Lecture 2

Question 1

What are the five research approaches?

Answer 1

1. narrative research
2. phenomenology
3. grounded theory
4. ethnography
5. case study

Question 2

Provide a definition of narrative research

Answer 2

= type of qualitative design in which narrative is understood as a spoken or written text giving an account of an event/action or series of events/actions, chronologically connected

Narrative
- as a phenomenon eg. narrative of illness
- as a method -> procedures of analyzing stories

Question 3

What is the origin of narrative research?

Answer 3

• originated from literature, history, antophology, sociology, sociolinguistics, and education

Question 4

What are the features of narrative research?

Answer 4

FOCUS: individual’s stories about their experiences
- narrative: a chronological account of actions/events
- suitable for studying processes (life, project, policy process) in full context (social/historical/institutional)
- focusing on both contexts as the turning points or disruptions in the storyline
- interviews = central -> also documents, pictures, …
- analysis: various categories (thematic, structural, pictures) -> getting ‘close’ to individuals
- researcher re-stories in the report: making sense of the data into more general frameworks

EXTRA BOOK:
- collecting stories from individuals about indvs lived and told experiences -> may be collaborative (constructed between researcher and interviewee)
- individual experiences + shed light on the identities of individuals and how they see themselves
- occur within specific places or situations
- gathered through many forms of data eg. interviews, observations, documents, pictures, …
- varied strategies -> thematically, structural, dialogic, visuals

Question 5

What are the strategies used to analyze narrative stories?

Answer 5

• thematically: analysis of what was said (themes told by the participant)
• structural: analysis of the nature of the telling of the story (telling - coming terms, satire, romance)
• dialogic/performance: analysis of who the story is directed toward + how the story is produced (eg. co-constructed) and performed

(- using visual analysis of images)

Question 6

What are the lines of narrative research?

Answer 6

-> 2 lines:
1. to consider the data analysis strategy
2. types of narratives

Question 7

What are the types of narratives?

Answer 7

1) biographical study
-> researcher writes and records the experiences of another person’s life

2) autoethnography
-> researcher = participant -> personal story of author + larger cultural meaning

3) life history
-> indvs entire life

4) oral history
-> personal reflections of events, their causes, and their effects from 1 individual or several individuals

Question 8

What are the procedures for conducting narrative research?

Answer 8

• fluid inquiry -> not set of procedures or linear steps!

1) determine if the research problem or question best fits narrative research -> best for capturing the detailed stories of life experiences of single indv or lives of a small n of indvs

2) select one/more indvs who have stories/life experiences to tell, and spend considerable time with them gathering their stories through multiple types of information

3) consider how the collection of data and their recording can take different shapes
-> different ways to transcribe I transcription highlights whether researcher = listener or questioner I …

4) embed information about the context of these stories into data collection, analysis, and writing
-> eg. culture, historical contexts, job, …

5) analyze participant’s stories using the process of reorganizing the stories into some general type of framework called restorying
- gathering stories + analyzing key elements + rewriting stories to place them within a chronological sequence
- detail themes arising from the story
- deconstruction of stories -> exposing dichotomies, examining silences, … (postmodern perspective)

6) embed a collaborative approach in the collection and telling of stories
- active involvement of participants
- collaboration eg. both parties learn + parties negotiate the meaning of the stories

7) present the narrative in written form

Question 9

What is the general reporting structure of narrative research?

Answer 9

1) an introduction to familiarize the reader with the participant(s) and the intended purpose for the story

2) research procedures to provide a rationale for use of a narrative and details about data collection and analysis

3) telling of the story to theorize about participant lives, with narrative segments

4) patterns of meaning articulated around events, processes, epiphanies, or themes

5) a final interpretation of the meaning of the story.

Question 10

What are the challenges of narrative research?

Answer 10

• power relations: who’s story is being told? Am I interpreting the story right?
• time-consuming research; many contexts

EXTRA
- need for extensive information about the participant
- need for a clear understanding of the context of an individual’s life
- need for active collaboration + researcher should be reflective of own background

Question 11

Demonstrate an example of narrative research?

