Lecture 12

Question 1

The qualitative research report

Answer 1

• Introduction
• Literature review/theoretical framework
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion/conclusion

Question 2

Guidelines on reporting qualitative research

Answer 2

see notes

Question 3

The COREQ

Answer 3

• (Consolidated criteria for Reporting Qualitative research)

a 32-item checklist that can help researchers to report important aspects of the research team, study methods, context of the study, findings, analysis and interpretations. It is particularly useful for qualitative research in which interviews and/or focus groups were conducted.

Question 4

The SRQR

Answer 4

• (Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research)

a standard for reporting qualitative research, based on a review of different guidelines. It aims to improve the transparency of qualitative
research and assist authors during manuscript preparation.

Question 5

The ENTREQ

Answer 5

• (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the synthesis of Qualitative research)

helps researchers to report a synthesis of findings from multiple qualitative studies. The ENTREQ covers multiple stages herein: searching
and selecting qualitative research, quality appraisal and methods for synthesising qualitative findings. You can find the ENTREQ here

Question 6

Qualitative reports –conventions

Answer 6

1. Authorial voice
2. Audit trail & thick description
3. Avoiding quantification
4. Acknowledging diversity/avoiding holistic fallacy
5. Evidential base (quotations)
6. Description versus interpretation

Question 7

Authorial voice & paradigms

Answer 7

see notes

Question 8

First person and personal experiences

Answer 8

• Assertiveness: emphasize agency
• Clarity: to avoid awkward constructions and vagueness,
• Positioning yourself in the essay: explain how your research or ideas build on or depart from the work of others
• And also:
  
  • Personal aspects: building rapport, reflecting on yourself as researcher
  • Anecdotes

(more on slides)

Question 9

Audit trail & thick description

Answer 9

• Being detailed about the methods, methodological choices are explained (what was done, why was it done, how was it done, why was it done in this way) increases the possibility to judge whether this was good research.
• Being detailed about the context of the data allows for drawing wider inferences.
• See also quality criteria from week 1: confirmability, dependability, transferability…….
  (more on notes)

Question 10

Avoiding quantification

Answer 10

Qualitative research should focus on qualities, not quantities
(more on notes)

Question 11

The evidential base - Acknowledging diversity

Answer 11

• Avoid Elite bias: Overweighting data from articulate, well-informed, usually highstatus participants and underrepresenting data from less articulate, lower status ones
• Avoid Holistic fallacy: Interpreting events as more patterned and congruent than they really are.
  ⇒ Attention for ‘deviant’ cases

Question 12

Importance of ‘unpatterns’ in qualitative data

Answer 12

see on notes

Question 13

The evidential base - Using quotations

Answer 13

• Sufficient data need to be presented to allow readers to assess whether or not the interpretation is supported by the data
  (dependability).
• Quotations are essential: they help to show the reader your analysis, illustrate your findings, convey the kind of language used by your interviewees
• Judicious use of quotations from interviews
  
  • Not too many
  • Context information is useful
  • Quotations need to be discussed: what interesting is happening? How are these and similar quotations analysed?
  Key word: juxtaposition

Question 14

Description versus interpretation/analytical writing

Answer 14

• Description is necessary for showing evidential base
• Description is already a form of interpretation (because choices are made about what to describe and how to describe)
• But: explicit interpretations/explanations are needed
  (more on notes)

Question 15

Interpretations depend on the quality of data

Answer 15

(see slides)