Midterm Flashcards
qual research
Research should focus on human lived reality
Inductive reasoning (from the specific to the general) leads to understanding.
Participants’ meanings are key.
Researchers must identify the definition of the situation.
Social settings are highly complex and can affect the outcome of an experiment.
Understanding exists in our agreed-upon experiences.
quan. research
Research should focus on theory development and testing.
Deductive reasoning (from general to specific) leads to truth.
Researchers’ meanings are key.
Researchers must find “objective” definitions.
A valid experiment should arrive at the same conclusion no matter where it is performed.
Truth is an objective reality.
positivism
Positivism has three principal attributes: (1) adherence to a realist perspective, (2) trust in causal knowledge, and (3) reliance on deductive reasoning.
realist perspective
assumes that reality is out there, waiting to be discovered, or, in the case of psychology, that reality is in there waiting to be discovered. For positivists, therefore, the objective of social science is to uncover the “laws” of human behaviour—what Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) called “social facts” (1897/1951).
causal knowledge
involves a belief that the world is made up of causes and effects that are external to individuals, observable, and measurable. This perspective borrows from the natural sciences and, indeed, has the goal of making social science worthy of the term science.
deductive reasoning
a form of reasoning that uses a process of inference to derive conclusions from general laws or premises
verstehen (a German word that translates as “sympathetic understanding”)
researchers should strive to put themselves in their research subjects’ shoes, to try to see their world through their eyes. For example, in Deborah’s research, she has worked with many older widows and, through interviews, she has developed a sympathetic understanding of the enormity of their loss. This understanding, in turn, has helped Deborah to interpret the information that she gathers from the interviews in a way that is appropriate to the widows’ experiences.
importance of qual. re.
sympathetic understanding and definition of the situation.
def. of the situation
this concept means that if we define a situation as true, it is true in its consequences. For example, when Deborah started a job as a waitress when she was in university, the person who was training her told her that women were poor tippers and that she should, therefore, not worry too much about how well she served them. That was her definition of the situation, and many servers in restaurants shared this definition. The consequence? Women often receive poorer service than men do. In response to poor treatment by servers, some women will, indeed, give a small tip, thus reinforcing the servers’ definition of the situation.
symbolic interactionism
suggests that the meaning of an object evolves through individuals’ shared understandings of and interactions with that object. The object, or “thing,” has no intrinsic meaning except for the ones we give it.
ethnomethodology
questioned how people go about everyday life in the absence of visible or formal rules, and he sought to discover the unwritten rules by which we communicate. For example, if your friend texts you and asks, “Do you want to go to the movies?” you do not reply “Yes,” put the phone in your pocket, and set off to see a movie by yourself. You know that the person is really asking you to go to the movies with them and that they expect you to understand this intention and to continue the conversation to discuss which movie you will see, when you will go, and where you will meet.
breaching experiments
qualitative experiments in which the researcher intentionally breaks one of the unspoken laws of interaction. For example, if you were to meet a friend on the street and ask, “How are you?” you would likely expect the person to say “Fine” and continue walking. If your friend were doing a breaching experiment, they might answer, “How am I in regard to what? Finances? School work? Love life?”
emergent
A characteristic of qualitative research. Research strategies change during the course of the research as the researcher becomes familiar with the research setting or social group.
theoretical saturation
A stage that occurs when the researcher is no longer learning anything new in collecting data. At this point, the researcher stops collecting data.
qual. differences in methods
Involves little or no advance knowledge of the type(s) of data to be collected
Allows participants to define how the study progresses and what the data mean
Strives for accuracy: researchers do not invent the actor’s viewpoint
Often involves in-depth interviews
Relies on subjective observation
Includes a literature review at the end of the study
quan. differences in methods
Involves advance knowledge of the type(s) of data to be collected
Minimizes participants’ input into types of data collected
Strives for reliability: researchers make sure the findings can be replicated
Often involves questionnaires or surveys
Relies on objective experiments
Includes a literature review at the outset of the study
mixed-methods research
A recent approach that combines qualitative methods with quantitative methods. Some argue that this approach can result in research findings that are more complete than could be arrived at by either method on its own.
indigenous methodologies
Ways of carrying out research with Indigenous peoples and communities that take into account the legitimacy of Indigenous knowledge systems, receptivity and relationship between researchers and participants, reciprocity with the community, and stories as a legitimate way of sharing knowledge (Kovach 2015:53).
indigenous résurgence
Paradigm that includes Indigenous peoples’ rootedness in the land, accountability to the community, and transformation through awakening to the impact of colonization and through knowledge that is transformational (Alfred 2015).