Answer 11

Research: discourses of disrupted identities in the practice of strategic change: the mayor, the street fighter, and the insider-out
-> How does identity change throughout the strategic change of an organization
-> use of interviews, video recording of strategy discussion, field notes, …
-> need to be sensitive to micro-level to understand macro-level

Question 12

Provide a definition of phenomenological research

Answer 12

= describes the common meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or a phenomenon

Basic purpose?
- to reduce indv experiences to the description of universal essence

Question 13

What is the origin of phenomenological research?

Answer 13

• strong philosophical component -> German mathematician Edmund Husserl
• popular in social and health sciences
• the phenomenology of practice = meaning-giving methods of phenomenology based on the primary literature of these scholars
• 4 philosophical perspectives in phenomenology:

1) return to traditional tasks of philosophy (-> greek conception of philosophy as a search for wisdom)

2) a philosophy without presuppositions (-> suspend all judgments about what is real until they are founded on a more certain basis) -> suspension = epoche

3) intentionality of consciousness (-> consciousness is directed toward an object)

4) refusal of the subject-object dichotomy (-> reality of an object = only perceived within the meaning of the experience of an individual)

Question 14

What are the four philosophical perspectives in phenomenology?

Answer 14

1) return to traditional tasks of philosophy (-> greek conception of philosophy as a search for wisdom)

2) a philosophy without presuppositions (-> suspend all judgments about what is real until they are founded on a more certain basis) -> suspension = epoche

3) intentionality of consciousness (-> consciousness is directed toward an object)

4) refusal of the subject-object dichotomy (-> reality of an object = only perceived within the meaning of the experience of an individual)

Question 15

What are the features of phenomenology?

Answer 15

FOCUS: commonalities in how individuals experience a phenomenon (the essence of experience)
- suitable for studying individuals’ experiences
- from individuals’ experiences to the ‘universal essence’
- researcher ‘brackets’ him/herself out of the study (phenomenological reflection); getting really close to individuals (need to be open to other’s experiences)
- interviews = central + focus groups/observation (what and how - descriptive and detailed)
- searching for a collective voice (thick description)
- analysis: from detailed (significant statements) to broad codes (meaning units) -> ‘what’ and ‘how’

! valuable research for practitioners!

EXTRA
- emphasis on the phenomenon to be explored
- a group who have experienced the phenomenon (heterogenous group 3/4-10/15
- philosophical discussion about basic ideas involved in conducting a phenomenology -> refusal of subjective-objective perspective

Question 16

What are the types of phenomenology?

Answer 16

1) hermeneutic phenomenology
2) transcendental or psychological phenomenology

Question 17

What is hermeneutic phenomenology?

Answer 17

= research = oriented toward lived experience (phenomenology) + interpreting the ‘texts of life (hermeneutics)

-> procedure?
- phenomenon
- reflect on essential themes, what constitutes the nature of this lived experience
- write a description of the phenomenon + maintain strong relation to the topic of inquiry
- interpretation of meaning of the lived experiences

Question 18

What is a textural description?

Answer 18

= what participants experienced (phenomenon)

Question 19

What is a structural description?

Answer 19

= how participants experienced a phenomenon in terms of conditions, situations, or context

Question 20

What is transcendental or psychological phenomenology?

Answer 20

• focus on experiences of participants + bracketing of the researcher -> taking a fresh perspective toward the phenomenon under examination

-> procedure?
- identifying a phenomenon
- bracketing out one’s experiences
- collecting data
- analysis of data by reducing the info to significant statements or quotes + combines statements into themes
- textural description + structural description + combination to convey an overall essence

Question 21

What is phenomenological reflection?

