcription conventions depending on sort of recordings and sort of analysis

Transcribe the interviews but preserving anonymity of interviewee (inventing code name)
* Transcribing is very time-consuming so give yourself enough time to transcribe
* Check your transcription against the recording – produce a reliable transcription of the recorded interviews

Question 54

What is orthographic transcription?

Answer 54

Transcription of what was said (word-for-word), usually using standard orthography (with or without punctuation), and including identification of each speaker in turn but no indication of prosody/other non-linguistic clues

But occasionally, orthographic transcription together with very basic non-linguistic clues (e.g. indication ((pause)), stresses, (mm), [laughter], ‘reported speech’)

Used in thematic analysis, grounded theory, interpretative phenomenological analysis, narrative analysis

Question 55

What is non-linguistic transcription/Jefferson’s method?

Answer 55

Transcription including non-linguistic clues, such as indication of pauses, ‘mms’, volume, stresses, prolongation of syllables (not standard spelling), overlaps, laugher particles, etc.

And also including identification of each speaker in turn

Different non-linguist transcription methods but Jefferson’s method is very popular (1984/2004)

Indication of extra-linguistic features such as gestures, expression of face, direction of gaze (audio- video recording - focus groups)

Used in discursive psychology, conversation analysis

Question 56

What are the strengths of face to face interviews?

Answer 56

Rich and detailed data about individual experiences and perspectives

Flexible - you can probe and ask unplanned questions

Smaller samples - Don’t need many to generate adequate data

Ideal for sensitive issues - Skilled interviewer can get people to talk about sensitive issues

Accessible - Used to collect data from vulnerable group such as children and groups with learning disabilities

Researcher control over the data produced increases the likelihood of generating useful data

Question 57

What are the limitations of face to face interviews?

Answer 57

Time consuming for researchers to organise, conduct, transcribe & also participants

Lack of breadth due to smaller sample sizes

Not necessarily ideal for sensitive issues: some people may feel more comfortable disclosing personal information anonymously

Lack of anonymity

Not necessarily empowering for participants - have less control over the data produced

Question 58

What is the overall structure of the research process?

Answer 58

Planning and preparing the research with qualitative research interviews
- Selecting the topic and research question and type of analysis
-Selecting the sort of qualitative research interview (because of
different types) & designing the interview schedule
- Selecting the sample
- Seeking Ethical approval (preparing information sheet and consent form)

Conducting the interviews

Transcribing the interviews

Analysis and writing up the analysis

Question 59

What are the different types of analysis in qualitative interviews?

Answer 59

Narrative analysis (if data is narrative in character)
Conversation analysis/Discursive psychology
Thematic analysis
Grounded Theory
Interpretative phenomenological analysis - is fine if data describe significant experiences

Question 60

What is thematic analysis?

Answer 60

TA is a method of data analysis (not methodology) - for identifying patterns in qualitative data

Concerned with searching, identifying and analysing relevant meaning or themes in the data

Theme is coherent and meaningful pattern (of what is said) in the data (i.e. pattern which co-occurs in a meaningful and systematic way, Wiggins, 2013)

TA offers meaningful data analysis but focusing on the meaning of what people are saying and patterns

Provides foundations for other methodologies such as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Question 61

What are the three different types of thematic analysis and their research questions?

Answer 61

Realist approach (aim of the research is to get at an accurate picture of human psychology) = RQs about attitudes, beliefs, experiences as real
Example of RQ: What are students’ attitudes and feelings to sexual harassment?

Critical realist approach (aim is to get at participants’ personal ‘sense-making’; to get a picture of human psychology as accurate as possible) = RQs about meaning people attribute to their experiences, people’s perspectives/practices
Example of RQ: How do bisexual women understand bisexuality and their lived experiences of bisexual identity?

Social constructionist (aim is to get at how a specific event, phenomenon, activity is constructed in a specific context; this approach assumes different constructions/ representations in different contexts) = RQs about representations/constructions of particular subjects/objects in particular context
Example of RQ: How do men talk about depression in qualitative research interviews?

Question 62

How is data collected and transcription done in TA?

