Introduction to Qualitative Research and data collection

Question 1

Why do we use qualitative research?

Answer 1

• Sometimes personal significance is more important than ‘truth’
• Sometimes there may not be an appropriate theory to draw a hypothesis from
• Sometimes isolating causes in controlled conditions leads us to overlook the importance of context

Question 2

What is the medical model of health and why doesn’t this apply to mental health?

Answer 2

• Medical model of health:
- Illnesses are defined by symptoms
- Effective treatments reduce symptoms
- Recovery is a return to a symptom free normality
• This does not apply to mental health: patients did not return to a symptom free normality so mental illnesses are viewed as untreatable
• In the late 20th century, many people with mental illnesses argued that recovery is possible, just may not fit the medical model

Question 3

What is the recovery based model of mental health?

Answer 3

• Focussed on the person (not symptoms)
• A process, not an end point
• Staying in control of life (not symptoms)
• Maintaining good relationships and systems of support
• Setting goals and living a meaningful life

Question 4

Why is it challenging for psychologist’s to understand people and improve people’s lives?

Answer 4

• People’s experience and lives are complex
• There tend to be multiple, interacting causes and influences
• People are not passive, they are actively involved in creating their lives and experience
• We can be very different to one another

Question 5

What are the goals of qualitative research?

Answer 5

• Concerned with meaning. Interested in understanding the meaning people have constructed, that is, how people make sense of their world and the experiences they have in the world
• Aims to understand ‘what it is like’ to have a particular experience (e.g. chronic illness) and how people manage certain situations (how people negotiate family life)
• Focussed on describing and possibly explaining or interpreting
• Studies people within naturally occurring settings to understand how experience and meaning is shaped by context
• Asks questions about processes, such as ‘what do people do when they form groups?’

Question 6

What is qualitative research a collection of?

Answer 6

Qualitative research is a collection of different methods and approaches

Question 7

What are the different types of qualitative research questions?

Answer 7

• Descriptive
• Interpretative
• Deductive

Question 8

What are the different types of data analysis?

Answer 8

• Thematic analysis
• Interpretative Phenomenological analysis
• Grounded theory
• Conversation analysis

Question 9

What are the different types of data collection?

Answer 9

• Interviews
• Naturally recorded talk
• Observation
• Images

Question 10

What different types of qualitative research areas are there?

Answer 10

• Health
• Clinical
• Organisational
• Educational
• Products and marketing

Question 11

What is ontology?

Answer 11

Concerned with the nature of reality. What can we know? What exists?

Question 12

What is realism?

Answer 12

there is a single reality that exists independently of the researcher that can be uncovered

Question 13

What is relativism?

Answer 13

reality is constructed through interpretation so the social world is comprised of multiple realities and perspectives, each on as relevant as any other (qualitative researchers often use this)

Question 14

What is subtle realism?

Answer 14

acknowledges the existence of an independent reality, a world that has an existence independent of our perception of it, but denies that there can be direct access to that reality (often qualitative researchers use this approach)

Question 15

What is epistemology?

Answer 15

How knowledge is created

Question 16

What is a positivist epistemology thinking?

Answer 16

genuine knowledge is objective, observable, law-like, value free and can be uncovered through scientific methods (quantitative)

Question 17

What is an interpretivist/constructionist epistemology thinking?

Answer 17

all knowledge is socially constructed, an interpretation, not value free (qualitative) (applies to researcher and subject)

Question 18

How are qualitative research questions phrased?

Answer 18

• Phrased to emphasise experience, understanding, meaning, exploration and on the perspectives of an individual or a group in a specific context
• Phrased to avoid quantification, assumptions about causality, reduction of complexity, generalisable observations

Question 19

What methods of data collection do qualitative researchers use?

Answer 19

Uses methods of data collection that facilitate understanding of individual experiences, meaning making, context, and openness to new insights

Question 20

What are the aims of data collection in qualitative research?

Answer 20

 Preserve the richness of individual experiences
 Access meaning
 Give voice to individuals, groups
 Facilitate the discovery of unanticipated insights
 Be sensitive to variation in experience
 Understand experiences in context

Question 21

What unobtrusive methods of data collection are used with qualitative research?

Answer 21

 Published narratives 
 Archival documents 
 Simple observation 
 Visual images; photographs, films, adverts 
 Audio 
 Self-report/ reflective diary

Question 22

What is good and bad about unobtrusive methods?

Answer 22

Unobtrusive methods are naturalistic but researcher has limited ability to probe or question in order to gain a deeper understanding

Question 23

What is the main method of qualitative data collection?

Answer 23

Interviews

Question 24

What is an interview and what are the different types?

