Intro to qualitative research

Question 1

what is the aim of psychological research?

Answer 1

to understand/gain knowledge about the world by looking at principles, behaviours and patterns

Question 2

what asks the philosophical question about what is knowledge, belief and truth/reality?

Answer 2

epistemology

Question 3

the strategy/approach to research =

Answer 3

methodology

Question 4

list the hierarchy that shows methods and methodology are not the same thing

Answer 4

epistemology > methodology > method > technique

Question 5

what is positivism?

Answer 5

there is ONE reality and we can uncover the nature of this reality through observation

Question 6

what is relativism?

Answer 6

there is NOT one reality. reality will always be relative to the historical, cultural and social context

Question 7

what epistemological approach is the following?
reality is there for us to perceive, in research we use observation to make sense of reality, acknowledges the problems with blindly trusting what we observe (use falsification)

Answer 7

post positivist approach

more positivism

Question 8

what epistemological approach is the following?
there is some reality out there but our perception of it is socially constructed dependent on our social and cultural interactions, in research we try to make sense of someone’s subjective experience of reality

Answer 8

phenomenological approach (middle)

Question 9

what epistemological approach is the following?
there isn’t one reality, it is socially and culturally produced, we construct a communal reality through agreement by talking and interacting with each other to create what we think is reality

Answer 9

constructionist approach
(more relativism)

Question 10

what approaches do quantitative and qualitative methodology take?

Answer 10

quantitative = more positivist (there is one reality that we want to uncover)
qualitative = more relative (there is not one reality that we aim to discover)

Question 11

what are the differences between quantitative and qualitative methodologies?

Answer 11

quantitative: use observation to make sense of reality, DEDUCTIVE in nature, analyses of data which are coded into numbers.
qualitative: takes into account people’s subjective experience of reality, INDUCTIVE in nature, analyses of data with emphasis on words

Question 12

how is quantitative methodology deductive in nature?

Answer 12

start with theory and set specific hypotheses to test the theory, aim to falsify null hypotheses, manipulation allows us to treat whether our theories uphold when changing something

Question 13

how is qualitative methodology inductive in nature?

Answer 13

start with observations and then form a more general theory, aim to find general themes or possible viewpoints to a Q, not the expectation that there is one best answer that needs to be discovered

Question 14

the decision as to which methodology to use depends on what 2 things?

Answer 14

topic and goal of the research

Question 15

what methods are used in qualitative research?

Answer 15

direct data collection = interviews, focus groups, questionnaires.
indirect data collection = observations, analyses of online material

Question 16

what is the difference between direct and indirect data collection?

Answer 16

direct is when ppt deliberately provides data to researcher whereas indirect the ppt doesn’t deliberately provide data

Question 17

identify the most common criticisms of qualitative research

Answer 17

subjective, influenced by personal bias, doesn’t represent the population, can’t be replicated, not systematic

Question 18

what is an argument for the criticism that qualitative research is subjective?

Answer 18

depends on your epistemological approach whether this is a problem of not

Question 19

what is an argument for the criticism that qualitative research doesn’t represent the population?

Answer 19

it doesn’t aim to be representative

Question 20

what is an argument for the criticism that qualitative research can’t be replicated?

Answer 20

it doesn’t aim to be replicable

Question 21

what is an argument for the criticism that qualitative research is not systematic?

Answer 21

argued that it is as because it is open to being subjective, there are very strict guidelines that are followed. there are methods that look at the validity of the data to check how systematic analyses has been, inter-rater reliability is tested