qualitative Flashcards
what is qualitative research?
an inquiry process of
understanding based on distinct methodological
traditions that explore a social or
human problem.
The researcher builds a
complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, reports
detailed views of informants, and conducts the
study in a natural setting”
what is the generic definition of qualitative research?
is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world
what are the different epistemologies that are taken in qualitative research? (6)
- positivism
- post positivism
- constructivism
- phenomenology
- critical theories, feminism, marxism
- post modern
what is the purpose of qualitative research?
to find out about what people think and how they feel –the subjective information that can hardly be analyzed by numbers
in terms of dichotomy of determinism and indeterminism, which one does qualitative fall under?
qualitative studies are more deterministic
how are qualitative studies done?
studying people and their thoughts in a natural setting, and interpreting the social phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them
what are the commonly used qualitative methods? (5)
- biographical study
- qualitative case study
- phenomenology
- grounded theory
- ethnography
what are non probability sampling methods used in qualitative studies? (6)
- purposive sampling
- snowball sampling
- quota sampling
- theoretical sampling (used in grounded theory)
- deviant case sampling
- best practice sampling
what are good qualities of a qualitative researchers ? (6)
- patience to listen
- flexibility to different ideas and situations
- ability to think deeply
- good attitudes, interest, respect, and empathy
- ability to establish good relations with participants
- ability to be prepared and thorough
what are the tools of data collection in qualitative research? (7)
- interviews
- summaries
- participation
- self memos
- researcher’s diary
- observations
- documents and artifacts
what are the challenges of data analysis in qualitative research?
- making sense of massive amounts of data
- reducing volume of raw information, sifting trivia from significance, identifying significant patterns, and constructing a framework for communicating the essence of what the data reveals
- there is no formulas for determining significance
- no way to replicate the researcher’s thought processes
- no straightforward tests for reliability and validity
what are the contemporary positivist standards for evaluating qualitative studies?
- prolonged engagement
- triangulation
- member checking
All these are based on the criteria of falsification.
The above measures are based on assumption that if there is a truth and different people can have the same observation if they are in the same conditions for observations
what are the social constructivist standards for evaluating qualitative studies?
- minimizing bias is less important than multiple subjective realities revealed
- less concerned with objectivity and accuracy of the researcher
- rich, thick description
what are the challenges of doing qualitative research?
- quality of researcher is incredibly important for research design (including the philosophical, interview/data collection, and report writing)
- in some cases, in order to ensure quality of the research, the researcher has to do everything
- long and energy taking process
what are the limitations of qualitative research?
- the human factor
2. less generalizable as it focuses on individuals rather than populations
what is a biographical study?
biographical researchers study the experiences of individuals in which individuals describe their life in great detail. an individual can reflect cultural themes of society and the social context:
- the social space
- the social structure
- the social situation
- the social relations
how is biographical information collected?
through conversations, from documents and archival materials, or published/unpublished documents
what information does the researcher collect in biographical studies?
- the researcher collects the individuals’ personal recollections of events together with the causes, and the effects of these events from one or several individuals
- the researcher needs to collect broad information about the subject of the biography
how does the researcher conduct biographical research?
- by asking open ended questions to capture how the person understands their own past. exact accuracy is less critical than the story itself
- researchers recognize that the person may reconstruct or add present interpretations of the past, not just some kind of subjective truth
what is phenomenology ?
a philosophy or method of inquiry based on the idea that reality consists of objects and events perceived or understood in human consciousness, and not of anything independent of human consciousness
What was Edmund Husserl’s intention?
to make possible descriptive accounts of the essential structures of the directly given
what does phenomenology do? (3)
- investigates the ‘phenomena,’ e.i. things are apprehended by consciousness, rather than on the existence of anything outside of human consciousness
- it restricts itself to the ‘pure data’ of consciousness, which is uncontaminated by metaphysical theories or scientific assumptions of the researcher
- it studies the consciousness as experienced from the subjective or first person point of view
what was necessary in phenomenology according to Husserl?
to eliminate all presuppositions and prejudices, whether philosophical, scientific, or naive concerning the world and our knowledge of it
what kind of questions are raised in phenomenology?
questions are raised to how people think, believe, and choose, and why people engage in certain activities
what are the most common methods used in phenomenology?
-interview, participant observation, and documentary analysis
what are the three distinguishable methods used in the analysis of classic phenomenology?