Answer 62

Sampling is usually purposive or convenience
Small and big data sets
Often used with qualitative research interviews and focus groups data (but also with other types of research generated data such as open-ended questions in questionnaires) (NB: can be used with any data that can be examined for meaning – i.e. qualitative data)
Transcription: thorough orthographic transcription (often without punctuation) of what is said, together with transcription of basic non-linguistic cues such as ((pause)), stresses, (mm), [laughter], ‘reported speech’

Question 63

How do coding themes in TA vary for the type of TA?

Answer 63

Codes and themes can be deductive (codes and themes reflect pre-existing theories – i.e. code and themes are generated by the researcher), inductive (codes and themes are generated from the data and aim at staying as close as possible to the meaning in the data – i.e. ‘emerge’ from the data) or both (deductive & inductive)

Realist TA = deductive coding and themes

Critical realist TA = inductive coding and themes or both (deductive and inductive)

Social constructionist TA = inductive coding and themes

So before analysis, decide upon your research question, identify the approach you want to take and thus type of TA

Question 64

What are Braun & Clarke’s 6 steps towards thematic analysis?

Answer 64

1. Familiarising yourself with the data - Transcribing data, reading and re-reading the data - noting down initial ideas & active reading of the data
2. Generating initial codes - Coding interesting features of the data in a systematic way across the entire data set, collating data relevant to each code - can have explicit and implicit meaning
3. Searching for themes - Collating codes into potential themes and gathering all data relevant to each potential theme. Themes reflect a higher level of analysis than coding
   • Different levels of themes: Overarching themes (capture an idea underpinning a number of themes), themes (capture the meaning related to a central concept/idea) and sub-themes (capture different aspects of the same theme)
4. Reviewing themes - Checking if the themes work in relation to the coded extracts
5. Defining and naming themes - Ongoing analysis to refine specifics of each theme & overall story the analysis tells, generating clear definitions and names for each theme
6. Producing the analysis - Final opportunity for analysis - Selection of vivid, compelling extract examples

Question 65

What are some examples of generating code?

Answer 65

Descriptive (i.e. labels that summarise the topic in the data)

In vivo (i.e. using words or phrases from the text; this coding involves minimal interpretation of what is going in the text)

Categorising labels (i.e. categorise the data for what participants are talking about; e.g. individual values/attitudes/beliefs, emotions, etc.)

Same segment of text can be coded with different codes

Question 66

What is the criteria for a good reflexive TA? (Braun & Clarke, 2006) ?

Answer 66

Transcription - Data have been transcribed to an appropriate level of detail and the transcripts have been checked against the original data

Coding - Process is thorough, inclusive and comprehensive

Themes - Themes have not been generated for a few vivid examples but from pattern in the data
- All relevant extracts for each theme have been collated

Analysis - Data have been analysed/ interpreted rather than just paraphrased or described. Analysis and data match each other

Overall - all phrases of the analysis were complemented adequately

Report - Assumption adopted about thematic analysis is clearly explicated and the language and concepts used in the reports are consistent

Question 67

What is interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)?

Answer 67

Origins in phenomenology: Philosophical tradition interested in answering the question of how we come to understand what our experiences are

IPA includes:

Focusing on participant’s psychological world – i.e. how they understand/interpret situations, events and (particularly) their experiences of such situations and events (= interpretations of experiences);

and, providing an interpretation by the researcher of this ‘inside view’ – i.e. IPA requires a reflexive activity of the researcher who aims to provide a critical and conceptual commentary on participants’ personal ‘sense-making’ of experiences and understandings

= IPA takes an interpretative phenomenological approach (Willig, 2021)

Question 68

What are examples of research questions in IPA?

Answer 68

How does a woman’s sense of identity change during the transition to motherhood? (Smith, 1999)
How do people in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease perceive and manage the impact on their sense of self? (Clare, 2003)
How does a person ‘live through’ Parkinson’s Disease? (Eatough & Shaw, 2019)
What are women’s experiences of how their Haredi Jewish communities respond to their mental health difficulties? (Whiteley, Coyle, & Gleeson, 2017)
What are Jamaican HIV-positive mothers’ experiences of talking to their children about maternal HIV? (Clifford, Craig, & McCourt, 2019)

Question 69

How does data collection and transcription work in IPA?

