Qualitative Data Collection and Quality

Question 1

Describe goodness of fit in qualitative designs:

Answer 1

Goodness of fit between:

• Purpose
• Design
• Research questions
• Conceptual and operational definitions
• Data collection method

Question 2

What do we critique in the data collection of qualitative studies?

Answer 2

• Is data collection focused on the human experience?
• Does the researcher describe data collection strategies? What are they?
• Was the data of sufficient depth and richness?

Question 3

Describe rigour as part of qualitative research:

Answer 3

• Constant comparative data collection
  > Con’t comparing data as they are acquired during research
• Data collection and analysis simultaneously
  > Compare findings to literature and other transcripts/findings
• Close adherence to philosophical orientation (design)
• Thoroughness in collecting data
• Consideration of all the data in developing theory

Question 4

What are the four criteria we used to judge scientific rigour?

Answer 4

• Credibility
• Auditability
• Transferability
• Confirmability

Question 5

What is credibility?

Answer 5

• Authors present such a faithful description of human experience that is it recognizable as one’s own to others who have experienced this phenomenon
• The confidence placed in truth of the findings
• Truth of findings as judged by participants and others within the discipline
• Refers to accuracy, validity and soundness of data (similar to internal validity in quantitative research)
• E.g. prolonged engagement, member checking, peer debriefing, “thick” description, researcher credibility, reflexivity

Question 6

What is transfer-ability?

Answer 6

• How well the findings “fit” into contexts outside the study situation and whether the data “fit” the findings
• “Thick” description, verbatim data in research reports
• Faithfulness to the everyday reality of the participants, described in enough detail so that others in the discipline can evaluate the importance for their own practice, research and theory development

Question 7

What is auditability?

Answer 7

• Whether another researcher is able to clearly follow the “decision trail” used by the researcher
• Investigator triangulation, detailed field notes re: methodological decisions, reflexivity
• Accountability as judged by the adequacy of information leading the reader from the research question and raw data through various steps of analysis to the interpretation of findings
• E.g. reviewing all documents r/t the study, such as research protocol, memos, correspondences, field notes, research tools, etc.

Question 8

What is confirm-ability?

Answer 8

Findings that reflect implementation of credibility, audit-ability and transfer-ability standards

Question 9

What is data reduction?

Answer 9

• Ongoing process as data is collected
• Process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting and transforming the data
• Organized into meaningful clusters (themes or structured meaning units)
• Thematic analysis: process of recognizing and recovering the emergent themes

Question 10

Describe phenomenological analysis:

Answer 10

• Immersion in the data - read and reread
• Extract significant statements
• Determine relationship among themes
• Describe phenomena and themes
• Synthesize themes into a consistent description of phenomenon

Question 11

Describe ethnographic analysis:

Answer 11

• Immerse in the data
• Identify patterns and themes
• Take cultural inventory
• Interpret findings
• Compare findings to the literature

Question 12

Describe grounded theory analysis:

Answer 12

• Examine each line of data line by line
• Divide data into discrete parts
• Compare data for similarities/differences
• Compare data with other data collected, continuously - constant comparative method
• Cluster into categories
• Develop categories
• Determine relationships among categories

Question 13

Describe case study analysis:

Answer 13

• Identify unit of analysis
• Code continuously as data is collected
• Find commonalities, themes
• Analyze field notes
• Review and identify patterns and connections

Question 14

Describe presenting the findings:

Answer 14

• Results section = presentation of the raw data and analysis
• Discussion section - interpretation of the results/findings

Question 15

Describe interpreting the findings:

Answer 15

• What are the major findings?
• Are the findings accurate and discussed in relation to problem/purpose, framework and lit review?
• Are the researcher’s conceptualizations true to the data?
• Are various explanations for the findings examined?
• Are limitations of the study identified by the researcher?

Question 16

Describe implications and recommendations:

Answer 16

• Do conclusions, recommendations and implications give the reader a context in which to use the findings?
• What are the recommendations? Do they reflect the findings?
• How has the researcher made explicit the significance of the study to nursing theory, research or practice?

Question 17

What four conditions does scientific observation fulfill?

Answer 17

1) Observations undertaken are consistent with the study’s specific objectives
2) A standardized and systematic plan exists for the observation and recording of data
3) All of the observations are checked and controlled
4) Observations are related to scientific concepts and theories

Question 18

Why are observations a suitable choice for qualitative studies?

Answer 18

• Collects data in complex research situations that are best viewed as total entities and difficult to measure in parts
• Can be the best way to operationalize some variables of interest in nursing studies, particularly individual characteristics and conditions (e.g. traits, behavior)

Question 19

What is the difference between concealment and intervention?

Answer 19

Concealment means that participants do not know they are being observed, and in intervention, the observer provokes actions from those being observed

Question 20

What are the four basic types of observational roles based on the levels of concealment or intervention?

Answer 20

1) Concealment without intervention
2) Concealment with intervention
3) No concealment without intervention
4) No concealment with intervention

Question 21

If a researcher is concerned about reactivity, what type of observation is likely to be employed?

Answer 21

• Concealment without intervention (researcher watches participants without their knowing they are being observed and does not provoke action)
• May face an ethical dilemma, as it violates assumptions of informed consent

Question 22

What is debriefing?

Answer 22

Allowing a participant the right to refuse to have data included in a study and to discuss any questions; may be done after an observational study in which concealment without intervention was used

Question 23

Describe unstructured observational methods:

Answer 23

• Not characterized by a total absence of structure but usually involve collecting descriptive information
• Observer keeps field notes recording activities

Question 24

Describe structured observational methods:

Answer 24

• Require formal training and competence of evaluator’s
• Involves categories, systems, checklists, rating scales, etc.
• Standardized tools evaluates observations

Question 25

Define: Rigour

Answer 25

The strictness with which a study is conducted to enhance the quality, believability or trustworthiness of study findings

Question 26

What is the basic approach to ensure rigour in qualitative research?

Answer 26

• Methodical research design
• Data collection
• Interpretation
• Communication

Question 27

What are the two goals of qualitative researchers?

Answer 27

1) Account for method and the data (must be independent so another researcher can analyze the same data in the same way and make same conclusions)
2) Produce a credible and reasoned explanation of the phenomenon under study

Question 28

What happens in prolonged engagement and persistent observation?

Answer 28

Researchers spend sufficient time with participant’s to check for discrepancies in responses

Question 29

What happens in peer debriefing?

Answer 29

Conducted with experts in the field, whose probing questions and review about the research can assist the researchers in improving trustworthiness in data

Question 30

What happens in member checking?

Answer 30

Verifies the accuracy of participant’s responses by asking the participants to review themes and narratives to determine whether the researchers accurately described their experiences

Question 31

What is triangulation?

Answer 31

• Cross-checking and verification of data through different information sources, such as data sources, investigators, theoretical models and research methods
• Viewed as offering completeness to naturalistic inquiry

Question 32

When is confirmability achieved?

Answer 32

• When the criteria of credibility, fittingness and audit-ability were met
• These criteria are used to judge the scientific rigour of a qualitative study