Lecture 5: in-depth interviews Flashcards
What is qualitative research?
aim: provide novel insights into phenomena that are difficult to measure
–> Description of processes, mechanisms, settings
- Builds on participant perspectives and experences
data often collected in natural settings = textual , visual or audible
systematic
prioritizing depth over breadt.
Primary sources of data
- Participant data collection
- Archival data collection
What are methods of Participant data collection
- in-depth interviews
- focus groups
- participant observation
What are methods of: Archival data collection
- Historical accounts
- Census data
- Actor specific publications
What are benefits of using in-depth interviews?
- Allows researches to gain insight into experiences, perceptions and motivations of actors
- Enables researches to collect data that does not exist in other form
- Allows researches to collect rich, in-depth data on a subject
- Can yield suprising data, novel insights into a research topic
- Paticularly suited to illustrate causal mechanisms.
What are research goals amenable to using in-depth interviews?
- Preparatory: tool for initial orientation into new field
- Systematizing: gathering descriptive evidence
- Exploratory: inductive tool for theory generation
- Confirmatory: deductive tool for theory testing
What are the ethical principles and standards towards your audience in research?
- Production Transparancy:
full account of procedures used to collect/ generate data - Analytical Transparancy:
Full account of how conclusions are drawn from data - Data access:
Reference to data used in claims; provide access or explain limitations
What is production transparency in research?
Offering a full account of the procedures used to collect or generate data
What is analytical transparency in research?
Providing a full account of how conclusions are drawn from the data, clearly linking data to conclusion
What are field research methods?
Qualitative methods used to study phenomena that cannot be easily counted, including interviews and observation.
What are the ethical principles towards research participants in qualitative research? (7!)
- “Do no harm” principle
- Informed Consent
- Confidentiality / Anonymity
- Participation / Withdrawal Rights
- Self-reflexivity in researcher-participant relationships
- Data Archiving / Privacy
- Transparency and Gratitude
Explain the levels of analysis using Coleman’s Bathtub.
**Cross-case level: **Identifies correlations or causal effects (X → Y) through comparative methods.
**Within-case level: **Identifies causal mechanisms by process tracing.
Causal Mechanisms: Three intervening steps — situational, action formation, and transformational mechanisms.
Q: What are the research objectives depending on the role of theory?
Case-centered studies (idiographic): Focus on single outcomes.
Theory-centered studies (nomothetic):
* Theory Building (Exploratory)
* Theory Testing (Confirmatory)
* Theory Adaptation
* Theories provide explanations for causal connections (A → B) and can be shown in arrow diagrams.
At which state of research process are interviews relevant?
- Preliminary stage: Identifying research avenues or refining concepts.
- **Main data source: ** testing descriptive and causal hypotheses.
- Part of multi-method research: To triangulate other methods or increase validity.
What are the types of interviewees in in-depth interviews?
Experts: Academics, advisors.
Elites: Politicians, economic elites.
Non-elites: Citizens, refugees, protesters.
Remember to create a sampling plan to determine who gets interviewed.
What is the Miner perspective in conducting interviews?
Goal is to access participants’ pre-existing knowledge.
Interviewer digs for ‘‘nuggets of’ knowledge, aligning with (post) positivism (Kvale & Brinkman 2009)
Ontololgy and Epistemology of positivism.