Answer 69

Purposive sampling

Usually homogenous groups - collect data about people who have experience of a particular topic of interest
But more recently – data from one or two groups to get different points of views

Small sample sizes (between one and fifteen individuals/texts)

Qualitative interviews of experiences - and more recently focus-group discussions (Smith et al, 2022) (NB: also, IPA of documentation that provides personal descriptions of events, situations and experiences as diaries, letters, hearings in court, etc.)

Orthographic transcription

Question 70

How is analysis in IPA carried out?

Answer 70

Looks at data and identify/label themes/concepts and produce clusters of related themes/concepts
Based on case-by-case analysis (ideographic inquiry)
Analysis by steps (e.g. Smith & Osborn, 2003, 2015; Willig, 2008) but not a single way of doing IPA

Example of IPA analysis
Study on impact of chronic benign pain on patients’ self-concept
Research question: How pain affects feelings, attitudes or beliefs about themselves
Data: Semi-structured interviews to patients of one clinic in northern England with chronic benign low back pain
Analytical steps proposed by Smith and Osborn (2003, 2015): Four steps (initial observations; labelling themes or concepts; cluster of similar themes/concepts; summary table of whole analysis with descriptions and analyses of themes together with illustrative quotations)

Question 71

What is IPA analysis step 1?

Answer 71

Read/re-read first transcript
And note in left margin initial observations and thoughts, such as summary of statements, questions, comments on language, comments on absences, etc.
Do this for the whole of the first transcript

Question 72

What is IPA analysis step 2?

Answer 72

Then return to the beginning of first transcript and for each section label in right margin themes/concepts that best represent what is said
Psychological terminology can be used to label these themes/concepts
Use same label for similar themes/concepts throughout the transcript

Question 73

What is IPA analysis step 3?

Answer 73

List themes/concepts identified in step 2 (in separate sheet) and think of them in relation to each other
Make clusters of themes/concepts that share similar meaning (this involves more theoretical ordering with constant checking of own interpretation against what participant said)
Label the clusters

Question 74

What is IPA analysis step 4?

Answer 74

Produce a summary table for entire analysis with descriptions and analyses of themes together with illustrative quotations – if working with one participant (case study)

If working with more than one participant:
Repeat steps 1 to 3 with the other transcript and after analysis of each transcript integrate the themes
At the end produce a summary table for the group with descriptions and analyses of themes together with illustrative quotations

Question 75

How do you evaluate the quality of IPA methodology?

Answer 75

Evaluating quality of qualitative research by Levitt et al’s (2018) adapted to IPA by Smith et al (2022: 147-148):
Aim of the study focused on experience and how people make sense of experience
Participants who have lived experience of the phenomenon under investigation and can adequately articulate their experience
Provide an account of the analytic process (making exploratory notes, creating themes/concepts and clusters of themes) and comment on the adequacy of the data in terms of their ability to capture diverse elements of the experience under analysis
In the analysis, illustrate your entire analysis with a figure or table; describe your themes together with illustrative quotations and commentaries about inferences drawn from the extracts; compared and contrast the clusters/themes

Smith et al (2022): Analytic process and analysis checked by an independent researcher

Question 76

What is grounded theory?

Answer 76

Qualitative methodology

Aim is to develop a theory grounded in data (inductive development of theory - theory starts with data/empirical world)

Develop middle range theory - seeks to understand/explain how individual and interpersonal behaviours and processes(e.g. A changing self or life changes)

Question 77

How are research questions posed in grounded theory?

Answer 77

RQs related to psychological topics (such as motivation, experiences, emotions, identity, attraction, bullying) & how they develop are maintained or changed in participants who have experienced a topic of interest

E.g. How victims of a heart attack understand the symptoms of the first heart attack

Social constructionist approach
Start with a general interest on a topic
End up working on a specific research question - through an active research process
GT is about developing theory inductively and relies on the method of sampling that is adopted
Researcher involved in generating data

Question 78

How does data collection work in grounded theory?

