Lecture 12: Qualitative Study Designs Flashcards
What informs the necessity to use either a qualitative or quantitative design (or sometimes both)?
having a well-defined research question
what are the key features of qualitative research?
- researchers are key instruments and play a central integral role in generating data (and collection)
- use of the term “data generation” rather than “data collection” because that emphasizes the way researchers play an important role with participants to generate data
- data generation in qualitative research happens in a natural setting rather than a controlled environment but sometimes we may use the challenge of a controlled environment
- emergent
- need for flexibility
what does “emergent” mean?
when the research process can change over the course of the study
- revisions are made until the research is satisfied that the direction taken affords the greatest potential for discovery, meaningful answers to questions posed, or the generation of new hypotheses (or questions)
when is a qualitative research design clarified?
not until data collection ends
- it evolves
- what may start as a case study may develop into a design that more closely resembles a phenomenological study
qualitative study designs is an overarching term that includes?
- philosophical worldviews
- strategy of inquiry
- methods (data generation and data analysis)
what are all the qualitative strategies of inquiry?
it is nearly impossible to identify them all
what shapes how researchers understand reality, construct knowledge and interpret data?
philosophical worldviews
what influences every aspect of the research process, including the formulation of RQs, data collection, analysis techniques, and interpretation of findings?
philosophical worldviews
what is strategy of inquiry?
specific approaches or procedures used to conduct research
each strategy of inquiry has defining features as well as common process that shape how the researcher?
- interacts with participants
- gathers information
- generates data
- and builds understanding
what are the six common strategies of inquiry for qualitative kinesiology research?
- Narrative
- Ethnography
- Phenomenology
- Case study
- Qualitative Description
- Grounded Theory
the strategies of inquiry guide?
the methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation
what is the narrative strategy of inquiry?
- focuses on the stories of individuals where people describe their life experiences
the stories of individuals used in the narrative strategy of inquiry are used to?
bring understanding or meaning to the lived experiences of individuals
- individual stories serve as a representation of broader social experiences
the stories of individuals used in the narrative strategy of inquiry can be analyzed how?
in great depth or stand alone as a description of experience(s)
what are the specific forms of narrative inquiry?
- life history
- oral history
what is life history in narrative inquiry?
- depicts the entire life of an individual
what is oral history in narrative inquiry?
- collection of memories that hold historical significance that can be shared by one or multiple individuals
- important in communities like indigenous populations, where storytelling preserves and teaches historical knowledge across generations
stories are typically generated through?
in-depth and unstructured interviews
- observations and participant journaling may also be used
what are we trying to capture and reveal in a narrative inquiry?
capture the participants voice and reveal themes that deepen our understanding of the phenomenon under investigation
what is the outcome of a narrative inquiry?
a researcher-generated story (a retelling) that answers ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions about the life story and meaningful experiences that have implications for others
what is “restorying” of narrative inquiry?
you collect the raw data, find the person listening to the persons entire life history, identify themes, uncover important sequences, and then restructure and retell the story in a way that brings out deeper meanings that will help better your research question or give more insight
what is an ethnography? (strategy of inquiry)
we are trying to understand cultures or a cultural group better
- we want to describe and interpret shared features of a cultural group such as behaviors, values and beliefs
how do researchers traditionally study cultures that are vastly different from their own?
immerse themselves in “exotic” cultures
- helps to understand the social and cultural aspects of a group by immersing in their lives/natural settings
what are the forms of ethnography?
- critical ethnography
- autoethnography
what is critical ethnography?
- includes a political agenda and some form of advocacy for underrepresented populations
what is autoethnography?
- study of one’s own culture, about a topic of great personal relevance, situating experiences within the social context
- requires deep reflection on both one’s unique experiences and the universal within oneself
- it combines elements of both ethnography and narrative inquiry, making it a form or self-narrative
what is the primary process used for data generation in ethnography?
- participant observation
- interviews and documents (poetry, art, personal journals) may also be used to generate data
what is a key thing to understand about an ethnographic strategy of inquiry?
it requires extensive amount of time in the field
- may be months and ongoing
why does an ethnographic strategy of inquiry take so much time?
patterns of behavior, language, and ideas evolve over time, and the ethnographer needs to examine how these patterns develop and become established within a group
what is the strategy of inquiry, phenomenology?
the study of a phenomenon or a concept through the exploration of lived experiences
- interested in a group of people’s lived experiences
all strategies of inquiry are influences by researchers philosophical worldviews, but which one has particularly strong philosophical roots?
phenomenology
what is the focus of phenomenology?
to reduce individual differences and come up with some universal/common themes
what are the forms of phenomenology?
- interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA)
- empirical phenomenology
what is interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA)?
- trying to understand how experiences of a phenomenon are perceived by participants or individuals or people and how people make sense of their social and personal world
what is empirical phenomenology?
- structural analysis of participants experiences, resulting in a description of the essential structures of the phenomenon
ex. body self-compassion - we can find the different structural components of it
how is data generated in phenomenology?
typically via multiple in-depth interviews with participants
- could also include other sources like personal diaries that provide rich insight
what is bracketing?
- researchers to outwardly acknowledge and “set aside” their experiences so that their sole focus can be on those experiences shared by the study participants
do phenomenological studies often include bracketing?
yes
what is the key idea of phenomenology?