two-eyed seeing
Research approach that involves both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing equally for the benefit of all.
moral entrepreneurs
Individuals or groups who campaign to establish certain social behaviours as deviant or normative.
generic social processes
Aspects of interaction that transcend individual situations (for example, acquiring perspectives, achieving identity, doing activity, developing relationships, experiencing emotionality, and achieving linguistic fluency).
general social processes include:
(1) acquiring perspectives, (2) achieving identity, (3) doing activity, (4) developing relationships, (5) experiencing emotionality, and (6) achieving linguistic fluency
impression management
Developed by Erving Goffman (1959), this concept explains how people work to control the impression of themselves that they communicate to others through demeanour, expression, dress, and so on.
sociological imagination
The capacity to connect the patterns of individuals with those of society. It distinguishes between private troubles and public issues and is used to understand the connection between biography and history. C.W. Mills (1959) called it the “promise of sociology.”
hierarchy of credibility
The common situation in which those in superordinate positions and “experts” are seen as more credible than those in subordinate or marginal social positions.
participatory action-research
A form of community-based research that often aims to identify the needs and priorities of the group and translate findings into a form that can influence social policy or effect interventions to improve the situation of the group.
community-based research
A collaborative approach to research that includes community members in the design, implementation, and analysis of a study. The researcher shares control of the study with the community group involved.
serendipity
In general, a lucky coincidence. Researchers often experience an unexpected, spontaneous moment of inspiration that leads them to discover a social setting, research area, or theoretical insight while not actively looking for one.
prescriptive
Those approaches that dictate right or wrong behaviour. Qualitative research is analytical and descriptive rather than prescriptive.
acquiring perspectives
This process refers to how we learn to define objects in certain ways or to have particular attitudes towards objects or individuals.
achieving identity
This process relates to how one becomes an object to oneself. It includes the “associations and negotiations” that people have with others
ethical codes
(1) respect for persons, (2) concern for human welfare, and (3) justice
research ethics board (REB)
A body that assesses the ethical implications of research studies and has the power to approve or reject a research proposal. All Canadian researchers who conduct research involving humans must submit their plans to a research ethics board for approval before carrying out their study.
vocab of motives
The ways in which people describe and explain their reasons for doing things. These “vocabularies” are always tied to a particular social context; as such, they are subject to change and interpretation as one’s social circumstances change.
Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS)
lays out ethical considerations for researchers working with human participants
how to apply principles of ethics to qual. res.?
First, enter the research situation with an open mind. As a qualitative researcher, you should never expect your participants to confirm your own assumptions, and you should never invent or rush in to explain your participants’ motives.
Second, it will be helpful to ask “how” questions rather than “why” questions.
Third, acknowledge the various constraints that can intrude in a social setting that might also affect respect for the person.
Fourth, use an approach that fits the circumstances of the individual participant, group, community, and/or culture.
Fifth, forgo a “remedial” attitude. Your job is not to find a remedy for a problem or to “fix” things. Recall that qualitative research is descriptive and analytical rather than prescriptive.
Finally, try to form authentic relationships with your participants. You should treat your participants as valued partners in the research process, not as subjects to be studied from a distance.
seeking consent
In private or face-to-face situations, researchers are expected to seek informed consent from participants. In medical and most quantitative studies, researchers use consent forms that participants must sign before the start of the research, and many research ethics boards require researchers to use consent forms, duly signed by the research participant. Typically, the form explains the purpose and the methodology of the study, informs participants that they can stop the interview at any time without any personal risk, and provides a guarantee of confidentiality and anonymity. The use of signed consent forms is a legacy of the biomedical approach, and some believe they protect researchers and participants. Many, however, contest their appropriateness.
where is written consent not appropriate?
First, there are certain settings in which it would be inappropriate or insensitive to seek individual written consent—for example, in cultures that nurture a sense of collectivity (and in which the individual’s identity only makes sense insofar as it is part of that collectivity) or in a setting where illiteracy is the norm.
Second, some collectives might interpret the researcher’s seeking individual consent as an affront to the larger group.
Third, some participants might want to protect their anonymity by not attaching their name to an “official” document. This is often the case when the research is focused on individuals living on the margins of society, those involved in illegal activities, or even those who occupy positions of power and prestige.
Finally, some participants might see the need to sign a consent form as a serious betrayal of the trust that has developed over the course of previous interactions with the researcher. With the presentation of a formal consent form, what was initially a friendly soliciting of the perspectives and insights of a participant becomes a hopelessly unnatural relationship.
presentism
The belief that we can use today’s standards to evaluate older texts and social phenomena.