1) describe a type of experience just as we find it in our own past experience
2) interpret a type of experience by relating it to relevant social and linguistic context, hermeneutics
3) analyze the form of a type of experience , factoring out notable features for further elaboration
what is grounded theory?
grounded theory derives interpretations inductively from raw data with continual comparison and interplay between data and emerging interpretations
who was grounded theory developed by?
Glasser and Strauss, in their research on dying hospital patients in a book, “Awareness of Dying”
describe Glaser’s grounded theory
- Glaser’s grounded theory is not limited to the realm of qualitative research method.
- It claims the dictum ‘all is data.’
- Surveys and statistical analyses can be used in the comparative process as well as literature data from science, media, and even fiction according to Glaser
what is ethnography?
- focuses on providing a detailed and accurate description of a culture from the viewpoint of an insider rather than the way the researcher understands things
- typically focuses on a community or group of people, selecting participants who have an overview of the activities of the community, and obtaining a saturation of informants in all empirical areas of investigation
what is data analysis like in ethnography?
- takes place through the entire process
- researcher gathers and studies what they have learned since the beginning
- there eventually becomes a point when the researcher turns fully to working with data gathered and interprets the meaning of data
There is no single way to analyze ethnographic data, but what are some of the ways that may be useful in reaching conclusions (3)
- read through the notes, interview transcripts, and cite documents a few times in order to be familiar with what is gathered
- work further on the data and take notes to identify patterns, connections, similarities, or contrastive points
- explain and interpret the data, find alternative explanations, and triangulate in various ways
what is macro ethnography?
studies a broadly defined cultural groupings, such as ‘the french’ or a country
what is micro ethnography?
studies narrowly defined cultural groupings, such as a small community or members of a club
what is the emic perspective
the approach of how members of a given culture perceive their world. the emic perspective is the main stream of ethnography
what is the etic perspective?
the approach that non-members (outsiders) perceive and interpret behaviours and phenomena associated with a given culture
case study is…
neither new nor essentially qualitative. case study is NOT a methodological choice but rather what is to be studied
what is a case study?
involves an in-depth, longitudinal examination of a single case. it provides a systematic way to examine events, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting the results
What does Yin suggest regarding case studies?
case studies should be defined as a research strategy, an empirical inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real life context.
what are the general features of a case study? (4)
- an examination of a ‘bounded system’
- situations and contexts are critical
- purpose of the case study is holistic and in-depth understanding of the case
- multi dimensional
what is purposive sampling?
- you decide the purpose you want informants to serve and find some to fit this purpose
- find the key informants who are particularly knowledgeable about the inquiry setting and articulate about their knowledge
what is theoretical sampling
- only used in grounded theory
- the researcher selects participants who can contribute to theory making by selecting a homogenous group first after information is saturated. then select different groups until a saturation of information.
“the process of data collection for generating theory whereby the analyst jointly collects, codes and analyses his data and decides what data to collect next and where to find them in order to develop his theory as it emerges”[1]. In simple terms, theoretical sampling can be defined as the process of collecting, coding and analyzing data in a simultaneous manner in order to generate a theory. This sampling method is closely associated with grounded theory methodology.
what is sample size usually in theoretical sampling?
20-30 participants may reach a saturation of information
how do you sample for a phenomenological study?
you have to choose people who have had the experience you are studying and are able to provide a comprehensive description of it
how should you sample for an ethnographic study?
choose those who will be most helpful in understanding the social group
sometimes sampling can be unclear in an ethnographic study since the observation is an ongoing process (since people come and go)
some studies have as few as 10 participants
how does qualitative analysis turn raw data into findings? (4)
- coding and organizing notes into readable narrative description
- searching for patterns, major themes
- providing illustrative (quotes)
- explaining these patterns
what are the three elements to all qualitative analysis?
- data reduction (a process in which you focus, simplify, and abstract the raw data)
- data organization (allows you to generate explanations)
- data interpretation, explanation, & verification (drawing conclusions and testing the conclusions for their plausibility)
in grounded theory, what may the coding process look like?
opening coding: breaking down, examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and categorizing data
axial coding: making connections between categories derived from open coding
what does data analysis look like in ethnography?
it involves sifting and sorting through pieces of data to detect and interpret thematic categories and identify patterns
what does data analysis look like in phenomenology?
