Lecture 10 - Qualitative Research Flashcards
A major characteristic of psychological science is its objectivity, which means that
a. Science is free from human biases
b. Psychologists assume that people are essentially machines
c. Observations can be verified by more than one observer
d. Results of research are always reported in terms of numbers (statistics)
a
Introspection is fundamentally ______
- Introspection is fundamentally subjective: I cannot verify your introspections and you cannot verify mine
- Researchers using the introspective method wanted to eliminate bias in self-observations, but they did not want to eliminate subjectivity
- During the 20th century, psychology increasingly emphasised objectivity as a criterion for scientific research
- Over the past 20 years, psychology has again become interested in the subjective experiences of people
Is qualitative research objective or subjective?
- Qualitative research is subjective: it aims to capture an individual’s point of view & acknowledges that our understanding of reality can only be approximate, not exact.
- Qualitative research is concerned with the richness of description.
- Qualitative research is narrative rather than quantitative.
- Qualitative research is iterative.
How can qualitative data be collected?
Qualitative data can be:
• collected from group discussions, called focus
groups, in which people discuss a particular
issue guided by the researcher
• collected from interviews with individuals or small groups
• collected through naturalistic observations
• existing archival records (e.g. letters)
Describe a structured interview.
- Survey research sometimes involves structured interviews, often in the form of a questionnaire.
- Repeat interviewing is rare, unless the study is longitudinal.
- Coding the responses from a structured interview is a relatively quick task.
• Structured interviews allow assessment of
reliability and validity.
Describe a semi-structured interview.
Semi-structured Interviews
- Qualitative researchers often conduct semi- structured or unstructured interviews, with a less narrow or fixed agenda.
- Researchers may interview a participant more than once.
- Coding responses for qualitative research is an extensive, labour-intensive process.
• Reliability and validity are complex issues in
qualitative research.
In correlational designs, why is sampling an important issue compared with experimental designs?
- In correlational designs, sampling is an important issue because it can limit or bias our causal inferences.
- In experimental designs, sampling is less important because of random assignment and the causal efficacy of the manipulated variable.
- In qualitative designs, probability sampling is rare. Instead, it is important to describe your sample thoroughly.
What is transcription?
- Transcription is the process by which recordings are transformed into written text.
- Transcription is an important stage of qualitative research.
- Transcription methods vary in specific details, i.e. whether they record pauses, errors, and people talking over each other.
• The purpose of the analysis determines which
transcription method is best.
Which of the following is a common characteristic of qualitative research?
a. A fixed agenda
b. Quick coding of responses
c. Assessment of reliability
d. Repeat interviewing
d
Describe grounded theory.
- Theory is grounded in the data, rather than driving hypotheses which are tested with data
- Categories are developed and refined by the researcher to unite and explain significant features of the data
- Categories evolve and become more refined through comparison processes
Describe discourse analysis.
- Discourse analysis refers to a variety of ways of studying and understanding talk or text as social action
- Discourse analysis describes what people do when they communicate
- Grew from linguistic philosophy of 1960’s
• Key concepts include speech acts, face, and
register
Describe Grice’s Maxims.
Conversational cooperativeness is achieved by
obeying four maxims
- Quality, which involves making truthful and sincere contributions
- Quantity, which involves the provision of sufficient information
- Manner, which involves making one’s contributions brief, clear and orderly
- Relation, which involves making relevant
contributions
Describe conversation analysis.
- Conversation analysis studies the structure of conversation by the detailed examination of successive turns or contributions to a conversation
- Conversation analysis is based on ethnomethodological approaches from social sciences
• Conversations are transcribed using the
Jefferson system
Describe thematic analysis.
- Thematic analysis is not dependent on a specialised theory compared to Discourse Analysis and Conversation Analysis
- Thematic analysis places few constraints on transcription but data familiarisation is important
- The researcher’s task is to identify a limited number of themes that reflect the data
Which form of qualitative analysis emphasises the use of categories to unite and explain the data?
a. Discourse analysis
b. Grounded theory
c. Conversation analysis
d. Thematic danalysis
b