Answer 78

Data of PPT views and experiences - People who have experiences of topic of interest
Theoretical sampling (choosing PPT/data on basis of theoretical questions derived from inductive analysis of initial/previous data) or purposive sampling

Sample size depends on whether further data should be collected for developing theory/explanation
Rich data from qualitative interviews - intensive interviewing (but also other types of rich data as field-work observations or other forms of observation/documents, conversations)

Question 79

What is intensive interviewing in GT? (Chramaz,2014)

Answer 79

Key characteristics
Selection of research participants who have first-hand experience that fits the research topic
In-depth exploration of participants’ experience and situations
Emphasis on understanding the research participant’s perspective, meanings, and experience
Objective of obtaining detailed responses
Reliance on open-ended questions
Practice of following up on unanticipated areas of inquiry, hints, and implicit views and accounts of actions

Question 80

What is the transcription method in GT?

Answer 80

Orthographic transcription (with or without punctuation) of what is said word for word
Can be supplemented by transcription of basic non-linguistic causes - such as pauses and laughter

Question 81

What are the different types of coding in analysis of grounded theory?

Answer 81

Analysis by steps but different ways of doing Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2003, 2006, 2014; Henwood & Pidgeon, 2003)
Start analysis early (with initial data – ex.: as soon as first interview was transcribed)

Coding (by Charmaz) involves:
- Line-by-line coding or open coding (with ‘active’ codes/labels) (so describe what is happening in each line)
- Focused/selective coding - i.e. code for what you want (focus on relevant and related meaning), organise related codes into categories and label them
- Prepare memo-writing about emerging categories
- Use what you got from initial analysis (the emerging categories) to form new interview questions to include in the next interview = theoretical sampling (which is used to test and develop the categories and test relationships identified in previous analysis)
- Elaborate further the meaning of categories, compare development of categories with data and codes, discover variations within categories and gaps between categories (aim is to develop a theory inductively; in other words to try to get the categories adding up to something that explains some deeper meaning in the data in a more abstract or general way)
- Stop sampling and analysis when categories are ‘saturated’
GT: Active Research Process

Example by Charmaz (2003)
Study of patients with chronic illness
Qualitative interviews (semi-structured)
Research question: How the patient experience time and how their experience of illness affect them

Question 82

What is step 1 of grounded theory?

Answer 82

Establish analytic sense of your initial analysis - code data line-by-line defining the actions or events that you see as occurring in it or represented by it
Basic questions
What is going on?
What is the PPT doing?
What is the PPT saying?
What does this action and statement take for granted?
Give ‘active’ codes - short, specific and close to the data
Can use in vivo codes as well as concepts from own discipline (only if clear and explain what happens in the line of the data)
Line-by-line coding can suggest what kind of data to collect next

Question 83

What is step 2 of grounded theory?

Answer 83

Focused coding - decide which of earlier codes best capture (selective phase) what PPT is doing or what is happening in data (for instance, take most significant or frequent codes of initial coding)
Organise focussed coding into conceptual categories
Categories incorporate several codes and capture ideas, events or processes in the data

Question 84

What is step 3 of grounded theory?

Answer 84

Memo writing
1 - Explain category by writing narrative statements which explain:
Properties of category
Specify conditions under which the category arises, is maintained and changes
Describe its consequences
Show how this category relates to others

2 - Provide empirical evidence to support your definition of the category
Memo-writing leads to theoretical sampling - i.e. Collect more data that can develop further the identified categories (by going back to previous PPT and ask more focused questions about particular categories or/and interview new PPT)
Elaborate further the meaning of categories, discover variations within and gaps between
Stop when categories are ‘saturated’ (when additional data does not add new information)

Question 85

What are pitfalls that should be avoided?

Answer 85

Ignoring previous literature
Producing an under-analysis (i.e obvious conclusions or analysis of categories that does not add up to something that explains some deeper meaning in data in a more abstract or general way, could be linked to stopping collecting data too soon)
Analysing data deductively or applying the steps/procedures mechanically (i.e. without using inductive reasoning)
Not following the methodological procedures/steps adequately