Answer 21

= the process of bracketing and reduction of a researcher

Question 22

What are the procedures for conducting phenomenological research

Answer 22

1) determine if the research problem is best examined by using a phenomenological approach
-> best suited: to understand several individuals’ common or shared experiences of a phenomenon

2) identify a phenomenon of interest to study and describe it

3) distinguish and specify the broad philosophical assumptions of phenomenology

4) collect data from the individuals who have experienced the phenomenon by using in-depth and multiple interviews
-> 2 broad Qs:
1. what have you experienced in terms of the phenomenon?
2. what contexts or situations have typically influenced or affected your experiences of the phenomenon

5) generate themes from the analysis of significant statements
-> horizontalization: highlighting significant statements, sentences, … which provide an understanding of how the participants experienced the phenomenon
-> cluster of meaning from significant statements

6) develop structural and textural descriptions

7) report the ‘essence’ of the phenomenon by using a composite description (= essential, invariant structure (or essence)

8) present the understanding of the essence of the experience in written form

Question 23

What is a general reporting structure for phenomenology?

Answer 23

1. introduction to familiarize the reader with the phenomenon and in some cases, a personal statement of experiences from the researcher (Moustakas, 1994)
2. research procedures to provide a rationale for the use of phenomenology, and philosophical assumptions and details about data collection and analysis
3. a report of how the phenomenon was experienced with significant statements
4. a conclusion with a composite description of the essence of the phenomenon.

Question 24

What are the challenges of phenomenology?

Answer 24

• access to individuals
• putting own personal experiences to the background

EXTRA
- too structured for some qualitative researchers
- requirement of understanding of philosophical assumptions
- need to carefully choose the participants
- hard to bracketing personal experiences

Question 25

Define grounded theory research?

Answer 25

= a qualitative research design in which the inquirer generates a general explanation (a theory) of a process, an action, or an interaction shaped by the views of a large number of participants.

Question 26

What are the origins of grounded theory research?

Answer 26

• developed in sociology by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss -> disagreement about meaning and procedures
• Corbin and Strauss: structured approach
• Charmaz: a constructivist grounded theory
• Clarke: positivist underpinnings -> social situations = form our unit of analysis

Question 27

What are the defining features of grounded theory?

Answer 27

AIM: to develop an empirically grounded theory, that explains a certain development
- explain what drives that development; bottom-up -> starting from the empirical world
- inductive and flexible methodology; interviews = central
- analysis: open/axial/selective coding
- memoing
- ‘discriminant sampling’: testing the theory with additional others

! fits well w real-world issues
! systematic + evolving style of research, creativity, and new ideas!

EXTRA
- process or action that has distinct steps or phases that occur over time (‘movement’)
- the process of memoing during the collection and analysis of data
- data collection and analysis = simultaneous -> data collection: interviews + going back and forth between collection and analysis to fill gaps
- inductive -> structured: open, selective and axial coding VS less structured: piecing together implicit meanings about a category

Question 28

discriminatory sampling

Answer 28

= testing the theory with additional others

Question 29

Differentiate between open, axial and selective coding

Answer 29

Open coding
- formation of categories about phenomenon being studied + in each category: properties/subcategories

Axial coding
- presentation of coding paradigm or logic diagram (visual model) -> identifies central phenomenon + explores causal conditions + specifies strategies + identifies the context and intervening conditions + delineates the consequences

Selective coding
- writing a story line that connects the categories

Question 30

What are the types of grounded theory studies?

Answer 30

1) systematic procedures (Strauss and Corbin)
2) constructivist approach (Charmaz)

Question 31

What is a systematic procedure of grounded theory studies?

Answer 31

= categories, codes, coding, systematic procedures
-> goal? systematically develop a theory that explains process, action, or interaction on a topic
-> field trips to collect data to saturate the categories
-> while collecting data -> analysis (zigzag)
-> theoretical sampling
-> constant comparative method

Data analysis?
1. open coding
2. axial coding -> different types of categories: causal conditions, strategies, contextual and intervening conditions, consequences

Further model:
- Conditional or consequentialist matrix:
an analysis strategy to help the researcher make connections between the macro and micro conditions influencing the phenomenon and in turn identify the range of consequences that result from the interactions
(seldom used!!)

