Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Flashcards
What is cultural identity?
Quantitatively: might measure cultural aspects through language proficiency, engagement with traditional practices, self-identification
Can provide valuable insight to overall trend and general patterns - might not capture the richness and uniqueness of personal experiences.
Qualitative research - indepth interviews / focus groups - would allow participants to share their personal stories - creating a more nuanced approach.
Critiquing the scientific method:
Problems within psychology
- ecological validity
- replication crisis
- ethical issues
- language and understanding
Parker’s 3 Methodological Horrors
What are Parker’s 3 Methodological Horrors
- Indexicality: these explanations are tied to particular times and contexts - what someone does in one context may not translate to other situations.
- Inconcludability: an account is always incomplete - it can always be supplemented (to think otherwise will stop us from evolving our theories)
- Reflexivity: the way we characterise a phenomenon will change the way it operates for us, our perception of the phenomenon, which will change our characterisation (beliefs and biases as a researcher will effect and influence the project)
How can qualitative researchers fight these 3 methodological horrors?
Indexicality: qualitative researchers admit their work is never perfectly replicable - we aim to describe a specific context (idiographic) rather than formulating general rules.
Inconcludability: aims to tell a plausible story, rather than a complete one (we welcome changes)
Reflexivity: regard subjectivity as a resource / opportunity rather than a problem - we must acknowledge this interaction and be self-aware
Issues with theories in psychology
If we use purely the positivist scientific method, it means we have very little place for theories to grow.
- even when the research indicates we should be rejecting theories - we don’t, instead we critique the researcher / project
- meanwhile, qualitative methods (with no a priori hypotheses) seek to contribute novel theory development
In terms of psychological research - what can only be examined through qualitative means?
- Exploring individuals’ perspectives / experiences and the meanings they attach to different phenomena.
- Examining how ideas, events and phenomena are represented in language and made sense of.
i.e. understanding people, rather than trying to predict their actions
Research Methods (Maykut and Morehouse)- POEM method
Purpose, Ontology, Epistemology (how the researcher captures that knowledge - interview, etc), Method
Essential to match the purpose of your study with the correct research method.
If you want to gain detailed understanding of phenomenon - you need to do qualitative research with smaller sample sizes (trade generalizability for depth)
What is qualitative research?
Research human experience within contexts rather than predicting behaviour.
We cannot accurately explain human behaviour without understanding the linguistic, historical and social contexts that define it.
Be aware of the gap between what is studied and the way we represent it (gap between the participants and you) - through qualitative research we close the gap a little more.
What are some different approaches to qualitative research?
Participatory action research, case study, content analysis, document study, field study, grounded theory, etc
All processes have shared characteristics regarding:
- description
- context
- meaning
- interpretation
- truth
- process
What are the shared characteristics of qualitative research?
- thick descriptions locating study within contexts
- immersion required (all theory and research occurs within a context of power relations)
- contexts shape subjects of investgation and standpoints of investigators
- psychosocial phenomena are ‘context dependent’ - meaning they are unavoidably affected by the meanings ascribed to them
- ‘truth’ is always questioned
What is the role of the researcher in qualitative research?
- must reflect via a reflexivity statement: their standpoint (personal epistemology) and how they maintained truthfulness
- research is cyclical and non-linear - you are constantly modifying what you think you know
- no pre-ordinate assumptions - theories emerge as the project progresses
4 pillars of research: POEM
P: why research is conducted
O(ntology): what is the nature of reality and what can be known about it.
E(pistemology): what is the relationship between the knower (researcher) and what can be known
M(ethodology): hwo reserach can be practically carried out and the epistemology / ontology investigated.
What is a reserach paradigm
- your background knowledge which tells others what you think exists, how you understand it, how you believe it should be studied
- all encompassing systems that define the nature of the researcher’s enquiry
POEM = paradigm
What is a positivist paradigm
Purpose: measure variables, determine differences between groups, establish relationships
Ontology (nature of reality): stable, external reality
Epistemology: objective, detached observer
Methodology: quantitative design
What is an interpretative paradigm?
P: explore lived experience, meanings, stories
O: internal reality of subjective experience
E: empathetic, observer intersubjectivity
M: thematic analysis, grounded theory, IPA, narrative analysis