- the data is coded as clusters of meaning to discover the underlying structure or consciousness of human experiences
- it involves suspending judgement about the natural world to instead focus on analysis of mental experiences (bracketing). this involves setting aside the question of the real existence of a contemplated object , as well as other questions about the object’s physical or objective nature
what problems may be encountered in qualitative data analysis on test
- overemphasizing patterns and themes while losing the detail of specifics – holistic fallacy
- overweighing data from those who articulate better and under representing data from those who do not – elite bias
- software for data analysis –Atlas-Ti and NVIVO
quantitative work that can carry its meaning in
its tables and summaries, qualitative work carries its
meaning in its entire text whereas qualitative…
researchers
commonly speak of the importance of the individual
researcher’s skills and aptitude.
what is one of the major issues of writing a qualitative report?
the language and the way of describing subjective matters
what are some suggestions for writing qualitative work? (5)
- identify themes from data
- provide examples (quotes) from the interview
- make connections among themes and categories and make connections in the dimensions of theories, time, space, causality, culture and society
- interpret the results
- find a journal article that represents the mainstream conventions in your field and follow these conventions in your writing
what is a research proposal?
a document that explains the nature of the research , why it is needed, confirms the skills of the researcher, the resources needed, and the likely outcomes. it provides thoroughness for another researcher to replicate the study
what are the three ways a proposal may function?
- communication
- plan
- contract
what must an investigator convince the funding agency of when selling a researcher proposal? (4)
- the problem is significant and worthy of study
- the technical approach is novel and likely to yield results
- the investigator is the right person to carry out and accomplish the work described in the proposal
- specific, concise, and clear
how do you write a research proposal?
- follow the guidelines, specific requirements such as page numbers, writing styles, and you may also indicate the sort of questions you should tackle in the research proposal
- proposals should be jargon free
what is a good idea?
comes from knowledge and experiences in the area and is grounded in feasible conditions (eg: existing data)
what is the general structure of a proposal?
introduction, lit review, theoretical framework, data collection (validity and reliability issues, research methods and designs), limitations, ethical issues, expected results and discussion, timing/resources/feasbility, summary and conclusion
what does the introduction of a research proposal look like? (5)
- articulate research issues
- summarize the current state of knowledge
- identify the gap, questions, or problems that motivate study and the importance of it
- provide the objectives of the study
- provide information regarding the feasibility of the study
what is a major challenge in proposal writing?
is the research a new question or idea or is it just a routine application of known techniques
for quantitative studies, the research question must meet three tests
- is the question free of ambiguity
- is the relationship among variables expressed
- does the question imply an empirical test
what are research questions like in qualitative studies?
- often more tentative and contingent on the unfolding study and they must give initial direction to planning and bring the power of theoretical constructs to the process of analysis
what is a literature review?
a classification and evaluation of what credited scholars and researchers have written on the topic. it is organized according to a guiding concept such as your research objective, thesis, or the problem/issue you wish to address
a literature review can avoid the following two problems in proposal writing…
- the proposers are unaware of a related study
2. the proposed research has already been done
literature review is not a summary but…
a conceptually organized synthesis
a literature review must… (5)
- organize information and relate it to the thesis or research question you are developing
- synthesize results into a summary of what is and isn’t known (the knowledge gap)
- identify methods used in the literature
- identify controversy when it appears in the literature
- and develop questions for further research
what is a theoretical framework?
the structure of the idea or concept and how it is put together
in other words, an essay that interrelates the theories involved in the question
what does a theoretical framework help you do?
helps you to connect your
research to the current knowledge and contribute to the
development of new knowledge.
what does the choice of research methods depend on?
• Research purpose, qual vs quant, focus on individuals
vs larger population, exploration vs generalization
• Data available or can be acquired
• Time span
• Your personal strengths
what should you do after you select a research method?
• Describe the methods in details
• Explain why you use this method, justify its
fitness to your research question
• May need to maintain the same epistemology
through the research for consistence
what is a meta analysis
comprises statistical methods for contrasting and
combining results from different studies on a specific issue in order to
identify patterns among study results, sources of disagreement
among those results, or other interesting relationships that may come
to light in the context of multiple studies.
what are limitations of research?
– Limitation of the current knowledge, and the
research framework
– Limitation of the data (sample, quality…)
– Limitation of the methods