Question 32

What is a constructivist procedure of grounded theory studies?

Answer 32

What?
- emphasizing diverse local worlds, multiple realities, + complexities of particular worlds, views and actions
- interpretive approach
- flexible guidelines
- focus on theory developed that depends on the researcher’s view
- learning about experience within embedded hidden networks, situations and relationships
- making visible hierarchies of power, communication and opportunity

-> emphasis on views, values, beliefs, feelings, assumptions, ideologies,

Question 33

What are the types of categories for data analysis of systematic procedures of grounded theory?

Answer 33

• causal conditions: what factors caused the core phenomenon
• strategies: actions taken in response to the core phenomenon
• contextual and intervening conditions: broad and specific situational factors that influence the strategies
• consequences: outcomes from using the strategies

Question 34

What is conditional or consequential matrix?

Answer 34

= an analysis strategy to help the researcher make connections between the macro and micro conditions influencing the phenomenon and in turn identify the range of consequences that result from the interactions

Question 35

What are the challenges of grounded theory?

Answer 35

• very time-consuming
• losing oneself in coding
• theoretical sensitivity; can come in between the ability of the researcher to start with the data itself

EXTRA
- need to set aside own theoretical ideas and notions
- despite evolving nature of qualitative inquiry -> systematic approach w specific steps in data analysis
- difficulty when categories = saturated

Question 36

What is the procedure for conducting grounded theory research?

Answer 36

1. determine if grounded theory is best suited to study the research problem
   -> best suited: when a theory is not available or incomplete theories
2. focus the interview questions on understanding how individuals experience the process and identify the steps in the process (what was the process? how did it unfold?)
   -> Q: core phenomenon? causes? consequences?
3. theory-building emerges through the simultaneous and iterative data collection, analysis and memoing process

4) structure the various analysis procedures as open, axial and selective coding and follow traditions

5) articulate a substantive-level theory for communication purposes

6) present the theory as a discussion or model

Question 37

What is the general reporting structure for grounded theories?

Answer 37

1) an introduction to familiarize the reader with the process (or action) that the theory is intended to explain
2) research procedures to provide a rationale for grounded theory and details about data collection and analysis
3) a theory description involving the major categories from open coding
4) conditions around core phenomenon from axial coding
5) a proposition describing the interrelationships of categories in the model from selective coding

Question 38

What is data saturation?

Answer 38

= the point in the research process when no new information is discovered in data analysis

Question 39

What is memoing?

Answer 39

= when the researcher writes down ideas about the evolving theory throughout the data procedures in an effort to discover patterns

Question 40

What is a constant comparative method of data analysis?

Answer 40

= process of taking information from data collection and comparing it to emerging categories

Question 41

What is theoretical sampling?

Answer 41

= participants are theoretically chosen to help researcher best form the theory

Question 42

Define ethnography.

Answer 42

= a qualitative design in which the researcher describes and interprets the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group

1. a way of describing a group (process)
2. final written product

Question 43

What is the origin of ethnographic research?

Answer 43

antropology

Question 44

What are the defining features of ethnography?

Answer 44

AIM: describe and analyze a culture sharing group
FOCUS: shared patterns of behavior, beliefs, or languages
- extensive fieldwork through participant observation + interviews/documents -> interviews = often informal -> limited note-taking
- a close relationship with the group (members): starting w ‘gatekeeper’ insider perspective
- use of theory: more/less inductive
- Develop a complex, detailed, and complete description of culture sharing group

EXTRA
- the researcher looks for patterns of the groups mental activities (ideas, beliefs, …) + material activities (behavior) = patterns of social organization and ideational systems
- importance of theory (start)
- emic: insider perspective VS etic: outsider (scientific perspective)
- result: understanding of how the culture-sharing group works - how it functions, the groups way of life -> 2Q
1. What do people in this setting have to know and do to make this system work?”
2. “If culture, sometimes defined simply as shared knowledge, is mostly caught rather than taught, how do those being inducted into the group find their ‘way in’ so that an adequate level of sharing is achieved?