- you want to get to the essence of the experience that you are interested in or the essence of the phenomenon you are interested in
what does the “essence” refer to?
refers to the core, common experiences shared by participants regarding the phenomenon
what do you want in the final report of a phenomenology?
a rich description of how individuals collectively experience the phenomenon, encapsulating its essence
what is a case study strategy of inquiry?
it is the study of the complexity and distinctiveness of a case within important circumstances
- focuses on a single person or entity using an extensive variety of data
- a detailed study of a single “case” or “bounded system” that is bounded by time and place
what does “bounded” mean?
that the case is separated out of research in terms of time, place or some physical boundaries (ie. it is possible to create limits around the object to be studied)
how is data generated in a case study?
typically extensive involving various sources of information
- interviews, observation, visual methods
- unusual for cases studies to include only one form of data generation
what are the three types of case studies?
- intrinsic case study
- instrumental case study
- collective case study
what is an intrinsic case study?
for fundamentally understanding the complexity of the case
- the study of a case wherein the subject itself is the primary interest
what is an instrumental case study?
focuses on a specific case because it can provide insight into an issue of interest
- focusing on learning the relationship between children and exercise and why certain children become obese, NOT focusing on the students and/or the exercise
what is a collective case study?
essentially an instrumental case study that includes several cases
- use information from different studies to formulate the case for a new study
what is the strategy of inquiry, Qualititative Description?
- used by researchers who want to develop a comprehensive description and summary of a phenomenon or event
- argues as approach of choice when intent of research is to give a basic description of a phenomenon or event
what is the focus of a grounded theory strategy of inquiry?
- generation and analysis of data to construct a theory
what does grounded theory help researchers understand?
the multiple sources of data
- like observations, conversations, etc.
what is the end product of a grounded theory strategy of inquiry?
- a theory (data is analyzed and collected first)
- the theory is concealed in your data for you to discover
- theory that is grounded in data are generated by the views or experiences of participants
how is data typically generated in a grounded theory?
via one-on-one interviews with participants
what is the biggest challenge of grounded theory research?
- determining when data saturation is reached (collected too much and repeating all of your data)
when can you know when data saturation has been reached?
- no new information will surface; therefore, no additional data need to be generated
- depending on philosophical worldview, it can be argued that saturation will never be reached
what can theory be used for?
inform the research problem and purpose, or theory may be an outcome of the research (ex. grounded theory)
what are the two main ways that theory can be used?
- theoretical lens (perspective to guide): theory could shape the RQs, participant selection, data generation and data analysis
- interpretative framework: specific theory is drawn upon to interpret/make sense of the research findings
are there strict guidelines of theory?
no but different strategies of inquiry will use theory in different ways
what has one of the least theoretical strategy of inquiry?
qualitative description
are researchers committed to providing a detailed description of a specific phenomenon or event?
yes
are researchers typically committed to a specific theoretical understanding of the phenomenon or event?
no
what is central in qualitative research?
purposeful sampling
- intentionally select participants who have experience with the central phenomenon, or the key concept being explored
what does purposeful sampling require?
a well-justified inclusion/exclusion criteria
what are three specific types of purposeful sampling?
- extreme case sampling
- maximum variation sampling
- snowball sampling
what is extreme case sampling?
researchers sample participants that are deemed outliers to the topic of study (ie. EXTREME case or DEVIANT case)
what is the logic of extreme case sampling?
focusing on extreme cases will generate significant insights into a particular phenomenon that cannot be obtained by studying typical or average cases
how is the decision made about what qualifies as an extreme or deviant case?
it may be subjective, potentially influencing the studies outcome
- selection bias because researcher deliberately chooses cases
what is the idea of maximum variation sampling?
identify individuals who represent the widest range of experiences or perspectives with respect to the topic of study
- researcher selects cases that differ on an important characteristic
what is the central idea of maximum variation sampling?
if participants are purposefully chosen to be different in the first place, then their views will reflect this difference and provide a good qualitative study
- gain more insight by looking from all angles and allows us to identify common themes that are evident across the sample
what is snowball sampling?
locate key participants and ask them to identify others who would be likely candidates for your research
- starts small but the sample snowballs into a larger sample
when is snowball sampling used?
in research that looks at a ‘hard-to-reach’ group of people
what are disadvantages of snowball sampling?
- initial participants may shape entire sample
- oversampling a network of peers can lead to bias
- hard to develop trust
what is the intent of qualitative research?
to provide in-depth detail and understanding about the topic being studied
- key idea is to provide detailed views of individuals and the specific contexts in which they hold these views
who identified a number of considerations for determining sample size (or reaching saturation)?
Janice Morse (2000)
what were the considerations for determining sample size by Janice Morse?
- scope of study
- nature of topic
- quality of data
- number of interviews per participant
- study designs
what is scope of study with regards to reaching saturation?
the broader the scope of the RQ/topic, the longer is will take to reach saturation
what is nature of topic with regards to reaching saturation?
if your topic is very obvious and clear, you are not going to need a lot of information to reach saturation
- the fewer participants are needed
what is quality is the data with regards to reaching saturation?
- if the quality of the data lacks depth, it may be necessary to include more participants
what is number of interviews per participant with regards to reaching saturation?
multiple interviews per participant, rather than single interviews, will likely produce more data
what is study designs with regards to reaching saturation?
study designs that focus on multiple people in an organization or family will likely produce more data than studies that have a single interview with a participant
what are the general guidelines about sample sizes for each strategy of inquiry?
- narrative: 1-2 participants
- phenomenology: 5-8 participants
- grounded theory: 30-50
- ethnography: single group of people from same culture
- case study: single case or 4-5 cases
- qualitative description: often takes on the ‘tone’ of another strategy of inquiry and will use sample sizes consistent with that strategy of inquiry
what is the most common and important method for generating data in qualitative research?
interviews
qualitative studies often us __________ form of data generation.
more than one
- like interviews, observations, written documents and visual data
