Qualitative Approaches To Research Flashcards
Why do researchers do qualitative research?
Rich detailed description of human phenomena
Interest in sense making
Can generate new theories (focus on inductive method)
Meaning of experience/behaviour in social construct
Accepts complexity and variability
What are features of qualitative research?
Lots of description and understanding
Inductive methods
Often uses language or observation as data
What does qualitative research aim to study?
Thoughts, feelings, or use of language in depth and detail
Public discourse through documents and social media
Behaviour (verbal and non verbal)
What do you avoid when writing qualitative research questions?
It is not a hypothesis
Don’t make causal statements
Avoid predictions
What is methodology?
Relates to describing, explaining, justifying methods but is not the actual methods themselves
What is a method?
It focuses on the way that you collect and analyses your data
What is methodological coherence?
It is a fit between research approach and methodology, needs to be thought through carefully
What are features of ethnography?
It is an observation
Data collection often relatively unstructured
Data gathering from a range of sources
Small scale, intense, often data gathered over extended period of time
Use of field notes
Data analysis
What is thick description?
In depth information that tells not only what is present, but how and why it is there, what accompanies it and what meanings and emotions are attached to it
What is thin description?
Superficial information that contains limited detail and very little explanation or detail about behavioural context
What is ethnography?
The scientific description of people and their cultures with their customs, habits, and mutual differences
What are features of the grounded theory?
Developed by Glaser and Strauss
Inductive method: open and flexible data collection, and iterative refinement of research questions
Often considered both a method and a theory
Methods usually interview based using open ended questions
Use of constant comparative analysis
Features of the grounded theory continued
Uses theoretical sampling
Move from descriptive thinking to analytical/ abstract
There are different versions of grounded theory
Draws on notion of data saturation
What are features of phenomenology?
Focus on “lived experience” as meaning making
Social context of experience viewed as important
Often focuses on narrative data, collected via interviews
What are some features of individual interviews?
Can be structured/semi structured/unstructured
Single or multiple interviews
Purposive sampling
Piloting
What are potential advantages of group interviews over individual interviews?
Efficiency
Closer to everyday conversation
Generates data that includes interaction between participants on topic of interest (debate, discussion, disagreement)
Useful for sensitive subjects
What are features of observations?
Useful when collecting behaviour instead of what participants say they do
Uses field notes with other data
What are some limitations/considerations of observations?
Gaining access to the setting can be a challenge
How will you gain consent?
How do you record what is important?
What are features of qualitative approaches to research in psychology?
Interest in meaning and social context Inductive methods Reflexivity Reject atomistic approach to understanding behaviour Think rather than thin description
