Module 10 - collecting qualitative data Flashcards
What are the three common types of qualitative data?
language, observation of behaviours, and images.
How do qualitative samples differ from quantitative?
Qualitative samples are typically smaller, but there are no set rules for size.
What is theoretical sampling?
you choose your next participants as a result of the data that comes from your first participants.
What is maximum variation sampling?
you choose participants to reflect the range and diversity of a target population.
What is snowball sampling?
you request future participants from the participants themselves.
What is context sampling?
based on work location.
What is convenience sampling?
general advertising/who shows up.
What are some strengths and limitations of interviews in gathering data?
Strengths include flexibility, non-verbal cues, and rich, detailed perspectives, limitations include potential differences in response based on time/context, time-consuming, and may be hard to get participants.
What are the stages of an interview?
Rapport, introduction, interview, closing.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative surveys?
Strengths are relatively time and resource-light, collect data from lots of participants quickly, focused standardised data, limitations include limited flexibility and less organic, data has less depth than interviews, and participants may disclose less.
What is the purpose of story-completion task?
It is proposed that with this kind of task it is likely the person completing it will ascribe their their own motivations, feelings, and behaviours to the “other” person that is being used in the stimulation. This potentially allows the participant to externalise their own anxieties, concerns, and actions.
What are the strengths and limitations of story-completion tasks?
Strengths include being useful for exploring people’s perceptions, views, and opinions can be useful for comparative designs and can be useful for researching sensitive and ethically/morally complex topics. Weaknesses include data being less transparent/harder to analyse, gaps between the story and reality, and the artificiality of the technique.
Explain vignettes.
Participants read a vignette, often with a dilemma of some kind and then answer a series of questions.
Explain focus groups.
An informal discussion among selected individuals about specific topics.
What are the strengths and limitations of focus groups?
strengths - can generate a wide range of views, participants can build on each other, speed of data collection. Limitations - the group dynamic, inequality of power between participants, and may not allow for discussion of sensitive material.