Answer 24

 ‘Professional conversation’ with a purpose, i.e. getting a participant to talk about their experiences, beliefs and perspectives on a topic determined by the researcher
 Conversation is guided by an interview schedule or topic guide – a list of questions or topics that are relevant to the research question
- Interview led: structured, semi structured
- Interviewee led: focus group, unstructured

Question 25

What is a structured interview?

Answer 25

 Interview follows the interview schedule
 Same questions, same order, same setting
 May have suggested response options
 Answers can be coded and quantified for statistical analysis
 Interviewee has a passive role

Question 26

What are the pros and cons of a structured interview?

Answer 26

-Pros:
 Standardised approach for consistency and low bias
 Reliable and replicable
 Quick and doesn’t require strong interview skills
- Cons:
 Not qualitative – more like a spoken questionnaire
 Closes off theoretical avenues
 Limited range of responses
 Difficult to capture complexity

Question 27

What is a semi-structured interview?

Answer 27

 Interviewer uses the schedule flexibly, following up on interviewee responses and adapted the order of questions to fit the ideas introduced by the interviewee
 A form of guided conversation. Sometimes called a ‘focussed interview’
 Questions are mostly open ended but can use closed questions too
 Important to build rapport at the start of the interview

Question 28

What are the pros and cons of a semi-structured interview?

Answer 28

- Pros: 
 Flexibility generates richer detail and allows deeper understanding of the interviewees experiences 
 Some standardisation possible 
 Captures complexities and inconsistencies, provides insight into respondents’ views and experiences 
 Useful for exploring sensitive topics 
 Gives voice to/empowers participants 
- Cons
 Non-natural conversation

Question 29

What is an unstructured interview?

Answer 29

 Interviewer has topic guide but allows the interviewee to lead the interview
 Interviewer acknowledges that they do not know in advance all issues or relevant questions
 Instead they develop and adapt questions and follow-up probes appropriate to situation and interviewee

Question 30

What are the pros and cons of an unstructured interview?

Answer 30

• Pros:
   Being respondent-led empowers interviewees to define and focus on what is important to them
   Useful when little is known about a research topic and when target group is hard to reach
   Gives voice to/ empowers interviewees
   Rich, detailed complex data
• Cons:
   Requires good interview skills
   Little standardisation and reliability
   Complex to analyse
   Potential for bias
   Can take a lot of time

Question 31

What is a focus group interview?

Answer 31

 Moderator has topic guide but participants interact with each other, as well as the moderator so can challenge/ extend/ develop, undermine/ qualify statements
 Group dynamics integral to the process of data generation
 Meanings are jointly constructed
 Groups can be homogenous (mothers in a focus group about how parents view support groups) or heterogenous (mothers and fathers)
 Often video recorded
 Requires a very skilled moderator

Question 32

What are the pros and cons of a focus group?

Answer 32

• Pros:
   Discourse can have higher ecological validity than individual interviews, more naturalistic
   Different perspectives on topic
   Collect large amount of data in a short time
   Relatively inexpensive
• Cons:
   Not always suitable for sensitive topics
   Video recording can reduce quality of group interaction
   ‘Social desirability’ bias
   Group dynamics – power issues
   Ethical issues

Question 33

What should you consider when constructing an interview schedule?

Answer 33

• Identify topics and questions that are relevant to the research questions
• Phrase questions in a way that encourage the interviewee to describe their experience in detail
• Use a logical order
• Consider how to build rapport and help the interviewee to feel comfortable

Question 34

What would a good interview schedule design have?

Answer 34

• Start by building rapport
• Have a logical order e.g. moving from general to specific experiences
• Group related questions
• Mostly open questions
• Includes probes to elicit rich and detailed descriptions
• Save questions on sensitive topics for later in the interview
• Use language that is accessible, clear and easy to understand

Question 35

What would a poor schedule design have?

Answer 35

• Failing to build rapport at the start
• Posing questions in an illogical order e.g. starting with specific or sensitive questions
• Leading and closed questions
• Judgemental or critical questions
• Complex/ double barrelled questions
• Inaccessible language e.g. jargon, technical terms

Question 36

What does a good interviewer create?

Answer 36

A good interviewer creates conditions that help interviewees to give a detailed and honest description of their experiences

Question 37

What does a good interviewer plan to do?

Answer 37

• Create a safe environment
• Address ethical issues: consent, confidentiality, post-interview support
• Care for the interviewees wellbeing
• Be flexible and self-aware
• Be aware of non-verbal communication
• Convey interest and openness while maintaining appropriate boundaries
• Avoid conveying judgement
• Use language effectively

Question 38

What are some ways in which an interviewer can use language effectively?

Answer 38

• use positive encouragers - - use probes and prompts to seek clarity and deeper understanding: ‘you talked previously about…could you tell me a bit more about that?’
• Silences ‘that’s interesting…[silence]’ – interviewee may expand on what they said
• Avoid premature closure: ‘is there anything else that you would like to add’