Midterm 1 Flashcards
What is the definition of research?
research: any scholarly activity that contributes to human knowledge through methods established by the academic disciplines
What are the three educational benefits of research?
learning about issues and methods in your field
applying concepts from your courses to real life situations
sharpen your problem solving skills
What are three professional benefits of research?
exploring potential careers
positioning yourself for internship opportunities
preparing for graduate school
What are three personal benefits of research?
growing as a critical thinker
enhancing your communication skills
building confidence
What is the Qualitative Research Tradition?
the qualitative approach focuses mainly on words and images rather than numbers and statistics.
Requires getting close to research subjects, gaining their trust establishing a mutually beneficial relationship and understanding their perspectives
What are three characteristics of the qualitative research tradition? (!)
Inductive view of the relationship between theory and research
Interpretivist: seeks to understand the social world through other people’s interpretations of it
Approach is naturalistic- try to minimize disturbances to their social world
What are the five things involved in research methods?
Participant observation
Focus groups
Interviews
Discourse analysis
Content analysis of texts and documents
What are the three main goals of qualitative researchers?
Seeing through the eyes of the people being studied
Emphasis on process
Flexibility and limited structure
What are the four main critiques of qualitative researchers?
Too subjective
Difficult to replicate
Problems of generalization
Lack of transparency
What is the definition of ethnography?
a qualitative research method where the intent is to provide a detailed in-depth description of everyday life and practice and its cultural interpretation
Conventional research of the past
Researcher known as the expert
One-way exchange of information
Individual ownership of research
For the benefit of the researcher
Outcome oriented
Theory production
Academic, theoretical
Contemporary qualitative research
Researcher known as the facilitator
Interchange of information
Shared ownership of a project
For the benefit of the community
Process oriented
Community action/ policy oriented
Applied
what are jottings and how are they used in qualitative research? (!)
jotting: phrases, quotes, keywords and short notes that researchers write down in the field and use to develop full field notes
Qualitative research process steps
General research topic/ question
Select research sites + subjects/ participants
Collection of data
Interpretation of data
Conceptual and theoretical work
Greater specification of the research question
Collection of further data → interpretation of data
Write up findings/ conclusion
Define iterative
a process for arriving at a decision or a desired result by repeating grounds of analysis. The objective is to bring the desired results closer with each repetition/ iteration.
Define theoretical saturation (!)
a stage that occurs when the researcher no longer learns anything new in collecting data (pg. 21 of the textbook)
Is the qualitative research process inductive or deductive?
inductive
Quantitative research process steps
Theory
Hypothesis
Research design
Devise measures of concepts
Select research site/ representative sample
Administer research instrument
Process and analyze data
Write up findings/ conclusion
Is the quantitative research process inductive or deductive?
deductive
Three ways to find a qualitative research topic?
From our daily lives
Current events
Through the research process itself
Differences between inductive and deductive research approaches? (!)
Inductive: the bottom up approach.
Researchers observe, induce empirical generalizations based on these observations, then, through analytic induction, attempt to develop a theory that adequately reflects reality
Deductive: the top down approach. Researchers begin with theory from which they deduce hypotheses and test with data. If the data supports the hypothesis, the theory gains support. If it does not, the theory should be rejected or revised.
Wallace’s 1971 Wheel of Science
theories-hypothesis-observations-empirical generalizations
What does epistemology deal with?
Epistemology deals with the question of how we know what we know and what criteria we bring to the evaluation of whether something is true or not
Three differences between quantitative and qualitative research
Quantitative:
Natural science model
Deductive method
Positivism
Qualitative:
Human-centred model
Inductive method
Interpretivistm
What is positivism?
an epistemological position that advocates using the methods of the natural sciences in the study of social reality. Only facts derived from the scientific method can make legitimate knowledge claims.
What is Interpretivism?
an epistemological position that requires the social scientist to grasp the subjective meanings that people attach to their actions and behaviours. Assumes that all knowledge and facts are socially constructive.
What is mixed methods/ multi strategy research?
studies that combine qualitative and quantitative methods in the same project. So that their various strengths can be capitalized on and their weaknesses compensated for
Four characteristics of mixed methods/ multi strategy research?
Relies on both a predetermined (quantitative) and emergent research design (qualitative)
Questions use both open-ended and closed questions
Based on statistical or text and verbal analysis
Emphasis on both explaining and exploring social and political reality.
Trying to predict things but also explore and understand something.
What are the three Approaches to Mixed Methods Research?
Triangulation
Sequential strategy
Concurrent strategy
What is sequential strategy?
the researcher seeks to elaborate on or expand the findings of one method with another (eg. quantitative to qualitative, most commonly. Public opinion survey then focus groups to expand on the survey and explain the unexpected findings, you know casual but not why or how)
What is triangulation?
the use of more than one method or source of data so that findings can be cross-checked. Could be a mixed method when you use more than one method to test
Methods: survey (analyze quantitatively) + focus groups (qualitatively)
Sources: interviews + census data
What is concurrent strategy?
the researcher combines quantitative and qualitative data in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the research question
What are the advantages of mixed methods? (!)
Results in well-validated + substantiated findings
Produces empirical generalizations grounded in an appreciation of historical + sociocultural contexts
What are the disadvantages of mixed methods? (!)
Difficult to do it properly
Time-consuming and requires greater financial resources
Most researchers do not have the required skills to do both
More data is not always better (think of theoretical saturation)
What is a literature review?
A synthesis of books and articles in which other researchers report the results of their studies based on primary research. You quote or cite them to support your own research.
What are primary sources?
materials which are written or collected by individuals who actually witnessed the events they describe. They provide direct or first hand evidence about an event, object or person and show minimal or no mediation between the document and its creator.
Secondary sources?
materials that were produced sometime after an event happened and so contain information that has been interpreted, commented, analyzed or processed in some way. A third party account of something that happened.
Purpose of literature review
Present the findings of similar studies, especially competing explanations.
Relate your study to this body of literature.
Provides a framework or benchmark for comparing your results with others.
Learn from other researchers’ mistakes or successes
Suggest further research questions
Help with the interpretation of your findings
Demonstrate your mastery of the literature
Placement Location of Literature Review for qualitative and quantitative studies? (!)
Qualitative study: final section of the research paper (uses the literature inductively)
Observation → theory
Quantitative study: beginning of the research paper
Theory → observation
Sources for literature review
Search for sources
Journals - ucalgary library!
Books - ucalgary library!
Conference papers
Dissertations
What is a bibliographic trail?
Bibliographic trail: track down bibliography listings in a key source
Steps in conducting literature review
Step 1: identify keywords to locate material
Step 2: use these keywords to search the library catalogue and google scholar
Step 3: locate at least 20 initial sources on your topic
Step 4: skim the sources and set aside 8-10 of those that you will read in detail
Step 5: design a visual map of the research literature on your topic (2-3 major themes or debates)
Step 6: draft detailed summaries of your chosen sources, include references and key quotations
Step 7: develop an organizational outline for your literature review and begin writing
Four things required for each source
Main problem/ question
Central argument
Supporting evidence (eg cases and methods)
Main findings, conclusions, recommendations