Question 45

What are the types of ethnographies?

Answer 45

1. realist ethnography
2. critical ethnography

Question 46

Define a realist ethnography

Answer 46

= traditional approach of cultural anthropologists
- objective account of the situation -> in 3rd person
- ethnographer = in background -> omniscient reporter of the ‘facts’ (no bias)
- mundane details
- standard categories for cultural description

Question 47

Define a critical approach to ethnography

Answer 47

-> in response to a current society in which systems of power, prestige, privilege and authority serve to marginalize individuals who are from different classes, races, and genders
= type of research in which the authors advocate for the emancipation of groups marginalized by society
=> major components: value-laden orientation, empowering people by giving them more authority, challenging the status quo, addressing concerns about power and control

Question 48

What are the procedures for conducting an ethnography?

Answer 48

1. determine if the ethnography is most appropriate design for studying the research problem
   -> appropriate: if need to describe how a cultural group works and to explore the beliefs, language, behaviors, issues, …
2. identify and locate the culture-sharing group
   -> access may require a gatekeeper or key informant
3. select cultural themes, issues or theories to study about the group
4. determine which type of ethnography to use to study cultural concepts
5. gather info in the context or setting where the group works of lives (fieldwork)
6. generate an overall cultural interpretation of the group from the analysis of patterns across many sources of data
   -> steps?
   1) detailed description of the culture-sharing group
   2) theme analysis of patterns or topics
   3) ‘overall picture’ of how a system works
   -> thick description: written record of cultural interpretations (eg. verbatim quotes of concepts such as kinship, social structure, + social relations or function among members incorporating emic and etic
7. present the patterns of the culture-sharing group in written or performance formats (Cultural portrait)

Question 49

What is a cultural portrait?

Answer 49

description of a working set of rules or generalizations as to how the culture-sharing group functions

Question 50

What is a general reporting structure for an ethnography?

Answer 50

1. an introduction to familiarize the reader with the culture-sharing group
2. research procedures to provide a rationale for use of an ethnography
3. details about data collection and analysis, providing a cultural interpretation using a variety of ways describing the patterns that emerge from an analysis of cultural
4. The final product is a holistic cultural portrait of the group from both the participants and the interpretation of the researcher that might also advocate for the needs of the group or suggest changes in society

Question 51

Define emic and etic.

Answer 51

Emic = views of the participants
Etic = views of the researcher

Question 52

What are the challenges of an ethnography?

Answer 52

• getting involved to deeply
• ethical dilemmas -> need to adress needs of the people, …

EXTRA
- need to understand cultural anthropology, the meaning of a social-cultural system, topics typically explored by those studying cultures
- extensive fieldwork
- storytelling approach -> may limit audience + hard for researcher to accustome to
- possibility of researcher ‘going native’ => unable to complete or compromised study
-

Question 53

Define a case study

Answer 53

= a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a real-life, contemporary bounded system (a case) or multiple bounded systems (cases) over time, through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information (e.g., observations, interviews, audiovisual material, and documents and reports), and reports a case description and case themes

-> The unit of analysis = multiple cases (a multisite study) or a single case (a within-site study)

Question 54

What is the origin of case study research?

Answer 54

• origin through anthropology and sociology
• popularity in psychology (Freud), medicine and political science

Question 55

What are the defining features of a case study?

Answer 55

AIM: in-depth description + analysis of (multiple) cases
FOCUS: event, program, activity, place
- case selection: determining the ‘boundaries’ of the cases
- intrinsic cases vs instrumental cases
- use of theory: varies (inductive – deductive)
- data collection: multiple sources

EXTRA
- begin: identification of specific case which will be described and analyzed
- case = bounded
- in-depth understanding
- differing units: multiple units vs entire case
- identifying key themes (for the description of the case)
- assertions

Question 56

Define assertions

Answer 56

= conclusions formed by the researcher about the overall meaning delivered from the case(s)
= building ‘patterns’ or ‘explanations’

Question 57

What are the types of case studies?

