Lecture 17 - Qualitative Psychology: Methodology Flashcards
What is qualitative psychology about
- Meanings & experiences
- Explore questions rather than investigate variables and hypotheses
Understanding phenomena
How do people make sense of the world
What are characteristics of qualitative psychology
- Naturalistic data
-direct from participants - Mostly inductive rather than deductive
(bottom-up rather than top-down) - Recognises subjective meaning rather than objective meaning
Can be used to generate theory or gain deeper insight
What are qualitative research designs
- Interviewing
- Focus groups
- Diaries
- Participant observation
- Case studies
Relatively small number of pps
Can also use secondary sources - newspaper, blogs, forums, social media, podcasts etc
Ethical considerations
- Informed consent
- Minimising physical/psychological harm
- Deception
- Honesty, disclosure, debriefing
- Anonymity
- Confidentiality
Interviews
Unstructured - no set questions/flow
Semi-structured - questions set by researcher as a guide, but no rigid script
Semi-structured are most common
Semi-structured interviews
Fairly practical
Produces data that can be analysed with a range of methodologies
Level of interview structure
Focus groups
- pp interaction is another source of data
- Similar to semi-structured interviews, researcher guides the process
- Introduces topics & questions
- Steers group, managing interactions
- Less artificial than 1:1 interview
- Less appropriate for sensitive/intimate topics
Basically a group interview
Types of focus groups
- Homogenous vs. Heterogenous
-Participants share key features vs. pps are different - Pre-existing vs. New group
-Friends/colleagues vs. people who’ven’t met - Concerned vs. Naïve
-Subject matter is important vs. no particular connection
Designing interview schedules
Small number of open-ended questions
- related to research question
- encourage interviewee to talk about relevant concerns
Non-prescriptive questions
- act as a guide
- may skip qs if pp cover idea elsewhere
- may add qs to explore interesting things that come up during interview
Question number & order
How many questions
In what order
WIP
Choosing questions
Types of questions
Descriptive
Structural
Contrast
Evaluative
Question wording tips
Motivating
Clear
Relevant
interview/focus groups key concerns
and examples