Answer 57

1) single instrumental case study
2) collective or multiple case study
3) intrinsic case study

Question 58

Explain the single instrumental case study

Answer 58

= focus on an issue or concern and then selects one bounded case to illustrate the issue

! 1 case !

Question 59

Explain the collective case study

Answer 59

= multiple case study
= focus on an issue or concern BUT inquirer selects multiple case studies to illustrate the issue

-> to generalize: need representative cases for inclusion

Question 60

Explain the intrinsic case study

Answer 60

= focus is on the case itself -> why? case = presents an unusual or unique situation
-> similar to narrative research however within 1 context/surrounding

Question 61

What are the procedures for conducting a case study?

Answer 61

1. determine if a case study approach is appropriate for studying the research problem
   -> appropriate: inquirer has clearly identifiable boundaries + seeks in-depth understanding of the cases
2. identify the intent of the study and select the case (or cases)
   -> intent and type: single vs collective, multisite vs within-site, intrinsic vs instrumental
   -> purposeful sampling
3. develop procedures for conducting the extensive data collection drawing on multiple data sources
   -> common sources: observations, interviews, documents, audiovisual materials
4. specify the analysis approach on which the case description integrates analysis themes and contextual information
   -> type of analysis: holistic (entire case) vs embedded (a specific aspect of the case)
   -> analysis of themes or case themes (-> to understand the complexity of the case > generalization)
   -> analytical strategy: to identify issues within each case + look for common themes that transcend the cases (-> rich in the contex of the case)
   -> multiple cases strategy = within case analysis + cross case analysis
5. report the case study and lessons learned by using case assertions in written form
   -> = involves a reflective process

Question 62

What is a general reporting structure for a case study?

Answer 62

1. an entry vignette to provide the reader with an inviting introduction to the feel of the context in which the case takes place
2. an introduction to familiarize the reader with the central features including rationale and research procedures
3. an extensive narrative description of the case or cases and its or their context, which may include historical and organizational information important for understanding the case
4. the issue description draws from additional data sources and integrates with the researcher’s own interpretations of the issues and both confirming and disproving evidence are presented followed by the presentation of overall case assertions
5. a closing vignette provides the reader with a final experience.

Question 63

Differentiate between an holistic vs embedded analysis

Answer 63

Holistic -> analysis of the entire case

Embedded -> specific aspect of the case

Question 64

What is purposeful sampling?

Answer 64

??

Question 65

What are the challenges of a case study?

Answer 65

• the difficulty in identifying boundaries of cases
• having sufficient access to information, resulting in many poor-quality case studies

EXTRA
- need to identify the case -> scope, bounded, single vs multiple
- resource limitations: (time, financial, => single > multiple)
- case selection (if multiple, how many?)
- cross-case analysis: in single: instrumental or intrinsic but multiple?
- need info for case selection BUT might also limit study

Question 66

How do you decide among the 5 approaches?

Answer 66

Determine based on the research focus and the research problem
- research focus: more general area of study interest eg. study objective or goal
- research problem: issue or concern that leads to a need to conduct the study

Question 67

What is triangulation?

Answer 67

= use of mixed data analysis methods
-> to achieve internal validity

Question 68

Compare the 5 approaches

Answer 68

1. differing foci/primary objectives HOWEVER some similarities: narrative, ethnography & case study = similar when the unit of analysis = single indv HOWEVER dissimilar data collection
   -> narrative: stories & chronology VS ethnography: focus on the setting of indvs stories within the context of culture VS case study: single case to illustrate an issue
2. similar data collection processes BUT dissimilar in terms of emphasis (eg. more observations, interviews, …) and extent of data collection (only interviews, …)
3. differing research reporting, written report, … -> eg. narrative: stories about indvs life VS phenomenology: essence VS …
4. similar in the sense of provision of in-depth descriptions BUT dissimilar in how descriptions are organized
   eg. narrative: chronology VS phenomenology: significant statements